tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36850582305510162142024-03-18T12:18:30.106-05:00Daniel S Bridger's Trucking BlogHaving been a professional truck driver and trainer for more than 30 years (now retired), I find that you never, ever know it all. There are always new things to learn. My primary goal with this blog is to help other drivers (especially newer ones) with pertinent information and tips to enable them to work happier and more safely. Guest posts, contributors and feed-back are always welcome and wanted!Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.comBlogger1128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-61346953054147974042024-02-25T13:32:00.005-06:002024-02-25T18:41:18.204-06:0021 Years of Stupid<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbunnPa5HVZD3HD2OVYD3bCWwZ3Jajw56OmWZJbOEK3IgGi36uTgAfQUHMBS2_rdlyShnqKQVCsQTsByZ1Wmu318CUY8xp6Fb_g3xtiYL1-seMRjAJXlslLxmHSf3NCzyKtejTMRbnrzOOAXpdle3CmV-5u9bh2hYvMCUoW7vlwlbwRrMpe49qBivrQs/s2060/IMG_20240222_0001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2036" data-original-width="2060" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbunnPa5HVZD3HD2OVYD3bCWwZ3Jajw56OmWZJbOEK3IgGi36uTgAfQUHMBS2_rdlyShnqKQVCsQTsByZ1Wmu318CUY8xp6Fb_g3xtiYL1-seMRjAJXlslLxmHSf3NCzyKtejTMRbnrzOOAXpdle3CmV-5u9bh2hYvMCUoW7vlwlbwRrMpe49qBivrQs/w532-h395/IMG_20240222_0001.jpg" width="532" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;"><u>Caption:</u> After selling all the gasoline he was allocated for Novemebr, Daniel Bridger Thursday put up this sign and closed his service station until his new quota begins. Brigder's station is at 4751 N. Santa Monica Blvd. </span>- <span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sentinel photo by Ron Overdahl</span></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-6b5df3fa-7fff-b4d2-bb01-85167b4672b1"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In 1973, OPEC cut off oil sales to the US and the west because of our support for Israel. I was a franchised Clark station dealer at the time. On Nov 30th, the Milwaukee Sentinel published a reporter’s photograph of my station being temporarily closed for lack of fuel. The second image shows the front page headline of that morning’s same newspaper. Little did I know of what was coming.</span></span><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0glGV0CPrAh3umODR_BqMEvetVz_1sKeR3A-CP-Jrn9cykEBjSpixgoqwLFjhTeTWE23mDSQJee3QUEwFRinSTtmTrEi8G3vK0D2XWFR6I7owthYvcxJq2ZhqMBOzjuk7PHD5ne8XbakHMHD7fcu1q7SU_u4EuG43UBst0Cfe9DJrV7XLNRm-L_JWyQ/s2368/IMG_20240225_0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="2368" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY0glGV0CPrAh3umODR_BqMEvetVz_1sKeR3A-CP-Jrn9cykEBjSpixgoqwLFjhTeTWE23mDSQJee3QUEwFRinSTtmTrEi8G3vK0D2XWFR6I7owthYvcxJq2ZhqMBOzjuk7PHD5ne8XbakHMHD7fcu1q7SU_u4EuG43UBst0Cfe9DJrV7XLNRm-L_JWyQ/w488-h199/IMG_20240225_0001.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-7560cf3d-7fff-1c7d-abfb-d5c988742d84"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Those events began a miserable 13 years of the insane national 55 mph speed limit. My livelihood was severely affected by the sporadic gasoline deliveries as well as my employees’ income, so I had a "dog in the fight”. What followed was a ridiculous national mandate by the federal government put in place by the Nixon administration. The law was widely ignored nationwide until many jurisdictions discovered a goldmine with fines/citations as a major source of revenue. Speed traps galore sprang up as a result. Those common sense states that refused to enforce the national speed limit were threatened by the Carter administration in 1977 with the loss of highway funding if they didn’t fall in line. The law was proven to be almost useless as far as conservation and soon took a back seat to the enormous revenue stream. Many fed up citizens avoided traveling on the safer limited access highways to run the back roads and avoid speed traps. The actual fuel savings computed by the federal government? Between 0.5 and 1%! This injustice dragged on until 1987 when they relented by raising it to 65 mph on certain limited access rural highways, finally repealing it altogether in 1995 after 21 years. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So that's how it began.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I was incensed, feeling like we were being punished due to the US failure to protect our national interest and security. President Nixon actually first proposed a national 50 mph speed limit for motor vehicles and 55 mph for trucks. Of course POTUS would never have to cross Montana or Texas by car at 50 mph! By the time of Jimmy Carter’s 1977 crackdown, in my mid 20’s, I had become a militant “professional speeder”. With a progression of radar detectors starting with an Escort, then Passport, and eventually a Valentine One and CB radios, the war was ongoing. My mission was to travel using a reasonable speed based on weather and traffic conditions. Most of the time that highway speed was quite a bit above the “double nickel” that President Carter demanded we should travel. Note: I was reasonable, not reckless.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was years before I even considered driving as a profession. Although I had numerous close calls with various Smokey Bears, Sheriff's deputies and "local yokels", I was able to maintain a reasonably clean driver's license which fortunately enabled me to pursue truck driving as a career a few years later.</span></p><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I have long believed that using the decades old, scientific, "85th percentile rule" in setting speed limits was and should remain the national policy. I long ago sold my last radar detector because of the much more sensible speed laws in most states. But, alas, there is an ongoing movement underway by the “nanny state” trying to discredit the 85th percentile policy. Please support the National Motorists Association, a non-profit that advocates for the motoring public. You can Google them online if you wish to join or link here. </span><a href="https://ww2.motorists.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">National Motorists Association</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Newsletters are free to sign up for.</span></span></div><div><span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Daniel-S-Bridger/author/B09B8YCCGD?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true"><span style="color: red;">My Amazon Author Link</span></a><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-68519148490741039302023-10-29T15:48:00.003-05:002024-02-27T12:09:29.699-06:00The True Cost of Electric Vehicles<h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9nbyeGlxsUELPQji9sTl6oBWMoFTd0PxxIIPNRLaNLy46hSNavzeMdZgbddGTrVQ847eclFnSZj_LwMod41uYrAg6lKNbN0Ic6m9swrMnLjeMxRzVKJ5WIR-W6yU4B7Z4L6acUhvgGka1wPp1pxkw6ZR2OoWn3pLvh5BRDJ427nItwNLS7Wf4RXe8zQ/s248/ev.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="248" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9nbyeGlxsUELPQji9sTl6oBWMoFTd0PxxIIPNRLaNLy46hSNavzeMdZgbddGTrVQ847eclFnSZj_LwMod41uYrAg6lKNbN0Ic6m9swrMnLjeMxRzVKJ5WIR-W6yU4B7Z4L6acUhvgGka1wPp1pxkw6ZR2OoWn3pLvh5BRDJ427nItwNLS7Wf4RXe8zQ/s1600/ev.png" width="248" /></a></div><span style="color: red;">First-of-kind analysis reveals true cost of owning, operating EVs without govt. subsidies</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span class="wpdev-single-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; font-size: 1.1em; font-weight: 600;">October 25, 2023</span><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span class="wpdev-single-author" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040;"><span class="wpdev-single-meta-divider" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 8px;">|</span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> by <a href="https://americanwirenews.com/author/vivek-saxena/" rel="author" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #e51a16; display: inline-block; opacity: 0.8; outline-offset: -2px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;" title="Posts by Vivek Saxena">Vivek Saxena</a></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="color: #404040;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Article thanks to Vivek Saxena and American Wire News Service. Link to the original follows below: </span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A study by a conservative think tank has determined that electric vehicles would cost oodles more if it weren’t for all the subsidies.