|
About Me
I'm the Pickups host here at Edmunds CarSpace.com - be sure to check out the Pickups forums if you have or are interested in one!
Recent Posts
Categories
CarSpace
The Big Rigs
We're gonna talk about the big ones... trucks and buses that require those 3 marker lights front and rear. Everything from dual rear wheel pickups to class 8 trucks to the bus that takes you to work.
 In the July/August 2008 issue of Road King (a magazine dedicated to truckers and trucking), there's an article about actual road music. I'm not talking about FM, satellite, CDs, or your iPod... I mean sounds made by the road itself. It was accidentally invented in Japan by a man who inadvertently scraped some pavement with a bulldozer. When he drove over the grooves, he noted that it made specific sounds.
Researchers took the concept to the next level and there are now roads in Japan that are specifically grooved to create 30-second "music clips". Such roads are marked with a big musical note on the pavement, as shown in the picture.
Let's see... I-40 would definitely be a country-western highway, I-95 would be pop/dance, I-5 most certainly the hard rock road....
What do you think? Would this work in the US, or would hearing such "music" drive you nuts on a road trip?
Thanks, Vikki!
 Yes, that annual assault on the highway by families with freshly-dismissed-from-school kids in the backseat playing those corny road trip games or poking each other until a parent bellows "Don't make me come back there!"
In the current issue of Road King magazine, there's an article reminding truckers that the assault is near, and to be careful of those drivers who may be in over their heads. In the article, Roehl Transport's Brian Hammond, the orientation and driver development manager, mentions something I have been saying for ages... "[Hammond] often wonders why there aren’t similar licensing requirements for driving the RVs as there are for semi-truck drivers." I don't know about you, but when I see some old guy trying to handle a full-size Winnebago on any road, I get FAR away from him. If the stricter CDL is required for people who generally still have their reflexes, you have to wonder why retirees are allowed to pilot similar sized vehicles with just the ability to pay for the thing.
 If you are planning to partake to the roads this summer, keep the same things in mind the article advises truckers. Expect everything. Yes, that car will dart out in front of you. Yes, that van will speed through the puddle and splash water 10 feet in the air before you can close your window. Yes, your kids will only want burgers and fries the whole trip. (OK< that last one really isn't a driving concern, unless you just passed a fast-food joint and the next exit with one is another 80 miles.)
But above all, be patient. If you're sitting in traffic like this, just relax. Everyone around you is also sitting in that traffic and their need to move forward is no greater or lesser than yours.
Back in November, I made note of an upgrade to NJ's cell-phoning-while-driving law. Driving and using a handheld cell phone would become a primary offense on March 1 2008, and it would be beefed with an anti-text-messaging ban as well.
The results are in.
In February 2008, the last month of the previous rules, NJ courts handled 1300 cell-phone tickets. In March 2008, add another zero - thirteen thousand. In fact, that's almost as many as the preceding 12 months (16,000 from March 2007 to February 2008).
State and local police departments in NJ are not allowing a grace period to get used to the new tougher rules... they want to break drivers of the habit once and for all.
More on the story here... Associated Press/WCBS880.com
Is a truck stop parking lot full of independently owned rigs soon to be a thing of the past?
This article was noted in the forums yesterday... Independent truckers see end of the road
Owner/Operators are definitely getting beat up by fuel prices, and they have no relief in sight. On Feb 12 (as I noted a few blog posts down), I paid $3.239 for diesel at the Sunoco station I've been using since 1996. This past Friday, the same station was at $3.599 - a 36 cent increase in 2 weeks.
The O/Os quoted in the article have a point. Trucks are still the primary mode of direct cargo delivery in the United States - a CSX locomotive doesn't pull up to your home with an overnight package or to the supermarket with that week's shelf stock. Boeing 747s can't bring things like steel girders to a highway bridge construction site. And if the economy and fuel prices force the independent truckers completely out of the picture, we will indeed be left with higher prices for everything if only a handful of large fleets remain... and that won't exactly be their fault, either.
Is the answer a tax break, a nationally-backed discount fuel card, periodic rebate checks, or some form of subsidy (as the article mentions were given to the independent farmers)? I don't know, and I don't want to guess what would help O/Os the most right now, besides the obvious. The quote from the repossession company was probably the most telling, and it almost seems to mimic what's happening with the mortgage mess... And it's taking less time to pick up a truck, which he sees as a sign that there's less work to keep them on the road — and out of his reposessors' reach. "It used to take weeks, now it takes days or hours,"
Wasn't all that long ago that O/Os could make a fairly good living. If you were willing to work hard and often, there was a financial gain. Your tractor could be upgraded into a showplace on the outside and a studio apartment on the inside, complete with toilet. There was a Harley-like attitude of being out on the open road with no one to answer to but yourself. Today, O/Os have to answer to the bank that financed that rig, and if they can't make enough money to cover the operational costs, they park the truck - then the repo man starts his rounds.
My friend Vikki is a fleet driver. That red Pete is her assigned rig and it's essentially her home away from home, but she is absolved of the headaches and heartaches of ownership. The home office worries about truck costs and insurance. A company credit card fills the tanks... she only has to handle personal costs like food, laundry, etc., and keeping her logbook up to snuff. A company dispatcher tells her where to go for the next load. In that regard, she's lucky.
