Got me a new work truck. Big ass diesel beast edition.

SMRTSS1

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For those that don't know what I do for a living I am a lineman for AT&T. What phone linemen do is place cables in the air (pole to pole), buried (dirt), underground (manhole to manhole), place and remove poles and place and remove all sorts of equipment so people can watch cat videos and download porn on their chosen internet method. Long story short; I've been busting my ass for this company for 16 years, been thru 18 different garages, lived in hotels while hundreds of miles from home for almost 2 years, have had 3 different job titles (officially) and I've solidified my reputation as one of the biggest assholes in the area but I'm the guy that gets shit done. I'm the guy that gets the tougher jobs that are loaded with hundreds of ways to kill or cripple you and they have to be done right the first time, or it's simply the job that no one else wants, knows how to do or it's something that hasn't been done before.
For 11-12 of my 16 years with the company I've been a lineman and for all but 1 year I drove a digger derrick which is essentially a light duty mobile crane. Our trucks differ from other utility diggers in that ours do EVERYTHING whereas other companies have more specialty trucks, it can do aerial but not underground and vice versa. For the last 2-3 years I've been driving an 06 International digger with the standard boom, bed winch and hydraulics with the boom controlled from the seat up next to the boom. No air conditioning, no bells, no frills, just a beast of a truck that's as tough and mean as it looks.
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About to tow a 40' pole into downtown Glen Ellyn during the morning rush hour on the back of a truck that's 27' long. Yes, it's as big a nightmare as you think.
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Just set a 35' pole that a dump truck yanked over when dumping a pile of mulch. Glen Ellyn again. Try driving a normal size truck with a trailer thru those narrow ass streets, then multiply your setup by 4 and add in the evening rush hour westbound on North Ave and into the heart of downtown Glen Ellyn. It sucks but I love this shit!!
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Enter the new beast that my boss decided to give to me on Tuesday. In my company truck assignment is solely up to the boss, NOT assigned by seniority like some of the guys in my garage think it should be (they want my truck). Maybe being good at your job and actually fucking working can amount to something?

2016 Kenworth D370 with an Allison push button auto trans, gigantic bed winch that looks like the 20 ton model, wireless remote for boom controls (that should cut down on me getting electrocuted), 10 foot pendant for bed winch controls so I don't have to stand next to a bed winch while pulling 3.5 tons of 2300 pair cable thru a 4" pipe for 1800 feet (see scared shitless and about to be killed, and no that's not a joke), pole jack to get stubborn poles out of the ground and not destroy the boom that can lift 18,000lbs (breaking point of the 3" rope on the tip winch on the boom), 110 A/C generator with 5 GFI outlets, enough strobe lights, flood lights and LEDs to be seen from space, back up camera, power passenger window AND I FINALLY GET FUCKING AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!

12'11" height and literally takes up just about every inch of a lane.
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Big yellow wheel is a collapsible wheel to pull rope so we can pull lighter cables in.
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Pole Jack on its cradle with I think a 10 ton lift capacity.
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Engine porn
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Big fucking bed winch that I have to make sure works perfectly before we have to place huge cables manhole to manhole for the 390 expansion. Once you start pulling a 7,000lbs cable thru a 4" pipe you don't stop until "it breaks or bleeds" as we say. Everything has to be set up right and work right the first time.
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Only things I've found that I don't like about the truck is the 22" step in height from the lower step to the top step over the fuel tank and the speedo and tach like to stick and not come down (it showed me at 2300 RPM and 24 mph while stopped in a parking lot). I can get over a few hiccups because this thing is a monster AND I FINALLY HAVE AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!!
 

SMRTSS1

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I'm EXTREMELY curious as to what it weighs once I get all of my gear transferred over. I gotta find a scale. I've already transferred most of the heavy shit but I'm only halfway there. As an example of the weight of some of the tools I use on a regular basis the 3" hydraulic water pump I have to lower into manholes and pull out weigh 40lbs and you have to add the hoses that are half full of water and hydraulic lines to that. A giant wheel to help get cables around corners that weighs 60 lbs (I have 2 of those). Two 1 ton chain hoists 18 lbs a piece, two 1 1/2 ton hoists at 25lbs a piece and a 3 ton hoist with 15' of chain that I swear to Christ weighs 100lbs. Fuck, that big yellow wheel on the back of the truck is considered a tool and that fucker weighs 60lbs.

I really have to find a scale.
 

DEEZUZ

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Nice. But you'll grow to hate it. It's going to leave you stranded countless times. Especially with how you guys idle your trucks alot. Gotta love emissions. You'll miss that Ole IH...

Did your old truck happen to be missing the passenger knee panel on the dash?
 