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023-10-TrueCostofEVs-BennettIsaac.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;" target="_blank">study</a> from the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) found, for example, that the average 2021 electric vehicle “would cost $48,698 more to own over a 10-year period without $22 billion in government favors given to EV manufacturers and owners.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“EV advocates claim that the cost of electricity for EV owners is equal to $1.21 per gallon of gasoline (Edison Electric Institute, 2021), but the cost of charging equipment and charging losses, averaged out over 10 years and 120,000 miles, is $1.38 per gallon equivalent on top of that. Adding the costs of the subsidies to the true cost of fueling an EV would equate to an EV owner paying $17.33 per gallon of gasoline,” the report reads.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“And these estimates do not include the hundreds of billions more in subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) for various aspects of the EV supply chain, particularly for battery manufacturing. It is not an overstatement to say that the federal government is subsidizing EVs to a greater degree than even wind and solar electricity generation and <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">embarking on an unprecedented endeavor to remake the entire American auto industry</em>,” it continues.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet, the report notes, the public’s response to this endeavor has been “tepid” primarily because most Americans can’t afford the upfront (not to mention the long-term) costs of an electric vehicle.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Car lots are swelling with unsold EVs (Muller, 2023), and the Ford Motor Company is losing over $70,000 on each EV it currently sells,” the report notes.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The report’s overarching goal is “to analyze how regulatory credits, hidden costs, and subsidies disguise the real cost of electric vehicles (EVs).”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“With the Biden administration’s continued push for electrification and states such as California implementing laws to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, ‘Overcharged Expectations: Unmasking the True Costs of Electric Vehicles’ reveals the regulatory tricks at play and how these costs are socialized on to taxpayers and gas vehicle owners. This study was also submitted as part of a public comment on the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s proposed fuel economy standards,” a press release from TPPF states.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The press release also includes a statement from the report’s author, Jason Isaac.</span></p><div class="code-block code-block-5" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif;"></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The Biden administration and leftist states such as California have pushed for widespread electrification in less than 20 years through government subsidies and coercive regulations, but the price you see in the lot is not the true cost of an electric vehicle,” he said.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Electric vehicle owners have been the beneficiaries of regulatory credits, subsidies, and socialized infrastructure costs totaling nearly 50 thousand dollars per EV. These costs are borne by gasoline vehicle owners, taxpayers, and utility ratepayers, who are all paying a hefty price for someone else’s EV,” he added.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The report also found that electric vehicles receive roughly 7x more in federal fuel efficiency credits than they actually provide in fuel economy benefits.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also, the report determined that electric vehicle charging stations will cost roughly $11,833 per electric vehicle every 10 years — costs that will have to be shouldered by taxpayers, regardless of whether they personally own an EV.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In conclusion, the report argued that “the true cost” of an electric vehicle is light years ahead of the cost of a traditional vehicle.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The stark reality for proponents of EVs and for the dreamers in the federal government, who are using fuel economy regulations to force manufacturers to produce ever more EVs, is that the true cost of an EV is in no way close to a comparable [internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV)],” the report reads.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Without increased and sustained government favors, EVs will remain more expensive than ICEVs for many years to come. Hence why, even with these subsidies, EVs have been challenging for dealers to sell and why basic economic realities indicate that the Biden administration’s dream of achieving 100% EVs by 2040 will never become a reality,” it continues.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-report-unmasks-true-costs-electric-vehicle-mandates-remain-expensive" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.5s ease 0s;" target="_blank">Fox News</a>, the report’s publication comes as Democrats on both the federal and state levels continue to attack gas-powered vehicles while promoting EVs.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Biden has set a goal of ensuring 50% of all car sales are zero-emissions by 2030 and his administration has pursued rigorous restrictions on gas-powered vehicles,” Fox News notes.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most recently, the Biden administration announced new emissions rules that “are significantly more stringent and … cover a wider range of heavy-duty engine operating conditions compared to today’s standard,” as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The problem, according to truckers like JKC Trucking co-owner Mike Kucharski, is that the new rules could bankrupt truckers and thus destroy America’s supply chain.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Appearing on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” last month, he explained that the “regulations are not practical and impossible for five reasons,” including the fact that “the costs are astronomical” and “truckers will not be able to afford these things.”</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“A new clean diesel long haul tractor typically costs in the range of $180,000 to $200,000. A comparable battery electric tractor costs upwards of $480,000. That’s about a $300,000 upcharge, [which] is cost prohibitive for the overwhelming majority of motor carriers,” he said in a separate statement to Fox News.