You stupid son of a ......

**Windwalker** · 10-02-2009 07:45 PM

It didn't end there. I think I learned a few new swear words this trip.

I was looking forward to this one. It's the first time I've been up to the Twin Cities in a while. Since the bridge collapsed, for that matter. First stop in TN, second one in Cleveland, OH, then on to the Cities. The northern latitudes are getting frost at night, and since the company put me into a new(er) truck, I have not been having any trouble with it.

That is... Until I was in the middle of a construction zone, with concrete barriers on both sides of one lane of travel. "Check engine" light came on, and right after that, "engine protect" also came on. When the "engine protect" starts flashing, the engine shuts down. Even before it did that, I was on the CB, broadcasting that my truck was shutting down on me in the middle of the construction zone. At 4 AM, in the dark, I did not see any kind of break in the barriers for me to coast it out of anybodies way. I put on my 4-ways and came to a stop.

I had the hood unlatched and was in front of the truck, pulling on the hood when the headlights came up behind my truck. The way they came up, I began to step back. When they came to a stop, I went back to pulling the hood open. As I got around to the driver's side steer tire, this guy came alongside my trailer, broadening my education in 4-letter words. He finished with: "...Completely insane to stop in the dark, in a construction zone, with no way around you."

"Fine", I said. "So, send my truck to the loony bin." And, I pretty much ignored him while I unplugged the coolant level sensor and prayed that my truck would now keep running. By the time I got the truck running, closed the hood, and got it in gear, 3 more trucks were lined up behind me, and one of the drivers was throwing even more of those popular 4-letter words into the air.

Yes, the truck kept on running, and it was a couple of miles out of the construction zone. Then, Fed-Ex was the first to pass me while I tried to pick up speed. Yup, he was the first one behind me. Then, as I got up to my speed, I gained on him but when I tried to pass him, he'd swing from one lane into the other in front of me. His underwear must have been black from the scorch, and his collar must have been smoldering. I backed off and relaxed. The truck was running smooth again.

Poetic justice???

About 15 miles beyond the construction zone, Fed-Ex puts on his 4-ways and pulls over onto the shoulder. Nothing on the CB, and he knew I was the truck behind him. Not knowing what he had in mind, I stopped behind him, stayed clear of between the trucks, and went up to his window.

"Problems?"
"My truck just shut down on me. I've tried to re-start a couple of times, and it just keeps shutting off."
"Check engine comes on, and engine protect comes on, then starts flashing when it shuts down?"
"Yeah."

I opened his hood, unplugged the coolant sensor, then told him to start it up. "Engine protect isn't on anymore"

"Mine did the same thing back in the construction zone. I tried to let others know on the CB, and put my 4-ways on. No other choice."

He said he was sorry about how he reacted. He was listening to XM, not the CB, and saw my 4-ways on, but thought I was just moving slower. By the time he realized I was stopped, it was a split second from being too late. How did I know to unplug the coolant sensor? The other truck was doing that to me all the time. This is the first time this truck has done it. But, now I know of 3 trucks that have the same problem. And, all 3 of them are freightliners... I think I'm losing faith in Mexican Quality.

But, it made me think about all the drivers that I hear saying they don't even have the CB on. They're all listening to XM instead. Is the XM REALLY ALL THAT IMPORTANT? What's the potential cost to you the one time you don't pay attention to something on the CB?

As hard as Fed-Ex stood on the brakes, if he could not have stopped, the only things that would have been hurt were: The front of his truck. The back of my truck (And, I think mine would have fared far better than his). His pride. And, his job. I know of a few former drivers that turned off the CB, and turned up the stereo. I guess, in a way, you could say that the stereo cost them their jobs. They didn't find out about something in the road in front of them until it was too late because the stereo was more important.

I've already told the shop foreman about nearly getting rear-ended in a construction zone. Maybe, this time, with this truck, they'll actually try to fix the problem. (We need a "fingers crossed" smiley.)

Did I say that???

**Jay B** · 10-03-2009 05:17 AM

I knew it was going to be a Freightliner when you said it was the coolant sensor.

**kc0iv** · 10-03-2009 05:39 AM

Originally Posted by Windwalker

He said he was sorry about how he reacted. He was listening to XM, not the CB, and saw my 4-ways on, but thought I was just moving slower.

But, it made me think about all the drivers that I hear saying they don't even have the CB on. They're all listening to XM instead. Is the XM REALLY ALL THAT IMPORTANT? What's the potential cost to you the one time you don't pay attention to something on the CB?

Sorry Windwalker but I have to disagree with you on the importance of a CB. When I was driving I very seldom had the CB turned on. About the only time was when I was around the warehouse. Way to much nonsense on the CB for me.

kc0iv

**Malaki86** · 10-03-2009 06:26 AM

I usually only turn my cb on when the weather is bad, traffic is heavy or if I see another one of our drivers.

**GMAN** · 10-03-2009 06:43 AM

I usually keep my CB either turned down or off. Most of the time I just keep it down so that I can still hear if something is going on. It is unfortunate that we have so much garbage on our CB's that many of us don't want to keep the volume up.

