On the Road with Kurt Grote

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a safe and profitable week! To me it seems like more and more company’s are targeting the owner operator. I think that it is partly due to the fact that the majority of the industry is of the owner operator business model. I do not have the exact number, however it is the biggest part of our industry. As I walked around  GATS, in Dallas it just seemed to have that kinda of feel to it. Which brings me to my point. Freightliner put their parts team in the booth to show their product and wanting to promote the parts that are available to the owner operator. I really think that the Freightliner parts people Shannon Duncan and Marcus Gravely do have the individual trucker in mind with their parts. However as I pointed out to them it’s not the out of the normal parts that hold most of us up but the every day stuff that one would think would be on the shelf in the stock room. They had expressed to me that they where aware of that problem and that they are working on that through a new program called O.E. Connect. which in short allows all dealers to look at other dealers inventory for the parts needed. Therefore one place say Dallas has 8 parts of one kind and Tulsa has zero, than it can be easily researched to get that part to Tulsa as soon as possible, without further delays which cause us of course down time and money. To put their theory to the test I specifically looked for a part that would be very hard to get and  track down. The part was a wiring harness. It was on national critical back order or what ever language they use, the point is I tried to make it as hard for them as possible. I assumed it would be weeks if not months before I would receive my wiring harness. I must tell you at this point I did have a grin and a smirk on my face because I just knew it wasn’t going to happen. One of these days I”ll learn not to be so cocky it usually comes back around to bite you in the butt. Yes, this one did the same, it turned around and took a big chunk out of my backside. By noon the very next day they not only had located the part (that wasn’t supposed to be anywhere) but they also had it shipped overnight next day!  So I had my part in less than 2 days that wasn’t suppose to be there. Needless to say that really impressed me! If they can cut down our down time and get us back on the road quicker the more money we can make. If Freightliner continues this kind of service they should and will be on the top of the heap for owner operators to do business with! My hat is off to them for as lease tiring to put the owner operator first and recognising a problem and taking the steps to correct a problem and not just pushing us through like cattle. Like the Cascadia that has captured the owner operator, this kind of thinking can only make Freightliner and Daimler a much easier company for us owner operator’s to work and do business with! Once again my hat is off to Shannon and Marcus for a job well done! Until the next truck stop all of you be safe!  
                                        Kurt and Spencer   

Hello everyone, I hope all of you had a safe and profitable week! I know all of you have been waiting on my post this week, so I can tell about my trip from Atlanta Ga., to L.A. Ca., so here it is. I am one of those drivers that just couldn’t believe I could get great fuel mileage, I run to heavy and to fast and to many mountains. However that has changed I can now brag about being in the 7 mpg club! Which I did do. Did I run my usual route? No, I ran across I-20 and I-10 all the way, and I wasn’t very heavy either! Now I can understand why drivers prefer not to run the mountains and would rather run the flat land. To say the least I had a great time doing this and my pocket book enjoyed it also. I did end up with a 7.03 mpg total for the run. I also only had approx., 18,000 lbs in the box. However I did still run at my same speed of 68 to 70 mph. That part I didn’t change. It was a change of pace for me so I enjoyed the change up this time. We will see what our next trip might bring, do I see a northeast in my future? Tune in next time and we will see. Yes Spencer is back on the truck and happier than ever, he has me all to him self for now until I get to Joplin Mo., for that show on the 1st and 2nd of October. Until the next truck stop you all be safe!

