First Week Out With My Swift Mentor

First day with the truck is over. Been running all over Wisconsin. First to a terminal to get Ye Olde New Driver Starter Kit. Seals, blank BoL's, safety vest, permit book looked up, enforcer lock. I also grabbed an empty trailer and then headed back across Wisconsin towards my first load. I'm currently parked about 20 miles from my target location, and I would have tried to pick it up early except its a live-load from a bakery...so I'm sure I would have been laughed away. So I'll chill here tonight. I have 1000 miles to do in 2 days. Needs to deliver by 1830 on Thursday.

I'll get pics done when I have a little breathing room, and it's daylight out.

Some observations about the 2015 Kenworth, and a few things I miss from the Freightliner (never thought I'd say that).

I miss the steering wheel controls for the Cruise Control and Engine Brake that the Freightliner had...and that's about it.

The KW has a similar turning radius to the Freightliner (so think Titanic). The clutch has the shortest play I've ever felt in a truck. The seats are nice. The mattress in the back is far better than the Freightliner. The armrest could use a little work.

Overall, I like this truck. I'm still figuring out its quirks and storage space. I'm going to work hard on only filling up about half the space with my crap, so it is easier to entigrate my dad when he joins me.

Dad here with an update.

Adventures of the first week solo: Sean picked up his truck in Eau Claire, WI, on Monday and headed, bob-tail, to the terminal in Menasha, WI, to pick up plates, Qualcomm setup, BOL, Permits, seals, comchecks, enforcer lock, etc. He got his load assignment and stopped about 20 miles from his pickup in La Crosse, WI. He picked up the load on Tuesday and then got a system error “SCR System Fault. Seek service to repair”. This was rather suckish! This is a “known” SCR/DEF problem that’s been hanging around for about 2 years. With the trailer, he limped to a garage and they couldn’t repair it and they started the process to get him towed to a Kenworth facility. Now Sean is looking at having to call for a repower and have another truck pick up the trailer for NC. He slept in the dead truck Tuesday night. The second truck showed up Wednesday afternoon and he called for the tow. Well, low and behold, it was determined there is actually a KW dealer about a 5 minute idle from the shop where he’s been stuck for two days. They were looking to tow him about 90 miles (probably back to Eau Claire).

I feel bad because I’d seen in Google and on Google Earth that the rig was near the KW dealer nearby but I had figured he’d been there and they couldn’t repair the truck. So, he got to a motel and his truck got in the shop this AM. Seems the two rigs ahead of him were suffering a similar problem.

He got a bit bummed by the whole thing but was happy about the original pickup in the old/historic district. He’d maneuvered safely to a tight dock and loaded before the fun started.

So, first week has had one day actually driving, two days getting to the right repair facility, and still waiting on the truck. I just hope they actually fix the sucker! This particular error has a knack for popping up 48 hours later. It’s one of those examples of emissions controls run amok. Once the error comes up the truck depowers and that’s all she wrote. He’s got the Cummins engine with the ISX15 setup.

Hopefully Sean will update with his thoughts after the dust settles. The good thing is nobody hurt, no “accident”, just a lot of wasted hours!

Driving 5 miles from my pick-up location to the first shop while in limp-home mode was easily the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. I barely made it through stop lights, and held up traffic something fierce. Funny story, one of the other drivers ahead of me at the Kenworth dealership says he saw me crawling along that day from his hotel room. Fun times.

The truck got pulled into the shop today around 10am. There were some trucks ahead of me last night so I had to wait. I'm hoping to hear some good news soon, and like my dad says hopefully it doesn't do the same thing in 48 hours.

Sean got the truck about noon from the KW dealer in La Crosse, Wi. He headed bob-tail to near Milwaukee where he picked up and headed to Plymouth, MI. He was pushing HOS but apparently made it without issue. I think his delivery was around 3am Saturday. His next load was ready so he bob-tailed to. Best Western and parked. Today, Saturday, he's picking up a load from Northfield, MI, headed to Brownstone, MI. He finally has a load schedule with "time" on his side. After he delivers at Brownstone he's scheduled for a load to Buffalo, NY. This is what he signed on for and I know he's enjoying it.

A little clarification since I can't edit: he picked up the truck Friday at noon and wound up in Plymouth, MN. From Plymouth he heads to Northfield-Brownstone and Brownstone-Buffalo.

A little clarification since I can't edit: he picked up the truck Friday at noon and wound up in Plymouth, MN. From Plymouth he heads to Northfield-Brownstone and Brownstone-Buffalo.

Dad here. Well this didn't pan out. The DEF/SCR ERROR came up again, while Sean was under load. He was at Love's in Roscoe, IL, and had to wait about 36 hours for repower truck to arrive. He's now at his third KW repair facility in less than two weeks! This time they found a bad fuse block under the hood so hope springs eternal that this will indeed fix thus gremlin. They need to bring in the parts since this is not a part that fails very often. The T680 only has about 23K on the odometer.

Awww man! I hope this gets worked out soon. If this is common on Kenworth tractors, I wonder what Kenworth is doing about it? This certainly is quite a poor mark on them.

Awww man! I hope this gets worked out soon. If this is common on Kenworth tractors, I wonder what Kenworth is doing about it? This certainly is quite a poor mark on them.

It appears to be the combination of Cummins ISX15 engine. Not all KW have this engine.

Wow. That sucks. I have been keeping up with this thread religiously Because i am a couple of months behind him. I hope all gets straightend out soon and you get on the road quickly.

Wow. That sucks. I have been keeping up with this thread religiously Because i am a couple of months behind him. I hope all gets straightend out soon and you get on the road quickly.

The good news is he does have a great DM and a broken truck is certainly not her fault. She loaded up his commcard for the hotel, etc. KW found a bad fuse block and didn't just focus on the SCR hardware. This may, indeed, be the gremlin. I know I've fought electircal issues that you would never consider until you pull or check something else (I've got some great IT hardware stories!)

Bad news: The fax/scanner at Love's was down so he couldn't submit his reciepts and all from the last few days of this fiasco. Again, not a fault of Swift and I'm sure the DM will take care of him Sean's not sure about any particular breakdown pay or such. I'd think there should be some per diem or such to cover this kind of "not at fault" downtime.

He hasn't updated me about the part or given an ETA for getting back in the loop. However, if the truck is made right he's in perfect position to run hard for three weeks and get planned home time for a family cruise over Thanksgiving. Wish him luck!!