It's a Team's Life
No New Truck this Year
When we first saw the New Cascadia’s in 2016 we could not wait till the build dates for the short hood - day cab to be released. We were told it was going to be later as the first to come out in Phase 1 would be the regular sleeper cabs with the DD15 and the truck we wanted would be Phase 3 with the DD13. Finally, 2018 is here and since the first of the year, we are making plans to buy the New Cascadia and put a driver into our current truck.
Bob wants Detroit’s Active Lube Management (ALM) on our next truck. Team Run Smart Pro Henry Albert wrote about ALM in this blog https://www.teamrunsmart.com/articles/truck-smart/april-2017/the-endless-puddle which really explains why Bob decided this is a must-have in our next truck. As we discussed getting ALM we discovered that we could not get this with a single axle truck with a lift axle installed. The first change was then made to the truck as we would get two drive axles and we progressed with
In the background, we were hearing a little bit of noise about the Detroit Assurance safety package and would it be ready in time for our truck. The
This past week we learned that Assurance will not be released at this time for our truck and we will need to either wait till Assurance is available or order a truck without this safety system. Bob and I both sat in stunned disbelief as we were to the point of signing off on our sleeper and getting it into the build cycle. The projected date is December for the Assurance and a Day Cab with a DD13. Now, what will we do?
Team Run Smart Pro, Jimmy Nevarez wrote a very good blog on his thoughts about the Assurance https://www.teamrunsmart.com/articles/truck-smart/july-2017/re-assurance-about-assurance
My first call was to our accountant to see how much it would cost us in taxes to wait until the next year to buy the new truck. After talking to Kevin, I felt a lot better as the tax hit will not be as bad as I what I had imagined. With that out of the way, the decision has been made to wait as we are not willing to buy a truck without Assurance.
Our truck is part of our team and the safety systems we have had in the past have become a valuable part of our team. We will also have the lane departure system on the next truck as we have had in the past three trucks. Our lives are at stake and anything we can do to assist us in staying safe is worth waiting for.
Now we are back to waiting, our sleeper is on hold, our Wabash freight box is on hold, and our Palfinger Lift Gate is on hold till we have the New Cascadia. We believe 100% it is worth the wait for the Assurance package. Jim Parks wrote a great article about how Assurance works in Heavy Duty Trucking https://www.truckinginfo.com/155903/test-drive-daimlers-detroit-assurance-safety-system
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.