KDog Trucking

Good question, I'm seeing issues all over the board. Midwest Motor Express was the most recent. They run around 350 trucks, have said at any given time 1-2 trucks are down due to DEF issues, including "bad def" sensors. Was curious, I know you had seen this in a Liebehr if i recall. What I can gather, here is what a "bad def" light could mean: 1 – Water in the NOx sensor 2 – Ambient temp sensor (mounted in the front bumper) is misreading or faulty 3 – Driving with less than a full tank causes the crystallization that can build up and cause slime to build up in the filter. Habitual offenders will see this frequently. 4 -Does it occur only in rainy or dry weather? Water and humidity can cause DEF sensors to malfunction. 5 – Inaccurate DEF guage (causes yellow lights to come on) that is the gauge is reading half full when the tank is empty. From what I understand these are prone to failure. So it is worth checking if there is in fact DEF in the tank. 6- Contamination such as sand or dirt or diesel fuel. 7 – Actual ‘bad def’. The easiest way to determine whether DEF Fluid has been compromised is through color comparison. DEF Fluid should always remain the same color- and if you notice a different hue in your tank then you have contaminated product. On most trucks, they have a DEF filter. On the Cascadia, for example, there is a little tiny def fluid filter that is in the def line right where it goes into the one-box. It can get a buildup of white slime that inhibits the amount of def going into the chamber and give these sort of codes. Called a def Doser inlet screen, check this first. Curious, what did you find out when your bad def sensor tripped on the liebehr?

I need some help (or guidance) on a question perhaps someone here has encountered: I have a trucking fleet (Midwest Motor Express out of Bismark, ND asking for assistance from our "supposed experts", who seem to be stumped. They've seen a lot of DEF sensors saying "bad DEF" when you hook up the laptop, full yellow dash complete with warning lights and all, and I'm curious what could this mean? I am thinking the DEF is fine, and other trucks within the same fleet operate normally, with the same sensors in place. They run Cummins ISX and Volvo D13's. Could this be dirt, contamination, or other debris in the DEF lines? It's usually coming from high volume, high quality truck stops and I'm curious as to what the problem is if not the DEF fluid? (Pilot, Flying J, T/A's) I've heard there are NOx sensors that are prone to fail and ambient temp sensors in the bumper. Any discussion on this would be useful, considering I know very little on the subject.

Austin also had some contemptuous words for President Trump:

A jury has awarded $101 million to a man who was injured when an oil field truck rear-ended him. Reports indicate that this could be the largest civil penalty ever for a large truck accident. Joshua Patterson was driving home from church one day in 2013 when he was rear-ended by an FTS International Truck. FTS is an oil services company that hauls sand and other materials to and from oil fields. The accident did not initially seem too major. Patterson told the authorities that he was not injured and left. But then Patterson underwent multiple medical procedures including surgery on discs in his upper spine. After that, Patterson was unable to return to work. One of Patterson’s attorney, John Hull, claims that they attempted to reach an agreement with the company before going to trial. Instead, FTS was ordered by a jury to pay $101 million. Of that, $75 million is punitive damages. According to Hull, the reason for the huge sum was the negligence of the company in hiring and continuing to employ the driver who rear-ended Patterson. William Acker, the FTS driver, tested positive for both marijuana and methamphetamines after the crash. According to Hull, Acker admitted to using both drugs about three times a week. Based off of the company’s own rules, Acker should never have been hired in the first place. Before he was hired, he had at least three moving violations within 36 months. Acker allegedly lied on his application and left off two violation. FTS never bothered to check. Acker also was apparently on probation with the company over other accidents he had been in. But instead of firing him, the lawsuit filed against them claims that the company was planning on promoting him to become a trainer. While FTS will be responsible for the lion’s share of the payment, Acker has been ordered to personally pay $50,000. It is expected that the judgment will be appealed.

I agree the number of moving parts/gears and potential for things to go wrong seems to be much greater in this more complex design. The youtube videos (1-4) were really good and help you to see how they are achieving this.

Good points. I guess I'll still have a job for a while longer.

I read an article about a variable compression engine, with the statement that this technology could kill the diesel engine. It's basically a gas engine that can change it's compression ratio on the fly. (Ranges from 8:1 all the way up to 14:1). "The ingenuity of VC-T engine technology lies in its ability to transform itself and seamlessly raise or lower the height the pistons reach. As a consequence, the displacement of the engine changes and the compression ratio can vary anywhere between 8:1 (for high performance) and 14:1 (for high efficiency). The sophisticated engine control logic automatically applies the optimum ratio, depending on what the driving situation demands." Just thought this was cool and wondering for anyone who has a deep understanding of mechanical workings, is this really a breakthrough that could threaten the diesel engine or is this just hype? The full article can be found here: https://jalopnik.com/worlds-first-variable-compression-ratio-engine-could-ki-1785295848

Ate the bugger whole. That's pretty cool. Watched it while eating my lunch (don't recommend this).