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Roboto Slab", san-serif; line-height: 2em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Link to the original article posted by American Wire is below:</span></p><p><a href="https://americanwirenews.com/first-of-kind-analysis-reveals-true-cost-of-owning-operating-evs-without-govt-subsidies/?utm_campaign=james&utm_content=10-25-23%20Daily%20PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=Get%20response&utm_term=email"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">True Cost of Owning/operating EVs</span></b></a></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaXC8rAE3jXi6XF8Yh5QcGAEbfl6rqAl328bqvnHIej-0kPGGGPE-t6JCWdyf2fsJgS8YJIKFbZkBBUGK-_YfVf099H33HB8uHBMUktVPiK0UxVWzgjw0PC5JWupuXAzmXi_HmFx6inuc6djX2_r56eIA22Ph2wiPUxMZpVWJ1F8sl2MB9ujseJBbrgoQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaXC8rAE3jXi6XF8Yh5QcGAEbfl6rqAl328bqvnHIej-0kPGGGPE-t6JCWdyf2fsJgS8YJIKFbZkBBUGK-_YfVf099H33HB8uHBMUktVPiK0UxVWzgjw0PC5JWupuXAzmXi_HmFx6inuc6djX2_r56eIA22Ph2wiPUxMZpVWJ1F8sl2MB9ujseJBbrgoQ=w200-h200" width="200" /></a><b><span style="color: red;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink">My Amazon Author Link</a></span></b></div><br /><br /><p></p>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-44921316100381884712023-05-13T13:38:00.005-05:002024-02-27T12:10:28.324-06:00Remembering Sox & Martin at Union Grove<div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDyPHt9Xc0l2vgz6G_AdnGIg8MwfNDnF3QjIXfntiqP9f_9-GI3__CbGTpU4-hFthjR1nMVP99JB8xA-qhxnrlSEhGCqfjJFIj-tlAcXeUjBiJTxWTAETD_mMA96v1fpuD92-Q7vIs4Oyx_yeq_eVjekPgPD1G3dZp9QuGl9upyt6sofh2NbXn74S/s1600/Sox&Martin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDyPHt9Xc0l2vgz6G_AdnGIg8MwfNDnF3QjIXfntiqP9f_9-GI3__CbGTpU4-hFthjR1nMVP99JB8xA-qhxnrlSEhGCqfjJFIj-tlAcXeUjBiJTxWTAETD_mMA96v1fpuD92-Q7vIs4Oyx_yeq_eVjekPgPD1G3dZp9QuGl9upyt6sofh2NbXn74S/s320/Sox&Martin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I believe it was the summer of 1967 when my best friend Tom and I were both 15 years old. We didn’t possess driver’s licenses yet, but we were rabid car guys. Tom’s dad had a Ford and my dad a 1957 Chrysler with a 392 hemi in it. Of course, I was a big Mopar fan while my buddy was loyal to Ford. The Sox & Martin race team and Don Garlits were my drag racing heroes.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We lived in Milwaukee, Wi and my dad agreed to take us to The Great Lakes Dragaway in <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>Union Grove, Wi for the Olympics of Drag Racing contest one Sunday afternoon. Sox & Martin were running Super Stock that year in a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda, I believe.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We had pretty good seats fairly close to the starting line as Ronnie pulled up to stage for his first race. I don’t remember who he was racing against but when the green lit up, Ronnie came off the line pulling a huge wheelie while getting a holeshot on his challenger. He came right by us with the front wheels off the ground and in the lead as I jumped up from my seat and yelled “holy f**k!” I was between my dad and Tom when he (Tom) elbowed me in the side to shut up. I then realized in horror what I said and was afraid my dad was going to kill me, but he didn’t say anything. I’m sure he heard me and must have decided to let it go, but I was so embarrassed.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I believe they won the Super Stock title that week-end. It was pretty exciting for us two kids dreaming of getting our licenses soon! Ronnie Sox died of cancer at age 67 in 2006, I think Buddy Martin is in his late 80’s now.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink"><b>My Amazon Author Link</b></a><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-38085580180471869762023-05-02T12:30:00.001-05:002024-02-27T12:17:43.590-06:00Your Freedom to Travel is Under Attack<p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b></b></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP373-MzpKR0URC9nLTuuS4ImOTyH4PJrj047paPyiSQboKh5JxXbJfcwVTylN6eXC4hT-yn8FaziXE7hAom53A-uk8ufKbxLKZUjD_ClfelkDiExYlIwy72kLz-ZUAjSv-xQ8wAtjEGisGEazhdI-oe3g-BFUCQ6YAxSPEiPNSMHQfbfUj857EuUu/s1024/nma.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP373-MzpKR0URC9nLTuuS4ImOTyH4PJrj047paPyiSQboKh5JxXbJfcwVTylN6eXC4hT-yn8FaziXE7hAom53A-uk8ufKbxLKZUjD_ClfelkDiExYlIwy72kLz-ZUAjSv-xQ8wAtjEGisGEazhdI-oe3g-BFUCQ6YAxSPEiPNSMHQfbfUj857EuUu/s320/nma.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="background-color: white;">Article re-printed from <a href="https://ww2.motorists.org/">The National Motorists Association</a> newsletter last month. Please consider supporting them by joining at the links provided. These issues will affect all of us soon and they need our help to fight back. </span><span face=""Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">By Jay Beeber, Director of Policy & Research, National Motorists Association</span></b><p></p><p><span face=""Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-weight: 700;">From April 2,2023: </span><span face=""Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">If there was any doubt before, now we have a clear indication that the WAR ON CARS is real –and it’s being waged at the highest levels of society by authoritarian culture warriors. These tyrannical elitists seek to eliminate our freedom to travel where we want, when we want, and how we want by impairing our ability to use our personal vehicles. While often promoted as “safety” measures, this campaign to “get people out of their cars” is, in actuality, a crusade against a middle-class lifestyle represented by single-family homes and automobiles.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Prompted by their cataclysmic view of climate change requiring a drastic reduction in carbon emissions, cars are activists’ favored target to reduce greenhouse gasses. Their “solutions” would mostly lead to a diminution of our standard of living and curtailment of our personal liberties. And those hurt the most will be the poorest among us, those disproportionately affected by traffic fines and often forced to travel longer distances to jobs and educational opportunities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">The “Paradise” of these collectivists’ dreams is the “15 Minute City”, a dense urban prison where everyone travels by bicycle or government-run transportation systems –and never ventures more than a few miles from home.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">The War on Cars takes many different forms:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Vision Zero</span>: Both an ideology and an organization based on the belief that we can make roadways so safe that no one ever dies in an automobile accident. Numerous U.S. cities have adopted Vision Zero as an official policy. Yet it has failed almost everywhere it has been tried. The original target date for zero deaths was 2018, then 2020, then 2025. It has now been pushed to 2040 – far enough in the future that the lack of progress and failure in policy is impossible to demonstrate. Of course, the logical conclusion to this ideology is that society must eliminate or severely curtail all motorized travel, starting with personal automobiles.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">20 is Plenty:</span> A policy that cars shouldn’t be allowed to go faster than 20 mph in urban areas –because at higher speeds, fatalities will occur if a vehicle hits a “vulnerable road user” like a pedestrian or bicyclist. In other words, 20 mph is plenty fast enough for <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">you</em> to drive. The 20 is Plenty policy has been implemented in many European cities and is now starting to roll out in the U.S.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Arbitrarily Lowering Speed Limits</span>: It is well-documented that the number on the speed limit sign has little effect on travel speeds. Rather, it’s the design of the roadway that determines at what speed people feel comfortable driving. Traditionally, speed limits have been set at or near the speed 85% of reasonable drivers don’t exceed. This practice ensures that we don’t criminalize the behavior of the majority of otherwise safe drivers. But now, a movement is sweeping the country to eliminate this standard and set speed limits at whatever speed “feels right” for those vulnerable road users.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">The USDOT’s <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-02/USDOT-National-Roadway-Safety-Strategy.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b82025; text-decoration-line: none;">“National Roadway Safety Strategy”</a> sets a target date of 2024 to “Revise FHWA guidance and regulations to … [encourage] the setting of context-appropriate speed limits…” That means speed limits no longer must be rational. Instead, more arbitrary and politically motivated methods will be used. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed into law in 2021 provides funding to local jurisdictions to enforce those unrealistic speed limits with automated ticketing cameras.