Kurt and Spencer

Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a safe and profitable week! Well it’s all over for this year. The 2010 Great American Truck Show is what I’m talking about. I guess I’m really not the one to judge these things because I always have a great time at these event, however I thought the show was a good show. Not as many vendors as last year but it seemed that more drivers actually showed up this year over last year. They had some great old trucks and some really nice 379 and W900 trucks there as well. What I didn’t see was a lots of the little gadgets and gizmo’s that I really look for at these events. I imagine it just gets to costly for them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that is responsibility for letting me attend this years show.It was good to see old friends like the three slice of life drivers and their trucks and my new friends Marcus and Shannon with Daimler truck parts. There are just a ton of people that should be recognized by name but you all know who you are. For me, now it’s time to get back to work. I must get Spencer for those of you that have been wondering about him. I’m sure he has missed me this week. I will try and put on as many miles on the truck as possible before my next show. Which will be the Chrome Shop Mofia show in Joplin Mo., on the 1st and 2nd of October. Right before I went to GATS I had a load that went from Atlanta Ga., to L.A. I cant wait to tell you about that trip and my incredible MPG. I also have pictures and comments on some other things I did in the northwest, I’m sure you all will be interested in that as well. Until the next truck stop all of you be safe!

Kurt and Spencer

Hello everyone, I hope all of you had a safe a profitable week! I know all of you must get tried of fuel mileage, fuel mileage, fuel mileage, however this time I must say something about MY fuel mileage. I had picked up a load out of the Phoenix AZ,. Area going to the Atlanta area. Most of you already know my spec,s and my operation but for those of you that don’t here it is! I have a 2011 Freightliner Cascadia with a DD-15, 10 speed auto shift, and 336 rears. I haul mainly refrigerated product, to all 48 states. However I mainly haul from Midwest to the west coast. Give it that info, here’s my story, like I said coming out of AZ, my truck and trailer weighted 78500 lbs with 100 gals of fuel on board. So I went across I-10 and I-20 all the way! I do realize that I had no mountains to go over and it is pretty much all flat land. Needless to say this was a fun run for me! I didn’t have to get fuel the first time until El Paso TX, fueled up there and never looked back, made it easily to my delivery point in the Atlanta area. My average MPG on that run was 6.73. some of you may think that, that is not so good but if you run like I run that is very impressive! I also don’t run slow I’ll run as a norm 68- 72. And to get this kind of fuel mileage for me is GREAT!! And to think this truck is not even broke in yet! If it holds true like the first Slice of life truck, I should see a boost in my mpg by about 1 mile per gal. So I urge all of you to stay tuned and we will both see what happens! Until the next truck stop all of you be safe.

Kurt and Spencer

Hello everyone, I hope all of you had a safe and profitable week! I am on a hunt, to find if there are any place’s out there that actually test their tire gauges. I have tried several places that all they do is change tire’s and all I get is a blank look. They look at me like I’m crazy or something! I find it rather amusing that they don’t know what I am talking about! Other than fuel, tires are the most costly to us, and for tire people that don’t know to check a gauge is beyond me. I even had one tech bring me an other tire gauge and said here try this one and my reply was how do you know this one is accurate? They looked at me with a no one ever ask me such a question before! So the hunt is on, if you know of place’s please let the rest of us know who and where these places are! I am in Casa Grande AZ. Tonite unloading I pick up tomorrow and head for Miami Florida, I will be monitoring my mpg closely on this one. I don’t get much chance to run I-10 all the way across so this should be good. I cant wait to be able and report back to all of you! I can tell you I know I wont be getting 9.0 mpg like Henry Albert does however it should still be interesting! Until the next truckstop all of you be safe!

