On the Road with Gina Stumborg

Slice Of Life Truck

Hello Everyone,

This adventure began back in ’09 at the M.A.T.S. in Louisville,Ky. I test drove the Cascadia truck at the show and never thought it would have taken me down the road it did. Here is the story.

I found out about a contest that Daimler Trucks North America was having and it was an essay contest. The prize was the privilege of driving a Cascadia for a year and blogging about the experience. So I entered the contest not really thinking I would win; but I did. Out of 400 entries my essay was chosen. What was it about you ask? Well it was simply about my career and all the turns it had taken up to that point and why I love driving so much.

Summary is 18 years driving and everything from student to company driver onto a trainer and even a dispatcher for a while to finally be back on the road to become an owner-operator. I Love driving because I can drive down the same road everyday and look at the same tree and it will be different. You just have to take the time to look.

So on June 3, 2010 I was given the truck that I was going to be driving for the next year. It was beautiful and I couldn’t wait to get this adventure started. I asked for a mountain scene since I was raised in Colorado and I missed the scenery. I couldn’t have asked for a better mountain scene than Vomela, the vinyl graphic company,  gave me on the truck. I had the truck set up with an UltraShift and super singles. I had never had either, so that was going to be something new too.

As the program got started I was introduced to so many people in the industry and learned so much from them that it would take way too long to thank them each individually; but they know who they are and thank you.

Since the start of the program my life has changed I got married to my best friend and I am now running team with him. We are loving being together however that being said running team does not leave much time for the Slice Of Life program. I feel that if I cannot give the program my 110% effort than it is time to say good-bye to the program so this will be my final blog.

New Freightliner Cascadia

It is now time to move onto my next adventure running team in my new Cascadia that Don and I had built and took delivery of on the 1^st of this year. We will still be out here running down the road and truly believe in the Freightliner brand. Keeping in mind that 11 years ago I would not have stepped foot on a Freightliner property. I was a Kenworth girl all the way. I will say this Freightliner is not what they used to be from customer service in the shops to the way the trucks are built now. If you have not driven a Freightliner in a while you need to. You may just be pleasantly surprised just like I was.

Thank you again for the wonderful adventure to Freightliner and Daimler Trucks.  To those of you reading my blogs and coming to meet me at the truck shows these past 2 years. I will never  forget what a privilege it was to be in the Slice of Life program. I always end my blogs with a saying the reason I do that is to me there is nothing more important than family. I love mine and the support that they have given me over the years in the Trucking Industry. So until I see you out of the road at some truck stop be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

Well the truck is set up and we are ready to get back on the road on Saturday. It is really amazing how long it takes to set up a truck and get the lettering done and ready to go.

Don and I have been off for three weeks so getting back into the groove is going to take a couple of days.

We put the airtabs on the truck, and we replaced the seats with some leather seats. We have the custom mattress in and the television from ASA electronics.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families. I will have more to report after the weekend with the new truck.

Hello Everyone,

A New Year and a time that I look back at what I achieved last year. I never tell my New Years resolutions, I keep them to myself. I do not even tell Don and I tell him everything.

There was a lot of changes in my life this last year with getting married, buying our home together, taking the snowmobile for a flight over a set of railroad tracks. Even though I do not think I did that on purpose. Don said I went about 8 feet in the air though, not a graceful landing!!!! I learned what it felt like to be hit with lightening, which I never want to feel again. Nor do I wish that for anyone else.

I met so many people being in the Slice of Life program and I appreciate Daimler Trucks for the opportunity to be in this program I just have to say thank you to them.

Looking forward to this year is going to be great too. Sometimes you have to say goodbye to somethings to say hello to the new. I am doing that with the truck that I have been driving for the Slice of Life program.

New Truck just arrived

Don and I are waiting for our new 2012 Freightliner Cascadia. We will still be blogging on the technology of this truck. Right here. The new truck has a 505 DD15 with 1650 torque. 342 rear ends and a set of dual tires instead of the super singles. I think it will be a good chance to compare the fuel differences. The dual that we put on the truck are the michelin energies 22.5′s. It also is  a 13 speed manual not ultra shift. We stayed with the aluminum fifth wheel since I really like the fact how cleans it stays and the weight savings. We are picking up the truck from River States Truck and Trailer in La Cross, WI. on Tuesday night and hopefully will be rolling down the road in the new ride on Thursday.