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">The consequence will be that the majority of otherwise law-abiding drivers will unintentionally become violators. For the anti-car fanatics, this is a deliberate feature of these policies. They’re eager to criminalize the act of driving, and arbitrarily lower speed limits enforced by automated ticketing cameras is their back-door way of achieving this goal.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Expanded Use of Automated Ticketing Cameras</span>: Anti-car extremists love these ticketing machines because <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10455557/The-speed-camera-nightmare-thats-coming-America.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b82025; text-decoration-line: none;">they can penalize drivers for the most insignificant violations</a>, such as driving a few miles per hour faster than an arbitrarily lowered speed limit or making a slow rolling-right-turn at 2 am when no one is around. Activists tout automated enforcement as <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/31/pete-buttigieg-slammed-for-racist-safety-cameras-notorious-for-corruption-inaccuracy/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b82025; text-decoration-line: none;">a way to increase equity</a> since cameras supposedly can’t racially profile. Yet, studies have shown that poor and marginalized communities are the ones often targeted by ticketing cameras. And their residents are the ones least able to afford the billions of dollars in fines that follow from these policies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Complete Streets (aka Road Diets)</span>: Although over 90% of workers commute by auto, anti-car activists believe we dedicate too much roadway to automobiles. In their view, “equity” dictates that we reserve an equal amount of roadway space for other users, especially bicyclists. Many cities are removing half the number of car lanes on high-volume roadways and dedicating that space to bicycle lanes –notwithstanding that bicyclists are as rare as unicorns in many locations. These policies have created massive traffic jams and lost travel time. But again, for the fanatics, this is a feature, not a bug. For them, using the personal automobile is too fast and convenient, so we must impair their use to equalize travel times compared to bikes and mass transit. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Think of it as roadway socialism.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Eliminating Parking</span>: If you eliminate parking, people will give up their cars in favor of bikes and buses, and the world will be a better place. Many university urban planning courses teach this dogma as part of the “New Urbanism” of densification and elimination of suburban sprawl. The curriculum even fosters the foolish notion that cities should remove parking at transit stations so commuters can’t drive their cars to access trains and buses. Abolishing parking is a significant feature of the 15 Minute City.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Eliminating Right Turn on Red</span>: The Washington D.C. City Council recently voted unanimously to impose a citywide ban on right-turn-on-red. Officials in Austin, TX, Berkeley, CA, and Cambridge, MA, are also exploring a prohibition on right turns at red signals. And the movement is growing throughout the U.S. If this crusade isn’t stopped now, in just a few short years, we could all be forced to idle needlessly at red lights, adding precious extra minutes to each trip’s travel time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">These two articles sum up the anti-car ideology perfectly:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/07/cars-killing-us-driving-environment-phase-out" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b82025; text-decoration-line: none;">Cars are killing us. Within 10 years, we must phase them out</a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/04/opinion/self-driving-cars-safety.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b82025; text-decoration-line: none;">Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That.</a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">What used to be a fringe ideology has taken root in our mainstream institutions, from the Federal Highway Authority and NTSB down to local government. It has infected the organizations that make and recommend public policy, such as the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and university research facilities. The World Economic Forum heavily promotes this ideology. Whether you know it or not, it is coming to your city and neighborhood.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">The invention of the personal automobile has been a primary factor in the human flourishing and massive increase in our standard of living, which has occurred over the last century. It has allowed humans to thrive in ways never before imagined in the history of the world. It has freed up our time to pursue economic and leisure activity, spurred amazing innovation, and allowed us to experience life in new and unique ways.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">But we could easily lose all these benefits if we’re not vigilant.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">With a renewed sense of purpose and vigor, the National Motorists Association is formulating a strategy to fight back against these anti-human policies and protect our freedom to travel. In the months ahead, we’ll share these plans and may ask for your assistance. In the meantime, if you still need to renew your membership, now is the time. And if your membership is current, consider gifting a membership to a like-minded friend or relative. If we are going to win this war, AND WE MUST WIN, we need an army – and that army is formed one driver at a time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><a href="https://ww2.motorists.org/join-supporting/?code=" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b82025; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Join Supporting – National Motorists Association</b></a></p>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-23113325139475863042022-10-24T15:39:00.003-05:002022-10-24T17:20:45.442-05:003 Tips to Get Better Air Flow in Your Kenworth Truck<div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>The following is a guest post thanks to Jon Lewis of Shoreline Truck Parts:</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>Kenworth trucks are notorious for poor air flow. There’s nothing worse than going down the road<br />sweating, or freezing. Both of these scenarios can be avoided. In this article, I’ll be sharing 3<br />tips to ensure that you get the most air flow from your Kenworth truck.<br />The first thing to consider is the problem may not be your blower motor, but your HVAC box<br />itself. Having holes in an HVAC box is like trying to pour water into a bucket that is filled with<br />holes. Your bucket will quickly fail at it’s job. The same goes for your blower motor.<br /><br /><b>1 - Inspect Your HVAC BOX</b><br /><br />Inspect your <a href="https://shorelinetruckparts.com/product-category/kenworth-hvac-box/">Kenworth HVAC box</a> for corrosion, holes, and air gaps. First, run the AC/heat and<br />feel around your box for air leaks. If you find major corrosion, you may want to consider<br />replacing your Kenworth heater box with a stainless steel version. If your KW truck has a metal<br />HVAC box and spends much time in northern states that salt their roads, there’s a good chance<br />that your truck is seeing signs of corrosion. If the corrosion is bad enough, it will eventually wear<br />a hole in your box.