Kurt and Spencer

Hello everyone, I hope all of you had a safe and profitable week! By looking at things I can tell Spencer has been doing some writing. I will give him a pass this time. I wanted to relay Spencer and my adventure this week. To set the stage, i’ll start from the beginning. We had picked up a load of tomatoes out of Arizona, with 2 stops one in the Chicago area and the 2nd in the St. Paul Minesota area. Doing my usual fueling strageties I was figuring on my last fuel in Pacific Mo. There is a pilot there. I also knew my next load was going to be out of Iowa. Going to California. Most of you already know that I dont run much midwest and with the new truck I wanted to see what fuel mileage I would get. After my drops in both Chicago and St. Paul with my deadhead down to Iowa my MPG was 7.53. I was feeling pretty good cause I have never seen over 7 MPG before. So doing some math and going across I-80 I could squeck out maybe a Cheyenne WY., for my next fuel. I’m thinking this is going to be great on my pocket book! The numbers say that I am right! As I am going across I-80 I keep checking the fuel and my numbers, it’s going to be close! I desided to go for it no turning back either I make it or not! I dont know about you but with a new truck I like to push the fuel so I know how far I can go. My target was the Flying J in Cheyenne, and yes I did make it! I found a parking space and went to bed. What a load off my mind, all I have to do is get up and drive over to the fuel island and be set for the day. When I got up and took Spencer out and made my bed and got my log book all ready, I went to start the motor and it wouldn’t start! Oh crap I had run out of fuel just when I had parked. Thinking I was going to have to carry fuel to get it started, I desided to see if the pump just needed to be primed. So I lifted the hood and started pumping the fuel pump. It didn’t take very long before it picked the fuel up, once it did I close the hood jumped in the seat and turned the key and to my surprise it started!! I quickly put it in gear and drove it over to the fuel island where I put in 275 gallons of fuel! I had shone using only 247 gallons, I couldn’t figure out why I was so far off! Then I remembered, when I fueled in Pacific Mo., the pump had shut off on me with still needing 15 more gallons to be put in and also those fuel islands have a forward slope to them so I wasn’t going to get all my fuel any way. That is where my miscalculation had come in to play. I didn’t have to haul fuel because I ran out, but I do know how much useable fuel my truck will burn 275 gallons. I still ended up with a 6.98 MPG! Until the next truck stop all of you be safe!

Kurt and Spencer

Hello everyone, I hope everyone has had a safe and profitable week, as dad would say. I can tell you from my stand point that I’m glad fun and games for dad is all done for now! He might have a lot of fun doing these events but for me it’s not so fun! I am always some place that I really dont want to be, I’d rather stay on the truck and just chill, or bark at passersby as dad is fueling. To me that is great fun. Now that is worth all the shows put together. This time wasn’t to bad I got to spend time with Jessica, Erin, and the grand son Dalton. He is 12 years old so he still has a lot of energy that is fun for me. Dad even got to see his oldest daughter Janee” which he hasn’t seen for about 10 years. Dad says he did have a real good time at the cmc with Kevin Rutherford and learned a lot from the guest speakers, on wheel alignments and negotiations. However I can tell he is ready just to get back to work! I have seen some of the pictures that he is posting and they look great! I really like this new truck, I can spot it right off from across the parking lot. As much talking as he has been doing about all the different  products I sure he will let all of you know what he thinks about those as well. Until the next truck stop all of you be safe!  – Spencer and Dad

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a safe and profitable week or if you did take the 4th to spend time with family and friends that you did blow to many things up! Since I have been driving my new cascadia the most frequent question that I get is about the def fluid mostly if I have any trouble getting it and is it more expensive than diesel. I can report to all of you that the def fluid is more available on the east coast than on the west coast. Maybe its because of more of the wide open spaces out west, I don’t really know. However because I have fueling strategies I don’t seem to have any problem getting what I need. I guess I just plan for it, fuel accordingly. I will tell you this also that even tho my def fluid tanks were full when I picked the truck up from Charlotte N.C. I have only put on 14 gals. of def fluid, and I have just over 9000 miles on the truck now! The fuel mileage is great also I have not seen under 6.5 mpg yet. I’m also waiting for some feed back on my gold rims! Do you all like them or not or don’t have an opinion! I would like to hear from you! Just to keep all of you up to date on Spencer and I’s agenda. We will be in Kansas City Mo. For the cmc seminar for the week. My grand son has volunteered to take good care of Spencer while he’s there. I’m sure will enjoy himself as well! After that except for maybe some open houses here and there I should be clean until GATS in Dallas. I should be able to get some miles on the truck in that length of time and have more numbers to throw at you. Until the next truck stop all of you be safe!!

Kurt and Spencer