On the Road with Henry Albert

I started to hear a noise emanating from the passenger side of the truck. It was not loud but when you are in a truck as quiet as the Cascadia. It becomes annoying . The fix was very simple though. All I needed to do was , lubricate the door seal with some vinyl protectant . This made the noise disappear completely. I wish everything was that easy to fix .

Well its almost Thanksgiving day. For me this is a great time to reflect on what we have to be thankful for.This is my list.1 my wife who lovingly supports me every day , 2 my son who brings me great joy watching him grow into a man , 3 the rest of my family who are there when you need them , 4 great friends who are not fair weather friends , 5 living in a country where you can achieve as much as you want to , 6 great customers who have made weathering this down turn just a little easier . 7 having the ability to feed and support my family , 8 having the opportunity to work with Freightliner and Detroit Diesel on this project ,9 good health for me and my family , 10 just the fact that the good Lord saw it fit for me to see another day , is enough reason to be thankful. I hope that every one has a happy Thanksgiving.

This morning I found myself in Frederick Maryland without a load to pickup. I ended up dead heading over four hundred miles to Lima Ohio to pickup a shipment going to the Detroit Michigan area. I could have taken a load towards my home in Statesville North Carolina. At first glance this would appeared to have been the right move. By going the way that did not make sense I ended up making thirty cents a mile more even with all the empty miles involved. I also got a load going home from Detroit, so I will still be home for Thanksgiving. These are the kind of maneuvers I have been pulling off to survive the tight freight market.

Last night it got pretty cold outside. It was so nice to be able to sleep in comfort without the engine idling. The parked HVAC system worked very well. It was very windy out and the temperature was 18 degrees outside. There were no drafts and the truck did not rock around much at all. It sure was nice to go to sleep knowing that part of my profits were not going up the stack.

I probably don”t have to tell anyone that the freight market has been tight. These are the times the Freightliners I have owned in the past and present have really helped me to survive. The last two Freightliners that I have owned ,gave me excellent total cost of ownership. Neither one of them ever experienced much down time and were cost effective to maintain. I always enjoyed class leading fuel mileage .The efficient trucks that Freightliner designed have been a big part of my success as a independent owner operator. The Cascadia that I currently drive, seems to continue the tradition that Freightliner has established with me. Run Smart is more than a slogan when you own a Freightliner ,it is a way of life.

Today I finally had the chance to stop at Dee’s Diner. I have had my eye on this establishment for over two months. I have a weakness for mom and pop restaurants and diners. Unfortunately I usually do not have the time to stop at them often enough. You never really know what you will get as far food goes, but more often than not you leave more than satisfied. More than satisfied would best describe my visit at this diner today. The food was reasonably priced down home cooking. I also found the help to be very friendly and the atmosphere relaxing. It sure was nice to sit down and enjoy my meal. I just felt the tensions of the day evaporating away as I sat there. So if you happen to be going down route 33 in Ohio stop in at Dee’s Diner .It is located just south of Logan in Hocking County. Oh, and by the way try some of the home made pies.

I had a very enjoyable time on the radio this morning with Eric and Gary. It was a unexpected bonus when I had the opportunity to talk to the other drivers that called into the show. As I said on the show this truck needs to be driven to appreciate how exceptional it really is. Some of the things that I would have liked to have talked about , but did not have the chance are as follows. When you look at the outside of the Cascadia, take time to notice how the wind tunnel influenced every part of this truck. Every curve on this truck was designed to cheat the air out of power robbing drag. On the maintenance side, most everything was thought out for easy access. One the things that you would not see readily is the way the dash is designed for easy removal. They even made the wires a little longer so that a person would have enough room to work once the dash panel was removed. On the engine side, the P.M.s on the Detroit Diesel DD15 are made more convenient by having all the filters accessible from the the top. This sure is nicer than having oil dripping on you as you remove filters from the bottom.

The other day I stopped at the Burger King in Nelsonville Ohio. This is the same restaurant that I found the penny in a earlier blog. I noticed two young men helping a senior citizen lady. Upon seeing this I decided to walk over and see if they needed any assistance. They told me that they could use a tire gage to check the spare tire. It turned out that the tire only had twenty pounds of air in it. So I took the tire over to my truck and filled it up for them. It was sure nice seeing these young men helping someone in need. This is something that I also try to do on a regular basis. It is one of the ways that I try to shine a positive light on the trucking industry. These young men showed me that the future is bright indeed.

Last night I fell asleep and forgot to turn on the bunk heater. The temperature fell to 38 degrees. When I woke up it surprised me how well the cab held its heat. It was cool but far from uncomfortable. This is a testament to how well the Cascadia is insulated.