APU out

dpounders

Active Expediter
My APU went out on my straight truck monday. The owner wont fix it he says he is tired of fixing them, he would rather pay for a hotel during down time. So what do I do while my partner is driving on a 1600 mile run through the hot desert? sleep in the hot sleeper and like it?
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
Not knowing much about big trucks, is it normal to have to run the APU when driving down the road, what about the trucks AC?
 

dpounders

Active Expediter
Thanks for the welcome, wish i could say it on a positive note, but its hot and i am tired of sitting with no freight to move.I have had one run in the last 2 weeks, and it was a short one. I dropped off monday and been in a hotel ever since. Its kinda hard to pay the bills sitting in a motel6. This truck has a roof mounted air added on and it only works off the apu. not sure why it wont run off the back up batteries but its very discouraging since we are new to expediting. 2 months now any way lol...
 

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
Doesn't the sleeper have an AC unit that runs off of the truck engine?
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Nice of your owner to pay for a room but... If he won't fix the ac and you have had one load in two weeks it might be time to look for another owner with another company.
 

dpounders

Active Expediter
Yea i think you are right. They were really nice when we first started, we just cant get the miles and now we cant get cool lol. yes the sleep has other air but it does not work. i think alot of the company trucks are having apu problems. when i first called to get it fixed there was a one week wait list to be seen. and we cant wait that long. so i guess we need another carrier to work for. any suggestions?
:confused:
 

EnglishLady

Veteran Expediter
I agree with Xiggi.

The truck is the bread & butter of the business - hate to think how long you would have to wait if something else went wrong with the truck :eek:

Spending money for motels instead of righting the problem is not the answer IMO.
 

butterfly610

Veteran Expediter
that could become VERY inconvenient for you. The last thing you need stressing you out is repairs that aren't being made. I'm not 100% positive about this, but we always heard you were not supposed to run an APU while going down the road, that it could mess it up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but just a heads up in case.
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
I guess look in the classifieds for teams wanted and do your research on the fleet owners and also the company the truck is leased to... Good Luck:)
 

twe2011

Seasoned Expediter
I am not sure if I understood you correctly but if you are new to expediting you might have a problem finding a carrier to sign you on. Most companies require 6 months to 2 years experience but some of your smaller carriers will over look this. The experience issue is due to insurance and the fmcsa laws.

Thanks for the welcome, wish i could say it on a positive note, but its hot and i am tired of sitting with no freight to move.I have had one run in the last 2 weeks, and it was a short one. I dropped off monday and been in a hotel ever since. Its kinda hard to pay the bills sitting in a motel6. This truck has a roof mounted air added on and it only works off the apu. not sure why it wont run off the back up batteries but its very discouraging since we are new to expediting. 2 months now any way lol...



Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
 

chetjester

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Just curious if you are driving a Blair truck and the Onan Generator is not functioning.

FYI, I drove 2 of their straight trucks and was able to keep the generators going by doing regular PMs and getting them fixed right when they malfunctioned. Without the generator, the rooftop air would not work. So, I was diligent in keeping it repaired.

But, the sleeper A/C always worked well when the truck was running.
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
Not sure if this will work, but state to the owner that even though the offer of a motel room is a nice gesture, that since you are a team one of you needs to be in the sleeper and to not have a working APU or truck AC that works back in the sleeper is a big safety issue. Maybe they don't know both the truck ac in the back and the APU are out at the same time.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Almost seems like the carrier is the bigger issue. One short run in two weeks is not good. What carrier is this?
 

cranis

Expert Expediter
Driver
The truck ac doesn't do much for the sleeper area :(
Get a dryer accordian vent hose and duck tape and run a hose to the sleeper, by ductaping one end to the vent ant the other to sleeper.
Used this method for a cargo van when I was sleeping on the occasional trip over nite years ago.
just a suggetion.
I know it works for heat. not too sure about the air..
Also look for another job w/o telling current owner. this is unsafe to not be able to get the proper rest.
 

dpounders

Active Expediter
good idea but dont think it would work. seems like the air could be run off the batteries but i dont know what is required to run the thing.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
dp: it's your call, but I'd tell the owner that a motel isn't a good solution - schlepping stuff in & out & returning to an oven of a truck isn't restful, and neither is trying to sleep when the other driver is driving. You need a truck with a working APU to be rested enough, and that's all. If he can't or won't provide it, you really should be looking elsewhere.
Ditto for the carrier - they're not working for you. Teams are a hot commodity - if you're a good team, you can do much better than you are right now.
 
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