Friday while pretripping my truck I noticed that the mechanic had decided to replace the tie rod and a set of shocks on the truck. These were the ones that the Kentucky DOT had flagged but the mechanic down there could not find what was wrong. So basically I put the truck and trailer in for a third opinion. I don't know if they did anything to the trailer, but I have a feeling they did.
It wasn't until I started driving it that I knew that it was handling a lot better. I was having to make a lot fewer minor adjustments while steering, it was never anything major, just an inch up or down to hold the straight line. The biggest difference was when I started hitting some of the major bumps in Kentucky along I-71. The new shocks improved the ride by so much that it makes me wonder about some of the other trucks I have driven for Falcon. I had just thought International tractors had a rougher ride, but with new shocks it was almost as good as the Freightliners I drove in the past.
Going down I had another driver catch a ride down to Nashville. He was a trainee that lived down there and was going to be getting he=is next trainer from the terminal in Nashville. He was nice enough, but I did feel a bit sorry for him since the passenger seat in my truck is not very comfortable at all. This did get him home two days earlier than he originally thought he would be there. He was originally going to be catching a ride down on Sunday.
The drive Friday was extremely frustrating as I caught extremely heavy traffic from Dayton all the way down to Cincinnati. The huge construction project going on through Dayton didn't help things either. That is apparently scheduled to be done in 2011. The traffic around Louisville was pretty bad as well, looked like a back-up due to an accident that was long gone by the time I got to the front of the line.
The funny thing was that even after all the delays I got to Saturn, oops, the GM Spring Hill Assembly Plant, GM is taking a more active roll down there. I just hope the changes don't kill the efficiency and flexibility that was a part of the Saturn culture. Anyway, I got there at about the same time I usually did. It just shows how much faster a truck is when empty than when loaded. Those hills through Kentucky really add time to a heavy load.
Driving home Saturday was fairly uneventful, the gray skies promised rain, but none ever fell. I was hoping the rain would wash some of the dust off the truck for once. I was annoyed to find out that nothing was planned for me yet on Monday. The person I talked to tried to make it my fault for not calling and talking to my driver manager on Friday. All I could say was that I didn't realize I needed to call to check and see if he was doing his job.
Hopefully it will be more of these runs down to Tennessee, they go pretty fast and rack up the miles fairly quickly.
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