The image above probably gives the game away but it's only half of the story. For some reason whenever we get the truck washed something happens, normally weather related but sometimes not. We had washed the truck.

We picked up our load in Laredo and headed north on our way back to Pocahontas, Illinois. Our routine is for Ellen to drive until we get to Atoka, Oklahoma where I take over and Ellen goes to bed. I did my normal walk around of the rig giving everything a look see. All good we headed up the road to Checotah, Oklahoma where I stopped to fuel and grab a bite to eat. My habit is to set the pumps flowing and clean the windows. Once the passenger side pump is done I walk around the back of the rig checking the tires again before returning to the driver's side and finishing up the pump on that side. One of the trailer tires had lost it's tread and was showing steel.

We sat for a while awaiting the arrival of a Love's repair truck. Once the tire had been replaced we headed out again, Ellen slept and I drove arriving in Pocahontas with only 20 minutes left before I had to take a half hour break. The relay made and my 30 minute break complete we headed to Salem arriving five minutes before our pick up time and with 10 minutes on my book.

We picked up the load bound for Laredo and with Ellen behind the wheel we drove south on I-57 to a moment before the Rest Area around mile marker 114. Alarms sounded on the dashboard and the engine shutdown light came on so we had moments before the engine left us for Sleepytown. We quickly ducked into the Rest Area and Ellen told me what the dashboard readout was telling her, "Water in the Fuel".

As long as there was an Engine Shutdown Warning we needed a Freightliner facility even if we could have fixed the problem. So, maybe because we washed the truck, or maybe not, we are now sitting in a Hotel in Troy, Illinois watching TV while someone works to fix our truck problem.

I like the truck nice and shiny, in future I might let it stay grubby until just before we take a week off.

Back to Blogs