A Little Humor For The Road :)

Nate the rattlesnake knew that there was a mysterious lever hidden in a bush across the highway from where he lived. Before they died, his parents had told him that if anyone pushed the lever, the world would come to an end. Fortunately, a truck driver named Mike was the only person who knew about the lever. One day, Nate decided to slither across the highway to get a better look at this powerful lever. But as he was nearing the opposite side of the road, who should come barreling down the road driving an eighteen-wheeler but Mike. Poor Mike found himself in a dilemma: Either hit the snake or swerve into the bush and end the world. Needless to say, he ran over Nate. As he squashed the snake, Mike cried,"Better Nate than lever!"

Tire Chains (Winters Other Pain!!)

Tire chains, two words that a truck driver hates to hear even worse than bad weather. Never the less around here in Maine in the winter months, it is a common term heard. Although they are a major pain, they are a good thing to have available and a must in the woods. At one time or another. There are going to be times when even studded drive tires won't cut it. This is when the gloves come out and the ice is beat off the chains that has accumulated on them from carrying them on the headboard or on the trailer.
Some use the single chain which works ok on level ground or when it isn't too awful slick. They are lightweight and very simple to put on ,but at times they might not be exactly the right choice. When the road has a heavy crown to it making it so the outside tires having the chains on them aren't touching, they can't get a good bite, because they don't have enough weight to grab the ground. I myself have had employers tell me that was all I needed ! Only to end up being unfamiliar with the truck road I was on. It was before daylight and I did not make it to the top of a hill, I couldn't stop or slowly back down the hill because singles cannot get the bite, and weighing 100,000 plus pounds. I was sliding back gaining speed at a rapid rate only to come to a stop halfway down , jackknifed and screwed in a snowbank or ditch(A common sight in the woods, trucking at one time or another). If your lucky, they have a skidder available, but there are times there aren't any. In that case icepick triple chains would have prevented the whole ordeal!
Ice triple chains seem to transform a helpless truck into an ice digging tank,making it almost unstoppable. In mountain conditions, in the woods they are your best friend. The down fall is they are a lot heavier than singles, but far more effective as far as traction. Control as far as braking and taking off is doubled easily on snow even glare ice. They can be a major pain,but I keep them on the trailer with singles. If I put on chains I generally pull out the triples. To save the hassle of not having, what you needed on in the first place and getting into a mess. Oh well, they are a pain, either kind. In the winter time, drivers will gripe about them,but you don't find many that totally refuse to use them or at least carry them.

Why You Should Choose Satellite Radio from Sirius and XM

By Reginald Sharp

A satellite radio is a special radio that receives signals broadcast by satellite. This allows the listener to follow a single channel no matter where they are because the signal's reach is not limited by station power and curvature of the Earth. Satellite radio, also called digital radio, offers commercial and distortion free, CD quality music beamed to your car radio or home stereo from space.

We all have our favorite radio stations that we preset into our car radios or home stereos, flipping between stations as we drive to and from work, on errands and around town. But when you travel too far away from the source station, the signal breaks up and fades into static. Most radio signals can only travel about 30 or 40 miles from their source. On long trips passing through different cities, you might have to change radio stations every hour or so as the signals fade in and out. Obviously, it's not much fun scanning through static trying to find something to listen to.

Imagine a radio station that can broadcast its signal from more than 22,000 miles away, and then come through on your car radio or home stereo with complete clarity. You could drive from Anchorage, Alaska to Miami, Florida, without ever having to change the radio station! Not only would you ever hear static interfering with your favorite tunes, but the music would be interrupted by no commercials. Welcome to the world of satellite radio....commercial and distortion free listening from coast to coast!

Car manufacturers have installed satellite radio receivers in some of the latest model automobiles, and electronics companies have launched several models of portable satellite radio receivers. Satellite radio is also available for the home for commercial and distortion free listening enjoyment!

What are the two types of satellite radio?

In the United States, there are XM and Sirius.

XM is a service in the United States that provides digital programming directly from two satellites (nicknamed "Rock" and "Roll") in geostationary orbit above the equator, and a network of ground-based repeaters. It is based in Washington, DC.

XM's business model is to provide pay-for-service radio, with commercial-free music channels, analogous to the business model for premium cable television channels. They also provide other data services such as weather information for pilots and weather spotters. In addition, they transmit coded traffic information directly to navigation systems using TMC technology. Their service includes music channels, news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, premium channels, regional traffic and weather channels. The XM signal uses 12.5 MHz of the S band: 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz. XM's competitor in the U.S. is Sirius.

Sirius is a (DARS) service in the United States that provides streams of music, sports, news and entertainment. The streams are broadcast from three satellites in an elliptical geosynchronous orbit above North America. Sirius is based in New York City. Its business model is to provide pay-for-service radio, free of commercials, analogous to the business model for cable television.

Sirius' spacecraft Sirius 1 through Sirius 4 was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral. The first three of the series were orbited in 2000 by Proton-K Block-DM3 launch vehicles. Sirius 4 is a ground spare, in storage at SS/Loral's facility in Palo Alto, California. Sirius was previously known as CD Radio. The dog in the Sirius logo is unofficially named "Mongo."