**bentstrider** · 10-03-2009 10:04 AM

When I was Swift, I never thought of getting a CB until shortly before the accident when I finally decided I wanted to keep driving.

Then when I was with that container company in Montebello, CA, the cb equipped on the bucket I was driving only came in handy once I got out of the LA County region in general.

**allan5oh** · 10-03-2009 10:12 AM

The guy is simply a bad driver, a CB won't fix that.

**danske** · 10-03-2009 10:53 AM

I couldn't imagine driving w/o my CB. I sure can't stand the foul-mouth, noise maker, loud roger beep, music playing idiots on the two-way, but my CB has saved my butt and I helped many others numerous times. Plus, how many customers have I been to that have an assigned channel for communicating in their yard? What are you going to do at a Wal-Mart DC when your assigned dock already has a trailer in it? Drive/Walk back and forth to the gate shack/receiving office to get another door?

You got to love/hate the CB.

**Hawkjr** · 10-03-2009 01:51 PM

I can't drive without my cb neither.. i hate some of the nonsense that goes on 19 but it has provided more help than pain so far in my short career

**cdswans** · 10-03-2009 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by allan5oh

The guy is simply a bad driver, a CB won't fix that.

Roger that, good buddy . . and rude, too . .

**repete** · 10-03-2009 06:48 PM

Make that 5 trucks with bad coolant sensors, I've had problem's with both of mine and one is still pretty new. The first time I the lights came on I shut it down no problem and pulled the plug and stuck a short piece of wire in the plug and kept on cruising. then a year or so goes by and I've got a new truck with no problems right? Wrong, just started down a steep 4 mile grade and those damn lights come on. I never knew you ONLY have a few seconds! Stupid me forgot all about the overide switch so what do I do? Start slowing so I can pull in at a wide spot down the hill a ways Nope aint happening, I go and drop a gear and that's all she wrote. 50 MPH stuck in neutral and picking up speed quick! I'm so glad it was the "normal" load of aprox 20k I got on the brakes real hard and only missed the pull off by about 100 feet or less.
BTW when your engine quits and tranny's in neutral did you know there's NO power steering! Also no air compressor! HMMM gives ya something to think about

**Graymist** · 10-03-2009 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by Windwalker

That is... Until I was in the middle of a construction zone, with concrete barriers on both sides of one lane of travel. "Check engine" light came on, and right after that, "engine protect" also came on. When the "engine protect" starts flashing, the engine shuts down. Even before it did that, I was on the CB, broadcasting that my truck was shutting down on me in the middle of the construction zone. At 4 AM, in the dark, I did not see any kind of break in the barriers for me to coast it out of anybodies way. I put on my 4-ways and came to a stop.

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Just curious about something, since you didn't mention it in your post...did you set up the reflective triangles up to a distance of 100-150 metres behind your truck ?

**Orangetxguy** · 10-04-2009 08:03 AM

Originally Posted by allan5oh

The guy is simply a bad driver, a CB won't fix that.

That is the entire problem right there!! Mr. FedEx was so intent about listening to his music, and probably his lady or 3....that he failed to pay attention to the road in front of him.

Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed the closure rate between his truck and Windywalker's truck, was to great for Windy to be a moving truck.

Maybe I should get me some XM music huh??

**Windwalker** · 10-04-2009 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by Graymist

Just curious about something, since you didn't mention it in your post...did you set up the reflective triangles up to a distance of 100-150 metres behind your truck ?

How did I know someone was going to bring that up?
The fact is, by the time I would have gotten my sidelocker open and made it about half way back alongside my trailer, Fed-Ex would have already been there. Either that, or when I was setting them up, he would have run me down. By the time I would have had them set up, I can have the coolant sensor unplugged, the hood closed, and have the truck moving again. No, I did not even begin to set them up.

The next thing you want to consider, in that situation, the more time you spend standing still, the more traffic there will be backing up, and the greater the chances that someone else will rear-end someone in front of them. The faster I can get out of there, the shorter the duration of the hazard.

If unplugging the coolant sensor would not have gotten me going, I would have had no choice but to set out the triangles and call for road service.

**Windwalker** · 10-04-2009 08:25 AM

On a side note...

I do keep my CB on. No, I do not like all the crap on there anymore than the next guy. But, every now and then, I get a little bit of information that allows me to get off the road and onto a couple of secondary roads to get around a long back-up or other hazard. There are enough people making noises on it that I don't have to add anything to it, but when I'm having a problem that they need to know about, I would hope that at least SOMEONE is listening. They don't tell about where the bears are much anymore, and not much said about the chicken coups anymore. But let a 4-wheeler lose a tie-rod and roll in the middle of the road, and it gets pretty exciting.

**Orangetxguy** · 10-04-2009 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by Windwalker

How did I know someone was going to bring that up?
The fact is, by the time I would have gotten my sidelocker open and made it about half way back alongside my trailer, Fed-Ex would have already been there. Either that, or when I was setting them up, he would have run me down. By the time I would have had them set up, I can have the coolant sensor unplugged, the hood closed, and have the truck moving again. No, I did not even begin to set them up.

