On the Road with Gina Angsten

Hello Everyone,

       Now that there is 23,000 miles on the truck thought I would let you know that to date my mileage is 6.97 on paper. When I first found out that I was getting this truck, I was sent the specs and told that Freightliner needed them back asap since the trucks were getting ready to go online at the factory. I pretty much knew what I wanted as far as engine size and tires the one area I was not sure of was the rear end ratio. Everyone I talked to said that I should go with 3:42 I got in touch with Chris Bodway at Truck Country in Wisconsin.

      He asked what speed I liked to drive, where I drive mostly, and how heavy I am on average. He also asked what motor and type of truck I had just came out of. I told him I had a 550 ISX cummins with 3:36 rear end ratio and a 13 speed with a 1850 torque. I then told him that I was thinking about the 3:42 he thought about everything and within a day he called Freightliner and let them know that I would not be happy with those and that he suggested I would be happier with 3:58. Chris then called me and let me know that he had made this change.

      I have to say I do not know if I would have been happy with the 3:42 but I can tell you that I am very happy with the 3:58. With the DD15 and the 1650 torque, running the speed that I have been running, which is 60mph @ 1350 rpms. The transmission is not struggling and no lack of power. Thank you to Chris for his help with this change and I can say I look forward to working with Chris in the future. He is always willing to answer any questions I have and help in anyway that he can. Just what we as drivers and buyers look for.

      Chris and I took some time out of the Waupun Truck Show and finally got a pictures of both of us next to the truck.

Freightliner Booth

       The Great American Trucking Show better known as G.A.T.S. is done for another year. The show was busy I wish I could say if it was busier than last year; but I was not there last year. I can only say that for the Freightliner booth we were very steady and that made the hours just fly by. Lots of  information out there right now about the new technologies that are available. A large truck show is one of the best ways that I know of  to not only get the information but also compare the different technologies. For the first 16 years of my driving career I had never went to a truck show. The first one I went to was last year at M.A.T.S. and every since there I decided that I would go to that truck show every year. Now that I have made the trip to G.A.T.S. it will be added to my list of must be at.

      My truck was in the Freightliner booth at the show and I wanted to thank those of you that stopped by to chat.  I have been so impressed by the new Cascadia that it is easy for me to talk about all the good things about this truck. Thanks for all the pictures and questions. If there are more questions that you thought of  since you left the show, do not hesitate to ask. I will do everything I can to get you the answers. You can also stop by any Freightliner Dealership and they will be more that happy to answer any questions that you may have thought of.

      I want to thank Eric Harley from Midnight Trucking  Radio Network   for stopping by and posing  for a picture with me and the Cascadia.

             The Salesmen from the local Freightliner Dealerships and Detroit Diesel were great and wanted to say thank you to them also.

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

Gina

Hello Everyone,

       I am down in Dallas and the truck has been dropped off with the Spiff group and getting cleaned up.  I got down here on Saturday and these guys were already working hard on several trucks. This group of guys make these trucks look like new for the shows. It is over 100 degrees today and they have not stopped yet.

     The trucks have to be ready to move into the convention center by Tuesday. G.A.T.S. starts on Thursday and for those of you that will be there, you will get a chance to see all four of the Slice Of Life trucks. My truck will be in the Freightliner Booth and Kurt,Henry and Dicks trucks will be in the Slice Of Life Booth in the Pride and Polish area. Please be sure to drop by both areas and see the trucks.

        For those of you that cannot make it to G.A.T.S. we will miss you all. I am missing She-La  for the fact that she is not here. She is at home and will be riding with Don until I run into them after Dallas. So until next time be safe and make it home to your families.

        Gina

Hello Everyone,

      As some of you know Henry and I was at the Waupun Truck Show last weekend. The show got a lot of rain on Friday; however during the day it was nice and descent traffic at the booth. On Saturday it was a different story. It was steady for most of the day and hot.

     For those of you that came by the booth thank you and glad you enjoyed the moment of cool air when you climbed into the Cascadia’s. The trucks were plugged in and the parksmarts were working great and keeping the truck cool inside. She-La was there and when she got too hot she was able to get into the truck and cool off. I cannot say enough about how great the parksmart system is.

