Four Ways to Retain Truck Drivers in 2017 and Beyond

truckers against trafficking

The following is a guest post by Troy Diffenderfer and track5media.com. Links provided:

Ask almost anyone in the trucking industry and you’re likely to hear about their concerns over drivers leaving their companies and even quitting altogether! Even before they get into details about the trucks themselves, the loads being hauled, or anything else — the driver shortage is causing major upsets in the industry from sea to shining sea.

While the industry is growing as a whole, the numbert of drivers ready to take to the roads is getting slimmer by the minute, making it hard for companies to find the quality commercial driving leads they need to continue meeting demands. Not only that, but each time a driver leaves a company, there are considerable costs of on-boarding new candidates and covering the costs of such a disruption to the entire shipping cycle and possible delivery costs. Needless to say, retaining drivers is on the minds of most companies every day of the week.

With reports from the American Trucking Association (ATA) predicting that industry revenue will rise to 66% or more, retaining commercial drivers in 2017 and beyond means you’ll need to get ahead of the curve. Here are 4 tips on how to retain drivers in 2017.

Retaining Trucker Drivers in 2017 & Beyond

1. Treat Your Drivers How You’d Like to Be Treated

We know the trucking industry is an economic behemoth and small solutions may not always solve the big problems, but starting with the basics never hurts. At the end of the day, you’re dealing with real people and their lives on the road, so treating each driver with respect and giving them the time of day is something that can make noticeable differences. It’s no secret that this industry can be stressful, but keeping your cool with truck drivers will not only help to retain current employees, but will also keep your reputation as a great employer from becoming tarnished. When possible, try to treat drivers to small gestures like a free lunch, pay for their showers at rest stops, or maybe even provide them with a gift card for their favorite store on their birthday. These costs will surely pale in comparison to hiring new drivers or covering late fees from brokers.  

2. Call to Check Inin with Truck Drivers Regularly

Calling to check in with your drivers at least once a week can be a powerful retention strategy, and something many companies forget about due to its simplicity. Asking about how they are doing and how they feel about their work is another small gesture that can go a long way. Driving can be stressful and isolating. Drivers can often feel as though it’s them versus the world. Showing your support will help drivers feel like they are really part of a team , and it can also provide your company with valuable feedback that may help you make better decisions about what drivers really want.

3. Home-time Optimized routes

Although your drivers may be seasoned professionals, it’s true that most people wouldn’t choose to work if they didn’t have to. That said, getting home often is something that commercial drivers can appreciate more than average workers. You’ll have a hard time convincing people to stay with your company if they are constantly fighting the innate urge to spend time with their friends, family, and loved ones. A truck driver could be making the best pay of their life, and yet missing out on family events and getting home regularly could be enough to make them throw it all away.

Working with your dispatchers to organize the most cost-effective, yet reasonable route to get your drivers home more often will ensure your top talent stays around for the long haul. While it’s the natural inclination of a dispatch department to find as many new loads to gross as much money as possible, you don’t want this to come at the expense of overworking drivers to the point where they are searching for other employment options.

4. Incentivize Drivers and Introduce Bonuses

Again, covering the basics when driver retention is involved is not to say that there’s a one-size-fits all solution, but rather that there things that unite drivers and their companies. Incentives and bonuses are one way that drivers may appreciate just enough to stay aboard for longer than they would otherwise. Not only that, but this will hopefully help underperforming drivers to meet their goals more succinctly, with star employees getting the recognition they deserve.

Possible bonuses might include rewards for:

• Safe driving or zero traffic violations

• Low fuel consumption

• On time delivery

• Leadership skills

Keep in mind that what may work well for one company can fall short for another. It’s important to respond to the situation and really hear the needs of current drivers if retention is your goal. Though there are leads for new candidates to be had, we know that the most cost efficient way to run a business is to get the best of the best right from the beginning.

New ELD with no monthly fee

Article thanks to Todd Dills and overdriveonline.com. Links provided:

Oct. 18, 2017 The Switchboard company has released its free mobile application, which with a onetime $250 investment in an ECM connecting device allows truck drivers to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic logging device mandate. The Switchboard ELD has been self-certified and registered with the FMCSA.

“We understand the challenges small business owners face, so we want to do everything we can to help owner-operators comply with the upcoming mandate as easily as possible” says Michael Ip, Switchboard founder. “Owner-operators and small fleets have enough to think about, so we hope our no-monthly-fee solution can help them get compliant and back to focusing on their core business: trucking.”

Switchboard Mobile uses the same technology that has been built into its enterprise solution for larger fleets. Various capabilities on top of the logging device include electronic DVIRs (Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports), hours-of-service violation alerts and optional GPS history/geofencing alerts, which are able to be recorded using Switchboard Mobile if desired. With enough drivers demanding Switchboard Mobile, the company says it will enable support for a cheaper, $100 ECM module. That would make Switchboard the least expensive ELD option available for trucking fleets.

http://www.overdriveonline.com/author/tdills/

How ‘Buy Here Pay Here’ GPS Tracking Devices Work

carconsumers.org

Article thanks to Bozi Tatarevic and thetruthaboutcars.com. Links provided:

Oct, 2017  GPS tracking devices are a common sight in cars sold by “Buy Here Pay Here” dealers, and some are even showing up at franchise dealers. A lot of speculation exists about how the devices work and what they can actually track, but most of it comes from third-party reports.

