As I mentioned in my last post, learning the Quick Loader left little to the development of my skills and therefore, my only real challenge was to fit the bigger vehicles on the load. Okay, so I didn't mention all of that, but I mentioned the part where I get a little giddy shoving big pick ups on my trailer.
Last week, my newest boss (another post, perhaps) called me up and introduced himself. His reason for calling was to offer me a new truck. I have avoided this for the past 7 months, because I was really intimidated by the thought of learning a new trailer and I was already making good money anyways. But the more I pondered on it, the more I realized that I just needed to bite the bullet and further advance my newly acquired skills. Since I don't post with any regularity, I am not sure if I have mentioned any of the maintenance issues that have been ongoing with the Sterling. The oil leaks, the grinding in the transmission, weak springs and a very nasty smoking issue. Every time my truck sits for any length of time (be it 2 hours or 2 days), I get the pleasure of fogging out the neighborhood. This heavy smoke will last for up to 20 miles and then a light smoke continues throughout my journey. It was very tiresome! On occasion, the smoke would also fill the cab. Well, because it is spring and there are no more worries of ice and snow, I decided that turning down a BRAND NEW 2012 Peterbilt would be ludicrous. Sure, there is a fancy NEW NextGen high rail trailer behind it and that does bring with it new anxieties, but how often does one get offered a brand new truck.
So, it is with a not so heavy heart that I bid farewell to the little Sterling. It was a great truck to get me started in car-hauling, and while I am essentially increasing my loading/unloading time, while I decreasing my revenue during the learning curve, and while I am struggling with new anxiety, I look forward to new challenges! But before we say goodbye, there was one more moment of uber excitement that came with the very last load I hauled in the Sterling.
The last hooray! Here we have a nice little Dodge Ram 1500. Sitting next to it, an F250. Little Dodge, me arse!!
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Talk about a tight squeeze !!!
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But that is the last one for my personal record book, or at least for now?
8 comments:
First you had Frankentruck (Volvo),
then you had Brutus, I guess (Sterling), now
you got "enter name here" (Peterbilt)
You gots skills, and those big loads will be flying on and off that truck in no time.
Welp, I feel better with you in a new and hopefully mostly trouble free truck.
Remember the crap you had to drive before and how it burned you out. I don't care what you do in a truck, if you are driving a pile of crap, it gets to ya.
Enjoy the new truck and the challenges of the upgraded trailer. That's what makes your motor turn over anyways!
As if living out of a day cab isn't bad enough ...prepare to down size evan farther. I've had my Pete for over a month now and still am deciding what I truly need and can't live without. We lose at least 25% in the cab due to the batteries in the passenger side. And the DEF adds new challenges as well. They mount the tank on the right when all the DEF at the pump dispensers are on the left. One trick I learned is pulling in as close to the left pump as possible and stretching the hose across the back of the cab and using the tube from the boxed DEF on the end of the nozzle to just make it to the tank. The loading and unloading ....well I feel like a newbie all over again even tho I have 5 years experience. It's getting better every load but it's a whole nother' animal. Good luck!
Randy URS Northeast
If I'm not mistaken, Happy Birthday!!!
If I'm not mistaken, Happy Birthday!!!
Thank you Truckin Tedybehr !!
If the old truck is starting to give you a lot of trouble, I think it is a smart decision that you had taken the offer of your boss. It is true that it would be hard to learn new skills, but eventually, people can get the hang of it. And upon seeing the last picture, it is a good start that you managed to load the 3 vehicles perfectly with the Peterbilt. Anyway, I hope you are doing well and getting the hang of loading cars as your skill.
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