Phil Madsen's Blog

Learning Something New Every Day

Truck drivers Phil and Diane Madsen live, work and play on the road; transporting expedited and critical-shipment freight in their custom-built truck. Phil's blog is a blend of travelogue, brain dump and commentary on road-inspired topics.

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Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 I learned today that we have an expensive muffler on our truck. Learned when I inquired about the cost of replacing it.

Madsen Volvo Truck We had a weird one today that resulted in us returning the load to the shipper.

Diane and I woke up this morning in a retail area west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We were dispatched to pick up a load nearby at 1:00 p.m. It was a reefer load with a sub-zero temperature setting. On this hot day we started the reefer several hours early to get it down to temp. So far so good.

We arrived at the shipper 15 minutes before the pickup time. The reefer was at temp. We were pleased with the amount of time it took the reefer to reach temp. In trucker talk, the pull-down was excellent. Loading the single skid (pallet) went quickly. It did not take long to get back to temp after the door had been opened and closed. We saw again good pull-down to a sub-zero temp on a hot day. So far so good.

After making the departure call (a pre-departure checklist gone through with dispatch) we were soon westbound on I-76, on our way to Saint Louis, Missouri. About an hour into the trip we got an out of range alarm and passed it off as a normal defrost. The reefer goes through a defrost cycle every so often to clear the frost that builds up on the coils. So far, so good.

Normally the reefer will bring the truck body temperature quickly back to set point (the temperature specified for the load). As we drove, it came close but did not quite made it back into range. Strange. As we continued to drive, we saw the temp move slowly further out of range. Something was up and we needed to figure it out.

I stopped at the next service plaza to inspect the reefer. It looked fine. It was running. The belts were in place. There were no visible leaks. A run through the reefer control unit in the truck showed all readings normal. And, while we were stopped, the temperature came back into range. OK, we thought, and continued on.

As we drove further down the turnpike, the truck body temperature slowly climbed. We took the next exit to stop, notify dispatch them of the problem and investigate further. The reefer was working fine when the truck was not moving but losing temp when moving.

While Diane waited on hold to talk to dispatch, I investigated. Might there be an unknown hole in the truck body? We had locked and sealed the back door but had it somehow come open? Had the panels in our roll-up door somehow lost their fit? No, no and no.

Our reefer is mounted under the truck. I crawled under the truck to see if we had picked up some road debris like a garbage bag or something that might be blown by wind when the truck is moving and block the condenser from giving up heat, but falling out of the way when the truck is not moving and allowing the condenser to function normally.

There was no garbage bag but I spotted the problem. A hole had developed in the truck engine muffler which is mounted close to the reefer. Instead of being vented out the tail pipe, hot truck engine engine exhaust gas was blowing near the the condenser, making it difficult for the reefer to purge its heat.

By the way, it was hot and loud under there. I was on hot pavement, squirming around a hot muffler, with the hot reefer engine also running.

While dispatch tried to reach the customer, Diane and I started looking for repair shops that might have a replacement muffler in stock. We looked into the universal muffler option but there was no place around that was open. Time was important because we might be able to save the load if the muffler could be fixed. But the more we called around the more we realized the truck would not be quickly repaired.

A universal muffler may not work for another reason. Our truck is custom built with an aftermarket sleeper and underbody reefer. The muffler is precisely placed to accommodate these devices. A custom muffler shop might be able to give us a universal muffler at lower cost than a dealer but we would have to find one and get an appointment.

Again, time is of the essence. Even if we lost the load today, the long weekend approaching. We know from dispatch that trucks are in short supply. The sooner we can get the truck repaired, the better our chances of getting a good load and making some good money before or during the long weekend.

Dispatch was finally able to reach the customer. A conference call was set up with me, a dispatcher, and two decision makers at the shipper to discuss the options. The decision was made to return the load to the shipper. It was a very high value load and the shipper did not want to take a chance on transferring it to another truck out on the road.

The two men were OK transferring the load at a secure FedEx facility but dispatch did not have a truck immediately available. Also, any truck called in to rescue the load would require several hours to bring its reefer down to the required sub-zero temp on this near 100 °F day.