Working as a tracking device installer for a brief period of time gave me an inside view of that market, allowing me to share what actually goes on behind the scenes.

Tracking devices are most often installed by dealers who sell cars to buyers with a low credit score that does not qualify them for a traditional loan. The money for these loans usually comes from the dealers themselves or from subprime financing institutions. Due to the risk factor involved, many of these loans come with a stipulation of having a tracking device installed.

These devices are generally split into two categories: tracking-only devices which can only passively track the car, and starter-interrupt devices (SIDs) which can interrupt the starter and prevent the vehicle from starting. Most vendors sell both or offer the interrupt service as an add-on. These devices generally start under $100, going up slightly as options are added. Along with the purchase price, dealers usually pay a small monthly fee for the service, based either on a flat rate or on the number of lookups performed by the dealer or lender.

Installation of these devices is fairly simple and is usually performed by authorized installers, stereo shops, or dealership employees. The device are composed of a main control unit that requires power and ground and an external GPS antenna routed to provide the best possible reception. The devices are usually hidden away under the dash, preventing owners from finding and disabling them. Most loan agreements include a provision intended to prevent tampering.

The intrusive installation happens when a starter-interrupt device is installed, as it requires cutting the engine starter wire. In those scenarios, the starter is routed through the control box of the tracker, requiring the tracker to complete the circuit for the starter in order to turn the engine on. Dealers and lenders that use the boxes have the capability to disable a starter — meaning once the signal is sent, the car will not be able to restart after it is shut down. I haven’t seen any devices set up in a manner that could shut down a car while it was driving, though I have seen poor crimping jobs where the wires came apart and the car was not able to start (even though it wasn’t disabled).

Once a starter is disabled, most devices offer some sort of signal — such as a beep — to let the customer know an action has taken place. Some devices are fully remote and can be enabled via an online dashboard. Others have a keypad that requires the customer to enter a code supplied by the dealer or lender once they have paid off their outstanding balance.

Usually, a plethora of software analyzes the tracking data. In the most basic packages, dealers can ping a car at any time to see where it is located, and can set a geofence alerting them if a car leaves a certain geographical area. Many packages also offer more advanced features such as tracking the vehicle’s most commonly visited locations. These services are advertised as allowing easier repossession even if a device is disabled, as the driver is likely to visit those locations again.

Most of the dealers I worked with had these devices on a “set it and forget it” strategy — they would install them and only check them when a customer fell behind on their payments. Most of them also offered a free removal service once the loan was satisfied, as they did not want to be tracking paid-off cars and could reuse the devices in many cases. The trouble usually comes from dealers that abuse these devices and disable them prior to an agreed-upon date, either to try and get customers to pay faster, or to try and extract more money in order to remove devices once a car is paid off.

Following some high-profile leaks, concerns have arisen over the devices’ data storage levels. One leak resulted in over half a million password being leaked from the SVR Tracking database. Since most of these companies interface with car dealers and store data on car buyers, you can see how data security might not be high on the list. A few states have started regulating the devices. However, because they are so new, laws differ widely from state and very few standards exist for them.

As these devices are becoming cheaper and more widely used, hopefully some consumer protections will follow.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/10/how-buy-here-pay-here-gps-tracking-devices-work

Hammer Time: How a Smelly Dog Helped Me Buy a Volkswagen

dogtime.com

Interesting post from 2015 thanks to Steven Lang and thetruthaboutcars.com. Links provided:

Babies are tough. Bosses can be tougher. But the indisputable boot camp of bare knuckled stress inducers has to be a young dog that hasn’t been given the care, love, and discipline it needs and deserves.

Not even the Volkswagen Passat W8 I bought last year can compare to the ball busting doled out by an 8-month-old female boxer named Luna, a hyper-cute animal that ruthlessly channeled all of my inner Cesar Millan this past weekend, and defecated it right on the carpet.

On Monday morning, I decided to get the hell away from Luna and take my wife out for a drive.

In the car business, a drive means something different than the usual wandering down winding roads leading you to new places, faces and foods. Instead, it means you just bought a Volkswagen or some other maintenance intensive car — like a Saab or an older BMW — that requires the eye of a specialist.

This particular drive came in the form of transporting a 2008 Volkswagen Passat VR6 that cost me $3,000 plus a $160 seller’s fee at the auction.

It was a rare bird. The Passat had 108,000 miles, which is reasonable, and no check engine light — a feature that usually comes standard at these auction sales. It even had a good maintenance history.

I did my daily “hold” strategy where I make a fist to the auctioneer which means “Keep me at the price you’re asking for!” He started at $5,000, went down to $4,000, then $3,000, and everyone was anticipating a bottoming out of the bid right around $2,000 or $2,500.

I hooked the bid at $3,000. While everyone sat on their heels waiting for a lower bid, the hammer came down hard and that was that. I won for once, which was great because I managed to not buy at least a dozen other cars that afternoon.

This particular Volkswagen actually went for less money than the cheap car that came before it. A 2007 Toyota Corolla CE with 20,000 more hard riding miles, roll ’em up windows, and enough scratches and scrapes to make me think twice about wholesaling it to another dealership.

