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Friday, October 4, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Make an Additional $50,000.00 a Year From Your Rig!
Everyone wants to make more money at their job, but very few people have the opportunity to give themselves a $50,000.00 raise per year. You, as an owner/operator of a tractor trailer, have that opportunity. You’ve probably heard any number of these recommendations before, but we’ve put them all together - and done the math. If you want results, some bad habits need to be broken and some equipment needs to be installed. Let’s start with 5 realistic ways you can make much more money with your rig.
Stop Idling!
You and I both know drivers that have bad habits. First, there’s idling. Of the 24 hours available, 11 are over the road and the other 13 are consumed idling – usually just for convenience. While there are any number of reasons to reduce idling as much as possible, including laws in some states, consider this:
· Idling reduces the useful lifetime of your oil. You have a standard lifetime of around 600 hours of operation for over-the-road driving with each oil change. Continuous idling can reduce that to a mere 150 hours! How much are you paying for a standard oil change? How often do you want to be paying for one? Idling at around 625 RPMs allows for buildup of unburned fuel on the cylinder liners, which is drawn in by the oil sump. This contaminates the oil and shortens the life of the fluid as a lubricant. You’re now paying for more oil changes, more fuel and more engine maintenance; this is your money lost. Even if you choose a higher idling rate to combat some of the oil contamination, you’re now using even more fuel to idle, and you’re still paying more for maintenance, so your costs are still piling up.
· You’re not making money from your fuel if you’re idling. Drivers want to drive. That’s how money is made, but there are mandatory down times. What your truck is doing while on that down time is where your money is going; especially since a one-man driver is on downtime more than driving time every single day. Some drivers think of it as a necessary evil, and create the most comfortable environment possible while burning up to a gallon of diesel an hour. That’s almost $50.00 per day in fuel that’s not making you money. Multiply that by the average truck work year, and that’s around $14,000.00. Stop idling unless absolutely necessary and you start making more money.
· So, what do you do about it? Install a small generator that runs from your fuel tank, or a separate tank. You can have a very comfortable cab, as well as run your electrics from a small, very efficient generator. There are also electric plug-ins available at numerous truck stops and rest areas, so drivers can be comfortable in any weather, and the heaters can keep the fluids at start-up temp. It actually takes about 14 hours for an engine and fluids to cool to ambient temperature once the rig is shut down, depending on the outside temperature, so worrying about a cold start usually isn’t the problem. There are a host of other solutions out there as well, from solar, to AC battery solutions that will reduce your idling time significantly.
Break Bad Habits!
Ride with enough drivers and you’ll know most seem to have one or two major fuel wasting habits. The first one is almost always their speed. Yes, the load has to be there on time, and drivers want to get the most miles out of their 11 hours, but what if you knew for a fact that dropping your speed from 75 mph to 65 mph would make you $18,000.00 more per year in fuel savings? That’s right; by dropping an average of 10 mph, drivers can gain as much as 1 additional mpg. The difference between the maximum fuel economy RPM and the maximum horsepower RPM range can be as small as 200 RPM. Find out the range for your truck, and take advantage of it. If your average is 6 mpg, plug in 7 mpg to your yearly fuel usage, and see how much more you can make with your truck/fleet just by slowing it down some.
Another bad habit is running out of the top gear. If you are in the top gear less than 90% of the time, you’re paying for it. Poor shifting habits make for huge losses in fuel. Ten percent less time in the top gear translates into 0.5% mpg losses. And, of course, there’s sudden stopping and fast acceleration to make matters worse. How bad is it? There’s a 30% loss of fuel mileage associated with poor driving habits when a driver exhibits all bad habits at once. Let’s see how that translates into what you could be making. Using our average mileage for an OTR rig of about 6 MPG, with a 30% loss for poor driving, that makes it in the neighborhood of 4.8 MPG. How much do you save with good driving habits? Conservatively, about $30,000.00 per year if you compare fuel usage at each of those values for one year.
You’ll notice we’re well above the $50,000.00 mark at this point, and there’s still more to come. So why am I giving you a lower estimate? Not all drivers, or all trucks, exhibit all of the same problems. Some have good driving habits, but poor idling behaviors; others, vice versa. Still more problems can be isolated to the equipment itself. Which brings us to…
Update Your Equipment!
With the exception of poorly maintained equipment, of all the things that make a truck expensive to operate, the lack of aerodynamics can be one of the worst. If your truck/fleet is still hauling without improvements in aerodynamics, you need to do a cost analysis on the return this equipment provides.
The highest estimate for updating your truck with aerodynamic equipment is that it can add up to 12% to your MPG. That takes your mileage from 6 MPG to 6.76 MPG, with a fuel savings of around $14,000.00 per year. Yes, you will spend several thousand dollars for an upgrade, but that’s a one-time investment that pays you again, and again, over the life cycle of the rig. Additionally, not every upgrade is available for every type of rig, so your results are going to vary with the amount of aerodynamics you can, or do, install. Some equipment you might want to review includes:
A Trailer Gap Reducer and Trailer Side Skirts
A Trailer Boat Tail and Trailer Side Skirts
Advanced Trailer End Fairing
Advanced Trailer Skirts
Tractor Aerodynamics Package
Finally, there are low rolling resistance tires. These tires are already required in California on all tractors, and are a coming requirement for all trailers in that state by 2017. This sounds like bad news, but for the small additional cost of each tire, there are significant returns. Just as the shape of your truck contributes to greater resistance, so does the design of your tire. Low rolling resistance tires can improve your MPG by up to 8%. Again, taking our average rate of 6 MPG, and adding another 8% to the equation gives you around $9,000.00 per year.
