Jump to content

beyerjf

Validated Members
  • Posts

    536
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About beyerjf

  • Birthday 05/15/1954

Optional Fields

  • SKP#
    113873
  • Lifetime Member
    No

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    NW Indiana
  • Interests
    Lounge organist, old Studebakers, bicycling

Recent Profile Visitors

5,237 profile views

beyerjf's Achievements

  1. Are you kidding? You have so much fun at one of these events they should be illegal....😀
  2. beyerjf

    Dashcams

    Yes they will come on even if the ignition is off and respond to any motion of the tractor. A stiff wind would do it. The hard wired circuit goes to both +battery for full time juice and Ign on for regular needs, so it doesn't just sit there recording when the truck is parked for days, weeks, years, whatever....
  3. beyerjf

    Dashcams

    After trying several, all with flaws, I installed this Garmin 65w around 2 years ago. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/587334 Major pluses: Small, but with great video clarity. Hard wired (if desired) Comes on when ignition is turned on. Don't have to remember to plug it in. Continues recording for set time after ignition off, also is motion sensitive, comes on even with ignition off if truck is jostled. Easy to transfer files to computer, can also see videos on app. But here is the best. It is voice activated. Just say "OK Garmin, save video" or "OK Garmin, save picture" Saves video 90 seconds before your command, continues for 90 seconds after your command. Only negative is the price. But after wasting $'s on cheaper units this one did it. This is not my video, but is worth watching. Talk about the totally unexpected.
  4. Since this thread has sort of morphed from replacing equipment to replacing motivation I might as well weigh in. Some of you may recall when I went full time, and attended the National in Hutchinson from 2013-2017, got my cat Sunflower, all was right with the world. Well sort of. And this was even discussed by several members, the fact that the one thing they missed the most being a moving target was the lack of a fully equipped shop. That is what I missed severely, plus still being active in the trucking business with an older (2000) model tractor. a maintenance facility was becoming critical, and working on my Studebakers was a consideration. Soooo, I bought a modest property in NW Indiana in 2018 which is splinters and steel, but serves the need. And opened the only Studebaker Dealer in Remington IN. They needed one. Then Cooties. Trailer Transit, the company I have been leased to for 15 years provides logistics for time sensitive mass events, Disney on Ice(have cancelled all tours through the end of 2022)Cirque du Soleil(declared bankruptcy, stiffed us for $250K worth of transport costs) NASCAR, college football, golf tournaments, rock concerts. Need I go on? Our business evaporated. Just like Pete Kildow, I was forced to suspend operations in March, and terminated my lease in June entering a "trial retirement". Fortunately I have the understanding I can return to Transit with my present 2000 Argosy at any time. TT is hauling new trailers and the occasional military simulator or specialty trailer, but drivers still out there have taken a 30% cut in revenue. In short the only ones out there have to be because of tractor payments or other personal financial considerations. They are literally going bankrupt one load at a time. Just like Ron, I am still "adjusting" to retirement. Tractor is still viable ready to go, so am I. Do I want to reenter a business that is deteriorating or go for another career, sort of the opposite of what Ron is contemplating. I leave, he enters. The world stays in balance. But I am not ready to stop. You can only putter so much. I can justify sitting tight for the moment until some of the unknowns of Covid work themselves out. Well, my back up plan with the dealership is doing OK. Might add Packard to the mix if I can.
  5. A similar scenario existed with automobiles. The software required to service them was proprietary and not available to independent repair shops. It took a while for their lobbying groups to convince Congress to force the auto makers to give access to that software. But that was a consumer product. Such does not exist for HDT's as an example. You usually cannot buy the software needed to service your Kenworth, Freightliner or others. If you can it is prohibitively expensive.
  6. I have tried it both ways. Leaving the phone on, or turning it off before it goes into the pouch. It doesn't seem to make any difference in battery life. Leaving it on is a little easier, as soon as it come out of the pouch it looks for a signal. I don't have to wait for it to boot up. And turning the phone off doesn't turn off all the functions. The phone can be tricked into pinging towers and transmitting location data. Here is an article which explains who can do it and how. Every day one "app" or another is exposed as some fraudulent way to get to you. Frankly I don't trust any attempt at setting my privacy settings on any device more complicated than the AM radio in the instrument panel of my 1951 Studebaker. https://techpp.com/2013/08/22/track-phone-turned-off/ Make sure you have your metallic protective headgear securely strapped on. (Tin hat)
  7. Since we are on the topic of wholesale snooping. I got tired of Google knowing everywhere I went and asking me how I liked the tacos at Enrique's Mexican Food Emporium, even though I just drove past the place. Matters not if your phone is turned off, it still pings towers, and unless you disable the GPS function, tells the whole intelligence and internet community where you are. Soooo, this product stops the nonsense. Called Silent Pocket, nice little pouch to store your cell phone in, lined with material to prevent all signals in or outbound, otherwise known as a Faraday cage. Put it in when you want to go incognito, take it out and use the phone normally. I got it because I am not wild about contact tracing. Or other conspiracy angles. Don't get me started.... https://silent-pocket.com/
  8. You are right, I haven't posted for a while. I am the guy with the red Argosy Freightliner cabover. Still have the units, have stopped commercial trucking for the moment because of all the hullabaloo. Might even make it to Hutchinson in October, hard to plan stuff like that these days. Sunflower is doing fine by the way. May change the title of the tractor to an RV, I am now domiciled in Indiana, if anyone has pulled that stunt I would appreciate hearing from them. The HDT resource guide information is like 8 years old on the topic for Indiana. Also need guidance on insurance for the HDT RV route, no commercial use involved.
  9. I worked for Penske Truck leasing for 4 years. Here is how the disposal of used equipment goes. First they approach the wholesale market, retailers that are willing to buy multiple units. They get the best of the units if they are willing to pay for them. By the best, I mean long term lease units( 3 or more years ) that have been assigned to one customer, preferably serviced by one Penske location. Next will be dealers who will take one or 2 at a time, who know what they are buying and inspect them carefully wholesale for retail sale. Next, which is what you are referring to is the units for sale at a given Penske sales lot. Yes they will have full maintenance records available. Yes they will have at least 50% tires and brakes and all known defects will be addressed. These will be units that might have been at one customer for their career, or could be weekly or daily rental units. Penske will ask full retail for these units, and they will stand behind their warranty. The first 90 days is the least of your problems. Penske is as large and successful as they are because they know exactly how to make money in this capital intensive business. As the truck is used in their fleet they stretch oil changes as far as allowed or farther, same with lubrication. If a truck comes needing some tires, it is going to get only what it needs, no more. Because their road side repair network is so good, and they have many ready replacement units, they push the envelope on any repairs. They know they are going to have that truck for x amount of time or miles depending on the lease contract, and get rid of it after that. If they can't sell the truck within a period of time it hits the auction market. The trucks are overwhelmingly strippers but command premium money because of the warranty. I don't think it is worth it.
  10. Well let's see. I bought my first AirTop 2000 in about 1993. Abused it on the 1990 IH 9700 for 4 years, no routine maintenance. Installed a brand new one on the 2000 Argosy. It lasted about 8 years, no maintenance, took it out because it refused to start citing low voltage codes. Service dealer couldn't find anything wrong with it. Put a new one in 2008, no maintenance, still running strong. I have never replaced the fuel filter, any typical lawn mower filter would probably do the job. Given I sleep in the truck about 250 nights a year, at least 1/3 of them the heater gets used. And when I use it it gets run for long periods of time and a fairly high setting. Lousy insulation in these cabovers. I have never run it in the off season. Nor replaced the fuel filters. The only problem I have ever had is failure to start low voltage codes. I solve that problem by starting the truck, starting the heater, then shutting down the truck. Will operate for the rest of the night no issues. An electrical engineer buddy of mine is convinced that the reason for the codes is because the extended wiring harness provided by Webasto for use in a cabovers only has enough of a voltage drop to cause the problem. And when I am really motivated I will increase the size of the wires to see if that solves the issue.
  11. Some Haulmark units were FRP walls, fibreglass reinforced plywood. I couldn't tell from the pics if yours was that style construction or not. The unit I am in is FRP and so rotted in so many places it is toast. Will replace it when it breaks in half.
  12. beyerjf