Eight years ago, the Passat VR6 was worth about $38,000. At the same time, the Corolla was worth only about $13,000. Now, Volkswagen has apparently become the Saab of the modern day world of old cars, as they hold no value once they reach eight years old.

And that serves be just great as my wife has done a direct about face from her compact car rootsand fell completely in love with this larger, sporty Passat.

If you’re okay with a 2.5-liter five cylinder or, in this case, a VR6 engine, you can get an older Volkswagen for a ridiculous fraction of what was the case only six months ago. This is not a bad time to be a keeper of an unpopular car, and this high-end Passat most definitely fits that bill.

That’s exactly where the diesel hurt is going folks — older Volkswagens. An ’06 Beetle with leather and low miles would have retailed for close to $6,000 a few months ago. A couple of weeks ago, I sold it for only $4,200. Thankfully, I only had $2,200 invested in it. So long as this Volkswagen wave keeps going, I’ll be trying to buy ’em cheap and stick with the better powertrains.

That Passat needed about a half dozen minor items that added up to a visit to a local Volkswagen hobbyist. His name is Dan, but I always call him Uh-huh, because that’s pretty much all I can say to him every time he tells me something remarkably complex about these vehicles.

“Steve, this VW has a control module hidden inside the trunk that’s connected to a nebulizer which helps make the EGR breathe. Now, if anyone ever puts in bad gas or plays Celine Dion on the radio, that EGR will start plugging up and your engine will sound like a 20-year-old Civic with a shitcan muffler. Long story short, I cleaned the EGR and removed light rock from the radio. No charge!”

“Uh-huh!”

When I started out in the auctioneering side of the business, I learned one golden rule about cars that has always stayed close to my heart: Always rely on experts.

If you ever get burnt, at least it came from someone who knew what he was actually doing. In Dan’s case, he is the smartest and most ethical guy I have dealt with in this business, and I’ll keep on saying that so long as the blinker fluid on these Volkswagens is topped up and regularly changed.

Later that day, I had an insurance adjuster come and visit me; another expert who had lived this business for a long time. A lady had smacked into the back of my wife’s 2002 Prius, which has now experienced three accidents in three years.

At this point, the Prius looks like it got into a fight — and lost. She loves the car, but there have been way too many close calls for me to keep it in the family fleet. And with 231,000 miles on it, I’m frankly more interested in getting a check cut instead of keeping it.

The third time’s always the charm. As soon as the Prius got hit, it blared forth a piercing beeping sound on the inside, along with what Prius owners now know as the orange exclamation point of death. It turned out that this big “!” was attributable to the braking system instead of the big battery. That was the good news.

The bad news, for all of us actually, was that cars like this one from the Y2K era are on borrowed time due to all the texters, talkers, and gawkers that now occupy our roads. My wife’s love for the Prius had been shaken to the core already. On the way back from dropping off the Passat, it was completely dissolved: A 10-year-old Camry going about 40 mph blasted right through a red light and came within a couple of feet from hitting us cross side. After it evaded us, it spun a 180, trailed to the right, and smacked right into a crosswalk pole.

As I watched the Camry’s wheel cover roll along to the middle of the road, I realized the moment had come. That Prius on our driveway needed to go, STAT! I called 911. Waited for the police and paramedics, and drove back home where I got to meet an insurance adjuster who offered me two surprises.

The first was that he read my articles and already knew who I was, and the second…

A car that I never knew existed: a 2004 Ford Focus Saleen N20.

What struck me was not the hen’s tooth rarity of this car. It was the passion of the owner. This guy told me about every single major component of this Focus: engine, clutch, brakes, suspension, the nitrous system, everything. This Saleen lasted all of two years in the marketplace, but the owner’s love for this beautiful ride will definitely endure well beyond that brief time.

I used to be this passionate about everything, whether it was a 1990 Ford Mustang Police Interceptor that had been heavily modified by the local sheriff, a shitbox 1987 Volvo wagon I bought with a bale full of hay inside, or a 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac that had once been a play mule for Toyota engineers. I used to have an enduring love for all things automotive that made me learn everything I possibly could about each machine.

I enjoyed each and every single one of them, and now I need a unique ride that will again spark that interest. My wife has found a sporty and luxurious ride for the next year or so. I’m ready to find mine. Any suggestions?

Oh, and where should Luna go?

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/11/smelly-dog-helped-buy-volkswagen/

Ryder improving tire life & safety through partnership with Aperia Technologies

ryder.com

Article thanks to hardworkingtrucks.com. Links provided:

Oct, 2017  Ryder System, a leader in commercial fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions, announced that it’s expanding its commitment to innovative safety technologies through an exclusive partnership with Aperia Technologies, the leading supplier of automated tire inflation devices for tractors and trailers.

The Halo Tire Inflator solution will become the standard spec for Ryder’s heavy duty commercial rental fleet as the company responds to increasing demand from customers looking to improve fleet performance, safety and driver job satisfaction.