If nothing else, this information should help you determine where to begin to start making more money. If we’re being realistic, each item has its own associated expense. If you’re the driver, you’ll have to spend time relearning good driving habits, determining just how much idling you actually have to do, and how much time you are going to spend in down time to do the upgrades on your rig. If you have drivers working for you, you will have training costs; upgrade costs and management expenses to continue a successful program. If you’re interested in making more money from your business, it’s worth it.
East Coast Truck and Trailer Sales
2906 Elmhurst Lane
Portsmouth, VA 23701
800-849-2178
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Preventing truck and carhauling accidents
6/13/2011 Trucking Groups Call on NHTSA to Examine Truck Crashworthiness Standards
American Trucking Associations and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association together called on the federal government to begin researching standards for crashworthiness for heavy trucks.
"NHTSA has continuously developed crashworthiness standards for automobiles and light trucks, but to date has generally not applied crashworthiness standards to commercial trucks," the two groups wrote in a June 6 letter to David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "We believe there may be opportunities to enhance the survivability of professional truck drivers if appropriate, research-based, uniform standards are developed."
To read the full article click HERE
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Trucks for Sale
2004 Peterbilt Truck
2004 Peterbilt Truck
1996 Freightliner Truck
2005 Western Star
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Trucks and Carhaulers for Sale
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Truck Fleets and Social Media...
Opinion: Why Trucking Should Adopt Social Media
From Transport Topics
Image via CrunchBaseBy Dick HyattPresident
Decisiv Inc.
June 2011
Social media are transforming the way America does business, and there’s no reason that shouldn’t include trucking. When it comes to traditional trucking products such as vehicles, systems and components, the development life cycle can be fairly long. The time span required from initial concept through design, research and development and testing before production can begin can be measured in years. Information-management technology, on the other hand, often has a much shorter development life.
Image via WikipediaWhat that means for those of us who supply the advanced technologies used to manage trucking companies today is that our objective has to be communicating more effectively with our customers and partners.Traditionally, we have employed such practices as focus groups to accomplish this task, and while they yielded results, these groups were expensive, time-consuming and static.
Fixed in time, they simply could not address technology issues and customer and partner challenges in an effective and beneficial time frame.
But today, many trucking companies and industry suppliers of all types of technologies are successfully using social media communication channels such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to meet almost immediately the challenges and needs of customers and partners.
To read the full article CLICK HERE
Thursday, June 30, 2011
NAFTA: Mexican truckers to drive cargo into US interior
By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times, Texas
Sunday, May 29, 2011
As the Obama administration prepares to honor a 17-year-old treaty with Mexico allowing that country’s long-haul trucks into the U.S. heartland, emotions are again at fever pitch as businesses on both sides of the border predict job losses and industry upheaval.Sunday, May 29, 2011
The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, included a provision that the United States and Mexico would allow each other’s trucks to haul cargo across the border for delivery anywhere inside the other country.
To comply with NAFTA, the Obama administration in April proposed a three-year pilot program with requirements for Mexican truckers that include a preliminary safety audit, purchase of U.S. insurance, English proficiency for drivers, truck inspections for every border crossing for at least the first three months, an 18-month probation period and a three-month renewal period for safety inspections after permanent authority is granted."Participating Mexican carriers and drivers would be required to comply with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations, including those concerned with motor carrier safety, customs, immigration, vehicle registration and taxation, and fuel taxation," according to the program’s legal description.
When the pilot program concludes, the Mexican haulers would receive the same authority granted U.S.-based truckers. Public comment on the proposed program ended last week, and the final version is expected later this year.
But the devil has been in the details in the United States as objections have arisen over safety, fair competition, reciprocity and other issues. Some Mexican carriers are concerned that opening the borders will encourage U.S. haulers to locate in Mexico and dominate their industry.
"I wasn’t in Congress when they voted for NAFTA," said U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas. "But I think we signed the treaty and we should follow the treaty and respect its conditions."
to read the full article click HERE
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Mega Haul
I don't think there are industry awards for the largest specialized haul or the largest flatbed BUT if there were I think this would be the winner. I saw this online and realized it was not photoshopped but carry an actual jet that crashed in the Hudson river. to read the original article click here
Related articles
- 'Miracle on the Hudson' jet arrives in Charlotte (seattlepi.com)
- Jet From Miracle Hudson River Splashdown Arriving At NC Museum (newyork.cbslocal.com)
- On the Radar: Miracle plane to Charlotte, salt-seeking satellite, Arab-American meet (via This Just In) (techweev.com)
- Hudson River plane comes to rest in Charlotte (cbc.ca)
- 'Miracle on the Hudson' plane leaves N.J. warehouse for N.C. museum (nj.com)
- Taking the Back Roads, 'Miracle on the Hudson' Leaves N.J. - Patch.com (news.google.com)
- Flight 1549 return trip to Charlotte draws a crowd (charlotte.news14.com)
- Final piece of Flight 1549 travels last leg of trip to Charlotte (charlotte.news14.com)
- Final piece of Flight 1549 to travel last leg of trip to Charlotte (charlotte.news14.com)
- Final trip for 'Miracle on the Hudson' plane (msnbc.msn.com)
Trucks for Sale
2004 Peterbilt Truck
2004 Peterbilt Truck
1996 Freightliner Truck
2005 Western Star
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Trucks and Carhaulers for Sale
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Fuel price challenges for carhaulers and truckers...
More money to fill your carhauler…more money to fill your rig.
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Image via Wikipedia---------------------------------------
Trucks for Sale
2004 Peterbilt Truck
2004 Peterbilt Truck
1996 Freightliner Truck
2005 Western Star
-----------------------------------------
Trucks and Carhaulers for Sale
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