Welcome Chuck to the program

 I made another purchase for the business, a 2011 LVSR (Logistics Vehicle System Replacement).  The vehicle is a beast!!  It is a 10 wheel drive, surplus Marine Corp heavy tactical vehicle capable of transporting a #45,000 lb payload!  I was able to purchase the vehicle on the GovPlanet auction site back in November.  It was a bit of a process getting the vehicle as I had to fill out a EUC (End Use Certificate) so the government could determine weather or not I was a villain living in a hollowed out volcano!  There were some delays as I posted our home address and a quick search by the powers that be saw it was a neighborhood with a homeowners association.  Apparently the reviewer did not believe I would be able to keep the vehicle at the house.  I explained that the truck would eventually live at the property, and not scare the neighbors.  All was right after that.  

It is amazing what you can buy on the internet!  I saw this pop up in my Instagram feed for GovPlanet and it peaked my interest.  The auction was that night . . . and after a couple of glasses of wine, I was the highest bidder.  That night I had a bit of buyers remorse, and sure enough, the next morning I got a message in my inbox that I was now the proud owner of this beast!  Now to transport it to Alaska . . . and more importantly . . . tell Renee!

The truck will be used for a variety of purposes for Delta Backhaul Company.  When I research remote logistics . . . no one does it better than the US Military.  The LVSR is the Marine Corps. answer to moving heavy things in extreme environments.  This truck is the Swiss Army knife of logistics vehicles.  With the powerful hook in the back able to take a variety of loads.  The truck is capable both on and off road, with top speeds of 65 mph.  Don't ask about gas mileage as this fits the old adage, "If you got to ask how much it costs to fuel this beast, you cant afford it".  Somethings are better just not worried about.  

I already have a flat bed for the truck and have a dump body on order.  The truck will also pick up loaded 20' Conex's and most importantly, a car crushing baler that I plan to purchase in the next few weeks.  This beast will be able to move a variety of loads on and off landing crafts, over soft surfaces and travel the paved roads to interior community projects.  I think that this truck will become just as important to the program as our beloved Red Dragon!

The truck had to be trucked from Yermo California to Seattle, where it was loaded on a barge and transported to Whittier.  From there it was loaded on a train, driven through the Whittier tunnel (2.5 miles) and delivered to the port of Anchorage.  

There was a delay in the rail lines to Anchorage as we had A LOT of snow earlier in the week (10+ inches) followed by extreme cold (-4)!!  I was running errands down by the port in Anchorage on Wednesday and asked if the truck was in.  It had just gotten in and was in the process of being unloaded.  They said to come back tomorrow to take delivery.

I enlisted the help of my friend Rocky (who can do it all!) and we drove down to the port around 10:30am.  I initially wanted to get the truck out of the port and drive it to my house for a few days.  It was a balmy -4 when Rocky and I got to the truck.  I cleared off some snow and he tried to fire up the beast!  Unfortuanly, the beast did not want to be awoken and sat cold in protest.

Rocky tested the batteries and found them to be dead.  We pulled the batteries to take to the battery shop to slow charge and hopefully bring back to life.  Because it was so cold, and predicted to be even colder, I had Rocky test the anti-freeze.  The meter read back that the coolant was only good to +25 degrees!!  This was not good and I started to panic!

The batteries I was not worried about, but the coolant I was.  I started calling everyone I thought might have a garage big enough to get the beast into.  It had to be close, because I hadn't gone through the vehicle and the Government is famous for picking parts and not fixing things on surplus vehicles.  I finally got ahold of Patrick, a person I had met a few times and talked with about the Humvee.  Patrice has a love of military vehicles, a big shop AND a mechanic that knows how to work on this type of equipment.  We were in the right place at the right time.  Within an hour, Patric and Nick the mechanic were on the scene ready to help.   

Fortunately I have very good friends.  Long story short, we (I) purchased new batteries.  We got the beast started.  Nick was able to limp (more to come on that) the truck over to their shop . . . and we developed a plan to fix some of the bugs in the machine.  It was a very successful day.  The truck ran . . . and while there were a ton of warning lights on the dash, the brakes were caged, the hydraulics, lights, didn't work and the truck would only drive in "limp" mode, it was way better than it could have been.  That night Patrick was able to pull the truck into his shop and let the snow melt off of it.  This was a really good thing as the temperatures over the next three days was predicted to be around -18!!  

The next day I visited the truck in the shop and it looked WAY better!  There is a punch list of things wrong with the truck for sure.  Some I think were attributed to the extreme cold weather and others were related to a hydraulic leak.  The truck is in good hands at the shop and we have a plan to get the truck up and running and back home soon!  More to come and many more adventures ahead.

Oh, and the name . . . Chuck.  I have named this beast after the great Chuck Norris.  Chuck Norris embodies everything tough, manly and right with the world.  This truck is one of the biggest I have seen and seems to fit the Chuck namesake perfectly.  

The truck doesn't't have to move . . . It just stays in place and rotates the world to its desired destination.  Welcome to the program Chuck!