The owner/operators she shares the interstates with aren't as lucky.
Now that I think about it, B. J. McKay is likely in another line of work today.
 Yesterday, there was a rather unusual weather front that passed through NJ... ahead of some heavy downpours of rain, the temps soared into the mid 70s. Today. we're back down to the normal-for-February 30s.
Roads hate that more than people.
So it was with no surprise that I heard on the traffic report on my way to work that the pothole crews were out and about on I-80, in the 7 mile area just before my exit to the office. This same stretch of highway has pothole crews on it so often, they should just leave them there all year. So as I approached the announced area, I heard the familiar sound of loose asphalt bits kicking up from tires.
The older the road, the more it's affected by the freeze-thaw cycle. Most brand new or fully-reconstructed highways are made of state of the art materials that are far less susceptible to potholes, but if you regularly travel older roads, you may as well book an appointment with the nearest suspension shop now.
The Salt Institute has a good explanation of how potholes form (and why) in this document.
Around here, this will last well into April. Every year.
 Simulated image of a black hole.
But there are black holes a lot closer to than the ones in outer space... these are the people who drive around at night with most (if not all) of their lights out. And I don't mean the guy who simple forgot to turn them on... I mean the vehicle on the highway with one or two dim headlights and nothing else lit.
I was "lucky" enough to be behind one of these dolts in a full-size van on my way home from work tonight. Headlights worked, but he had no parking lights, marker lights, or tail lights. However, when he changed lanes, his turn signal lights worked just fine... so it wasn't the bulbs themselves.
I regularly check my exterior lights since I basically am on the road every weeknight - I work noon to 8 pm, so unless I am heading home early, my lights are always necessary for the trip home. And of course, I drive a dually pickup which is certainly larger than any car. Thus, my lights are important to make sure everyone can see all the corners of my vehicle as well as the side fenders. On any vehicle I've owned, a bulb has never been dead more than 24 hours. Why others don't seem to think this is important certainly eludes me.
Once in a while, give your vehicle the once-around at night with the lights turned on. Make sure that they are all functional and at full intensity. No sense in being the next black hole on the highway.
Oct 30, 2007 -
Oooooo!
 I-287 in central NJ this afternoon.
We're at the height of fall foliage time, and the country highways are looking good. If you can make the time (and can afford the fuel), this is a good time to take a quick side trip for a reminder of what Mom Nature is capable of.
And have your passenger snap away with the camera... be it film, digital, or cell phone. you'll be surprised how much you'll like the results!
 At my exit on I-80, there is only one gas/diesel station. It's listed on the highway "Services at This Exit" sign with the extra notation of having diesel fuel. The station has been closed for about a month, undergoing storage tank removal and replacement. Obviously, we locals are aware of this and go elsewhere for fuel.
As I exited from I-80 west last night, a tractor trailer that appeared to have come from the eastbound exit ramp approached the completely darkened and barricaded station, slowed to a crawl and hit the hazard lights. I really hoped he wasn't too low on #2... and he basically only had 2 opportunities to "turn this rig around" and either get back on I-80 or head the other way and get to US 46 a few miles the other direction where there are several stations available.
I'm considering asking the DOT if they would consider temporarily covering those "Services" logos of any business that is closed for such a long-term project. You really feel bad seeing someone in such a predicament, especially a trucker who likely is well out of his familiar territory.
 In the online Overdrive magazine, there was a great article about the issues faced by truckers on large hills. While the article first appeared nearly three years ago, it still holds up well today.
My home is at 1000 feet elevation. A mile later when I get on I-80, it has dropped to 770 feet... my office is around sea level. So I know about inclines - downhill to work (boy, that's a lousy coincidence) and uphill home. For that 200 foot drop in the morning, I keep my Dodge Ram 3500 in the 2 position on the trans shifter - on the way home, I hit the Tow/Haul button to keep the trans from upshifting and lugging the engine. On that morning trip, the transmission combined with the low-revving Cummins diesel keep me below 35 mph the whole way down without braking... and most days there is always somebody right up my tailgate. There are a couple of blind driveways and curves on this stretch of road, and flying down it is not a great idea... especially if it's anything besides sunny and dry.
Just past westbound I-80 exit 42 here in NJ is an unmarked grade, although an extra right lane is provided for heavier vehicles. In total, there are 5 lanes up this hill. Because there is no notice of the grade, tractor-trailers regularly find themselves in the left-center and center lanes struggling just to get to 50 mph - speed limit at this spot is 65. And rather than give them the opportunity to move to the right and downshift, most cars just go around on the right, leaving the big rig in no-man's-land until the highway levels back out and they can pick up speed again.
One of the points I made in my CarSpace guide about sharing the road with The Big Rigs was how to handle highway hills and what lane to be in. This is something that is never covered in driver's manuals, license tests, or even some driving schools. Hills and mountain passes pose serious issues for all vehicles, but the larger and heavier the truck/bus, the more attentive the drivers around that vehicle need to be.
|
|
