On the Road with Henry Albert

Hello,

It’s been a while since I have posted my DDEC reports. The following reports are from the months of January and February. The mileage has fallen off a bit due to winter blend fuel and colder weather. Colder weather makes denser air, therefore more power is needed to simply move the air out of the way.

Below,  you’ll find the first report showing 22,516 miles at 8.53 mpg. The previous report from the fall was 8.90 mpg. If I go back through my reports, it’s easy to tie the increased fuel consumption to winter blend fuel and the colder temperatures.

If you click on the images below they will appear larger for easy viewing.

The second report shows a trip distance of 1, 332 miles. This was a short run from Charlotte, NC to the northeast.  I had this report downloaded separately because it’s a different route from my normal schedule. This trip included many small towns and secondary routes. The fuel mileage was also adversely effected due to wind and rain.

 The third report is from my normal route of Charlotte, NC to Laredo, TX. On average, it’s been more windy than normal. My load weights are still running between 15,000-30,000 lbs.

In conclusion, I’ll be glad when we’re not purchasing winter blend fuel any longer. I’m ready to get back to my normal fuel mile averages. Till next time… be safe,

Henry

There is a torx head screw on each side of this housing. Upon removing the screws ,just lift off the cover and slide the filter tray up to access the cab fresh air filter.

Hello,

This week, I decided to change my fresh air filter to my cab. The fresh air filter and sleeper HVAC filter are easy items to forget. I usually try to change them every quarter. While making these replacements, it came to my mind that I should share this with you.

  I figured it was important to get out my “Cascadia Maintenance Manual” for some review before getting started. While doing my research, I made two new discoveries. First, the manual showed a filter which I was not aware of called, the “Cab Recirculation Air Filter”.  Second, I found information regarding the exact drive plate clearances to the HVAC System compressor clutch. My usual method of checking the compressor clutch included me wiggling the clutch itself to see if it may be loose. Thanks to reading the manual, I now know the exact clearance of the drive plate on the compressor clutch. The information for this project is located in the last chapter of the maintenance section in the driver’s manual.

For some reason, if you don’t have a maintenance manual, here is a link to an online version of your Driver’s Manual and Maintenance Manual.

 https://secure.freightliner.com/newbulletins/techmanuals/internetdocs/DMMM_manuals.asp?brand=Freightliner

This picture appears as though the access to the sleeper HVAC filter is hinged. It is not... It's held in place with 4 spring clips. You want to simply pull straight out on the access panel to access the filter. DO NOT try to open the access panel as if it has hinges or you will break two of the spring clips. My method for cleaning this filter has been to simply vacuum the filter media with my shop vac. The filter always looks good as new afterwards.

Hello,

Are Tolls or Fuel Taxes a better way to fund road work? This seems to be the big question or debate of today. As I write this, there are many discussions revolving around this question right now. This is one of the few subjects where the American Trucking Association (ATA), The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and The Truck Load Carrier Association (TCA) are all in agreement. These organizations all feel as though fuel taxes, via the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) is the best and most efficient way for collecting, creating and maintaining our highway system.

Tolls and Vehicle Mileage Taxes (VMT’s) all gobble up a greater percentage generated than the IFTA system, which already exists. No new bureaucracies are needed to continue using this system. Fuel taxes also encourage highway users to become more fuel-efficient as the tax is included in the price at the pump. Obviously, the tax rate needs to be adjusted as highway building becomes more expensive and as highway users become more fuel-efficient. The main reason fuel taxes are the most “fair” method of funding highways, is due to the fact, the worse you do on fuel, the more you pay to use the highway. Heavier vehicles use more fuel and therefore would pay their proportionate amount to maintain the highways.

Vehicle Mileage Taxes (VMT) are being tossed around as the future of highway funding. In my opinion, VMT’s are no different than a toll road. The only difference being there are no actual tollbooths. I can understand why this is an option of consideration with the advent of electric vehicles on the horizon. These new vehicles powered by electric or hydrogen fuel cells don’t have a method of paying a fuel tax as we know it in the IFTA system today. There are not many of these vehicles on the roads today and maybe not having a highway use tax will increase their popularity for the future.

We can all agree that in the past and possibly the present, highway funds have been misused and our highway system desperately needs repair and updating to our bridges and highways. The fuel tax seems to be one of the few taxes our legislators fear to increase. From my previous blogs on this subject, it seems to me that the fuel tax is one, which should be increased. Not that I really want any tax increase, however our roads, bridges and highways are in desperate need of repair.  If that sounds bad… lets not even go to the toll roads! Right now the PA Turnpike from Ohio to New Jersey, which is 359 miles costs a toll fee of $150.75.  This works out to 41 cents per mile. This makes any of the fuel taxes look like a bargain in comparison. Here is a link that shows how the PA Turnpike answers questions. Take a look at the answers and see if this is how we want our highways looked after. 

http://www.paturnpike.com/toll/toll_faq.aspx 

Till next time be safe,

Henry

It was a cold rainy day so I started figuring and calculating at the table.