Happy birthday big guy! Have always enjoyed reading your posts. All the best!

All those pictures are highly unsafe, it's comical to think - babies wrapped in cellophane?! If you like dead babies I guess being delivered by a stork. Wierd how people thought. Hey, give that kid a cigarette and a beer!

This guys man cave was pretty dang cool. made me think of owning a pinball machine.

Converted camper and restored truck - done by Mach Technician. Every detail has been meticulously thought of.

Winter is almost over, and in celebration of that, I'd like to share some ice fishing posts from our recent Leech Lake MN trip. I know Mack Technician has some pictures from our recent trip. I'll post a few here and anyone else want to share ice fishing stories or just fishing pictures, etc. feel free to jump in.

Sad.

This will be the technological revolution that eliminates millions of jobs. After that, we might have to go to the 3-day work week.

According to the government, 100 cars today produce the same amount of PM (particulate matter) and NOx as 1 car prior to 1970. For HD trucks, the amount of PM generated per 100,000 miles was 470 pounds before EPA standards were enacted. Today, the amount is measured in grams. So that is something like a 4,000 to 1 ratio of emissions before and after EPA/CAFE standards were enacted. So, while crappy and old ran without problems, it doesn't work anymore with a population approaching 10 billion globally. I think there is an unseen cost to electric, however the upside for OTR trucks is 1 million miles in between major maintenance, such as they are claiming on the Tesla trucks. I think the best part of automated trucks/cars is that *hopefully* my kids will never have to get a drivers permit.

I understand, and that's a good example of gov't stupidity...because electricity has to come from somewhere...and most of it around here is coal. It's not actually zero emissions that seems to be driving the market towards electrification, ironically it's all the exhaust after treatment junk and the desire for a more reliable lower maintenance engine (post 2007 emissions controls). Tesla says you will be able to convoy 3 electric trucks together (with a single driver). That kind of innovation will really kill jobs. I haven't really seen anything (yet) that says Trump will be overturning CAFE standards, and phase 2 seems to be in the works, which will require more emissions reductions. If it does in fact go through, we'd be looking at most passenger cars getting 50 mpg by 2027.

I found this article on big oil and biodiesel execs getting together to decide how best to kill the electric truck. As you may have heard, most OEM's have been introducing electric versions of their semis, they can go up to 400 miles on a 30 min charge and supposedly go 1 million miles between maintenance intervals. Tesla reports 3 trucks can be convoyed and controlled by a single operator - eliminating the need for each to have it's own driver. When asked about electricification, big oil exec's responded: "Another type of disaster—not natural but instead policy-driven—is the political momentum driving electrification. The consensus on the panel was that the liquid fuels industries must mend their differences and work toward a larger goal of exploiting the benefits that liquid fuels offer and exposing the myth of zero emissions vehicles." http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/2516262/big-oil-biodiesel-join-forces-to-combat-electrification

Yes, right. We had an illegal (he was from Mexico) make a turn into our driveway and struck our car, parked in the driveway. We had just dropped collision on the car as it was paid for. We live on a corner so he negotiated the corner badly, and rear ended our car. After hitting our car, he careened across the lawn and down an embankment crossing the road and finally crashing into the neighbors home, missing his sleeping infant daughter by 2 feet. When the neighbor came out to see if he needed aid, he ran. He evaded law enforcement for about a week, until he was caught and jailed. I was awakened by my wife/lights from firetrucks and police and only saw the damage to the neighbors house, it took some time to realize we'd been hit as well. The car was borrowed (or stolen - we never found out), but uninsured and the guy had no drivers license. He served 2 days in jail plus fines. We didn't go after him because the car wasn't worth more than $2500 and he had no job on record. Our neighbor had a hole in his home for months before it was fixed. Rumor is he was a drug dealer and was high on drugs as well as drunk when the incident happened. Police released him and did not pursue any immigration stuff. He has never paid the fine according to the state of Wisconsin circuit court system and has gone on to incur felony drug charges with intent to distribute since this happened. So I for one am thankful we are not a sanctuary state. I think if he had killed our neighbors sleeping daughter he would have been shot on site, rightfully so.

