Meet Our Truck
The Big Black Beastie
Our truck is a 2002 Freightliner Classic XL Limited edition. The "Limited edition" means it has a few fancy things that a regular Classic doesn't. As you can see by the picture, it is black, and big, and shiny. It is also decorated for Christmas. We do that every year.
Under that big long hood is a 500 horsepower Detroit Diesel engine to supply power. Behind the engine, under the floor of the cab, there is an Eaton Fuller 13 speed transmission. There are two Eaton 3.56 rear ends sending all that horsepower to eight 24 inch wheels mounted with 11R24.5 tires which put all that power to work getting the truck, us, the dogs, and the load down the road.
Inside the cab, behind the two seats is our living quarters. The space back there is 84 inches (7 feet) from the back of the seats to the back wall, and about the same distance from side to side. We have two bunks back there and storage space for our belongings. The bottom bunk folds up, and underneath is a dinette table and 2 cushy, padded benches. Freightliner calls that arrangement "the drivers lounge". That bigger than normal sleeper and the dinette are part of the reason it is called a "limited edition."
We have a 14" color TV/VCR, and a DVD player, a small refrigerator, and a porta-potti. We carry some food that doesn't need to be cooked, such as, bread and peanut butter, cereal and milk, and some canned food. We also carry food for the dogs, and bottled water for all of us. Of course we carry our clothes, some tools and spare oil, other things we need, and a first aid kit. We keep blankets and warm clothing in the wintertime. In the summer we keep a couple of folding lawn chairs and mosquito repellant handy, so we can sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. We carry the dogs' medicine, and their Veterinary records too, because some places we go require us to have proof that they have their shots.
We try to "Be Prepared" like good Boy and Girl Scouts.
We carry a laptop computer, because we use it to get our loads from the Landstar website. We connect to the Internet using a PC card modem and antenna, go to the Landstar website and find our loads there.
We also use the laptop computer to send e-mail to our family and friends.
You can send us e-mail too, if you would like to
Gertie
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