My electronic readout is not very accurate, or my FM is not very accurate. One or the other. When it starts show better fuel economy I know I am doing something right. That does bring up a good point about keeping track of my own fuel usuage. What if my FM makes a mistake and since part of my pay is tied to fuel mileage that hurts my bottom line. I kinda, sorta do, the milage part of it anyway. I need to start writing down how much fuel I use also.

I used to keep a spreadsheet of all fuel purchases, mileage and cost when I was with Stevens. The big reason being, since I was a lease operator, I could keep track of fuel stops on regularly traveled routes, at which we had the bigger discounts. Was also a good meter of how well I was controlling my foot. :)

With TMC, since fuel mileage is part of our pay, you can bet I will keep a close eye :shock: on the readings. I just need to figure out when the monthly running average starts and stops, to stay in line with their calculations. Every percentage point counts.

We got my trainers idle time down and fuel ecomonmy up since me being on the truck last week, but when he brought it in for service Friday, the yard here in Joplin could not download the ECM. :sad: Which may still show his idle time high for this upcoming snapshot.

Anyhow, catch ya later, I need to go check out and catch the shuttle over to the yard. Will try to get back on in a little bit.

Internet: I have the sprint aircard, and it's broadband, standing still, around a bigger city it's downloading at a constant 140-150KB/s, so it's pretty fast. I also got an external trucker antenna for it, so the signal is better most of the times...

Fuel: I believe the tanks have some fuel left in the tank, b/c the lines that actually suck up the fuel don't go all the way to the bottom of the tank. I believe it's b/c of the dirt, and inpurities on the bottom of the tank. also i have a 387, and the most i ever fueld into it was 215 gallons. but i think at that point i was really afraid... the needle was way low on the gauge the lowest red square...

Your Idle time: I came to believe that it doesn't have too much of an impact on your certification, but it has a HUGE effect on your milage. I had 46% idle time in the winter, and now that it's nice out i have a 16% idletime. Now note, that the idle time will only be transferred to the "system" whern the ECM is read. so my first idle time when i got the truck "in the system" was 25%, and it stayed there till my ECM was read.

Headsets: DO NOT GET THE BLUE PARROT!!! it sucks. disconnects and connects at it's will, and sound quality is just poor/bad. I had one in the first place, but i hated it, and i was lucky they replaced it for free, and i got the plantronics now, i't the same price ~$100, but it's way superior to the blue parrot. now you said you don't like the in-the-ear type, so i'd suggest you try which one works best for you, i just gave you my 2 cents worth.

GPS: I use Microcrap streetzs and trips. $120 or so, and i have more controll over my routes, and can add costum databases. fuel stops in particular. it's not perfect, needs so,me attention, (it's not trucker friendly so i have to double check it against the MCRA) and makes some mistakes every once in a while...

so yeah, BND to the rescue. lol...

Cheers

BND

I have BLue Parrot and love it,bought one for my Dad and he really likes it and I can't tell if he is driving down the road or not,he says the same about mine.It only disconnects if you take either your phone or the headset and seperate them over 30 feet,maybe you just got a defective one?

MadII really likes his as well. The only thing about it we've found is that is doesn't seem to hold a charge near as long as it should. I really like how much noise it can cancel out so I can hear him, not his truck or whats going on around him.

I like the volume control,could never hear well with in the ear type,I usually plug mine into the charger every night when sleeping or atleast turn it off at night that way I can get a couple of days on charge.

yeah i might have gotten a bad one, that's why i said to try it for yourself. Be aware though, that the pilot does not give refunds, only replaces for the same item on all electronics. i learned that the hard way. buy at TA or Interstate Connection that you can find at various truck stops. they are more forgiving towards trying things.

Cheers

BND

I have the Blue Parrot as well. It has great sound quality but very poor battery life. I keep my laptop in the passenger seat with Delorme 2008 w/GPS.
For cell based internet...in testing right now thru Sprint is WiMax which will have much longer range and speeds of 2-4 gigs. 10 times faster then anything available right now. It will be available by next year in select cities. I have ATT for cell service now but it sucks in Texas and I will switch to Sprint next year.

Hi everyone, just thought I would drop in and update on hubby. He came home on Friday night, around 7:30 or so. Said he would have made it in earlier but they got tied up at their last stop. Anyway, he said things were going good, he is getting the hang of things pretty quick, and his trainer is a really nice guy and they are getting along great. He left out again today around 3pm, heading for Georgia. With any luck by next week he will have his own truck. Anyhow, thats the latest from here, yall stay safe out there, and countryhorseman, great blog. Hubby asked me to check in on ya and see how things were going. lol.

Glad to hear everything is going OK. Let us know what truck he is in once he is. I like to say hi out on the road.