One more thing that I am looking forward to is the electronic logs that our company is putting into the trucks this year. I know most of you do not like these; but to me this can work for us or against us. I do not have to worry about my company but I know there are some out there that tend to push their drivers harder than they should. I believe this is the biggest reason for trucks having accidents at night. Falling a sleep is a big problem and since I drive the night shift now I am looking forward to that fact that at least I will know that the drivers out there will not be driving more hours than they should be. They are not all good; but there are some good things that I believe the electronic logs will do.

Happy New Year to all of you and to all of you I hope this year will be prosperous for you and your families.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

It can be an ill feeling when you stop to fill your truck up with fuel and the truck will not start up again. It is even a worse feeling when it happens on a Sunday. You all know that most repair shops are not open on Sunday. Well this just so happens to have happened to me a couple weeks ago while on a fuel island in Troy, Ill.

I started making phone calls and found out that the Truck Centers in Troy, Illinois happens to be open 7 days a week. To me this mean to so much not just because I needed them at that time; but also that they actually realize that trucking is a 7 day a week 24 hours a day business.

So there we were stuck on a fuel island and not having a great day. I called Truck Centers and they were able to get us right in. We were able to get the truck started after letting it sit for about 10 minutes. As we got to the shop we were impressed with how large this facility was.

There are many driver amenities including hot dogs cooking along with donuts, and popcorn for the drivers at no charge. There are also Vending machines with an assortment of items for you. In the drivers lounge there are many oversize recliners and a direct TV to watch. There is also a quiet room, two showers and laundry facilities with two washers and two dryers. One of the things that stood out also to me was that there are also amenities for our little four legged friends. Yes they even have kennels inside the building for the dogs to relax.

We found out that the starter went out in the truck and that was the problem. We were fixed and out the door without having to give up the load we were on. We were also not late with the delivery. Thanks to the fact that Truck Centers in open 7 days a week 24 hours a day.

Please go to my flicker page to view photos from Truck Centers.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

The day I hit the deer I was able to stop by and see the third River States Facility. The River States organization really have taken the time to provide nice facilities for the drivers when our trucks need repairs.

No gate

The first thing you notice when you pull into the Roberts Facility is the Parking Free sign. Their parking lot is open 24 hours there is no gate so if you need a place to park here is a great option that they offer.

They have 25 bays so this is a big shop and they are open 7 days a week. Look at that a shop that realizes that trucking is a 7 day a week job!!!! Especially since our trucks always seem to break down on the weekend and most of the time you cannot get into to a shop until Monday.

For the comfort of the drivers there are showers available and a very nice drivers lounge. Glenn Zimmerman the Service Manager and his team work hard at getting the trucks back on the road but while you are there you will be comfortable.

Mike Huth the Parts Manager also let me know that since River States is a smaller group of dealerships they tend to stock more parts than some other dealerships. I can say that after seeing their parts room if they do not have it, it would be unusual. I needed a support for one side of the back of my bumper. Not a part that most places would stock, but River States had the part in their stock room. No waiting for parts means less down time for the drivers which as we know translates in to more money in our pockets and happy dispatchers.

Dispatchers are kind of like Mommas. You know the saying “If Momma ain’t happy, no ones happy”. The last sign at Rivers States pretty much sums up the River States Group they are special. Next time you are across I94 in Wisconsin stop in Roberts Exit 10 or Eau Claire Exit 59. If you are down on I90 in La Crosse Exit 5.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

Question: Why did the Deer cross the road?

Answer: To play chicken with a truck.

Question: Who wins?

Answer: Neither, The deer dies and the truck needs repairs.

That has been the story of my life this week. Yes I started hunting season a day early. I did provide the wildlife in the area some good road kill with the 6 point buck I got. He hit me right in the center of the hood mostly down low and then spun around the passenger side and got part of the step. It was not too pretty though it could be worse. The radiator is fine and all the damage is cosmetic.

