Driver Lifestyles
A new ride for the Bells
Jim and Norah Bell have a new truck.
The Bells, who were the subjects of an Expediters Online Driver Profile in June of last year, recently ordered a new "960 Express Cruiser" from Freightliner of Knoxville.
The truck was ready for delivery around the end of March, but they kindly lent the unit to their company, Landstar Express America, for display purposes at the Mid-America Trucking Show.
At the end of the show, the couple took possession of the truck and got back on the road.
Norah Bell says, "We were off for three weeks after the truck show and it takes a while to get back in the loop and let the agents know that you're out there. We were off from the 17th of March through the first of April."
The Bells, who hail from Travelers Rest, SC, say that there were a couple of minor bugs in the truck, but that these were quickly corrected to their satisfaction and they've been very busy since returning to the road.
Jim Bell says, "It's a great truck and if those minor little flaws are the worst we'll experience, then it's fine."
Jon Mosier, Expediting Sales Representative from Freightliner of Knoxville, has had a relationship with the Bell's that goes back to his days as an expediting recruiter: "I've known Jim and Norah for about 12 years now and we've maintained our relationship over the years. In fact, they have a standing invitation to come by for lunch wherever I am!"
"We had just put the first "960 Express Cruiser" on the ground when Jim and Norah came by the dealership one day and told me they were looking for a Class 8 truck. I told Jim to try out the Express Cruiser and it would speak for itself."
"They took the truck for a drive, came back into my office and ordered one."
Norah has very positive comments about their new ride: "We love the truck! This is a very big sleeper and very comfortable. I like the fact that we're not sitting on our bed all the time. We can fold the bed up without making it and we can use the table and seats."
"Jim used to have to put his laptop on the steering wheel and sit in the driver's seat; now, he can use it on the table."
This is the first automatic transmission that the Bell's have had. Norah says that it's very easy on the left leg. "You don't mind running through a city now, it drives like a car."
Jim concurs: "I love the automatic because I'm getting to be shiftless in my old age. It's a good match with the Mercedes 280HP engine."
There is a stretch of hilly countryside on I-24 coming out of Chattanooga, TN that's known as "The Eagle" and the Bells use it as a benchmark of a truck's pulling power. They were both impressed with the effortless way the Express Cruiser handled the terrain.
"The truck does what it's supposed to do and it maintains the speed up the hills," states Jim. The Allison 6-speed shifts very smoothly and the motor has plenty of torque to keep the trans from shifting excessively."
"Jon Mosier says, "This truck is fully loaded. It has power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, etc. It also has the aluminum wheels, engine brake, upgraded seats - just about anything that you can order on a Sterling Acterra is on this truck."
"The chassis is very solid, you can hear the quality when you slam the door. You don't hear the windows rattling. It has a car-like feel to it, it's very quiet."
He continues, "There's no comparison between our old Freightliner (FLD) and this Express Cruiser. In the old truck, we had to yell in our conversations, this one is so quiet that we can talk to each other at normal levels."
With 11,500 miles on the clock at the time of this writing, Jim says that his fuel mileage is heading upward: "Our starting fuel mileage was 8.2 mpg, now it's gone up to 8.7 mpg as it breaks in."
The Bells had grown accustomed to the tag axle on their old FLD, but Jim says that he's unsure of the need on this unit. Jim says that they very rarely carry a heavy load and the extra cost of the drop axle on this truck might not be justified.
"After all, this is a class 7 truck, so I don't want to put too much weight in it. I'm talking about 18,000 - 20,000 lbs. Most of our loads are around 4,500 lbs. anyway."
"So far, the heaviest load we've carried has been 11,000 lbs. and the truck handled that real well."
Jim echoes Norah's appreciation for the room in the 96" sleeper and says, "I don't know if I want to bother with putting a satellite TV system in it or not because we have an amplified antenna from Bentz and it works pretty well."
"We stay out on the road for 2-3 weeks up to 6 weeks. If we're within a couple hundred miles of home and it's towards the weekend, we'll take it on home."
With their new ride, Jim and Norah might just elect to stay out a little longer to enjoy that new sleeper!