New Company, New Country & a Volvo...

 Butch flew into Omaha from WA on Wed. the 25th.  After lunch, we drove past Nationwide on our way home.

Entrance~

Seeing the line of Freightliner's all with "Ready" tags in the windows.  There were a couple nice Volvo's too.

Several Freightliners~

Early Monday morning, Butch began his orientation at Nationwide.  Everyone was friendly & he was introduced to the staff & toured the shop, before spending most of the day with the usual videos.  Later, he moved trailers.  Home that evening, I learned he was assigned a Volvo VNL860.  

Maverick comes home~

He had driven the Volvo while he was moving trailers & liked it.  His second day at orientation, was spent learning the company specific ELD system & going over the truck.  I enjoyed the full tour when he brought Maverick home for the first time on Tuesday.  What was left of the afternoon we spent loading some of his things into the truck.  It has a nice table, which Traveler didn't have & a large refrigerator.  

Great color!

The inside was roomy, with just a few small items to fix on the interior.  This truck is a 2022 & has the lowest mileage of any he's driven.  On my first ride, when we left to pick up Butch's Ford, the first thing I noticed was the smooth ride, even bobtailing.  A good thing!

My ride view~

I always enjoy the view from the semis!  The gates at Nationwide were just closing when we arrived.  I drove Butch's truck & followed him back home.  He had his first dispatch & would be leaving at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Maverick, back home, evening~

Butch was out of the house & on his way to pick up a trailer early.  I didn't hear from him again until later in the morning.  I received a text saying he was back at the shop?!  He had picked up the trailer, picked up his load, gone to scale & had fault codes lighting up the dash.  He called dispatch & was told to return.

Mileage as Butch took the keys - 239,496.

Back at the shop, they found a couple issues that were quickly resolved.  Butch was by now, late getting on his way to IN. Maverick's governor is set at 68, with cruise control at 70.  He was used to Travelers 76 mph & zipping along out west.  He mentioned it would take him a while to get used to the differences. 

By the end of yesterday's drive, he was within a short distance of his first delivery.  He had passed four trucks!  Two getting off on an exit ramp & two more actually slower than Maverick. :-)   As of this morning, he mentioned the bed was larger, but he'll add his foam mattress pad when he's home again.  The seat is more comfortable, which he appreciated.

As of this afternoon, he'd made his first delivery, picked up another load & was on his way to Kansas.  Giving up Traveler - for what we hope is more home time, is more of a change than I expected.  He had waited for quite a while for a good truck.  We'll see if Maverick stands the test of time & miles...