“We believe innovative automatic tire inflation solutions provide tremendous peace of mind for customers committed to on-time deliveries,” said Scott Perry, Chief Technology and Procurement Officer for Ryder Fleet Management Solutions. “These technologies will play a major role in the rapidly growing tire management space and will also become a critical component in advanced driver-assistance systems. Our strategic partnership with Aperia expands upon Ryder’s ability to provide customers with the most innovative solutions to help them streamline operations, promote safety, and reach their efficiency goals.”

Additionally, Halo will become Ryder’s preferred tire inflation solution for Ryder ChoiceLease customers and bundled offerings will also be available to Ryder SelectCare customers. This latest Ryder offering signifies Aperia’s first exclusive partnership with a full service leasing company for a bundled Halo purchase and installation.

“Technology-enabled task automation in the commercial vehicle market is helping fleets—from drivers and technicians to owners and managers—operate more safely, reliably, and efficiently. With Halo, we are delivering a step-change improvement in how fleets interact with their tire assets,” said Josh Carter, CEO of Aperia. “We see tremendous opportunity with Ryder’s similar commitment to bring innovative products and service solutions to fleets with the goal of maximizing uptime. Now it will be easier for more fleets to reduce complexity when it comes to tires and reap the benefit of fast payback with our industry-leading technology.”

Tire under-inflation remains an industry hazard for the eight million tractor/trailers on U.S. roadways. Ryder fleets, equipped with Halo, will maximize tire life and reduce fuel consumption based on automatic tire pressure management. Unlike traditional tire inflation systems, Halo is self-powered, self-contained, and versatile, making for turnkey integration with Ryder’s nationwide network of state-of-the-art service facilities.

Ryder currently offers various safety technologies, such as forward looking radar and collision mitigation systems in its commercial rental fleet and as an available option to its Ryder ChoiceLease customers. Ryder’s fleet of vehicles incorporates many other advanced technologies including automated manual transmissions, roll stability controls, and telematics. The company also utilizes video monitoring and management systems in its Dedicated Transportation Solutions fleet. Ryder continually monitors emerging fleet technologies and works closely with leading technology providers and equipment manufacturers to provide feedback around functionality, usability and adaptability.

Ryder reports having a long track record of consistently improving the performance, safety and reliability of commercial vehicles.

“With these new safety standards, Ryder continues its leadership in advanced vehicle technology, and builds on its strategy of providing customers with the most flexibility, choice, and control in fleet management,” the company reports in its press release. “These technologies aim to reduce the possibility of vehicle crashes, while also providing a cost benefit to Ryder customers.”

At Ryder, safety is a year-round focus and a core value. Each year, the company invites its team of more than 34,000 employees around the globe to participate in the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The annual international campaign promotes safe and healthy workplaces. As a proud member of Together for Safer Roads (TSR), Ryder joins its fellow private sector coalition members in leveraging the day as an opportunity to promote and raise awareness of safe driving practices.

http://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/ryder-improving-tire-life-safety-through-partnership-with-aperia-technologies/?utm_source=hwt&utm_medium=email&utm_content=10-04-2017&utm_campaign=Hard%20Working%20Trucks&ust_id=ac3913ef69635b68afde05f06de0a439

Wheel Selection: Choosing Wisely With Help From Wheels For Less

cnet.com

Article thanks to Randy Boligand and streetmusclemag.com. Links provided:

Sept, 2017 Car guys express their automotive passion in different ways. Some choose big engines while others choose flashy paint. However, there is one choice that always seems to draw criticism – deserved or not – and that is wheel selection. Mechanical and eye-catching attributes of your car notwithstanding, your car’s appearance can either make you the envy of the show, or “that guy” at the end of the row.

It’s all a matter of perception, and the wheels you choose and the tires surrounding them will definitely influence whether others like your car or not. But, there are more than good looks to consider when selecting wheels. To get some expert advice, we turned to Jeff Roberts of Wheels For Less. That’s because, we were curious about any specific attributes we should be looking at when choosing wheels.

Like almost everyone else, we can’t afford to go out and spend an untold amount of money on wheels, so we need to make the right choice the first time. Choosing wheels begins by figuring out your budget first, then choosing the wheel that looks right and fits your ride.

The four main factors you should be considering before you choose are style, size, weight, construction, and most importantly, price. Realizing how much cash you have to put into a set of wheels will affect things like construction and size. Once you have your budget, you can start narrowing your choices. After all, it doesn’t matter if those billet wheels you have your eyes on are perfect for your Chevelle if you don’t have the dinero to buy them.

It’s also a good idea to have a basic understanding of wheel fitment. In other words, understand what wheel/tire sizes can be properly mounted on your vehicle. We all remember a time when N50s mounted on a 10-inch wheel didn’t have to fit within the wheelwell. Back then, that was considered a cool look. Today, no one wants to see that look make a comeback. Without knowing what will actually fit, you risk buying a setup that doesn’t, can cause vibration issues, and alter ride quality. The wrong package can cause contact with fenders, inner fenders, struts, shocks, tie rods, brake calipers, and other suspension parts.  “The questions we receive most, are really about fitment and size,” said Jeff.

We also wanted to find out more about the different construction materials used in wheel construction, and the pros and cons of each. So, without further ado, here are some things that Wheels For Less want you to consider when choosing a wheel/tire package that will not only look good on your car, but meet your driving goals and actually fit your vehicle.

