Truck Topics
My Million Mile Engines
One million, eighty-four thousand miles!
That's what the odometer read when Ryan Rees (pronounced "Reese") recently retired his 1998 Kenworth T600 10-wheeler he named for his grandfather.
“You have to stay on top of maintenance,†says Rees of Dunkirk, Ind. Rees and his wife, Lynn, are owner-operators with FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Division.
Rees says that when he was ready to retire "Grandpa", FedEx Custom Critical told him that because of the truck's reliability, it was welcome to stay "as long as the wheels could turn."
He says that when they finally pulled the top end of the 500 HP Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine, the cam showed virtually no wear. He says, “That told me that I might have been on the right track as far as how to keep an expedited truck running."
So, how did he get his truck to that magic million mile mark?
"By being very aggressive with maintenance! I change the oil and the fuel, water and oil filters every 10,000 miles, if not earlier. I did that for the life of the vehicle.
When it hit 100,000 miles, I replaced a gallon of oil with a gallon of Lucas product and I ran it that way until 500,000 miles. Then I went to 2 gallons of Lucas."
Rees flushes his cooling system at least once a year. The coolant may not always need to be replaced, but the PM helps spot leaks and catch problems with the coolant that could lead to engine failure.
“My mechanic’s shop is very alert,†Rees says. “If they see a fluid that isn’t right, they let me know. They notice problems before we notice them, and they fix it.â€
Rees says that an important key to the truck's longevity is the power-to-weight ratio. The lower the rpm on the highway and the less weight the truck has to haul, the less strain on the driveline.
Rees spec'd his expediter with the big engine, even though "Grandpa" has an empty weight of 30,000 lbs. and hauls the typical lighter weight expedited freight.
He explains, “Bigger horsepower engines last longer and stay stronger.†Rees reports that the Detroit engine delivered a consistent 11.2 mpg.
"It’s set up for a smooth, steady cruise down the interstate — for distance and for the kind of power necessary to get up and down hills.â€
As any expediter knows, the job includes a variety of driving environments, so "Grandpa" spent a lot of time on the highways but saw his share of city streets as well.
“I deal with a lot of city traffic, "Rees states. "I’m in and out of New York City, Chicago and Atlanta a lot. You’ve got to look at that. Some days I’ll be in areas where I’m always at a low idle speed, and I’m in stop-and-go traffic.â€
"I'm not much of a motor head - I hire professionals to take care of my trucks. However, I have the ability to understand what the mechanic is telling me and what has to be done. It's important to find a shop that you're comfortable with. It's an absolute necessity to have one mechanic who works on your truck every time, one who cares about your truck."
So where is "Grandpa" today?
Rees tells us that when it was time to say goodbye to his faithful truck, it went to John LaLonde of Fyda Freightliner of Columbus. John in turn sold it to an expediter and according to reports, "Grandpa" is still cruising the highways and doing what it does best - hauling time-sensitive freight.
The new Rees truck (of should we say trucks, he bought two!) is a Freightliner Columbia FL112 with a 96" AA Sleeper "King Leisure" sleeper from LaLonde at Fyda. It has a 370HP Cat C11 engine with a 10-speed Eaton Fuller Ultrashift. It's set up as a White Glove unit and Temperature Validation equipped.
In addition to the 96" AA condo sleeper with sink, fridge, microwave, TV and inverter, the truck also features a Carrier Comfort-Pro generator, Supreme 20' Cold King reefer van, Layman 4500 lb. lift gate and a Carrier Supra 844 unit with data cold reader.
Rees explains his thinking behind his truck selection:
"My wife and I put up with smaller sleepers for 8 years and we feel that we've paid our dues in those cramped sleepers. We also felt that a larger sleeper-equipped truck would be more conducive to attracting quality husband/wife teams to our fleet."
In his quest to achieve similar longevity with his new ride, Rees has a factory-installed Gulf Coast bypass filter system. He says, "I believe this may be the thing of the future." He has named the truck "Danny Boy" for his father's favorite song.
The rewards of mega-miles
There's a much greater payoff in attaining a million miles from your truck than bragging rights and that's in running a truck that's paid for!
Assume you buy a new truck on a five-year loan and drive it 120,000 miles a year. When it’s paid off, it will have 600,000 miles. Run it another 40 months and you’ll reach 1 million miles. If your monthly payment was $2,000, you’ll save $80,000 in payments during that period. Granted, you’ll have more repairs and downtime than you’d have with a new model, and you’ll have no depreciation to reduce your tax bill, but you’ll likely come out ahead financially.
Source: Overdrive magazine
Lots a miles from a Class 7
Rich Moore is another veteran expediter who has a knack for coaxing mega miles out of his trucks. The FedEx Custom Critical owner-operator recently retired his 1996 Freightliner FL-70 with 906,000 miles on the clock and he says he has every confidence it would have made it to the magic million mile mark.
The truck is powered by a Cummins C Series set at 225HP, but stressed for 300HP. The FL-70 is equipped with a 60"sleeper and 22' box and Moore says that his average load was only 3,000-5,000 lbs.
His secrets for the truck's long life?
"Conservative driving habits and the fact that my wife Mary and I were the only drivers. We would run at a 63-64 mph average, we never wound out the engine, and we would up shift around 1,500 rpm. Fuel mileage averaged out to 10 mpg."
Other tips include:
Timely preventive maintenance - "We fixed anything immediately - little leaks tend to become big leaks. We also did our oil and filter changes every 10,000 miles or sooner with oil analysis twice a year."
Minimum idling - We would let it warm up before driving and let it idle before shutting down."
From the pros
As one expert says, just doing routine maintenance will keep a truck running for a long time. Give it a little more attention — in the driving and in the maintenance — and the engine will go forever.â€
To get those mega-miles from your engine, follow these tips:
*Spec the equipment
Some engines give up before their time because they weren't spec’d properly for the job.
*Get regular oil and filter changes and lube at the recommended intervals, or as Ryan Rees does, even more frequently than the OEM recommends.
*Use quality lube products
*Schedule frequent Preventive Maintenance for specific systems. This PM can alert you to other problems.
*Fix the little things before they become big things
*Keep idling to a minimum
If a truck averages 60 mph and 100,000 actual miles a year with 40 percent idle time, the engine has operated the equivalent of 166,667 miles.
*Driver behavior
The way you start and stop, the way you shift gears impact the engine and the whole drive train.
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