Volvo, behind the whell

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Trucks, like any industrial tools in shrink to fit times, a looking for optimum point. As working element in logistics they daily are in the cutting point of technological and negotiating scissors. Customers always want an minimum price. Expenses are strong correlated with the diesel price. In good old times, this means less computing and more common sense, the price of 1 loaded mile = price of 1 diesel gal. Well, for optimum I will take this as reference point. On the another hand, without profit truck is out from the road in no time. This is an criteria. Negotiating is not my strongest point, always I'm using negotiators in my job, my point of view is technological. Leave the diesel price, from my observations high diesel price means increase of profit, maintenance expenses are the core of the business profitability.

Two centuries ago Leibniz invented a calculating machine which embodied most of the essential features of recent keyboard devices, but it could not then come into use. The economics of the situation were against it: the labor involved in constructing it, before the days of mass production, exceeded the labor to be saved by its use, since all it could accomplish could be duplicated by sufficient use of pencil and paper. Moreover, it would have been subject to frequent breakdown, so that it could not have been depended upon; for at that time and long after, complexity and unreliability were synonymous.

Babbage, even with remarkably generous support for his time, could not produce his great arithmetical machine. His idea was sound enough, but construction and maintenance costs were then too heavy. Had a Pharaoh been given detailed and explicit designs of an automobile, and had he understood them completely, it would have taxed the resources of his kingdom to have fashioned the thousands of parts for a single car, and that car would have broken down on the first trip to Giza.

Volvo trucks position on the interstate system. And any driver depend upon.

As long as truck is on warranty, services authorized to fix any breakdown may be are on the limit of factory profitability. Next, what next, disaster. Easy to feel European optimum: after warranty one or two years on the road and expenses exceed the cost of a new car. Or, to mention here the words of an Canadian colleague, after 3000 miles you have to spend one week for maintenance. At current legal speed and hours of duty: one week over the road, one on the shop. I've driving few Volvo's over the road in last time looking at excellent MPG stories from truck stops involving Volvo truck's. Classic American trucks have 6 to 6.3 mpg., Volvo 7+. Is huge and is real using "13 speed" gearbox. For full automatic 6.2 to 6.8 mpg. Any car performance in this area have huge maintenance costs. Otto invented diesel engine long time ago, it is a German invention that it suppose do not work. After is started, over 500 rpm may be it work, at 800 rpm is working, the best performances are at 1250 rpm. Where is the fuel economy ? In the driver hand, always. From the factory, they have to select between economy point and power point at the design start. For me it seems economy point, I do not have power at low rpm, is OK after 70 mph. A truck have after him another vehicle that have 53' , so if you have a slow vehicle in front of you, in California or Arizona, maintenance shop is waiting for you at next location. If, and only if, you a lucky enough to get there. There means "authorized shop". Those are rare. Detroit diesel always are asking for the proof of damaged part, protecting truckers, Volvo will found another damaged part(s)  so, you will  take the truck out from the shop without any warranty remembering that Gestapo logo:  "in  Wald da sind die Räuber" (in forest are there the robbers).

Personal experience: Diagnose in Elko, Nevada: Harness failure probably injectors. Volvo send three times wrong harness to the shop, using only one service for this wasting 10 of my days, after that truck was on tow for 400 miles to Salt lake City, Utah. Here the harness was OK, but two injectors damaged, $ 1000 each. And the truck have damaged another mechanical part and will brake the vent belt. All of us know this story as "Volvo by purpose failure". Any mechanic will fix that problem in two or three hrs. Not a dealer, they have to sell $ 4000 parts.

In the Continental USA, a single driver is working maximum 550 miles/day at 1 to 1.5 $/mile to the truck. Five days for the truck expenses and my by one day for his expenses. If you feel like a Pharaoh.

Machines with interchangeable parts can now be constructed with great economy of effort. they perform reliably. The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it.

I do not discuss here about jewelry, it is about safety over the road.

Almost 90% of all accidents are due to the human factor. When looking at single accidents, 10-20% is due to tired drivers.  Halo... a driver is not operating an computer so move the safety point to the driver.

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