When I drove into Utah last week, there were problems with my Volvo truck (no big surprise); had to wait until they were fixed. Rather than sit and wait at the terminal with no comfortable place to sleep, my dispatcher sent me on a special mission. I was sent to Ohio, to 'recover' a leased Kenworth truck that had been abandoned by the driver.

I was excited to drive a different truck for a while, but the airport security was probably the most memorable part of the trip, in an unpleasant way.

I flew to Ohio on US Airways, as arranged by my company. The ticket agent charged me $15 to load a single bag, which I had intended to carry with me onto the plane, because he tricked me into calling it “baggage”. At no time did I say I wanted it “checked” - which I already understood to be a buzzword for ‘put it into the cargo hold’. Over sixteen years ago, when I worked as a flight attendant, all passenger bags on an airpane were considered “baggage”, whether they were carried by the passenger, or stowed in the cargo hold. Even after I inquired whether my bag was small enough to carry on the plane, the agent still took my money and sent my bag to the baggage handlers.

Prior to boarding the plane, I had to deal with the TSA routine, as all airline passengers do. I disliked that shakedown as much as anyone. Then it took a weird turn as I presented my boarding pass to the gate attendant. He told me I needed “extra security”.

My flight to Ohio was not direct; part one was an airplane ride from Salt Lake City to Phoenix; part two was a different airplane ride from Phoenix to Cleveland. Some TSA officer put his special stamp on my boarding pass for the plane in Phoenix, instead of on the boarding pass for the plane in Salt Lake City. This meant I had to wait at the gate for another TSA officer to come and do another shakedown. But first, he quizzed me about where I got my boarding passes, and whether I had flown in to Salt Lake City on another airline. Then I had to remove my shoes, empty my pockets, and get patted, physically, as well as pose for the magic wand treatment. I hoped this would be the last such experience with TSA, but it was not.

In Cleveland, I hired a taxi to get me to the yard where the Kenworth W900 truck was sitting, and drove it back to Utah. After arriving at the terminal, I checked on my Volvo truck, and found that the mirrors had not been repaired yet. So I reported to my dispatcher, and he sent me on another recovery mission, to New Mexico.

I again flew on US Airways, this time to El Paso. I refused to pay extra to have my bag sent to the cargo hold. Having a one-way boarding pass seemed to make me a security risk. The TSA agents declared that my airline had selected me for “extra security”. In other words, it was not sufficient to sequester my electronic devices, remove my shoes, empty my pockets, and pass through the metal detectors. I had to stand in a special compartment designed to blow air on me, and detect any residue of explosive material. Then another agent went through my belongings, a piece at a time, including my underwear. He tried to chit chat during this process, but I was not in a chatty mood. When he saw my logbook, and road atlas, he figured out that I was going to pick up a truck.

I took a taxi from the airport to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The fare was about $127 and I did not have much cash left. In spite of some fences and buildings, the place was still a desert, with no pavement, no greenery, and very hot. The Kenworth T2000 seemed rather odd in such a setting, with no other commercial trucks around. Almost did not get into the truck, because the folks in Utah gave me the wrong keys! Fortunately, one door was open, and the original Kenworth key was in the sleeper berth. Drove that truck back to Utah, without further trouble.

About these Kenworth trucks I drove. Both were red. Both demanded some new driver orientation, as none of the buttons were arranged with any similarity to those in my Volvo. The W900 has a coffin-nosed appearance, which I did not care for, until I drove it. It is more difficult to turn, and more difficult to back up with the trailer, due to the longer turning radius. When I tried to look out the window, to watch the end of my trailer as I usually do while backing up to a dock, the side-mounted muffler blocked my view. I had to rely on the mirrors, which can be tricky. When I looked out the window to look at the front wheel, so as to judge how close I was getting to other trucks in a tight parking lot turn, the air-cleaner cannister blocked my view. Now I know why so many W900 bumpers have illuminated guideposts mounted on each side. This W900 had the most spacious sleeper berth of any truck I have driven, with some fancy upholstery. This truck was a 2008 model, and had less than 18000 miles on the odometer, so that "new-car smell" was still present inside. The mattresses had wire springs inside. The radio seemed to have a better sound, while listening from the driver seat, as the speakers were mounted to the header panel rather than the dashboard. This truck had a real Jacobs brake, with control buttons mounted on the steering wheel. It had much more braking power than the engine retarders on the Volvo. While the Eaton Fuller transmission was basically the same as the one in the Volvo truck, it had a few more gears to work with; this is still somewhat of a mystery to me.

The T2000 looked much more like a Volvo, from the outside. No side-mounted mufflers, or air-cleaner cannisters to impede the view while looking out the window. The cab was wide, unlike the cab of the W900. I had to reach further to get items off the passenger seat. The mirrors on this truck are somewhat more attractive than those on the W900. Unfortunately, the split driver door window design interfered with my ability to do safe backing. The driver-side (and passenger-side) windows are split, so that only the rear portion opens. The forward window on each door is fixed, and blocks both mirrors; this makes it harder to clean the mirrors, and puts some glare in front of the mirrors at night. This glare impeded my view to the mirrors, when I needed them to see the dim outline of my trailer, while backing the rig after dark. If any glare appears on the Volvo windows, I just roll them down to completely expose my mirrors. If I was driving in winter weather, when fog tends to form on windows, the problem could be magnified.

While the console switches on the W900 were fairly ergonomic, and easy to figure out, those on the T2000 are goofy. Other than the city horn, there are no switches on the steering wheel. Some switches are low-profile rockers, with large lumps on the upper surface; others are a tall pointy toggle style. Would be nice if the Kenworth designers could choose one type of dashboard switch to use, and stick with it. The windshield wiper control is a click knob on the dash, rather than the familiar steering-column-mounted post. The high-beam dimmer switch on the Volvo truck can be used to make the bright beams flash momentarily, so as to signal other drivers. The high-beam dimmer switch on the T2000 does nothing, unless the headlight toggle switch is already on. Another goofy thing with the headlight switch; it operates independant of the ignition key, so you can turn off the engine, take out your key, lock your door, and leave your headlights burning indefinitely, to drain your batteries.

The T2000 curtain was the most skimpy in any commercial truck I've used. There were a few nice extras in the sleeper berth, like several small compartments or shelves on the rear wall, at each bunk level. The speakers were mounted at the lower bunk level, where the driver is most likely to be while listening. I also liked the button-grip latches for the drawers and closets. These are a joy to use, compared to the clumsy edge-pull design used in the Volvo. The cabinets were sized differently, but overall they were about as small as those in the Volvo. The light switches were not intuitive, and none of the overhead lights could be controlled individually from inside the sleeper berth. The flow of cool air through this sleeper berth was weak, compared to what I’ve come to expect in my Volvo. The air temperature never got to a comfortable level during daylight hours. In general, the T2000 sleeper berth was nothing like the impressive W900 sleeper berth.