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rR-qBwTckxXX4lvpDVEjhR5P8GV5J1Bcmh6vvfo8ULqeeBLaHIt7NVJu4XajvsdmraYjIMOGyt2rw4Kobk6KSWHauhTlOg9YW0wmHHxFlfujCkZ5BuA57wingbduXu7Hhppx7AqYSe5gg2B1byzW8A7k-8iVURWhCz76fYLd_v789YCvH9Qndcdh/s1200/K142-535ss-3%20and%20F31-1036ss-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rR-qBwTckxXX4lvpDVEjhR5P8GV5J1Bcmh6vvfo8ULqeeBLaHIt7NVJu4XajvsdmraYjIMOGyt2rw4Kobk6KSWHauhTlOg9YW0wmHHxFlfujCkZ5BuA57wingbduXu7Hhppx7AqYSe5gg2B1byzW8A7k-8iVURWhCz76fYLd_v789YCvH9Qndcdh/s320/K142-535ss-3%20and%20F31-1036ss-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Second, all Kenworth HVAC manufactures use gasket material in various locations on the</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">boxes to prevent air leaks. The areas most prone to leaks are around the top cover and the area</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">where the evaporator line come out of the HVAC box. Adding gasket material to these areas</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">can help stop the air leaks. Thirdly, check the venting behind the dash in your truck. Many</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">models of Kenworths have vent tubing similar to dryer vent hoses. Over time, the venting tube</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">easily cracks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpD82ao76ADaRiQ3PfmRS9vBlAjGB27p711Cr2YY9QaLJWqLJ9-znA4885-ok-6ApgJW2BArDEzjosrwyrn-5VpkqQo-E8zOtQ_01P6ffJMXS_ZIZm0kWpxtjNUYy4YWz6zSwyeWYHNTiHeOCo5SPEsPSlp724e-vhdcOKzwh9AmZ5F-mpdOCH8e_y/s1200/gasket%20material.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpD82ao76ADaRiQ3PfmRS9vBlAjGB27p711Cr2YY9QaLJWqLJ9-znA4885-ok-6ApgJW2BArDEzjosrwyrn-5VpkqQo-E8zOtQ_01P6ffJMXS_ZIZm0kWpxtjNUYy4YWz6zSwyeWYHNTiHeOCo5SPEsPSlp724e-vhdcOKzwh9AmZ5F-mpdOCH8e_y/s320/gasket%20material.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>2 - Clean Heater Core and Evaporator</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSXJ7Q_C3pngYBw120Ws-YkLNoTfxuPq03gEZvSGk4OagL-n5Iyi_M_Nl6Q1tXMhnno8sYxb8LeuwTWPQfAmPmp_xRj-JGhOoqFyaSUEBj__jAm4YKAeHc61rr17Nc7bPurcVcn0HeIaivetVMGsSvnHiv8h5Ylr3hvKvOi_kaFfM1OZK77J7ECNx/s960/heater%20core.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSXJ7Q_C3pngYBw120Ws-YkLNoTfxuPq03gEZvSGk4OagL-n5Iyi_M_Nl6Q1tXMhnno8sYxb8LeuwTWPQfAmPmp_xRj-JGhOoqFyaSUEBj__jAm4YKAeHc61rr17Nc7bPurcVcn0HeIaivetVMGsSvnHiv8h5Ylr3hvKvOi_kaFfM1OZK77J7ECNx/s320/heater%20core.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Example of a clogged heater core</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If your box is in good shape, another cause for bad air flow is a dirty/clogged evaporator and</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">heater core. This is especially common for trucks that run a lot on dirt roads or dusty work sites.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Dust mixed with condensation in your HVAC box will create a wall of debris making your</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">evaporator and heater core impenetrable. Heater cores and evaporators should be cleaned</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">every one to two years.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>3 - Upgrade Your Blower Motor</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3_VyJ_dF79PRxmFug8jITKKP6PsbvMXmzi05b5laBi3QEgCoMDO2x5x06QDQZi_ZS6SRumu6sGdht43Ga3w4wSONunH7pJ7wF129n_Qjf4wcfS9ZHoRukpCdhZVqlyrjiSNVLrU3PcJo_sLLydgcxLiBHSYW44ai3ffrhWQv0DTSgHReJmVbBC0C/s1200/Kenworth-Blower-Motor-Upgrade-Angle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3_VyJ_dF79PRxmFug8jITKKP6PsbvMXmzi05b5laBi3QEgCoMDO2x5x06QDQZi_ZS6SRumu6sGdht43Ga3w4wSONunH7pJ7wF129n_Qjf4wcfS9ZHoRukpCdhZVqlyrjiSNVLrU3PcJo_sLLydgcxLiBHSYW44ai3ffrhWQv0DTSgHReJmVbBC0C/s320/Kenworth-Blower-Motor-Upgrade-Angle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The last thing to check, if you have found that your box is in good shape, the evaporator and</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">heater core are clean and it doesn’t have any air leaks, consider replacing your OEM blower</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">motor with an upgraded blower motor. Our company, <a href="https://shorelinetruckparts.com/">Shoreline Truck Parts</a>, offers a Blower</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Motor Upgrade Kit that will give you a 15% increase in CFM. Our upgrade kit includes a</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">stainless steel lid and baffle plate, the upgraded blower motor, and gaskets.</div></div><br /><b><br /></b></div></div><br /><b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><br /><p><br /></p>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-33377126721409950422022-08-01T16:02:00.011-05:002022-09-17T11:45:11.287-05:00Never Forget Our Heroes<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: red;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-z-q08wysALHV3pZRaGJzlr0bQgqvhTf3qiuiyFOmsNXLNV9DYjtF2yJcCqpgCUnLMceGRTKu3tQItzspc1ekiAYRdwN_6PicigId2u-F04SGzuRWzjpJuDPybpOlCmyyS5DuN9LnAwhKPrE9a32ur9EwpDG6djhPNle8R_BMhNlWa-Tbud0SgTE/s4000/GeneUniform.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-z-q08wysALHV3pZRaGJzlr0bQgqvhTf3qiuiyFOmsNXLNV9DYjtF2yJcCqpgCUnLMceGRTKu3tQItzspc1ekiAYRdwN_6PicigId2u-F04SGzuRWzjpJuDPybpOlCmyyS5DuN9LnAwhKPrE9a32ur9EwpDG6djhPNle8R_BMhNlWa-Tbud0SgTE/s320/GeneUniform.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>January 14, 1945.</span></b> On that single day in the history of World War II there were 810 American casualties. One of those was my father’s cousin, Captain Gene Edward Sucharda, who was killed while commanding a tank company at the Battle of the Bulge. Approximately 19,000 American soldiers were killed in the 5 week long battle. I remember seeing Gene’s picture hanging on the wall in uniform when we visited my dad’s Aunt Claire and Uncle Edmund. At their house in Akron, Ohio, the picture was above a small table with his memorabilia laid out on it, like a small shrine. He was their only child and I, even at my young age, wondered how the parents could have gotten through something like that. His remains never even made it back to the USA. He is buried at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupré Belgium. My youngest brother Gene was named by my parents in his honor. So many heroes are responsible for the lives we have today. Never forget! What follows is an account written by David Kasavan, a fellow soldier, for the 11th Armored Division Legacy Group:</span><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidoMZzNo3ZgmurDDJxzBVOX-MiusCX3n1HQBvDLAf740eGyTucGFq3sqvaNxsDAz0uPnZaSAFcVc0ZUtUTfP7YmoK-yHzHzDVsJeMw5qCBJPh1nv4-7OT_9ys0NFqcLZSmwCI4YyErbs2SR85gZsKX-DfoFZ5rxGJPMtNOhX3lcpWd_AgTLTsPEOiv/s4000/GeneMedals.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidoMZzNo3ZgmurDDJxzBVOX-MiusCX3n1HQBvDLAf740eGyTucGFq3sqvaNxsDAz0uPnZaSAFcVc0ZUtUTfP7YmoK-yHzHzDVsJeMw5qCBJPh1nv4-7OT_9ys0NFqcLZSmwCI4YyErbs2SR85gZsKX-DfoFZ5rxGJPMtNOhX3lcpWd_AgTLTsPEOiv/s320/GeneMedals.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Gene's Purple Heart & Silver Star</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">"The Captain (Gene Sucharda) was leading the way as he always did, when the shell came from his right flank. It must have been right in line with him, for suddenly he fell, and slumped down into the turret. The tank started burning, and Ramee gave me the order to back up quickly behind a house. I saw Cpl. Armin Stodolenak, the Captain’s gunner, got out of the tank after he looked around and saw he could help the CO or the loader, Pfc. Stan Chadwick. The bog and the driver Pfc Clarence Busch and T/4 Key both got out of the tank but not before it was hit the second time. And then suddenly our tank was hit, right in the back deck which was sticking out past our shelter. No one was hit badly, and dodging all of the mortars and artillery, we finally made it back to a house where we were later picked up.”</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-f3121238-7fff-ea79-f860-2b05acd5b33e"><span style="font-family: arial;"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Captain and Chadwick must have been killed instantly. Stodolenak had some nasty shrapnel in his hip, and he hopped into Sgt. Jones’ tank for safety and first aid. “That made six men in the tank,” Jones said, “and before long there was a knocking on the tank. We opened up and there was Pfc. Sid Meyer, loader in Cohen’s tank, so we took him too and sat him on the transmission. Then the artillery started falling in town. Lt. Brendan Burns, who was to lead us through the rest of our battles, was outside scouting around with Captain Dick McCoy, from the battalion staff. They both hopped into the tank, too, so we had a total of nine men there. Probably set some sort of record.”