Hello,

Now that you’ve had a chance to catch up on some history of our highway system, let’s talk about how we’re going to pay for our roads today. It appears, from our past, most of our roads were funded by tolls or a user tax. Such as, fuel taxes, Federal Excise Taxes on trucks, tires and trailers. There have also been direct taxes to fund highways including the infamous Federal Heavy Use Tax of $550.00. The problem with having so many different types of road taxes becomes an issue due to the need for various bureaucracies within each government agency. The result is that much of the funds are spent simply supporting the agency itself.

First, lets take a closer look at the Federal Excise Tax. For a $130,000 truck, the Federal Excise Tax of 12% equals $15,600.00. For a $32,000. trailer at 12%, equals another $4,320.00. The tax for these two items are a total of $19,920.00. This sounds like a lot of money for our highways, however when you figure it per mile, it’s quite a bit less than it first appears. Lets say this truck and trailer only lasts 750,000 miles, this would make the tax equal .026 per mile. As we all know, with today’s trucks the likelihood of the truck lasting more than 750,000 is very possible. This lowers the tax even more per mile.

I decided to play around with some numbers for Federal Excise Tax on tires.  The Federal Excise Tax on a complete set of tires for a 5 axle  tractor and trailer would be  between $303.84 (wide base singles) and $455.04 (using traditional duals). If your tires would last for 250,000 miles  your tax per mile would be between .0012 and .0013.

Now, lets look at the Federal portion of your fuel tax, which is 24.5 cents per gallon. If your truck is at 6 miles per gallon, your tax would be .04 per mile. At 7 miles per gallon, your tax drops to .035 per mile. If your fortunate to be a driver achieving 8 miles per gallon, your tax drops to .030 per mile. If you put on 120,000 miles a year, at 6 miles per gallon, your Federal contribution to the highways would be $4,800.00. Just for reference: at 8 miles per gallon, your Federal portion of the tax would be $3,600.00.

I did not figure the state fuel taxes because they are all different and one state “Oregon” does not even have a fuel tax. Click on this link for all of the state fuel taxes… http://www.iftach.org/taxmatrix3/choose_tableq2.php

In the next blog, I’ll talk about the other methods being proposed to fund our highways.

Here is some links on the subject. 

  http://fleetowner.com/equipment/tiretracks/fleet_revised_fet/

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Diesel_Taxes_April_2009.svg

 Hello,

This morning, as I was looking over some transportation industry publications, I read where Daimler Trucks North America has added a second shift to its North Carolina plants. Approximately 1,100 jobs will be added to the Freightliner truck production plant in Cleveland, N.C,.and 100 more jobs will be created at the components and logistics facility in GastoniaN.C. Gastonia is part of the support network of the Cleveland, N.C., Mt Holly, N.C., Thomasville, N.C.,Gaffney, S.C. production facilities.

From my area neighbors and myself, I want to say a big “Thanks” to all those people who made the decision to purchase new Freightliner Trucks in the past year. Each new job created at the plant supports even more employment to the surrounding economy. The added jobs bring work to the component manufacturers, area warehouses and the many businesses the employees patronize.

During the recent recession, the Cleveland plant shrank from 3,500 employees to approximately 650 as the recession shuttered much of the truck building industry.

What a difference a year can make. In 2011 truck orders increased 68.6% over 2010. The total North American class 8 truck order intake was 305,393, compared to 181,181 in 2010. Most of these orders were placed in the United States. I personally want to congratulate DTNA’s Freightliner brand for being the largest selling class 8 truck in North America capturing almost 35% of the market in the United States and Canada during 2011.

A ceremony was held last week at the Cleveland plant in which North Carolina Gov. Bev Purdue was in attendance. She called the development “tremendous news” for the state.Officials said the new hiring would allow the company to double its daily output rate by October and to cut into the back log on Cascadia orders, which now extend up to six months.

Having driven a Freightliner, Cascades since 2009, It comes as no surprise to me that the Cascadia is capturing such a large portion of the truck market. This truck is solid, quiet, comfortable and unsurpassed in fuel efficiency.

To the employees, engineers and management at DTNA ,my congratulations on a job well done!

Henry Albert

Hello,

On my way up to New Jersey this week, I stopped at the 301 Plaza Travel Center in Middletown, Delaware. I enjoyed stopping here and it brought back some fun memories. This was a favorite stop during many years on a routine run from Charlotte, NC to Wilmington, Delaware. As I drove the Cascadia into the parking lot, memories filled my mind of those days and the drivers I met at this establishment. There were many great chats and  lots of delicious food to go around. Thanks 301 Plaza for the memories.

Henry

Hello,

Here is my latest engine report for your review. As you can see, it was approximately a half mile per gallon less than my last report. I researched my notes and here are a few reasons for the lower mpg…. winter blend fuel, heavier loads and more windy conditions. For easier viewing  just click on the report and it will become larger in size. Till next time… be safe,

Henry