The next thing you want to consider, in that situation, the more time you spend standing still, the more traffic there will be backing up, and the greater the chances that someone else will rear-end someone in front of them. The faster I can get out of there, the shorter the duration of the hazard.

If unplugging the coolant sensor would not have gotten me going, I would have had no choice but to set out the triangles and call for road service.

Well...since you were in barricades, engine stopped...and trucks already stopping behind you....those triangles were safe and happy in their storage box.

All you could have really done, if unplugging the sensor didn't work, would have been to wait for state patrol cars, and a wrecker big enough to move you.

**SickRick** · 10-04-2009 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by Windwalker

How did I know someone was going to bring that up?
The fact is, by the time I would have gotten my sidelocker open and made it about half way back alongside my trailer, Fed-Ex would have already been there. Either that, or when I was setting them up, he would have run me down. By the time I would have had them set up, I can have the coolant sensor unplugged, the hood closed, and have the truck moving again. No, I did not even begin to set them up.

The next thing you want to consider, in that situation, the more time you spend standing still, the more traffic there will be backing up, and the greater the chances that someone else will rear-end someone in front of them. The faster I can get out of there, the shorter the duration of the hazard.

If unplugging the coolant sensor would not have gotten me going, I would have had no choice but to set out the triangles and call for road service.

49 CFR 392.22

(b)(1) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, whenever a commercial motor vehicle is stopped upon the traveled portion or the shoulder of a highway for any cause other than necessary traffic stops, the driver shall, as soon as possible, but in any event within 10 minutes, place the warning devices required by § 393.95 of this subchapter, in the following manner:

At any rate - he had 10 minutes to put flares/triangles out, had he not been able to resolve the problem so quickly...

Rick

**Flying W** · 10-04-2009 02:01 PM

0400, stopped in the right lane on the freeway with his hazards on and all anyone had to say was to increase his vocabulary of four letter words? That's pathetic. The only thing coming out of people's mouths should have been "Are you alright driver?" It's not like he's stopped in the right lane in the dark with his flashers on because he just felt like it.

As far as the CB vs radio thing goes I'll admit they are of use at a shipper, but otherwise having it on often leads one to doubt the theory of evolution. Listening to other drivers cursing out others while they are passing in the right lane (exit only) in a construction zone exceeding the posted speed limit or cursing at a truck for pulling over from the right line that has had signs saying the lane ends for a mile or more is just pointless. Add to that the blatant racism and other stupidity broadcast over the cb and it doesn't give people much of a reason to want it on. That's sad as there are many drivers out there who actually have something to offer, and it is always nice to know you've got a couple of deer grazing on the side of the road up ahead.

**ForcedInduction** · 10-04-2009 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by Windwalker

That is... Until I was in the middle of a construction zone, with concrete barriers on both sides of one lane of travel. "Check engine" light came on, and right after that, "engine protect" also came on. When the "engine protect" starts flashing, the engine shuts down. Even before it did that, I was on the CB, broadcasting that my truck was shutting down on me in the middle of the construction zone.
...
while I unplugged the coolant level sensor
...
Yes, the truck kept on running, and it was a couple of miles out of the construction zone.
...
Then, as I got up to my speed, I gained on him but when I tried to pass him
...
The truck was running smooth again.

...

About 15 miles beyond the construction zone, Fed-Ex puts on his 4-ways and pulls over onto the shoulder. Nothing on the CB, and he knew I was the truck behind him. Not knowing what he had in mind, I stopped behind him, stayed clear of between the trucks, and went up to his window.

"Problems?"
"My truck just shut down on me. I've tried to re-start a couple of times, and it just keeps shutting off."
"Check engine comes on, and engine protect comes on, then starts flashing when it shuts down?"
"Yeah."

I opened his hood, unplugged the coolant sensor, then told him to start it up. "Engine protect isn't on anymore"

Poetic justice? No, that was a driver (you) demonstrating very poor judgment by bypassing engine protection equipment, ignoring that the engine is in need of repair and then hammering the SOB! That is exactly how engines are ruined by drivers.

The right choice would have been to pull the sensor, ease it out of the construction zone and stopping in the first safe location.

"Mine did the same thing back in the construction zone. I tried to let others know on the CB, and put my 4-ways on. No other choice."

You DID have a choice about what to do after. You chose to put the engine at risk of destruction just to chase the other driver down and say "haha, hows it feel buddy?"

This is another all too common case of a driver knowing just enough about the engine to be hazardous. It doesn't matter if its a Freightliner and the sensor has failed 200 times before, this could have been the one time your engine had a leak and genuinely bleeding out its coolant. Being in an "emergency" situation, I know you didn't take the time to check all the hoses, the engine and radiator for signs of leakage, check the radiator for blockage or correct the coolant level.

They put "engine protect" on the dash and auto-shutdown for damn good reasons, to protect the engine from drivers who ignore very obvious signs of impending engine damage and continue to push it.

If your engine did stop, you either didn't know about the shutdown override button on the dash (installed for situations exactly like yours where shutdown would put the drivers safety at risk) or used it to the point the engine wouldn't allow it any more.

**Windwalker** · 10-04-2009 08:08 PM