</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Kasavan also wrote about these events 9 days before Gene was killed: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>“The Captain (Gene Sucharda) called a meeting the next afternoon on January 5th. “Men,” he said, “I want you to know what a wonderful job you did. The 41st Tank Battalion really made a good reputation fighting out there, and most of the advancing occurred when we were in the lead. I want you to know that I am proud of you. And since I have to go into combat, all I can say is that I could not ask for a finer bunch of men than you.” The company looked at the Captain. They did not say it, but they too, were proud of him. He had shown himself to be the bravest. And he had kept a cool head throughout the battle. When one of the innumerable questions that always pop up in the course of an action was referred to him, he always knew the right and logical answer. He had proved himself the best and a best fighting man we were to ever know. Little did we suspect what was going to happen on our next step into action. Sgt. Jon Jones had this to say about the CO “It seemed as if he was out of his tank more often than in it. And he would walk around when artillery was falling all over the place. If he could help it, he would go see a man rather than have that man walk out in the open to see him. Why I remember one time I was all buttoned up due to artillery fire, and I heard a knocking on my pistol port. I opened it up and there was the CO. Do you know what he was doing? He was passing out cigarette rations.”</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Newspaper article about Gene's death, I believe in the Akron, Oh newspaper:</span></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4jxf99kTOyz7pRACAWv9e85ls1stC7RZKuMjgXjYvRtdUctgqk_Gmwjwpgwidbn46jkv-kDN0QlWv9cphNit1tJQ9ocI7UcR7PTTKIPVWvVGw5iW8tCRwvBhmihYQzhJsBqe_u-u1AAMW4ibKpJ2rB7BQazPUzMb3UcVw2PV3ZAltP0niENNaWtE8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="545" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4jxf99kTOyz7pRACAWv9e85ls1stC7RZKuMjgXjYvRtdUctgqk_Gmwjwpgwidbn46jkv-kDN0QlWv9cphNit1tJQ9ocI7UcR7PTTKIPVWvVGw5iW8tCRwvBhmihYQzhJsBqe_u-u1AAMW4ibKpJ2rB7BQazPUzMb3UcVw2PV3ZAltP0niENNaWtE8=w400-h330" width="400" /></a></i></div><i><br /><br /></i></span></span><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Link to David's entire 22 page article:</span><a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.11tharmoreddivision.com%2Fhistory%2Fc41tk_revised.htm%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR03_9RtXK--FG80Px2T5p4btP2rKYWIfEeZ86wp3ygO7zTCNkAYxVIlcHg&h=AT2nRCYHf2sQCgNU6y_xCy0RuMCeNvO8t5PqJfGKM-W_LBr8QSvleUS9d7ZTOj_WgWodalyK4tWsrQap44eBLVfFghdiiqZ9MWwSpNqfQ2i3LPlZuBcV9TR6KEvicNByUg&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT2msQ9N_0DZ_5jq-JHHxxKQ4TAL4qYMcwJ-36qleKKU9F3Qy4rwOoa9uG2y-AJ-bj9YA1kdk74SMfGPl9hlvHo2MSP0evkGH_5WDG93_hwDg5kVhIoLuU12fTxap5vzqn-U" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #050505; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/c41tk_revised.htm</span></a></span></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-57885141407936136162022-06-27T11:29:00.005-05:002022-06-27T12:46:58.612-05:00A Driver's Obituary<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnwhaS7z8XSKuxPvnOIBbwKiXtoTPr0_OHOA6ti9XsZipHLHTDtr2zwL98E5C9alzPdxk_54ZUFtJ9V712YJotgdmJ1ZLLYnJcREzsU0ymM26iG1Cjjq7J1GnKSVlfPoidxFv9mO0DOA1PCflgr13FQm8wB3seQh8tf384xy0dLoZem6y7qLm0v7S/s604/russ2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="604" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnwhaS7z8XSKuxPvnOIBbwKiXtoTPr0_OHOA6ti9XsZipHLHTDtr2zwL98E5C9alzPdxk_54ZUFtJ9V712YJotgdmJ1ZLLYnJcREzsU0ymM26iG1Cjjq7J1GnKSVlfPoidxFv9mO0DOA1PCflgr13FQm8wB3seQh8tf384xy0dLoZem6y7qLm0v7S/s320/russ2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>Unfortunately, this driver is my brother. Retired Minneapolis Metro Transit bus driver with more than 20 years accident free. Rest in Peace brother!</b></span><b><br /></b><h3 style="text-align: left;">Russell James Bridger - Obituary<br />July 22, 1954 - June 17, 2022 Age 67</h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">An honest man of character.</span></b></h3><br />Russell James Bridger, 67, died of natural causes suddenly at his home in Brooklyn Center, Mn prior to June 17th, 2022. He was home alone at the time of his death. Born July 22, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wi to Donald James Bridger and Agnes C Konitzer Bridger Bast. Survived by siblings: Daniel (Louise Berndt) Bridger, Charles (Lynn) Bridger, Cynthia (David Jones) Bridger Boyd, Gene (Sherry) Bridger and Karin (Jon) Bush.<br /><br />Russ married Sandra Draeger in1973 at Milwaukee WI, Our Lady of Good Hope Catholic Church - Annulled 1978. He married Roxanne Lea Caron Bridger in 1979 at Las Vegas Nevada, later divorced. He met Cheryl Rose Zaic while both were driving school buses in Minneapolis. Surviving children of Russ and Roxanne are April Lea Bridger and Shane Alan Bridger, both of Minneapolis, Mn. Surviving grandchildren are Connor Robert Christensen, born 2006 and Aurora Eva-Lea Hagen, born 2016.<br /><br />In 1972 Russell graduated from James Madison High School while working two jobs in Milwaukee. He then pursued a career in the finance industry, working his way up to office and branch manager, transferring to California and eventually Minneapolis. There, in Minnesota, he met and married Roxanne, the mother of his children.<br /><br />After many years in a high pressure field of employment, he had enough and decided to get out, obtaining a job driving a school bus. That experience eventually led to employment in the city of Minneapolis as a Metro Transit bus driver. With numerous safe driving awards, he retired at 62 and was living comfortably.<br /><br />Russell enjoyed living his life the way he wanted to and was always upbeat and a happy person. You could ask him anything and always get an honest answer. He would never expect you to agree with him and felt everyone had a right to their own opinion.<br /><br />Russ will be cremated and a private family service will be arranged at a later date, as he requested in a letter to his children.<br /><br />Cremation provider: Crescent Tide Cremation Services 774 Transfer Rd, St Paul, MN 55114, USA<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 18pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 4pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: transparent; clear: both; color: #003401; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURXQfbAx7ri8q5tDLCOPq8xdjqZ7tNs-t-szaIqTHp0E-hud7UU8K-s9kCao2HaUSWnIxkXA7oraAI_EEIc45mIRlNsVPjU0ALA0C_ZnD8-QJFUE1IJiwkKo-whI7d6Q8YNcSw25PwceM-C192jW5msUZ5ncLnHean2FucgcuCr4ol_cSNdFPIYYT/s2048/dr1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURXQfbAx7ri8q5tDLCOPq8xdjqZ7tNs-t-szaIqTHp0E-hud7UU8K-s9kCao2HaUSWnIxkXA7oraAI_EEIc45mIRlNsVPjU0ALA0C_ZnD8-QJFUE1IJiwkKo-whI7d6Q8YNcSw25PwceM-C192jW5msUZ5ncLnHean2FucgcuCr4ol_cSNdFPIYYT/s320/dr1.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>About Russell:</span></h2><span style="font-size: medium;">My hero is Einstein,... and my mother!!!..... My favorite musical instruments are piano and guitar. My favorite children are April and Shane.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Russ's favorite quotes:</b><br />"When a man is in love or in debt, someone else has the advantage."</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">"Marriage is the unsuccessful attempt to prolong an incident".<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">"The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who can not read them."</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A link to a great story he previously contributed to my blog:</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-day-in-life-of-bus-driver.html">https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-day-in-life-of-bus-driver.html</a><br /></span></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-85108350582684172762022-04-17T09:16:00.003-05:002022-07-24T12:26:58.535-05:00NMA: A Former Truck Driver's Perspective on Whether 18-year-olds Should Drive Big Rigs<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iWU3yLLYyqbe4oZKYK8Dw4wdrTYQX6bBuwnTHIe4rqpDYU1uEKOIZ5099tiSy4-8KLgnY7UguAGK7MHQ2Mg3ZS5fgyZRrwmYkT79KRuw4BFKb9BUflgvloGymImEbLG3LJ6-VXEfrlCVLH7h2COm9tb2IjPb-CHzZWHvfNvTR_lSAKhaOMpSfIjg/s1024/nma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iWU3yLLYyqbe4oZKYK8Dw4wdrTYQX6bBuwnTHIe4rqpDYU1uEKOIZ5099tiSy4-8KLgnY7UguAGK7MHQ2Mg3ZS5fgyZRrwmYkT79KRuw4BFKb9BUflgvloGymImEbLG3LJ6-VXEfrlCVLH7h2COm9tb2IjPb-CHzZWHvfNvTR_lSAKhaOMpSfIjg/s320/nma.