    Bobtail mileage

    Let's throw this into the mix. Because I bobtail pushing 20,000 miles a year, I have seen variations that defy logic. For one thing, although I have a real time mpg readout on the instrument panel ,and mine is fairly accurate, the only way to get it right is to fill up and get the calculator out. Rarely does anyone here bobtail enough to get those quality numbers. The percentage of bio diesel in a given load of fuel seems to make a big difference. One load of fuel might have none, and the next has 20%, the resulting BTU decline has to make a difference. And of course there is no way of knowing what is going in. Even temperatures of the fuel coming out of the storage tanks between fills can wreck the numbers, so called "hot fuel". which Canadian pumps compensate for by law, but US pumps do not.
  13. The density of combination(tractor trailers) on todays highway is well beyond safe capacity. The number of tractor trailers has increased by 350% since 1960, while lane miles, including all the interstate highways constructed since then has increased by 9%. And of course the other distracted vehicles has increased an equivalent amount. It is not your imagination. There really are a lot more vehicles on the road than when you or I took our driving test ( me in 1970). It is a full time job to drive any vehicle, but particularly a large one. There is simply no room for error.
  14. My guess is that painting the coach is not in the future for anything treated with this process. Sounds like you would never get it all back off to get to a clean enough surface not to get "fisheyes" ( where paint didn't adhere) all over the place.
  15. I have been an owner-operator in trucking for 40+ years. The last 15 leased to a "power only" company, which means we move someone elses semi trailers. About half the business is new trailers from manufacturer to dealer-end user, the more interesting is time sensitive show loads, rock and roll shows, golf tournements, generators to power TV vans at football games and other outdoor events. Just dropped one at Wrigley Field for the World Series. Living full time in a 35' toyhauler was a no brainer. 3 years ago I bought a Work and Play 34FK and move it with my commercial tractor, just like any customer trailer. I park in the logical spots, AL in the winter, IN in the summer. Get parked, fool around as much as I want, then go back to work for a couple of weeks, then goof off some more. W&P stays in the spot at the RV park, secure and on a monthly rate. Literally could park anywhere in the lower 47 or anywhere in Canada if I wanted. We have at least 6 other drivers in our 200 truck fleet that do the same. After 4 million miles, staying put is a vacation for me. I do about half as many miles as I used to when I worked full time.
×
×
  • Create New...