Chris gets a New Truck

After 2 months of driving over the road after his truck driving school Chris got to come home for a couple days of rest. He has passed all of the testing and OJT and is now on his own with his own truck and will leave again on monday for who knows how long. Great life for a single young guy, he gets to earn good money and full benefits, see the country, and best of all (for me anywhay if I were a trucker) he coan be on his own a lot.

As you can see from the pictures below the truck is a T2000 Kenworth and it dwarfs Judy's mobile home.

This is a 2008 T2000 Kenworth with about 500K miles so its pretty new and just getting broken in. I have been impressed by this company so far (SWIFT) for their comitment to their drivers, their focus on safety, and the quality of their equipment. Chris has full benefits, makes good money for around here and long haul trucking is one of the few real opportunities in many of these rural areas.

As you can see these tractors are enormous. It stands 13 feet tall and looms over the roof line of Judy's place.

I admit that this post is not only an acknowledgement of Chris' achievement but also an indulgence for those of us who are gear heads and like machinery. Power is via a 475hp Cummins N-14 Red Top and its obvious this tractor has been maintained well (note the brand new steering shaft).

The command post sports an air ride seat, telescoping steering wheel, Qualcom communications module and an 8 speed transmission that I think is an Allison.

The sleeper cab has a large bunk lower and a smaller one on top that can be folded up but Chris uses it for storage. I has built in lockers and drawers all over the place, built in stereo speakers and..

On the other side the opening above in this picture will be for a built in flat screen TV and the opening below is for his refrigerator both of which he still needs to buy. There are also two windows and an opening air vent on each side of the sleeper cab so its quite comfortable.

They certainly have changed since the days of when I was in HS and worked at a stockyard and helped transport cattle. We had an old Peterbuilt with a sleeper cab that was basically just a mattress in back and what I remember most about it was that it smelled of sweat and cow manure. Its also pretty aero-dynamic and Chris says he is getting about 8mpg which isnt too bad.

The pintle hitches havent changed much but its a stout rig and I wouldnt mind having an older one to mess around with....maybe for my birthday.

Holly likes driving the trucks and machinery but she spends most of her time on the 4 wheeler or her old Sears Suburban garden tractor. She has such an enjoyment for simple things and she is always happy. In the 20 years I have known her I have only seen her down a couple times and that was for a short time...I know how lucky I am to have found such a partner.