The New Johnson Trucking...On The Inside

I was intending to give a "tour" of the new truck, and then my sister requested pictures of the "splurges" I was mentioning, so I'll just go ahead and get busy with the introduction to our truck. We'll start with the inside. Now, please realize that its really hard to take pictures in the truck. Regardless of how much more spacious it is, and it really is, its not going to look it in the pictures. So just take my word for it.

Our former truck was a Kenworth T-600. This one is a Kenworth T-660. Basically all that means is the model, and I really couldn't explain to you all the differences. But our T-660 has 14 extra inches in the sleeper, and let me tell you, 14 inches makes a world of difference.

As I explained the other day, we splurged on some things this time. We figured if we're living in this thing, why not have all the creature comforts we can get...along with some fancy gadgets. I mean, nothing wrong with looking cool while your at it. Malcolm sat down with the guys at Motor Power in Billings, and they pieced this truck together from the ground up. Its built to be as light as possible, as fuel efficent as possible, and still have all sorts of fancy gadgets and such on it. When it was all said and done, the guys at Motor Power were really looking forward to seeing it. It has several new items on it that they had never seen ordered before. I think everyone is impressed with it.

We have about 10 inches more floor space than before. I know, it doesn't look like it, but its huge, and the girls are loving it. Paris doesn't even get in the bed during the day. She and Ella spent the day lounging on the floor and in their little dog bed back there. In addition the lower bunk is 4 inches wider.

See the cabinets below? That skinny tall one on the right is new. The old truck didn't have that one. There is one on each side of the sleeper, so we got two extra cabinets.

This isn't new, but I thought I'd include it on the tour. The Entertainment Center and pantry. We keep our logs on the computer and also have to make copies of bills, so I keep the printer up here. And our TV. Malcolm made a stand for it so when we want to watch, it can swing out and then we can put it away flat against the wall when we don't want it. Another one of his amazing inventions.

Windows that open and have screens on them. The windows by the upper bunk always opened, but these are much larger, and before they were just glass. And also the built in fan there is nice to have. We had a refrigerator in the old truck. But this one is so nice and clean and NEW! And when I opened the door the other night I discovered that it has a light that comes on inside...just like a real one! We got excited over that. It also has a little freezer section which the old one didn't have, so that's also going to be fun. Silly I know, but it's kind of cool!

Leather seats in lovely shades of black and gray. They have the usual air ride in them, as well as the back and seat adjustments. But they also recline all the way back AND Malcolm got the seat heaters too. Paris is going to LOVE that this winter.

A sunroof that opens, and it has shades that you can pull from the center to each side if it gets too bright.

The leather wrapped "smart wheel." Formally the controls for the cruise, jake brake, and lights were on the dash. Now its all on the wheel.

About twice as many gauges and switches as before, and I don't know what half of them are for. But is sure does look cool!

The Cummins RoadRelay. This little beauty is mounted about the visor on the driver's side. It, in great detail, monitors all aspects of the engine like fuel economy, gallons of fuel burned while idoling, etc. It's main use is to assist us in adjusting our driving to achieve the highest fuel efficiency possible. This lovely little box cost $1000, but hopefully it will pay for itself in fuel savings.

And then there is this... the thing that is single handedly making my job a living nightmare. The shifter for the 18 speed transmission. It has two splitters instead of one, and 18 gears instead of 10, and I simply am having a miserable time making it work for me. Last night I took over driving just north of Kansas City. Got through town all right, but then I got off the interstate to head south to Oklahoma, and went through a very popular shopping area that stretched for miles and must have had about 300 traffic lights. I swear I lost my gear at every light, and of course every light turned red on me! I felt like I stopped at ALL of them. It was a miserable night, and by the time it was finally over, my back, head, eyes, hands, fingers, stomach, and everything else hurt from the tension. But it did get a little better before the night was over...a little. Its just not much fun dreading my driving shift, and so far today I've avoided it, but I know its coming. Its coming very soon.

Those are most of the changes, the biggest one's anyway. There's some new stuff on the exterior too, but I'll show you those in the next post.