One-Piece Cast Aluminum Wheels

Everyone knows that one-piece cast aluminum wheels are made by pouring melted aluminum into a cast mold. But, did you also know that there are three types of casting methods used when making cast-aluminum wheels? One is a low-pressure gravity feed casting. Another is counter pressure, which uses vacuum to pack the aluminum into the mold. And finally, there is high pressure casting, which uses air pressure to pack the aluminum into the mold. The method used depends on the particular weight, strength, and finish of the wheel they are building.

“All one-piece cast-aluminum wheels are made overseas in China, and then shipped over by container to their distribution centers in the U.S. The quality of these wheels is high due to today’s manufacturing techniques,” Jeff stated, However, the drawback to a one-piece wheel is their limited size and offset availability. The manufacturer has to predict how many wheels of a particular style they can sell , and build only the sizes and standard offsets they believe will have the best sales potential.

Pros: These wheels are most inexpensive to purchase and come in a myriad of designs.

Cons: They are more brittle than forged wheels. These are also the heaviest of all wheel construction types. Backspace, width increments, and diameter selection offerings are limited. If one gets cracked, they are nearly impossible to safely repair. A damaged cast wheel usually needs to be replaced.

Two-Piece Cast Aluminum Wheels

The centers of two-piece cast wheels are made in exactly the same way as one-piece wheels are made. The centers are cast overseas and then shipped to the U.S. where the wheel is assembled. The cast centers are welded into an outer aluminum rim that is spun, heated, and then pressed between steel rollers to give the rim its final shape and width.

This process produces a wheel that is lighter and stronger than a one-piece cast wheel, but is much less expensive than a forged wheel. “This also offers the consumer a wide variety of fitment options, as the centers can be welded to achieve custom offsets. That means, if you are custom building a car that has a narrowed rear axle, you can get a custom offset and width to allow for a wider, deeper wheel to make your car look exactly as you want,” Jeff told us.

Pros: These wheels are not as expensive as a forged wheel and offer more backspace options than a one-piece cast wheel.

Cons: The centers are still more brittle than forged wheels, but the rim is not as brittle as a cast rim/barrel. If the center gets cracked, a safe repair in not certain. But, unlike a one-piece cast wheel, the rim/barrel can be repaired.

Forging A Finer Fender Filler

Forged wheels are made by placing a hunk of aluminum into a press that forms it into its fundamental shape. The wheel’s basic shape is then machined to achieve the final design. This process of making a wheel uses much less material, and this means a lighter wheel. Forging also creates a wheel that is stronger than other manufacturing processes.

Two-Piece Forged Aluminum

A two-piece forged wheel is built by using a center that is welded into an outer rim – or barrel. This affords a greater available selection of design, offset, and widths as compared to cast wheels. Forged wheels are also made in the U.S. and are of the highest quality wheels available today.

Three-Piece Forged Aluminum

Three-piece forged aluminum wheels will have the same show quality, varied styles, and lighter weight as the two-piece forged aluminum wheels. A huge benefit of three-piece wheels is there is a greater range of size and offset options available. If your running bigger than stock disc brakes, this is a huge advantage. Some of today’s big brake systems with four and six-piston calipers can make aftermarket wheel fitment very difficult

Mono-block Forged Aluminum

A Mono-block wheel is a fully-forged, one-piece wheel that is machined from a single piece of 6061-T6 aluminum. This type of process creates a product that is extremely stiff, exceptionally strong, and very lightweight. These are ideal for racing, because they are the stiffest, strongest, and lightest weight possible.

Pros: This dimensions can be configured to fit over larger than stock brakes. More design and fitment options available.

Cons: They are substantially more expensive than cast wheels.

What’s Best For Me?

You always want to consider how you plan to use your vehicle. Is it a race car that will be hitting the corners? Is it mostly street-driven? You might not realize it, but it does make a difference. Wheels designed for racing need to be strong and lightweight. They need to be able to withstand very strenuous cornering loads, heat, and abuse. When it comes to wheels for a street car, looks are usually the primary end-goal.

What The Hub Is Going On?

During your search, you may also come across the terms hub-centric and lug-centric. Knowing what each means is crucial when ordering rollers for your ride. Both terms refer to how the wheel is centered/mounted on a vehicle to avoid creating any vibration.

A hub-centric design means the large center hole of the wheel is a perfect fit to the hub of the vehicle. This allows the weight of the vehicle to rest on the center bore, rather than the studs. This creates a very safe and stable design, and most OE wheels are hub-centric. This also requires that you know the hub dimension of your car.

“Most aftermarket wheels are not hub-centric. That is because most manufacturers make the center hole large enough to accommodate a wide variety of applications,” Jeff said. That means the wheel is lug centric. A lug-centric wheel employs wheel stud holes with cone-shaped bottoms that are matched to a conical-seat lug nut. The car’s hub protrusion does not actually contact the wheel. When the lug nuts are tightened, the cone-shaped lugs locate the wheel on the hub and properly center it.

This also brings up a long-standing discussion about the wheel studs supporting the weight of the car. Some feel that running a lug-centric wheel without using a spacer is asking for trouble. This is because the wheel studs are supposedly dealing with side – or shear – loads. But, others say that a wheel’s stud is not subjected to the shear-load factor because of the Coefficient of Friction (COF) principle.