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><b style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;">Thoughtful, well written article thanks to Thomas Beckett and published in The <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.twitter.com%2Fmotorists&psig=AOvVaw1ZQEfde-Z0E_0nyWx7yK5N&ust=1650290951792000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAwQjRxqFwoTCJiQhJejm_cCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD">National Motorists Association</a> newsletter #690 April 3, 2022. You can help support the <a href="https://ww2.motorists.org/about/">NMA</a> by joining at the links provided:</b><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I read with interest the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3Daeee9e608f%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1650290320236000&usg=AOvVaw3n9XiG-fZ9hTW3JXGLaCag" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=aeee9e608f&e=04f26c8ec3" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #685</a> on allowing 18-year-olds to drive in interstate commerce. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I come to this discussion with some experience, having been both a driver and a fleet manager for JB Hunt. In addition to that experience, I also have some insight into Greer Woodruff's approach, having worked under him (we didn't know each other, aside from an occasional hello, or a short discussion at a safety meeting) in both roles.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For what it's worth, I have driven over two million miles since 1975, including 770,000 accident-free miles with JB Hunt and another 175,000 on the mean streets of the Triple Cities (that's the Binghamton, NY area) for Broome County Transit, as well as several other driving jobs, and my own personal miles, which are considerable. I still hold a Class A commercial license with a passenger endorsement.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One of my roles as a fleet manager was to take newly hired drivers out of orientation and put them in trucks, then run them for about ten days till they got acclimated to our way of doing things and hand them off to a permanent fleet manager. By the time I was doing that, we had not hired an out-of-school driver in ten years, and everyone I worked within that program had at least a year's experience, a few with much more than that. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the most part, I agree with the conditions of the apprenticeship program. I'm not a big fan of in-cab cameras or speed limiters (governors) set no faster than 65 MPH in a world where 75 MPH speed limits are typical. I think trucks should be able to run with the flow of traffic at whatever speed. Governing them at 75 will keep them moving at a speed similar to surrounding traffic and will still limit how fast they can go; it's not necessary to run triple-digit speeds. Sending out a much slower vehicle into interstate traffic only asks for trouble, if not for the slow truck, then surely for the other drivers who have to maneuver around it. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not allowing double trailers (and triples in some western states and on the Ohio Turnpike and Indiana Toll Road) also makes sense. Those trucks are much more unstable than a single trailer of any length, especially triples. I talked to a Consolidated Freightways driver on the Indiana Toll Road one night about 25 years ago, and we got on how the trailers behave, especially in poor conditions. His comment was, "I never really know what that last trailer is doing." This was a guy who'd been driving them for 30 years.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While I can see the theory behind in-cab cameras, I'm not sure watching someone the whole time he's in the truck is advisable. Maybe they can be set up to operate only while the truck is in motion, but a full-time camera is a non-starter. After all, these guys live in their trucks, literally. Who would have a camera in his home that watched him 24/7, allowing his boss access? </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yeah, I know everyone is sharing on social media ad nauseam, but some prefer to have our private moments. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For better or worse, the transport industry seems to have embraced the idea of cameras in operating cabs. In many cases, railroad locomotives are now equipped with them, as are quite a few buses. Companies will want to know that their drivers are not on their phones, eating/drinking while driving, etc. It's probably an inevitability, even if this proposal is not ultimately implemented. It will likely become an essential tool in collision investigations. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Having an experienced driver on board is not unprecedented. When I started with JB Hunt in 1995 (at the age of 36), I attended a mandatory four-week program at the National Tractor Trailer School in Syracuse, NY. Then I spent four weeks with a driver-trainer, a more experienced driver who observed me and got me up to speed on JB Hunt practices and procedures. He also monitored my logs for accuracy and if they comported with DOT regulations. This was standard practice at the time, as JB Hunt was expanding rapidly and hiring new drivers at a furious pace. Today, this is less of a factor, as electronic logging largely eliminates mistakes, and makes falsification almost impossible.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When I started trucking, JB Hunt had around 8,000 road trucks in the fleet and was taking people from all walks of life to fill driver seats. But when starting out, the driving experience level was low--no better than an 18-year-old when it came to driving a truck. My driving school class had guys (the field is overwhelmingly male, even today) who had been school bus drivers, factory workers, and food service workers. Most of the people I went to school with were older, in their 30s and 40s. We had quite a few veterans, too. My trainer was a veteran who spent 24 years in the Air Force. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The point about 18-year-olds not having any driving education is well taken. As it is, driver's ed in high school seems to be a lost practice. When I was in high school in the 1970s, every school I knew had a program with a dedicated teacher or someone outside the school teaching on contract.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I went to driver's ed at a Catholic high school in Manhattan--New York, not Kansas--and learned to drive in a 1975 Pontiac station wagon. It was good training for almost everything I'd ever encounter in my driving life. Years later, when my kids came of age, their high school, Union Endicott in upstate NY, did not offer driver ed. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If you wanted to get driving instruction, you had to go to driving school. I get that it's an expensive program and has some serious liability issues, but overall, the risk to the larger driving public would be much better served if high schools had driver's ed programs. At least these kids would be going out onto the roadways with some basic skills, and it would be a more level playing field since everyone would have a similar baseline skillset. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A certain temperament and mentality are essential for driving a big rig. Being away from home for extended periods is an adjustment, especially for those with a family. You have to get used to living in an 8x8 foot box for a couple of weeks at a time. The hours are often long and often odd. You'll deal with rain, snow, sleet, hail, the gloom of night--sometimes all of those in 24 hours, and some at the same time. You'll go more miles in a year than most people drive in ten: more miles in ten years (if you last that long) than most people will drive in a lifetime. