A bunch of useless crap
Published on May 11, 2011 By MasonM In Blogging

Well, yesterday was one of those days. I am hauling a fire truck out to Fort Sill, OK. I was making pretty good time and was on schedule to get through St Louis well before the afternoon rush hour curfew on over sized loads.

Well, that was until I suddenly heard a very loud, high pitched whine coming from my engine. I had an idea of what it was and knew it couldn't be a good thing so I backed off my speed and limped down to the next truck stop which was, luckily, only a few miles away.

The whine was extremely loud, sounding almost like a siren, and I got a lot of looks as I pulled into the parking lot. I raised the hood to try and determine where the sound was coming from and, as I had suspected, it was coming from the turbo. Nope, not good at all.

At 9:15 am I placed the call to our service department. An hour later they had decided that trying to drive the truck to a repair shop would likely do too much damage to the engine (duh) and they were setting up a road service call.

The road service guy showed up around 1:00 pm. By 4:00 pm the turbo was replaced and I was able to get on down the road. At this point I was sort of screwed because the afternoon curfew in St Louis had already started.

I went as far as Troy, IL where I had planned to stop for fuel anyway. I fueled up and parked my rig to do some quick calculations. The afternoon curfew ends at 6:30 pm. Lots of road construction combined with heavy traffic. Distance to the closest truck stop on the other side of St Louis with a parking lot large enough to park in with an over sized load. Sunset around 8:00 pm. Over sized load daylight only driving.

Nope, no way I could make it to that truck stop before I ran out of daylight. I was stuck here in Troy until after the morning rush hour curfew ends at 9:00 am. So here I sit.

I had hoped to deliver the fire truck today but now that is out of the question. Both Missouri and Oklahoma have me on some secondary roads to route around road construction and the Oklahoma tollway, on which over sized loads are not allowed, and I am forced to go about 150 miles out of my way to get to Ft Sill.

Also, my OK permit expires after today so we will have to order a revised permit to allow me to move the load through OK tomorrow.

Such is trucking.


Comments
on May 11, 2011

I think this is God's way of telling you that the second move is going to be worth it!

Have a safe (and productive) trip!

on May 13, 2011
Thanks. After having the turbo replaced the truck developed a serious oil leak from that area. I am now laid over in Oklahoma City, at the second repair shop to try and fix the leak, and not a happy camper. The first shop, in Wichita Falls, TX replaced a coupe of o rings and declared the problem solved. By the time I got here it was obvious it was't solved and I am back to waiting for some guy to figure out the problem and fix it.
on May 13, 2011

I got a great story about a turbo in Germany...or did I do that one already?  Any way...keep on truckin'

on May 16, 2011

Mason, things are not flowing  too smoothly right now it seems.  Your NEW truck becomes yours when?  Here's to days with less hassle so you can smell the roses along the way.

judy

on May 22, 2011

Mason, it is not like you to not respond to people who comment!      Hoping you are ok and just so busy ...........

on May 23, 2011

Big Fat Daddy
I got a great story about a turbo in Germany...or did I do that one already?  Any way...keep on truckin'

 

You should share it some time. Thanks.

on May 23, 2011

notronaj
Mason, things are not flowing  too smoothly right now it seems.  Your NEW truck becomes yours when?  Here's to days with less hassle so you can smell the roses along the way.

judy

 

Thanks. Everything seems to be ok now...for the moment LOL. I should get a new truck around August.

on May 23, 2011

notronaj
Mason, it is not like you to not respond to people who comment!      Hoping you are ok and just so busy ...........

Yeah, sorry about that. I haven't been online lately.

Am currently sitting in California. I delivered a military truck to a well known movie studio vehicle special effects lot this morning. After looking around at all the other vehicles there, I know exactly what movie sequel they are working on, but am not allowed to reveal it here for business reasons.

I'll be looking forward to seeing it when it is released as I want to see how they use the truck I delivered. Once it is released I can probably tell about then.

on May 24, 2011

MasonM
I know exactly what movie sequel they are working on, but am not allowed to reveal it here for business reasons.

Transformers XXX?

on May 25, 2011

Dr Guy

Quoting MasonM, reply 8I know exactly what movie sequel they are working on, but am not allowed to reveal it here for business reasons.

Transformers XXX?

Nope. Nice try though.