Reginald Sharp is a writer and the webmaster of Satellite Radio: Sirius & XM Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Reginald_Sharp

New And Used All Types Of Trucks And Trailers On Sale Online

utor: Puneet_seo :: Views: 60 :: Send to Your Friends :: View PDF :: Print View



Searching for a Semi Truck or a Heavy Truck can be difficult. For many years truckers have been obligated to search dealer by dealer hoping that their dream tractor-trailer would be in one of the dealers they would walk into. However, since the rise of the Internet truckers and companies have been increasingly aware of the efficiency of searching for trucks online. At American Truck Buyer our goal is to do just that. We want to make Searching for a truck fun and easy. Avoiding the sales pitch drivers can now use filters to find the perfect truck throughout the country in just a couple of minutes.


With so many Companies taking advantage of building their own truck search engines/databases one might ask how it is that we differentiate ourselves from the competition. Well in one example our business is Truckers not trucks. Let me explain. While many companies out there are focusing on only making profits as a result of advertising trucks on the Internet, we are going the extra mile to not only focus on what produces revenues but on what a trucker really needs, which is certainly more than just having a truck. We have successfully built a web site where people can find great trucks, and also find insurance quotes, financing, dot inspection, transportation etc.... We also built other divisions that serve not only the people looking for a truck, but for existing drivers who are in love with their truck but need parts or services to tune up their baby. A full service web site for truckers is our vision. We want truckers to enter our site knowing that they won't have to go anywhere else to find the equipment or service they need to get them back on the road.

Our parts and service page is effective in finding specific parts that a driver needs to repair or tune-up their truck. Saving the time of having to drive around town in search for a part nobody may carry. Our free service shoots out hundreds of emails to companies offering that part throughout a designated area. Within a couple of hours the driver can expect to receive several calls with shops offering their part along with a competitive price. This is the way we are innovating the trucking industry and making a full service web site for the truck driver. When people think of trucking we want them to think American Truck Buyer.

Truck Leasing Offers Short-Term Solutions For Affordable Transport

Autor: tommy :: Views: 31 :: Send to Your Friends :: View PDF :: Print View



No matter who you are, at some point you're going to need a truck. Whether it's for moving an entire home or a washer and dryer set, or to start your own hauling business, trucks are how big jobs get done. For many, even though a truck is needed for one-time or continuous use, buying a hauler, pickup or especially a big rig is out of the question. This is where a good rental can come into play.

People who need trucks for personal use need them for a number of reasons. Oftentimes a temporary need doesn't justify an outright purchase. This is when a rental can really help out. There are companies that specialize in nothing but truck rentals to private, non-commercial drivers. These trucks are not big rigs by any means. They are smaller, lighter trucks such as pick-ups, small moving vans and so on. They are great for moving the contents of a house, or doing a one-time pick up of something too big for your regular car.

When leasing a truck for short-term, personal use, here are some things to consider:

* Shop around for prices and rental terms. There is generally more than one company in an area that rents moving trucks or even pickups.

* Ask about the little things. Don't sign the contract for a rental until you are very clear about hidden costs, rental requirements and so on. Make sure you understand any extra per mile costs and fuel charges.

* Check into rental insurance. This is almost always a good idea. Anything can happen and it's not your truck you're driving. You don't want to pay the bottom line if someone damages the rental.

Trucking Is This A Dying Industry Or A Thriving Industry??

This is a question i have been asking myself alot lately. I have been doing this for Almost 14 years now,it's pretty much all i have known since i got out of school. In my area that was one of the most common jobs to do other than paper mills and logging when i was growing up but the economy and rising costs have began to really put a strain on it now with the increase in prices and the decrease in pay for the job that is done.

It seems now a days the big companies are trying to cut the costs but keep the product moving without giving enough thought to how it moves. The Big companies are feeling the crunch but do not take in consideration that the little guys are feeling it as bad if not worse. This isn't right but it is the way that this industry is going and there seems to be nothing that can be done about it. Local truckers and owner-operators traveled to D.C. to try to get someone to hear them out but it seemed to end up in a way being a waste of time and money because fuel prices lowered for a short time but are slowly creeping back up again, and they never seemed to get down where they should have been to begin with.


Yes the fuel costs dropped but along with those so did the pay. I'm not sure how the figures were done there but it ended up still with hardly any profit left over for the little guy once his bills were payed,but the big businesses need not worry because they had cut the throat of the smaller business enough that they still made a decent profit at their expense. I have seen many give up their trucks and dreams because of this myself included. My wife and i did this because that is how i was provided for growing up and i wanted my family to have the same chance i did , but about the same time we got into business things took a turn for the worse. It became a struggle just to find good work and keep your head above water.As things got worse and a few years of digging and scratching and pretty much starting our life completely over i knew it was time to duck out and go back to driving for someone else.

Things haven't got much better but there are alot less headaches as far as trying to keep the truck going,but long hours and decreasing pay have me wondering if it is worth it anymore. I'm not sure with all the paper mills and lumber mills closing and cutting back what is going to be left for the upcoming generation but it is scary! This is why i wonder is this once sought after line of employment is starting to die out, because it doesn't seem to be picking up and the future isn't looking real promising either.