On the Road with Kurt Grote

hello everyone, I’m spencer and have decided to hijack dads computer tonite. the reason for this hijacking is because i have my chair back!! dad had gotten a new computer stand, and I’m want to tell you it is working out great!! because the cascadia is so open on the inside he can position the desk any way he wants to. which is great for me!! the other desk he had to rest it on the seat in order to stabilize it so it wouldn’t shake apart. however with this new desk the cyber trucker he doesn’t have to do that. the computer rides so much more stable with out the shaking that he doesn’t have to use my seat!! as roomy as this truck is on the inside i still like to be able to jump from seat to seat while he is fueling. i can better watch his back and alert him when someone approaches. plus it gives me something to do while he is out of the truck. to be honest i really like to antagonize the drivers next door, because they always make fun of me and harass me a little pay back if you will. the desk does take a little bit to install but it is well worth the effort!! so thanks again cyber trucker and you to dad for giving me back my chair!! until the next truckstop you all be safe!! spencer

hello everyone, i hope your week has been a safe one with all the snow that some of us has seen. i would like to lighten things up just a little bit this time. i know we have things that just get to us. i would like to give you my top 10 pet peeves. i would also like to here from you on your pet peeves. we will start off with #10-how about truck drivers that roll off on another driver. this is crazy if you where going that fast i wouldn’t have caught up with you. #9- leaving the crank handle in the crank position. what if some one happens by and runs in to it!! is it that big of a deal to pull the handle out? #8-people that just do not know how to merge into traffic. they must think that you must yield to them. #7-recaps this is self explanatory. i have never been a fan. #6-running all the way to the end of a lane closer! i don’t know about you but if they learned how to merge! #5- other drivers cutting you off. some of them i think try and see how close they can get to your front end without hitting you. #4-drivers that don’t know how to use a turn signal. i know the manufactures put them in the trucks, so why not use them. #3-”p” bottles i think there are enough places to find a restroom to use without a bottle or your drive tires. #2- any body that does not turn on their lights when it rains. if they only knew how difficult it is to see them they would turn them on. and that goes for big trucks also. and the #1 pet peeve of mine is washing a truck in the fuel island. now how smart is this? for one you get water all over for someone else to slip in and you use the same washer to wash your windows with!! therefor the rest of us has to suffer with you selfishness. i hope you have had fun this top 10. the only thing needed to correct these problem is a little thought. i think we all need to be reminded of that from time to time. until the next truck stop you all be safe!!

IMG_0609, originally uploaded by kurt.grote.

hello everyone, i hope all is well with all of you! as you can tell from my picture my truck is pretty dirty. i did this on purpose to show how well the truck actually cleans up! i went or the truck was at big rig expo over the weekend. even tho it was a little slow i had a great time. met some great vendors with some good products. i will be talking about these products in the future. i also had the chance to reconnect with old friends. the truck looked good after the bath. i was even awarded the third place prize in the truck competition or i should say the cascadia received the third place award. that is one thing i must say about the paint on this truck not only in the pictures that were taken in dallas, but at this truck show also the paint has really held up. after 165000 miles i’m impressed! i would like to take this time to thank all the people that made the big rig expo possible and also to the judges that gave me this third place finish! lastly i hope all of you have or will register for the fourth driver of the cascadia! until the next truck stop be safe!
kurt

hello everyone, spencer and i hope that all of you have had a very profitable week!! we are back from california. with a very impressive fuel run. the number one factor for me in my operation is fueling strategies. because of the way i run, i.e. weight, speed, and of course terrain, my fueling strategy is very important to me. i had fueled up in lake havasu city az going into california and did not fuel again until amarillo tx. now that meant going into califorinia and making my delivery and making my pick up to bounce all the way back to amarillo tx. i was really wanting to get to the ok state line but i didn’t have the guts or enough time on my log book to make that happen. those of you that are regular readers of my blog already know i don’t drive very slow!! we also know if i would slow down i could get a lot farther on my fuel run!! however it is what it is, this is how i run consistently. to be able to manipulate where you buy fuel and where you don’t is a direct reflection on your bottom line!! i don’t claim to get the best fuel mileage out there however my fueling strategies are still a big part of my operation. it is not all about mpg’s. it’s everything combined that make us profitable!! i am on my way to tulsa for the “big rig expo” the truck looks absolutly fantastic!! for whatever reason that truck sure does clean up rather nicely! i hope to see you all there so stop by and chit chat a bit!! i also know that a lot of you readers out are awaiting spencers return to the writing scene, but i did give him the week off, so maybe next week he’ll write something. until then all of you be safe and profitable!!