     Anyway I entered my Cascadiain the competition for judging in the vinyl graphic mural division and the truck took first place. Thank you again to Freightliner trucks for such a great looking truck. It is breath taking. On Saturday we had the parade which took around 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. There was a total of 247 trucks so I was told in the parade.

     In the parade I know that there was 14 Make A Wish kids that got the chance to ride in some of the trucks. I know that the kids really enjoyed that and I wanted to say thank you to the drivers that take time out of running down the road to put a smile on a kids face.

      Truck Country Freightliner dealers came down to the show from around Wisconsin. Thank you to all of you guys from taking time out on Friday and Saturday to be there and making room in the booth from the Slice Of Life trucks. It was nice meeting all of you.

      Next I am on my way to GATS looking forward to seeing all of you there. Until then be safe and make it home to your families.

     Gina and She-La

Hello Everyone,

     I asked if I could post something and mom said yes. I just wanted to let you all know that mom and I will be at the Waupun Truck Show this weekend and we would like meeting those of you that can make it in person.

     The truck will be there along with Henry’s truck in the Freightliner booth. I will be there also for both days.

     Hope to see you there, if you are traveling as mom always says be safe and make it home to your families.

She-La

Hello Everyone,

       I have been asked what the difference in price and maintenance is between a APU compared to the Parksmart. The initial cost of the systems is relatively the same. That is around $8500.00 to $9500.00 installed. The Parksmart can be installed at the factory when a is truck, and the APU as to be installed afterwards. The good thing about it being installed at the factory is that the Parksmart uses the original duct system in the truck. It also allows more availability for Freightliner shops  to work on the system if something goes wrong with it. The cost of running this system is very small. You will hear some people say that is does not use fuel. Well that is partly true. The system is electric so it does not use any fuel to run the system. Where fuel is used is when you are recharging the system. The system takes approximately 6 hours to fully recharge. While you start your day on the road, The Alternator is not only going to  be working with the batteries to run the truck but it will be charging the 4 Parksmart batteries also. This in turn means that the alternator is going to draw more power which in turn uses more energy and fuel. The problem is there is no way to calculate the fuel it takes to recharge this system. The maintenance on this system is basically none. The factory claims that the batteries themselves are going to last around 2 years and then need to be replaced.

     The APU as installed at a different shop than the factory and does not use the existing ducts. So there is new piping to be installed and it usually takes around 2-3 days to install. Then there is the maintenance. You have to get oil changed just like you do with your trucks. you also have to replace belts and keep the components up. The APU also has a down fall of that there is a limited number of shops that can work on them and they are usually short hours.  One example that I can give is that on my last truck I had an APU and the water pump hose broke. When this happened I was on the side of the road, because it drained all of my antifreeze from the truck. Most APU’s use components from the truck the fuel the antifreeze the batteries. It was most discouraging that I was on the side of the road not because of my truck;but because of the APU. 

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

     Gina and She-La

Hello Everyone,

     Just a quick note, the Parksmart system is impressing me more and more all the time. Last night when I parked for the night it was 88 degrees outside I had the truck cooled off and the curtains closed to keep the heat out. When I got up this morning the parksmart system was still blowing cold air 14 hours later. I was told 8-10 hours was all I was going to get out of this system and with the knowledge of how to use the system you can get a lot more than that. This I am learning first hand.

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

     Gina and She-La

Hello Everyone,

        Hope all is well I just wanted to update you on some calculations of fuel and SCR fluid (or DEF). The rumor on the street was that the new trucks with the emission standards on them was going to cost more to operate for both fleets and owner-operaters. I was also one of those drivers that believed the rumor. With fuel costs up, we have all had to find ways to cut cost in order to keep our heads above water. We were all dreading 2010 emissions, one of the reasons was the cost of new trucks was going up again, because of the new emission systems. Then there is the cost of putting the fluid in the trucks and the stories went on and on.