The Cascadia had to be part of the tradition up in the north with the hunting season upon us. Oh well I did say that the Cascadia and I could win with whatever mother nature threw at us. I just didn’t think she would throw her cousin, Wildlife after us.

Damage from the Deer

The truck will back to normal after the repairs are done. I really do not like the fact that I hit a deer, his big brown eyes seem to look at me through the windshield just before he went down. I am sure he was someones dad. Yea I know I could never haul cattle I would be naming them as they went on the trailer and saying goodbye as they walked off. I can’t help it!!!!

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families. Watch out for wildlife they are damaging to a good week!

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

I was reminded about how great the Cascadia was just today while I was driving. Let me explain. Don and I were traveling from Wisconsin to Georgia on the I65 corridor when the C.B. chimed up about how bad the wind was. I really hadn’t noticed the wind and that was when I was reminded how great the Cascadia is.

When the C.B. continued with a conversation about how bad the wind was from several drivers I started to take notice of the trees. The wind was blowing for sure I looked at our fuel mileage on the dash and noticed we were down to 6.4 that is low for the Cascadia so I knew that we were cutting through the wind. With the Aerodynamic additions to the Cascadia the hood the extra pieces of rubber on the bottom of the steps, the side fairings down the entire side of the Cab. What a difference.

Keeping in mind that the front of the truck is the start of the Aerodynamics and I have ended the truck aerodynamics with Airtabs down the side fairings and over the top of the truck to help lift the air over the sides and top of trailer. Yes I believe the airtabs do a great job of taking away the vacuum effect that every truck causes. They played apart today in the wind and me not actually  feeling the wind. I could see the way other trucks were fighting the wheel and all over the lane with the wind whipping at their trucks and their trucks not being aerodynamic they had a fight on the hands and let just say that the wind was winning.

I also was pulling on of my companies aerodynamic trailers with the skirts, nosecone and again airtabs on the tail end of trailer. With all of the features on the Cascadia and trailer there was no way the wind was going to win. I had the upper hand with control.

Though our fuel was down a little today because of the wind we were just as relaxed driving the Cascadia because of the fact that we were not fighting the wind. Like I said I was reminded how great the Cascadia is. Come on mother nature I am not scared and neither is my Cascadia we can take you on head on and win every time.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well and enjoying the weather and the changing of times. It is that time again when the clocks are changed back and the days seem to get shorter and shorter. For those of you that drive the day shift I know this is not always the favorite time of the year for you since it gets dark around 1700 which for most of  you that would only mean a couple more hours to drive. Now with it getting dark early those last few hours can be tough. Hang in there and be safe most of all.

For me I love this time of year because you only have a couple of weeks to enjoy the weather changing before it will be snowing again. None of really enjoy driving in the snow; but for those of us like my husband and I we like to play in the snow with the snow mobiles. If you drove in Pennsylvania in the past two weeks you got to see views like the photo below. That is the best part of our jobs.

How many people do you know that can say they have a view like that from their office. Not too many that I know of. Being a trucker is great because you are not stuck in a building you get to see the weather changes and experience them. Watching the leaves fall from the trees is going to happen quickly in fact most of the trees in Pennsylvania have already fallen and making way for the snow fall to begin.

I was in the snow in New Jersey two weeks ago and what a site all it did for Don and I is get us excited for the snow mobiles. We took a couple days off this week and washed the sleds so we are ready for the blizzard. Bring on the snow. That being said we also put new tires on the Cascadia so I will see how the lug style tires do compared to the Energy style.

Last year I had the energies so I will be able to compare which ones I prefer for the area that I run in. I did not have any problems with the Energy tires so time will tell.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

William and His Cascadia

The above picture is of William Alford. He is a long time family friend and when I say long time he has known me since I was in 6th grade. About two years ago when the economy tanked his job did too. That was when he decided to try out the trucking industry, like so many others did.

He went to school that a company paid for with a contract of one year of service. I know most of us think that the schools do not do enough to teach people to be drivers. They don’t; but then again they are not supposed to. They are there to give information to people just so they can get their CDL’s. For that the schools are fine. It is up to the training companies to teach drivers about the industry. Along with those of us that have been out here for awhile. Anyway enough on that, he got his CDL served his time at that company I will not mention and now he is trying his luck at Prime as a Lease Operator.

