P0401

If the suspicions of maintenance are right, then the reason I'm shut down in no mans town in the mountains of Virginia is due to the EGR valve on my truck.  Funny because that is the same OBD-II code my car gets after a long road trip.  The only difference is that like most idiot lights, the performance isn't affected.  However, tractors are.

It started yesterday going up a few moderate hills on the highway.  The engine boggs down earlier than it should, but downshifting doesn't help at all. Once it starts, no gear will get any power from it.  Until you get to 1st. 1st works.  Needless to say that creates an unsafe condition when the speed limit is 65.

If I wanted to play games with the truck for the next 450 miles I could probably have made this load on time.  But as the company policy dictates- safety first, punctual second.  I made a few phone calls from the small truck stop at the next exit and shut down early last night.  Which royally sucks because I lucked out and got loaded 3 hours ahead of schedule at my last shipper.  The consignee message said I could arrive to unload early, too.

As for my first delivery, I made it on time and almost without a hitch.  Had I not taken so long to park at that BK I would have made it to the consignee with more than 93 seconds on the clock.  I drove 557 miles and burned up 10:58:27 of my 11 hours of legal driving time.  Funny for my first time and I'll laugh about it later but I plan on preventing that every time now.  It was a 6am appointment so I didn't want to shut down 20 minutes down the road and get up at 4:30 if I could just pull up and sleep at their dock.

Anyway, I'm waiting on a driver to come and relay this load for me- then I'll bobtail it to the nearest repair place maintenance will find for me.  6 hours to appointment time and 450 miles out.  I feel like shit for already breaking a date though it wasn't my fault.  Apparently Sheila has a history of this, according to HQ.  Other than this little hiccup I really like her and want to keep going as long as I can.

P.S.  Just when you thought I had enough bullshit for one day-  I wake up this morning, and the roof is leaking.  Luckily its in the middle of the floor and I have a few empty coffee cups.  It rained like hell the night before last and not a drop.  Last night is was just cold, but now I have a leaky roof.

FML