Bob Sleasman's Blog, April, 2008

Bob's Blog

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April 2-30, 2008. We picked up our first load this month on the 2ND. It picked up in Baltimore, MD. We have been doing well. We have crisscrossed the country, you name the state and we more than likely have been there.

When I have not been driving, I've been in the bunk with a heating pad. I can get my back muscles relaxed enough to be able to drive for my entire shift. Donna has been doing the lifting, light and heavy. I'm a lucky man to have her as a wife. I swear, Donna can work as hard as or harder than most men I know.

By our second week out my back started to heal a little. It’s easier for me to drive, but I still can't do any lifting.

I haven't been blogging much, as you can tell. I've been driving and resting, that’s been my daily routine. I've been taking Motrin and using the heating pad.

We had a load delivering to Conklin, NY on the 25th we have had problem with the HVAC unit on our APU. We decided to go home and have it looked at. The Detroit Diesel shop there is a Comfort-Pro service center. We are about three hours from home, and we refuse to idle our truck engine, especially with the price of fuel.

We put the truck in the shop on the 28th. We told the service writer the HVAC unit on the APU won't cool down the truck. We also asked them to do a load check on the batteries. I think we have a bad battery, or batteries. The batteries are not holding a charge.

We got a call from the shop, they worked on the APU and said it was good to go, they also said the batteries tested good, and this was on the 29th. We went to pick up the truck. They had it running in their yard. We went to the service department, they said the HVAC unit was putting out 45 degree air, and said they found no problem. We went to the truck, looked at the APU control panel in the sleeper and it was blank, it has never been blank before. We tried to start the APU, nothing, dead. It ran when we brought it in. Well back to the service department we go, we told the service writer that the control panel was blank and it wouldn't start. The service writer had the tech who worked on it come out, he went to the truck took a look and said he didn't know what happened. He also said the truck would have to be brought back in the shop so they could check it out. But, they couldn't get to it today; it would have to wait until tomorrow. The truck was shut down and we left.

The next morning we get a call from Detroit Diesel. The truck batteries are dead; they said something is drawing the batteries down. I asked if they had load tested the batteries as I asked, I was told yes, and they were fine. We were then told that we had to take the truck to the Western Star shop to find out what was drawing down the batteries. They said they couldn't do anything with the APU until the battery issue was taken care of.

We picked up the truck and brought it to the Western Star shop. They would not be able to look at it until tomorrow, we left it with them.

We got a call in the morning, (the 30th) and were told the truck was ready. We asked what the problem was. We were told the batteries needed to be replaced, all 4 of them. They load tested them and they were bad. I had gotten the extended warranty that covered my batteries for 4 years, so it cost me nothing. Now if the Western Star shop did a load test and replaced the batteries one has to wonder if Detroit Diesel did a load test. With the new batteries the control panel still did not light up, and the APU would not start. Back to Detroit Diesel we go.

Detroit Diesel had no answer for me as to why their load test showed the batteries were all good. Anyway, they didn't know why the control panel was still blank. They said they couldn't get to it until tomorrow, May 1st. Again we left the truck there.

I start thinking. I know I was thinking because my Donna said she smelled something burning, and smoke was coming out of my ears. Anyway, it seems to me that if I now have new fully charged batteries, and a blank APU control panel screen, and the APU won't start, the first thing I would do is check the fuses, and then the battery connection at the batteries and then at the APU, and the control panel. That seems easy enough to do; it only takes about a couple of hours, tops. Blog Author Top of Page Bottom of Page

April 1, 2008. We went back in service at 0001. My back still isn't in very good shape. All the walking at the truck show didn't help it any either. While walking my back didn't bother me, it was when I stopped walking that the muscles would tighten back up. Even with my back still not at 100% I need to get back to work, we can't afford to have Donna run solo, the money just isn't enough. We could scrape by for a while with Donna running by herself, but it’s too much of a strain on her, and our finances. Blog Author Top of Page Bottom of Page