Lessons From The Road: Cat^® 3406E Engine Owner Shares His Secrets

A Temporary Gig Turns Into A 33-Year Career

Wisconsin native Alan Kitzhaber was between jobs when he saw an ad seeking truck drivers: “Drive a truck. See the country.” He thought he’d give it a try for a few years while he paid off some bills.

That was 33 years and more than four million miles ago. Alan’s still out on the road, seeing the country and delivering the goods Americans rely on, in a Kenworth T600 truck powered by a Cat^® 3406E engine. This Million Miler recently shared his story and offered some advice for new drivers on Season 3, Episode 3, of Haul Talk — the Cat truck engine podcast. Below are some of the highlights from that conversation.

Lesson 1: Take Control Of Your Truck

When Alan started out, he drove a brand-new, company-owned truck — the aforementioned Kenworth T600. About three and a half years into his career, the company began encouraging drivers to become owner-operators. So he bought the truck and set to work making it his own.

“Some guys need a lot of paint and chrome to make them happy,” Alan says. “For me, the things I did were more efficiency related — making the business a little more efficient and making me more comfortable.”

Converting his truck from a dual-drive to a single-drive axle, for example, allowed Alan to reduce overall weight by about 1,200 pounds. That’s paid off in both improved fuel economy (four- to five-tenths of a mile per gallon) and less risk of overweight fines. He also keeps costs low by installing a power inverter to run the TV, DVD player, microwave and other 110-volt items — along with placing an RV vent in the roof of the sleeper cab.

On the maintenance side, Alan put in an automatic greaser, which he says has been a money-saver as well as a time-saver by helping extend component life. Adding a tire pressure monitoring system has also proved worthwhile.

“I can’t tell you the number of times that has really paid off,” Alan says. “You’re able to pull over to the side of the road and get it fixed before you have a catastrophic failure.”

And then there’s the grill guard, which Alan says has “saved my bacon three or four times now.”

Lesson 2: Stick With What Works

Now that he’s made all these modifications, Alan doesn’t see any reason to start over again in a new truck.

"Buying new gets really expensive,” he says. “I’ve got it all set up the way I like it, I don’t have truck payments and it’s an older-style truck so I can get it fixed in a number of different garages across the country."

Alan’s happy to stick with his Cat 3406E engine, too. Back in 1995 when he first purchased the truck, he hauled a lot of heavy loads on the East Coast.

“You had a lot of hills, and the Cat engines just pulled better,” he says. “When you stood around at the truck stops and debated which engine to buy, you didn’t have too many people argue when you said that Caterpillar pulls better.”

It’s not just power, though — it’s also durability. Alan’s Cat truck engine topped the four-million-mile mark in 2024, and he’s been able to overhaul it three times: first at 750,000 miles, then after 1.7 million more miles and again after another 1.2 million miles.

“In all three cases, the engine was in really good condition,” he says. “It was just one of those things where it costs so much to replace certain components, it doesn’t really cost that much more to overhaul it.”

Lesson 3: Find A Good Mechanic

Though there’s certainly some luck involved in achieving four-million-mile truck status, Alan attributes much of his success to the right parts, regular maintenance and a strong relationship with his mechanic.

When it comes to maintaining his Cat 3406E engine, for example, Alan relies on genuine Cat truck engine parts.

“I have a lot more faith in Cat parts than aftermarket parts, just because they’re better,” he says. “I haven’t had to replace many Cat parts overall. I drive it to the next overhaul.”

He also samples engine oil every 12,500 miles and sends it to a Caterpillar lab for evaluation. He’s changed the oil every 50,000 miles since the truck was new. And he’s had Cat dealer Fabick Cat perform each overhaul because of the Caterpillar Limited Warranty and the option to add Extended Service Coverage.

But according to Alan, the single most important factor in his truck’s longevity is the fact that he’s been working with the same local service shop since 2002.

“Developing that relationship is invaluable because you get to know them and they get to know your truck,” he says. “If you have a problem, they can diagnose it so much easier. And if you’re in a pinch and something needs to be repaired, you can call that shop and they can work you in.”

Lesson 4: Run The Numbers

Alan’s not just meticulous about truck engine maintenance. He also keeps detailed records and uses them to drive decisions.

A decade ago, he committed to driving 57 miles per hour for an entire year and kept track of fuel consumption. He found that he averaged better than eight miles to the gallon. Though he isn’t always able to maintain that exact speed, “not driving like a maniac” has Alan averaging 6.93 miles per gallon over the last decade.

He also tracks all his truck expenses in a spreadsheet and recently calculated that his maintenance cost — including Cat truck engine overhauls — amounts to just 14% of his total annual revenue.

“My math indicates that running this older truck is more profitable than buying a new truck,” Alan says. “The other problem is the downtime you have with newer trucks. You’ve got issues with sensors, with emissions and you have to go to a shop that has the test equipment. How long do you have to wait to get in? What’s going to happen to the customer waiting for your load? Are they going to want to work with you anymore?”

Sound advice from a seasoned driver.

Want To Hear More From Veteran Truckers?

Tune in to Season 3, Episode 3, of Haul Talk to discover more of Alan’s story and lessons from a life on the road. And stay tuned for Season 4, hitting the airwaves soon.