COF can be explained this way: In an exaggerated example, take two pieces of sandpaper and place the grit-covered surfaces against each other. Now, try to slide each piece in opposite directions.  The principle is applied in wheel mounting, as the tightening of the lug nuts “mates” the hub and wheel surfaces, and any movement must overcome friction between the two surfaces. But, if the lug nuts do not supply sufficient clamping force (i.e improper torque), the wheel can move, and overcome the COF principle. Once the wheel is able to move, the shearing action of the studs can occur.

Since many aftermarket manufacturers rarely make a hub-centric application, some will provide a hub-centric spacer. This is usually a machined collar that fits inside the hub opening of the wheel, and over the car’s hub. This does help to maintain hub support and a solid centering of the wheel.

Summing It Up

As you should with any part you buy for your car, always do a little research before you commit to a purchase. When it comes to buying wheels and tires, these parts have to be able to stop, turn, and support your car. If you experience a failure at any speed, the results can be bad. So once you’ve done your research and decided what wheel is best for your ride, the guys at Wheels For Less can be sure to help you get the right wheel the first time.

http://www.streetmusclemag.com/tech-stories/wheels-tires/wheel-selection-choosing-wisely-with-help-from-wheels-for-less/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wheel-selection-choosing-wisely-with-help-from-wheels-for-less

Keep your mind from 'zoning out' on the road

fleetowner.com

Article thanks to Larry Kahaner and fleetowner.com. Links provided:

Sept, 2017  On September 11, truck driver Normand Lavoie was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of causing the death of three high school boys after he admitted that he 'zoned out' while driving through a construction zone in May 2015 and smashing into their stopped car. Lavoie also injured a flagperson who still is not well enough to return to work.

The 41-year old Winnipeg driver told police that he was in "la la land … I'm there behind the wheel but I'm not." He added that he was on "auto pilot" because of the flat Saskatchewan landscape. There was no evidence of violating Hours of Service rules, drug or alcohol use.

What many drivers call 'zoning out' is a phenomenon known in scientific circles as 'mind wandering,' and contrary to what many truckers believe, it may not be relieved by listening to the radio, singing or any other activity. Moreover, it can occur during a monotonous task, such as driving on a dark, empty highway, or during an engaging activity such as watching an exciting movie or reading a suspenseful book.

We spoke with Jonathan Schooler, PhD., who studies mind wandering at the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara. Following is an edited excerpt of that conversation.

What causes peoples' minds to wander?

It's the brain's default state. Research suggests that people mind-wander 25 to 50 percent of the time. It's what the mind does. When the current situation is not that stimulating, people wander off to greener pastures to more interesting things.

Does mind wandering cause crashes?

That research suggests that mind-wandering definitely is a major cause of accidents. In studies, researchers went to emergency rooms where people just had accidents. They interviewed people who had either been the victim or the cause of the accident [according to insurance company findings] and compared the two. The people who were the cause of accidents were much more likely to have been mind-wandering [at the time of the crash].

Can you prevent mind wandering by listening to the radio while you're driving?

With respect to the impact of listening to a radio, it's not clear whether or not that would necessarily help. Listening to the radio – particularly listening closely to content – could be distracting in and of itself, in much the same way that talking on a cell phone could be.

Is there any way to prevent mind wandering?

The best way to prevent mind wandering is to know when you're doing it. The technique that seems to be the most well-documented for aiding with mind-wandering is meditation. Not while driving, of course. What practicing meditation does is allow you to sharpen control of your attention to be better able to direct it where you want to, and also be better able to notice when your attention has drifted. I would encourage drivers during their breaks, and when they're done for the day, or maybe even first thing in the morning, to take ten minutes and practice meditation. It also has lots of other remarkable benefits, including reduced stress and increased wellbeing.

There's a number of apps available. One is called Headspace, which seems very good. Essentially what mediation entails is just using the breath as the center of focus – there are other techniques as well – and practicing trying to hold one's attention on the breath. When it drifts off, which it does, of course, you bring it back. This develops an attunement of one's attention and an ability to stay more focused.

Is mind wandering the same as daydreaming?

The field has not fully settled on a distinct vocabulary for these two terms. The way I look at it is that mind-wandering is when you have a task set in front of you, say driving, and then your mind drifts away from that primary task. Whereas with daydreaming oftentimes there's no task at all. For example, you're just sitting in a chair, staring out the window. There's nothing else you're trying to do. Mind-wandering, from my perspective, tends to be more the situation where there's something else you're intending to do and your mind has drifted away from that intended task.

Is there a relationship between the task that you're doing and mind-wandering? If I'm driving a long distance and the road is boring, there's nothing to see, my mind could wander. On the other hand, I could be reading a very exciting book, and my mind will still wander. Can you explain that?

In general, when you're involved in a more engaging activity, the mind will wander less. So while it's true that your mind can wander when you're reading an exciting book and when you're on a boring drive, you're more likely to mind-wander on the boring drive. That said, one of the reasons why the exciting book can still make you mind-wander is because it's provocative, and causes ideas to pop into your mind. Then you get grabbed by those ideas.