I do not recommend leases to drivers however when I started out and thinking about buying my first truck I did a lease first too. They do serve a purpose just like the truck driving schools do. I will say this he is doing great with the lease.

He chose to drive a Cascadia because he knew that the bottom line was going to be important to make it or not in the industry. With the Cascadia he can get the comforts that he liked and also get great fuel mileage. Keep in mind that he is pulling a reefer and majority of the time he is heavy. He also runs all 48 states so he gets lots of different terrain.

That being said he keeps up on his maintenance which he likes because he only has to do an oil change service every 50,000 miles. That not only saves money; but also time per month. He also played with his sweet spot on his truck to find where to run the best he has settled in on 55 MPH. You should hear him when he has to run 60 MPH because of a load or something. I think he is taking after Henry Albert. HA HA. Anyway the fuel mileage he is getting is 8.1-8.3

He runs a percentage contract and with the fuel surcharge there are weeks that he makes money just on fuel alone since he is using the right equipment (Cascadia) and running smart by driving slow and not hurrying down the highway.

So the question is do you take the plunge and get into the owning side of the industry when you just start out. You can if you have the right mind set and you drive a Cascadia. Good luck and great job to William on the way he is running his business. I can guarantee that he will not be one of those drivers you will hear screaming about the high cost of fuel. With the Cascadia and the fuel economy that the Cascadia gets you want to the fuel to go up.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina, Don and She-La

Hello Everyone,

For years we have all drove on Dual tires. There was security in that to some degree. The question I have is there really more security with duals over super singles.

With duals you can limp your truck along at a slow pace to the next exit to be sure you are off the road safely if you have a blow out. I have to agree that there is security in that fact that you have three other tires on an axle to keep the trailer up in the air. There is a downside to security though and that hits you in the bottom line. You are not going to get as good of fuel mileage with dual tires and if you take care of your tires you will not have blow outs. So is the cost of security worth it?

With super single tires you have of course the concern that if you blow a tire you will be on the side of the road without the ability to limp the truck up to an exit. There are concern with that since I am sure you have seen drivers on the road not move over for vehicles on the side of the road. So you could be hit. Not to mention waiting for a repair truck to make it out to you. Yes you will have to wait for a repair truck with either tire. Since legally you are supposed to stop when you have a blow out. Yes we all know that we have a tendency to take advantage have having three other tires; but we are not supposed to. With super singles you will not have the chance.

You could also be out a rim if you blow a super single. If you take care of your tires which with super singles you have to pay more attention to this than with duals. The true upside to super singles is the savings on your bottom line. You will have better fuel mileage with super singles better smoother ride goes along with super singles too. Again this comes down to is the chance worth it.

I have a solution that may help you decide which tires to go with. If you are looking for the savings on fuel mileage and security in not sitting on the side of the road waiting for a repair truck. There are some things you can do. Use tires monitoring systems to make sure your air is the same for all tires. I do not have this I just stick my tires everyday with the tires being cool. I also know that there are sometimes you will pick up nails, bolts, other articles that can go through a tire. So how do you fix that problem? AmerSeal!!!

This product has multi functions. Tire Sealant, Balancing while rolling down the road, which extends tire life. Keeps tires cooler upto 35 degrees. There are many tire sealants out on the market, however Amerseal is one that I believe in because it coats not only the tread portion of the tires, but also the side walls and it stays in place for the added security that I like to have for the super singles.

It is so easy to install that I can do it. Right through the valve stem of any tire. For more information on this product go to www.amerseal.com Like I have said before this is a business and as an owner we are always looking for ways to improve the bottom line.

The Cascadia and freightliners philosophy of Run Smart goes hand in hand with Super singles. However with the fuel savings you will want to protect these tires anyway you can and this product is one way that you will not have to worry about tires if you pick up these stray sharp objects that can cost you part of your bottom line. Just thought I would share this product with all of you. If you are wondering Super Singles VS. Duals, as an owner I would want the best fuel mileage possible and the protection for the tires. Now you can.

Until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

Gina,Don and She-La