hello everyone, I’m on may way back out to california. last week when i went out there, i had a gross eight of 70,000 lbs. so i ‘m going to brag a little this week. i had fueled up in lake havasu city az. before going in. my delivery was in tulare ca. which is approx. 350 from the az state line up hwy 99 in california. so i made my delivery in tulare and the company dead headed me up to manteca ca. which i pick up my load there! now as most of you can imagine my truck gets a lot of attention. i have people that ask me my mpg. which i have no problem with that, but they proceed to tell me how they are getting just as good of fuel mileage as i am. after i probe in to their operation i find out that they are lite with about 25,000 lbs in the box and they are getting 6.75 mpg! this time it’s my turn. i loaded in manteca with 15,000 lbs in the box!! as some of you may now when it comes to california i don’t do any speeding!! at any rate 1700 miles on this fuel run. while i was in california at 58 to 60 miles per hour i hit the az., ca., line at 7.50 mpg!! which i think is great. because we want to see how this truck matches up against my old w900l. at the az state line i bummed up the speedometer to 68 miles per hour. i finally stopped and got fuel in tucumcari nm. my fuel mileage was a big 7.0175!!if that’s not impressive i don’t know what is!! i am real impressed with this truck!! i know my w900 would never get this kind of fuel mileage at those speeds. after running almost 1000 miles at 60 miles per hour and getting 7.5 mpg i know even in the rocky mountains i would continue to get great fuel miles. if you have a similar story and can back it up i would love to hear it. but if you are running 60 miles per hour and pulling lite loads and not the mountains, just look at what you could achieve!!i realize there are alot of drivers that wonder why i don’t slow down, and my answer to that is that we wouldn’t know the difference between a big nose truck and a aerodynamic truck. i would like to give you my honest opinion and the only way i know how, is to let you see it for yourself. in case you were wondering no this isn’t the blog i have been working on!! I’m still putting it all together. i do hope you all have a chance to drop by and see me at the big rig expo next week in tulsa ok. i will be there all three days so stop by and say hi. until next time spencer and i are off on another adventure!! spencer has had a lot of request for him to do some more writings we will see what happens going forward. stay safe and stay informed!!

kurt…………. and spencer

hello everyone, i hope your week has been safe and profitable!! spencer and i are on our way back to california this week. we have been fairly busy as of late. i keep looking at the clouds and thinking that winter is just around the corner!! we should be getting into winter fuel shorty, some of you might have already purchased some. i always dread winter blend because of the poor fuel mileage. my new tires seem to be breaking in rather nicely. i wish my fuel mileage would come up a little, but i guess that wont happen until these tire get a few more miles on them. i hope you all will check back on my blog in a couple of days because i have been working on a blog for several months that i think will be not only entertaining but fun also!! we will be making a big announcement soon how is that for a tease? so please check in often and dont miss my blog!! be safe as you travel!!

kurt……..and spencer

hello everyone, i made it back from the northwest with some interesting facts. going down cabbage with the 73,000 lbs the truck did great!!! the Jake’s held better than i had expected. there were times that i had to put my foot on the throttle to keep it going down the hill and that was going the posted speed limit, so i guess i would go down the hill in a little higher gear. i guess i shouldn’t take anything for granted i did put the autoshift in manual and select the proper gear. and fuel mileage was better than expected also. i also wanted to see how well the truck pulled going up the hill eastbound. coming out of Washington with apples i thought i would be a lot heavier. i was only 68,000 lbs gross. even at that the fuel mileage was still better than i thought i would be. I’m glad i got to go up there before the snow starts to fly. i know that my fuel mileage would be a little better if i hadn’t put some new tires on however in the long run i think it will prove to be a wise choice. i will be posting some pictures in the future so stay tuned!!!!

thx, kurt…. and spencer!

hello everyone, i hope you all had a great week!! i would like to start this blog by apologizing for Spencer’s rant last week he tends to go a little overboard. at any rate Spencer and i are off on another adventure to the great northwest. this is probably my favorite place to run. the scenery is something to be hold. it really doesn’t matter what time of year winter or summer it’s all beautiful. i had several choices of routes that i could have taken up here. one is going through Amarillo TX up 287 and Denver, or  I-40 to Albuquerque NM and hookup with 550 and up that way. however i choose to go over to Gallup NM and take devils highway route 666 renamed now highway 491. i took this way because of fueling strategy’s. it is not that much out of the way to go my way and buy the cheaper fuel. the difference in fuel was .10 per gal. also fueling in Gallup i wont have to put fuel on again until i get to Stanfield OR. to buy that cheep fuel which then i should be able to do what i need to do loading and unloading and bounce back out for the trip home. I’m just outside Salt Lake City UT., tonite and the truck is doing great at this point. I’m loaded gross about 73,000 lbs so i cant wait for the truck to see cabbage. i really want to test the Jake’s with this kind of load on and the hills with the auto shift it should be a real test for the cascadia. i should be going down cabbage sometime tomorrow afternoon. wish me luck!!!

kurt, and spencer