The plan was set. Diane and I would return the load to the shipper, stopping roadside as necessary to allow the reefer to catch up and keep the freight within its specified temperature range. As it turned out, we were able to drive straight through.

A couple hours passed while we were talking to dispatch and trying to reach the shipper. The sun went lower in the sky. The outside temperature dropped a few degrees. The asphalt on the road gave up many more degrees. So did the freight itself. It was frozen when we picked it up but not deep frozen like it would be at our set point. The freight had time to "soak" while we sat and maintained a sub-zero temperature. We were never far out of range and with the outside temp now lower, we were able to make it easily back.

With the freight off the truck and back in the shipper's freezer, we were relieved to hear the shipper's report. One of the men we talked to on the phone had unwrapped the shipment and examined the freight. It was frozen solid, just like it was when we left. They would examine the data recording devices packed with the shipment to make a final determination but they seemed confident that the freight was OK. (Note to my FedEx Custom Critical colleagues: this was not a TVAL load).

We were also pleased by how the shippers reacted when we were on the conference call. They could care less about the delay. It was the condition of the freight that concerned them most. Diane and I did the right thing by reacting quickly to the out of range alarm and behaving such that the temperature remained good.

As we discussed the options you could sense the shippers' satisfaction growing with us and our carrier. In our in-house vernacular, it was a Purple Promise episode (the FedEx Purple Promise: "I will make every FedEx experience outstanding.").

The customers were thrilled with the care we showed for the very high value freight and the way we were able to lay out a variety of options and decide on a solution. The freight did not get through but the customers were pleased with our company in a way greater than they would have been had the delivery gone through without incident.

We lost the money we would have been paid to deliver in Saint Louis but got paid for miles driven. The money loss was a bummer but we ended the load feeling pleased and proud that the freight was undamaged and the customer was happy.

• Clear of the load, Diane and I headed next to a Volvo dealer about 30 miles away. They have the muffler in stock and can get us in at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. The dealer shares a parking lot with a small truck stop so we went there to spend the night. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Thursday, September 2, 2010 I learned today something disappointing about a dispatcher who dealt with us in bad faith, we believe. Learned from the experience.

I'm not going into the details. Suffice it to say we will not be inclined to trust or willingly help that dispatcher again if she asks for another favor. She fried her credibility with us today in a way that will not be soon forgotten.

Drivers sometimes talk about the wall of shame they have in their trucks. It is a small space on their dashboard onto which the initials of distrusted dispatchers are placed. Diane and I have had but a few dispatchers on our wall and the number went to zero as the designees left the company or moved into other positions. It's bad that a new name was added today but good that the list is so short given the large number of dispatchers we have interacted with over the years.

On the positive side, I also learned today that the load we returned to the shipper yesterday was quickly dispatched to another truck. That tells us that the freight was not damaged and the shipper will get his load to Saint Louis before the long weekend as he wished.

It feels great to wow our customers with fantastic service delivered above their expectations. It also feels rotten to discover that a dispatcher dealt with us in bad faith.

Oh well! Just two more items to add to the mix as we haul freight and think things through.

• Diane and I woke up this morning at a small truck stop in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. It shares a parking lot with the Volvo truck dealer that is also there. We went there last night to get in at 7:00 a.m. for a muffler repair.

The dealership was great. They got us in as promised and the repair was done right the first time. Everyone I dealt with was professional and courteous (shop foreman, service writer, mechanic, parts store staff). The entire facility (including the parking lot and bathrooms) was immaculate. They had a great truck parts store, larger than most. While browsing the store I listened to the staff dealing with customers on the floor and the phone. It was refreshing to see people doing such a good job for those they served.

Many drivers would consider the price charged for the Volvo-supplied muffler to be obscenely high and I would agree. Mufflers can be obtained at a significantly lower price. But as I said yesterday, it was important to us to get the truck back on the road before the long weekend. Notwithstanding how we ended up getting burned by dispatch today, paying a higher price to get the job quickly done was the best option.

• This afternoon we got dispatched on a Saturday load. That gives us Friday off. We headed toward the Saturday pickup and parked at a Maryland truck stop to spend the night. The truck stop offers a place for me to work on the truck (generator oil change) and showers.

It has been a full week since we took real showers (we have been using the truck shower). Today's showers were the best part of the day. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page