We are all witnessing the changing of the guards...women are the new men and men are the new women. I think the takeaway from all this is that every man who is in a position of power in this country is a potential rapist/molester and should be locked up (to prevent further incidents).

Thank you for the discussion. Fascinating! Not knowing much about Mack's I am surprised to hear Volvo/Mack only recently adopted the High Pressure Common Rail instead of unit injection. I was thinking Paccar was the last to abandon unit injection in 2013. Awesome post! Thanks!

A friend owns a fleet of 65 or so Mack MP8's, less than a year old. Has been having a lot of issues with the DEF systems. Trucks will derate and have to go in for warranty work. Of the 65 trucks, over 20 have had this issue. Some with as low as 40k miles. Some have been dosers, others sensors, others total def system tear off and rebuild. All the issues have been with either the SCR or the DEF system on these trucks. These are Frak sand trucks, so think similar duty cycle to the paver trucks hauling asphalt for consideration. Anyone know is this OEM issues, duty cycle, just poor design? Really any insight at all would be helpful. Trying to wrap my mind around the issue and what's causing it. Thanks in advance!

I remember seeing ads for the green fuel. We called ours GHP - for Greater Horse Power back in the 50's and 60's. Then red became the color for premium diesel and that was called Ruby. The gov't started adding red dye to off-road and now the only way you know you're getting a premium fuel is that it's on the bill of lading or you're adding it yourself or to purchase from a trusted supplier. A lot of people still reference Amoco Premier diesel around here, but that hasn't been available since early 2000's. It was a very good fuel and they did a great job marketing it. Interesting post about the oil in the truck stop fuel Farmer52. I've never heard that. I would assume anything is possible if they can get away with it. I know most of the truck stops around the Midwest use biodiesel blends up to 20% to achieve a lower price point. Be aware that animal based bio blends begin to gel at 50 degrees F, so you should avoid filling up where this is sold at all costs if heading north (a B10 blend would start to gel at 10-15 degrees!). A B20 blend of bio might start gelling up at 15-20 degrees. Soy and vegetable oil blends should gel around 14 degrees, assuming it was B100, which it typically isn't. So if you fill at Love's or Flying J, expect that your #2 fuel will gel around that point, and any additive will get you to around 0 degrees with no #1, assuming you have a 10 micron suction stage filter. Not sure how you can know what the source of biodiesel is - vegetable or animal based. Depends largely on the location. For example IL is all vegetable based bio blends.

According to at least one source, George Washington was not very religious: According to Washington biographer Edward Lengel, "He was a very moral man. He was a very virtuous man, and he watched carefully everything he did. But he certainly doesn't fit into our conception of a Christian evangelical or somebody who read his Bible every day and lived by a particular Christian theology. We can say he was not an atheist on the one hand, but on the other hand, he was not a devout Christian." But what about he story of him kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge to pray? According to Lengel, "That's a story that was made up by [early Washington biographer] Parson Weems." While he would attend church, Washington wouldn't take communion. According to biographer Barry Schwartz, Washington's "practice of Christianity was limited and superficial, because he was not himself a Christian. In the enlightened tradition of his day, he was a devout Deist--just as many of the clergymen who knew him suspected." Is this revisionist history? The facts prove this to be so. I think that the author tried to rewrite history by overlooking a lot of details about his private life, his prayer journal, and even his inaugural and farewell addresses. Obama would have us believe we are no longer a Christian nation. Liberals will try to erase our Christian heritage. Washington deserves to be remembered as a great military strategist, faithful servant to the fledgling United States and a Christian. As for Robert E. Lee, his piety, morality, and compassion were apparent to all who crossed his path. As one historian has written, “Robert Lee was one of the small company of great men in whom there is no inconsistency to be explained, no enigma to be solved. What he seemed, he was—a wholly human gentleman, the essential elements of whose positive character were two and only two, simplicity and spirituality.” Thanks for sharing that article kscarbel2.

I spend my working days calling on trucking fleets and (qualified) driver shortage and the shortage of (good) diesel mechanics seem to be the most common complaints I hear from fleet owners. If I could sell those I'd be a millionaire already. Both the posts on the problems/solutions are really interesting. Automated trucks will end the driver shortage (driverless trucks). No one really wants to be on the road 2 weeks on end away from their family, but for people who need money it offers a respite. Trucker jobs for fleets with day cabs don't seem to have the same problem filling seats like Mack Technician says. It's when you go OTR that the problems begin. Give truckers 10 weeks PTO, more $ per mile, and make it so they are home as much as they are OTR and the shortages will disappear. Who wants to work 2 weeks and be home for 3-4 days?