$5600 Repairs

So I was driving from New Jersey to Pennsylvania yesterday morning, on my way to my next load, and at some point west of Philadelphia, I noticed the engine felt a little sluggish. Normally when I'm empty, that thing accelerates like a race car, but now I was having trouble gaining any speed, even going up the slightest of inclines.

I checked my guages and noticed the boost pressure guage was stuck at zero. In other words, my turbocharger wasn't kicking in. "That's odd," I thought. A few moments later the check engine light came on.

So I put on the flashers and found a safe spot to pull over (thankfully I was off the interstate going through a small town), then called our mechanic shop.

After explaining the symptoms, and the fact that I was on my way to a loading appointment less than an hour away, I was told to go ahead and get loaded, then they'd have me go to a nearby shop and check it out.

So I got to the shipper , loaded my roofing shingles in Myerstown, then headed up to Shartlesville, where there's a Kenworth shop next to the Love's.

It took over 3 hours before they finally got around to pulling my truck in, and after doing some diagnostics, they recommended changing the turbo speed sensor and cleaning some other part that I can't remember. Our shop approved that, so they went ahead and did it.

Well, after doing this and testing everything, they said the turbo itself was operating out of spec and also needed to be replaced. Our shop approved this also and they got to work.

Anyway long story short, they finished up about 15 minutes before midnight (conveniently, this was also 15 minutes before they went home for the night...), more than 10 hours after I first arrived, and the final bill ended up being over $5600. If I had been an owner/op, that would have been a swift kick in the pants to my pocketbook for sure!

If you were on a LEASE - this would have been on you also - out of your maintenance escrow, or your settlement.

Maintenance and repairs on a tractor, are as expensive as a Ferrari.

Rick

Sometimes it's important to know if it would be covered as a warranty issue. I know that in my case it would have been covered and would have only paid the first 500. Protection from breakdowns and liability are crucial in order to make it work.

Expensive yes but in all actuality, a turbo isn't that expensive or difficult to replace with a few tools and a few hours time. It's a good lesson to be aware of though in regards to what an owner faces in potential repair costs.

Take it as a lesson never to take a "rent a job" A.K.A lease a truck especially at what some of these companies want to pay. Best to leave the liability with the company. Why do you think they push so hard for guys to take a lease? Do you think they really do it for the drivers well being?

That's why as an o/o you have an emergency fund. I replaced the turbo on my truck in August the turbo was 3100 dollers. Most lease trucks cover things like this. But read your contract and warranty.