I think it was just my last post where I said we were going to work really hard before Christmas. Well, the calendar says it's the 8th day of December and it hasn't happened yet. We did pick up our one load in Pryor, Oklahoma. We had all weekend to deliver it to Valparaiso, Indiana - only about 700 miles away. We stopped along the way in Missouri when we learned our friends Don and Dale were headed west while we were going east. It was a nice unexpected breakfast with them near Springfield. We parted ways and down the road to Indiana we went with a trailer loaded with pipe for a natural gas line. Monday morning we made our delivery, headed south towards Indianapolis to get our next load that was supposed to go back to Oklahoma. And then the fun began....
About a hour north of Indy we began to hear the truck making a loud noise. We were a mile from the next rest area and we were grateful to make it that far. Then the phone calls started. We called the Volvo shop in Indianapolis but they couldn't even look at it until Friday (this was only Monday). They recommended we go to their shop that was 90 west. Yeah, right. We would be lucky if we made it out of the rest area. We decided to give it a shot and were surprised in spite of the noise the truck was making that seemed to be coming from the transmission, we were able to get thru all the gears and we continued south down the interstate. About five miles from Indianapolis, we realized now that the truck was in 18th gear, it was not going to downshift at all. Traffic was thickening and we needed to slow down but without the ability to downshift, we could go no further. Jorge pulled it to the side of the road and there we sat with few options. We called the Kenworth shop to see if they could look at our Volvo and much to our surprise they said to bring it right over. We were only a couple miles away but we had to call yet another tow truck to get us over there. So close, yet so far. I'll spare you ALL of our agonizing week details but suffice it to say, it was a rollercoaster ride. We learned that our transmission had burned up and was completely worthless... a $10,000 part. The clutch wasn't much better. After days of back and forth with the shop back in Fort Smith, Arkansas where we had had them replace a leaking seal on our transmission, it was determined that the mechanic was totally responsible for a faulty installation. That allowed our tranny fluid to slowly leak out from Arkansas to Oklahoma, up to Indiana, and finally it was completely out there on the side of the road. In the end after all the evidence pointed to the Arkansas shop, they agreed to buy us a new transmission and paid for it 100% - all parts and labor. As long as the transmission was being replaced, it was an easy fix to replace the clutch at the same time. What could have been a very costly repair, ended up being extremely inexpensive to us and we're checking those two parts off our list of things that need to be replaced. Back on the road.... finally! Another Christmas miracle under our belts...
We are back in Louisville, Kentucky today where we parked our trailer at the company headquarters. Every year, Mercer drivers have the opportunity to run as much UPS freight as they can handle between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We tried it last year and didn't like the tight schedules they kept us on. This year we agreed to do it for only one week and that starts today. We will hook up to a set of double trailers here in Louisville at 2pm today. We'll deliver them in Columbia, South Carolina and be back in Louisville by 10am tomorrow. See what I mean about tight schedules? We have a couple others to do that will keep us busy thru next Sunday. Then on to Las Vegas.. for more time off! It's apparently what we do best.
No time to take many pictures this week. We did get these little beauties in the mail recently though. Yesterday, Mercer gave us each a jacket to go with them. We safe, professional trucks drivers appreciate the recognition.
About a hour north of Indy we began to hear the truck making a loud noise. We were a mile from the next rest area and we were grateful to make it that far. Then the phone calls started. We called the Volvo shop in Indianapolis but they couldn't even look at it until Friday (this was only Monday). They recommended we go to their shop that was 90 west. Yeah, right. We would be lucky if we made it out of the rest area. We decided to give it a shot and were surprised in spite of the noise the truck was making that seemed to be coming from the transmission, we were able to get thru all the gears and we continued south down the interstate. About five miles from Indianapolis, we realized now that the truck was in 18th gear, it was not going to downshift at all. Traffic was thickening and we needed to slow down but without the ability to downshift, we could go no further. Jorge pulled it to the side of the road and there we sat with few options. We called the Kenworth shop to see if they could look at our Volvo and much to our surprise they said to bring it right over. We were only a couple miles away but we had to call yet another tow truck to get us over there. So close, yet so far. I'll spare you ALL of our agonizing week details but suffice it to say, it was a rollercoaster ride. We learned that our transmission had burned up and was completely worthless... a $10,000 part. The clutch wasn't much better. After days of back and forth with the shop back in Fort Smith, Arkansas where we had had them replace a leaking seal on our transmission, it was determined that the mechanic was totally responsible for a faulty installation. That allowed our tranny fluid to slowly leak out from Arkansas to Oklahoma, up to Indiana, and finally it was completely out there on the side of the road. In the end after all the evidence pointed to the Arkansas shop, they agreed to buy us a new transmission and paid for it 100% - all parts and labor. As long as the transmission was being replaced, it was an easy fix to replace the clutch at the same time. What could have been a very costly repair, ended up being extremely inexpensive to us and we're checking those two parts off our list of things that need to be replaced. Back on the road.... finally! Another Christmas miracle under our belts...
We are back in Louisville, Kentucky today where we parked our trailer at the company headquarters. Every year, Mercer drivers have the opportunity to run as much UPS freight as they can handle between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We tried it last year and didn't like the tight schedules they kept us on. This year we agreed to do it for only one week and that starts today. We will hook up to a set of double trailers here in Louisville at 2pm today. We'll deliver them in Columbia, South Carolina and be back in Louisville by 10am tomorrow. See what I mean about tight schedules? We have a couple others to do that will keep us busy thru next Sunday. Then on to Las Vegas.. for more time off! It's apparently what we do best.
No time to take many pictures this week. We did get these little beauties in the mail recently though. Yesterday, Mercer gave us each a jacket to go with them. We safe, professional trucks drivers appreciate the recognition.