        Truth, the most cost efficient way to purchase the fluid is at the pumps. It cost around 2.999 and does not seem to be fluctuation with the cost of fuel. It is harder to find the DEF at the fuel islands in the west coast. I am sure it is coming out that way, hang in there. The pilots seem to be adding more locations daily. You can always purchase the fluid in the 2 1/2 gallon jugs. It is more expensive that way, so I would try to locate a fuel island dispenser rather than purchasing it by the jug.

     All of that being said the other myth out there was that it was going to cost so much to add it to the trucks. No one can give straight answers about how much it is going to use for sure. Well I am keeping track of the MPG on this fluid along with my fuel MPG. I filled the DEF tank up today at the Pilot in Charlotte and my for the DEF  fluid I got 389 MPG. That reason that is so good is you only have to stop and fill this tank once every 2 1/2 – 3 weeks. We are using  just under 2% to the use of fuel. The better fuel mileage you get the less DEF you will use.

      There is a down side however. That is when you get ready to fill this tank and you are going to use the fuel island dispenser (which I recommend) you will have to have patience. There is only one fuel island per station that has this fluid. I know as drivers we  are not well known for our  patience,but the savings in the cost of buying at the island to buying by the bottle it is worth it.

        My fuel mileage is up just a little from the last tank I got 6.74 mpg. I went from Oklahoma City to Baltimore back to Oklahoma City then up to Wisconsin. My weight was never less than 78,000 and the trip out to Baltimore I was at 80,000 and from Oklahoma to Wisconsin I was at 80,000. The truck now has 18,000 miles on it. I am pretty sure I will see at least seven when the truck breaks in and shooting for 7.5 I will keep all informed on this progress.

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

    Gina and She-La

Hello Everyone,

      Thought I would share something with you. We all know it is extremely hot these days all across the U.S. and where I was is no exception. I was in Missouri on I44 in Sullivan,Mo. It was the end of the day and I was heading out to my truck when I was stopped a driver that seemed mad and he asked “Why is your dog in the hot truck?”

       I wasn’t sure  what he was talking about so I asked him. He explained that when I pulled into the truck stop the Cascadia caught is attention and he saw me walk She-La. After her short walk I put her in the truck and left. I was still baffled at what he was so upset about. I finally told him that the truck was not hot. He told me  that when he walked by the truck he couldn’t hear the truck running or an APU running and continued to explain to me that in 94 degree weather it does not take long for a vehicle to heat up. I tried to tell him again that the truck was not hot.

       I finally gave up and said let me show you. I do not have an APU on my truck I have what they call a Parksmart. That is a 4 battery system that cools the truck in the summer and heats the truck in the winter. I took him out and asked him to step up in the truck, She-La moved over of course and he was pleasantly surprised that in fact the truck was cool and not hot. He couldn’t believe how quiet the Parksmart was. I told him that my last truck had a APU and it was good but over all I think the Parksmart is much better. Quiet and you don’t feel like there is a lawn mower sitting next to your truck. He apologized for jumping to conclusions and I told him that was just fine. 

      It was actually nice to know that a driver would look out for an animal that was not theirs and talk to a driver if they think they are not taking care of the animal properly.  Since I have She-La I believe it is my job to not only take care of her but to also pick up after her. Just a thought?

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

Gina and She-LA

Hello Everyone,

      Today I delivered some magazines to Fort Hill Military Base. While I was there I realized that the troops are not thanked enough for what they do. I asked the troops if they had some time to stop with their work and take a photo next to the truck. They had no problems with that. Some of the guys even got inside the truck and explored the Cascadia. It is nice to have a truck that people like looking at and want to ask questions about our life out here on the road.

      I took the picture and told the troops I would post it today. I did this for a small way of saying Thank You  to the Troops for what they do. If we did not have the kind of people willing to go out and fight for our freedoms then we as truck drivers would not be able to drive these trucks so freely in this country. We should all think about that when we are in a traffic jam and complaining. I think I would rather be in a traffic jam 10 miles long than going away from my family to another country and fighting for a country that seems to forget they are doing so.

      Thanks for taking the time for the picture and showing an interest in the Cascadia. I will not forget my short visit with the troops while they unloaded my truck.

Gina