SMRTSS1

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Nice. But you'll grow to hate it. It's going to leave you stranded countless times. Especially with how you guys idle your trucks alot. Gotta love emissions. You'll miss that Ole IH...

Did your old truck happen to be missing the passenger knee panel on the dash?



I was hoping you'd chime in. I don't idle as nearly as much as most guys do, I like quiet. Plus our bosses can check our idle time via the tracking systems and we can be disciplined for idling too much, ergo if my truck is running it means I'm using it to work. A breakdown or me being stranded means overtime $$$ since we can't leave the truck and have to wait with it until the tow truck gets there. (A $200,000 truck with tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment needs to be secured)
My old truck had everything intact that it came with from the factory except the cup holder/ashtray that the previous guy that drove it broke and the cigarette lighter that I threw out the window when I stopped smoking (can't light it, can't smoke it).
 

DEEZUZ

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I'm surprised it Doesn't have a built in idle shutdown. Maybe you guys ordered it that way due to PTO usage. Carboning up is only half my concern. The other is the after treatment such as the urea injection. Alot of issues with the tanks, sending units, injectors, etc. All can leave you stranded. Nothing you can really do about that.

Drive it like you stole it is my best advice. Also, if you have high idle, use it religiously and pay close attention to what the truck is doing when in Regen and respect it. Always let it finish it's cycle.

The IH probably just needed a high side switch to fix the AC... LOL
 

SMRTSS1

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[MENTION=750]RICH17[/MENTION] can fix your cluster

Congrats on the new rig, that thing is beastly!

If he works at a Kenny shop or an Altec up fitter he might, it's under warranty so our shop "mechanic" won't even look at it. I don't trust our shop mechanic to change the oil on a fucking lawnmower and I'll have to teach the Jiffy Lube flunky how to minimally operate everything so he can do safety checks on it.

Now if it's something as simple as a loose terminal or something like that I'll dig into it and fix the gauges myself.
 

SMRTSS1

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The IH probably just needed a high side switch to fix the AC... LOL

My company ordered trucks without AC and even the smaller rigs like 3500 and F350's had the AC taken out of the trucks at an extra cost to prevent the techs from sitting in the trucks on hot days. Oh, and we get suspended if we get heatstroke. It wasn't until 08 when fleet vehicles were federally mandated as an office did we start getting AC in our trucks. All office spaces need to have full HVAC or have them in close proximity for employee safety. Wouldn't you know it, there is a HUGE gap in when the last time was that they bought trucks, like from 06-07 to 2015.
 

DEEZUZ

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Great looking truck! My kenworth at work has always been bullet proof. Now keep the cab clean. I can't stand a filthy cab. I'm always wiping the interiors of my three trucks I have at work.

i hate service trucks. I end up opening up both doors and taking my high powered blow gun to the entire interior. fucking disgusting ashtray most of these trucks are... fuck man...
 

SMRTSS1

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I have a few "bad" habits when it comes to my work truck. It is organized almost to the point of being alphabetical, important and highly used things are in front or easier to get to, I get covered in dirt, mud, manhole slime (a combination of dirt, slime and a putrid smelling adhesive), and sawdust yet the cab is still cleaned when dirty and garbage does not linger in the cab. Take something out? Borrow a tool? Put it back exactly where you found it so I can tell someone else where it is in case there's an emergency or you've been 30' up on your hooks for 2 hours and you need something unexpected in a hurry. People in the past have used my truck when I'm gone and they've left garbage everywhere and didn't stow things properly. The end result is always the same. I will collect your old food containers, garbage, boots, gloves....whatever you've left in the cab into a canvas junk bag and promptly dump it on the drivers seat of whatever truck they're assigned to or in a few instances into their lap. I respect you and your shit until me or my shit is disrespected. Apparently I'm an asshole because I say and do what everyone else wants to but doesn't have the balls to do.

As far as idling to have the AC running I don't think it'll be an issue. I'm a windows down all year kind of guy. I'll warm up or cool down but never excessively, I don't see the point of getting comfortable when I have to go out in the heat or cold to work. I dress so at the very least I'd be fine just standing in one spot for 6 hours regardless of conditions. The guys that are crying about needing AC (or thinking they deserve the new truck) are lazy pussies anyway and they are the ones that sit in the truck all day while its idling.
 

RICH17

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If he works at a Kenny shop or an Altec up fitter he might, it's under warranty so our shop "mechanic" won't even look at it. I don't trust our shop mechanic to change the oil on a fucking lawnmower and I'll have to teach the Jiffy Lube flunky how to minimally operate everything so he can do safety checks on it.

Now if it's something as simple as a loose terminal or something like that I'll dig into it and fix the gauges myself.

Im at international. I agree with CTCdeezul. Beat the crap out of it when you're running around. High idle times clog these fuckers up very quick
 
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