The trick is to try to catch yourself mind-wandering when you're reading, and then pause and follow through with the thought. It's what we call meta-awareness, which is noticing the mind wandering. If you can do that, then you can think through that interesting thought and get back to the reading. If you don't notice that your mind is wandering – and I'm sure you've had this experience – your eyes just continue moving across the page, and you lose all track of the content.

That can happen as you drive. You don't remember driving the last three miles.

Yes.

Is there a relationship between fatigue and mind-wandering? Are you more apt to have a mind wander if you're tired?

There is some evidence that being tired can influence mind-wandering, but it's surprisingly less consistent than you might expect. And here's another thing which is surprising. In general, as people get older, they mind-wander less. You might think that as people get older, their executive function in general declines, and mind-wandering is oftentimes considered a failure of executive function. So why do people mind-wander less when they get older? It's because they have fewer resources to wander off to. I would predict – although I don't know this for sure, but this would follow from what I know – the cost of mind-wandering when someone is sleep-deprived will be much greater than the cost of mind-wandering when someone is alert. Because the resources that one has to mind-wander are less good, so it's going to be even more problematic if you do mind-wander when you're tired.

Is there a positive side to mind-wandering?

We find that a substantial proportion of people's creative ideas happen while mind-wandering. In particular, it seems to be ideas that involve overcoming some sort of impasse. If you're stumped on a problem, mind-wandering seems to be a way to come up with fresh perspectives.

http://fleetowner.com/driver-management/keep-your-mind-zoning-out-road?NL=FO-06&Issue=FO-06_20170922_FO-06_4&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_4_1&utm_rid=CPENT000002404484&utm_campaign=14423&utm_medium=email&elq2=d4878b16154d4614a67c08d740908a4e

Reflections on a Truckstop Life

Photo: Pilot Flying J

Nearly 60 years ago, a twist of fate detoured James “Jim” Haslam from a football coaching career into running filling stations. And that detour sparked the rise of what is today the Pilot Flying J truck stop network.

Article thanks to Sean Kilcarr and fleetowner.com. Links provided:

Sept. 6, 2017  To say that James Arthur Haslam II loves football is a little like saying Mount Everest is a big hill.

Indeed, for most of his young adult life, all Haslam did was live and breathe football 24/7.

Born Dec. 13, 1930, in Detroit Michigan, into the heart of Great Depression, Haslam recalled in an interview with Fleet Owner that football simply became a way of life for him. His family wound up living in Florida, where he became a standout on the St. Petersburg High School team and eventually got recruited play offensive lineman for the University of Tennessee in 1948, going on to win a national championship with that school in 1951.

After a stint in the U.S. Army – which included several months in Korea following the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War – Haslam returned to his native Tennessee and quickly received a head coaching job offer for the South Pittsburg High School football team.

A former national college champion, now getting a chance to begin building his own coaching career in the sport he loved. What could be better?

Except there was a catch, Haslam explained – a catch that permanently changed his life’s trajectory.

“They offered me the job in February [of 1956] but they said they wouldn’t start paying me until the football season began that fall,” he said. “I had a one-year old son at the time so I said no to that.”

Instead, Haslam joined LaFollette, TN-based Fleet Oil company and after about a year, took over as head of the firm’s new Sail Oil chain of filling stations.

Yet the desire to truly be his own boss ran deep in Haslam, so he left Sail Oil to start his own company, which he named Pilot Oil Corp., on October 9, 1958 – purchasing his firm’s first filling station in Gate City, VA, for $6,000; a station with just four fuel pumps that also sold cigarettes and soft drinks.

Over the course of the next six decades, that tiny filling station would eventually grow into the Pilot Flying J truck stop network. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

Back in the late ‘50s, a three-year non-compete agreement with his former employer kept Pilot out of Haslam’s native Tennessee, so he instead focused on building his company’s filling station network throughout Virginia and Kentucky – spending days at a time driving around cities in both states analyzing traffic patterns, trying to divine the optimal spot for new filling station locations.

By 1965, after growing Pilot’s network to 12 stations, Haslam sold a 50% stake in the company to Marathon Oil, gaining a consistent fuel supply and a $4 million loan for further expansion – an effort that included adding in convenience stores to the filling station locations. Later, in 1988, he bought out Marathon’s share in his company to return Pilot to his sole control.

It was in the 1980s that providing diesel fuel to truckers became a core piece of Pilot’s business, Haslam said. He’d been visiting with a friend from his college days, Ken Pritchard, who was operating a “travel center” in Slidell, LA, to serve commercial trucks.

That facility did a nice piece of business, so Haslam opened a similarly-styled facility under the Pilot name in Corbin KY, in 1981 – adding in Pilot’s convenience store know-how to the mix.

“We lucked out in a way,” Haslam recalled. “We found we got a lot of business by putting in diesel pumps. So we decided to build a ‘coast-to-coast’ network of travel centers, largely by acquiring other truck stops.”

The first big move in that direction came in 1994, when Pilot acquired 11 Pro Stop stations, making Pilot the nation's second largest truck stop chain.

