Let's set the stage for my final trip of the year in 2020. I was driving towards home peacefully on US-69 in Savanna, Oklahoma when suddenly there was a large mass of brown fur in front of my Cascadia. The impact was imminent on this dark night as it appeared out of nowhere. Upon impact, I was able to identify this creature as a large doe. After contact had been made the disconcerting noises of this large animal going under the Cascadia were heard. I brought the truck and trailer to a safe stop on a conveniently available wide pull-off area.
Right after coming to a safe stop I shut off the engine and turned on the four-way hazard flashers. No sooner had I opened the door on my Cascadia there was a police officer greeting me and asking if I was alright. After replying to the officer that I was okay, we walked around to the front of the truck to assess the damage. The right side of the Cascadia two-piece bumper was torn off and laying under the front axle. The officer informed me that he saw the whole indecent unfold as he was going in the opposite direction. He told me there was not much left of the deer and the roadway was clear of debris. I asked the officer if he thought the situation warranted putting out my reflective triangles and he replied that the truck and trailer were far enough off the roadway to forgo this procedure.
The officer got back into his car and left without announcement and the process of dismantling the damaged bumper assembly begun. All that was necessary to do was remove one bolt from the damaged components, drill out a rivet, and cut a trim piece off with a hacksaw. Next was to inspect the cooling system airlines under the truck chassis and trailer. Everything checked out fine and the trip home for the holiday season resumed.
Once I was back on 
the road it was very apparent how aerodynamics plays a role in fuel efficiency. With the aerodynamic impairment of having one side of the front bumper missing, my fuel mileage began to tumble to the lowest number I had ever recorded in my Cascadia named New Blue. At the first sight of a well-lit truck stop, I stopped and did a more detailed inspection of the truck and trailer and found everything to be in satisfactory condition to continue the trip home.
After delivering my load and parking the truck for the holiday season, contact was made with my insurance adjuster who promptly got the process started for the repairs to make New Blue “whole” once again. Here was where the Freightliner service and parts network really saved the day. We were able to get a complete bumper assembly which made the repair process quick and easy. The parts were in stock and all of the repairs were so easy that the decision to do it myself was clearly the way to go.
The available bumper was black in color so I had to go for a different look of having the contrast in color to New Blue. There were few repairs to some of the airflow shrouds behind the bumper to be done and the new bumper was installed with the simple three-bolt mounting on each side. With this event behind me, it was now time to relax and enjoy the holiday season.