By 1995, Pilot was operating over 80 travel centers in 33 states and 51 convenience stores in Tennessee and Virginia, and employed over 4,000 people. That year, Haslam became chairman while his eldest son, Jimmy, moved up to CEO – a title Jimmy Haslam still retains today, adding in ownership of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns professional football team for good measure.

Meanwhile, Haslam’s other son, Bill, stepped up to become Pilot’s president in the late ‘90s. Today, however, Bill Haslam has a very different job – Governor of Tennessee.

It’s interesting to note that Haslam’s granddaughter, Whitney Haslam-Johnson – the daughter CEO Jimmy Haslam – became the company’s “chief experience officer” back in May. That brings a third generation of the Haslam family – a family with a net worth estimated at $6 billion in total – into its truck stop business.

“Trucking moves the U.S. economy; without trucks, where would you be?” Haslam said in terms of explaining why his company shifted its focus almost entirely to the truck stop industry back in the ‘80s. “We think we’re a vital part to a vibrant industry, and we really went into it right as it became deregulated, right when lots of new [motor] carriers entered the business.”

In 2001, Pilot experienced a moment of déjà vu, partnering with Marathon-Ashland – a refinery division of Marathon Oil, later spun off in 2011 – to form Pilot Travel Centers LLC. Two years later, Pilot bought 60 locations from Williams' Travel Centers for $189 million and five years after that repeated history yet again as Pilot bought out Marathon's ownership stake for a cool $700 million, then in turn selling a 47.5% stake to CVC Investments.

Finally, in 2010, Pilot merged with bankrupt truck stop chain Flying J to form Pilot Flying J; creating a company that today operates 750 locations in 43 states and six Canadian provinces, employs more than 26,000, sells over seven billion gallons of fuel annually, and serves more than 1.3 million “guests” per day at its far-flung facilities.

“Trucking is still made up of mostly small businesses – it’s not dominated by just a few large companies,” Haslam pointed out. “The people running them are hard-working and successful and we love serving them.”

Despite his company’s obvious success – sales topped $29.2 billion in 2016 and Pilot Flying J is ranked number 14^th on the Forbes list of Top 25 privately-owned companies – Haslam said that a business needs two critical ingredients for successful growth. And, for a time, he lacked one of them.

“You need financial capital and ‘intelligence capital’ to really grow successfully, and the mistake I made for a time is that I acquired too much money to build. The biggest challenge is finding good people,” he explained.

“We’ve survived a lot of tough situations – the [Arab] oil embargo [of 1973], tire shortages, all sorts of things – and I learned that to be really successful long-term means putting the right people in the right places, training them well, and giving them a game plan for success,” Haslam added. “This isn’t something we do for three hours on a Saturday afternoon; it’s something we need to do 24/7.”

He also still leans on his football experience gained long ago on the college gridiron to help set the overall philosophy guiding Pilot Flying J, though he readily admits he’s got “a great team of executives” now in place to run the business day-to-day.

“It’s all about putting together a game plan and then sticking with it; staying the course long-term no matter what happens in the short term,” Haslam stressed. “The economy goes up and down, but you can’t run a business just based on one bad week or one bad month.”

When it comes to the specifics of truck stop operations, Haslam reiterates several lessons learned over the nearly 60 years he’s spent in the industry:

• “To be successful in this business, you have to like people and especially like dealing with truck drivers. They spend a lot of time alone so when they stop to buy fuel or get something to eat, they want to talk. You need to understand them, their work schedules, and their needs.”
• “You need to make all of our guests feel welcome; when you think about it, we’re not really selling diesel, food, or truck repair services; we’re really in the hospitality business. Our guests will buy those things if they feel welcomed, if the restroom is clean, if the [parking] yard is neat, if the food they ate our location 200 miles down the road was good.”
• “We try and get all of our new managers out into the store and to the fuel island, to talk to drivers about what they like and don’t like. We need know why they choose to stop here with us and why they will or will not come back.”
• “Efficiency is critical. Once a driver told us, ‘You are all so busy, I have to wait a lot.’ We laughed at first because, hey, that means we’ve got a lot of business going on. But then we realized waiting means drivers will go somewhere else. We’re losing future business. So we learned we needed to make our fuel islands and stores as efficient as possible so drivers don’t have to wait. ”
• “Taking care of the customer extends to taking care of their trucks; that’s why we are getting into the shop business. We need to be able to take care of almost all of a truck driver’s needs when they stop at one of our locations.”
• “Technology is only going to play a larger role in our business. For example, we’re working on a [smartphone] app that will push to a driver what they might need at our truck stop when they are 50 miles or so away; a shower reservation, a reserved parking spot, or a food order. They pull in and there it all is; a one-stop-shop all via their iPhone. Things like that are coming quickly.”

And as for that long-ago passed-up chance to coach high school football, Haslam has few regrets.

“When you’re 86 like me, you rarely get to coach football teams anymore,” he laughed. “That’s not true in the business world.”

http://fleetowner.com/people/reflections-truck-stop-life?clkthru=20568ba1520a9871e2c9fdf15c35e294&spvc=42&NL=FO-06&Issue=FO-06_20170915_FO-06_559&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_3_1&utm_rid=CPENT000002404484&utm_campaign=14277&utm_medium=email&elq2=3395c5e518784dd58c832d424b088204