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I recall once driving down I-65 in northern Indiana one night, 15 degrees and freezing fog, thinking, if I had any sense, I'd be in a warm bed somewhere, and the only reason I'm out here is because someone is paying me to do this, and I have a 0600 delivery in Louisville.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a life that's not for everyone, and most are not cut out to do it. The dollars can be good, but the time spent to earn them is long and often lonely. Those factors make retention a challenge. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyone who will enter into the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program should be required to go to driving school for tractor-trailers before going over the road. Presumably, they will have met any minimum hiring and DOT qualifications before going on the road with a supervising driver. JB Hunt required us to pass the state road test and have our Class A licenses before being officially hired. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">OOIDA's Todd Spencer has a point about retention. There were 18 in my driving school class when I came on as a driver. Two dropped out when they heard they'd have to complete a drug screen successfully; 11 completed the course and passed their road test. A year later, I only knew of three that were left. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This was not uncommon. I recall talking to the class coordinator one day, who said that the average new driver coming through school lasts 117 days. Many guys get out on the road and quickly realize it's not all 70 MPH with the window down, the radio up, the wind in your hair, and all is right with the world.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is the reality of being away from home most of the time, as well as the long hours sitting--and it's not so much hurry up and wait, as it is waiting, and hurry up to get to the next place. I think Greer Woodruff hits the nail on the head. There's a lot of wasted time, which is entirely unproductive, in the business. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Woodruff states that the trucking industry could add a lot of capacity if detention time were reduced and by using drop and hook pick-ups and deliveries. That much is true, but there also would need to be other changes to minimize driver detention, most of which would have to be taken by the customer, which is mainly out of the carrier's control. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some customers are not too bad about this; some are horrible. I used to hate going to Owens Corning in Kansas City, Kansas, or Budweiser almost anywhere since you were usually in for a whole working day on their dock to get loaded. On the receiving side, grocery warehouses are notorious time-wasters, and it's not uncommon to spend four or five hours at one, especially if there's a detailed breakdown of the load. A load of spice, for example, can have several hundred items and break down into as many pallets. It's a nightmare. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Drop and hook is ideal for the driver, as long as there is an empty trailer at the receiver. Usually, it's not a situation where you drop a load and immediately pick up another load, though there are places where that happens. A trucker can be in and out in 30 minutes if all goes according to plan with a drop-and-hook customer. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At JB Hunt, we had a lot of them--companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl's, Procter & Gamble, and a wide variety of others. The issue is often at the receiver end of the trip. Grocery warehouses, as a rule, don't have trailer pools, so it's a live unload; likewise, we also did some store deliveries for Home Depot, which are live unloads as well. They were usually pretty good, as long as they had enough people to pallet jack the freight into the building. And, as I said, the drop and hook only works if there is an empty trailer at the receiver. If not, you can waste an awful lot of time looking for one.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We were encouraged to report customers if it took too long to unload (anything over two hours). We'd start charging them detention time after four hours. This plays directly into Woodruff's theory that if drivers could actually drive 8-3/4 hours a day instead of the average 6-1/2, it would reduce the need for additional trucks and drivers. The drivers would also earn more, which would be a big boost to retention. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On detention: One of the significant changes that affected detention was the change to the 14-hour rule about 15 years ago. Before that change in hours of service, you could sit on a dock all day and not lose any driving time. With the 14-hour rule, if you started at 0600, you could not turn a wheel after 2000 hours, regardless of whether you'd been driving all day or sitting on a customer's dock. Many of our trucks would outlaw on customer docks this way when that 14-hour rule was first implemented. It took a couple of years, but finally, many customers got the idea and sped up their warehouses. Most loads can be loaded or unloaded in less than two hours with no trouble, and should be. But detention still wastes a lot of driver time and reduces productivity.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Driver unloads should be outlawed, period. Customers should be handling and segregating their freight. This is a waste of driver on-duty time, especially since drivers often do not get paid for doing this. Almost all road drivers are paid by the mile, and the ones that do get paid for unloading don't get nearly enough to justify the time spent. Also, the driver could run the risk of an injury rendering him unable to drive again till medically cleared.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm not sure letting 18-year-olds drive interstate is entirely a bad idea. Suppose an 18-year-old is allowed to drive from Chicago to Springfield, 200 miles, but not to Hammond, Indiana, just across the state line, 20 miles from the Chicago Loop. I figure if a kid can drive in the city of Chicago, anything else will be easy. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What has to happen is good training in the first place and an excellent safety culture after that. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At JB Hunt, we were relentless about highway safety, not just in training our drivers, but in getting a safety mindset ingrained in them for themselves and the motorists around them. We had our guys do quarterly safety meetings, in-class at a terminal; we did monthly briefings that were seasonally related: about school buses in August, RVer's in June, winter driving hazards in November, etc. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We also had them send us a daily safety message--and we'd hound them about it if they didn't. It was all geared to the drivers having the importance of safe operation first thing on their minds when they went out every day. Even 18-year-olds will get the point if it's repeated often. As my New-York-City-teacher grandparents used to say, <em>repetitio martare studiorum est</em>: repetition is the mother of study. Do something over and over, you learn it well, and it becomes a habit. Another of their favorites: practice makes permanent. That should be self-explanatory. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Supply chain issues are not going away soon. As the pandemic relents, the Russians are putting pressure on the world economy from an entirely different angle, and there will be disruptions. We need to get everyone in the game. Properly trained and managed younger drivers should be able to fill that need.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Link to <a href="https://ww2.motorists.org/about/">National Motorists Association</a>.</span></p>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-50009443327220151752022-01-05T18:04:00.024-06:002024-01-17T12:37:02.315-06:00The Bane of Truckers - Grocery Warehouses<p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5UmdA-P7CgY-IQfbmNXxSGMRcUqyL8l3b4UOxTHCHbCOn5pH2kocazzQtgGs-Prni6lK7odR26tyHIv61Ra3fecG5NaDShxLuCKENGGjF-AYbOFPm8fMwhIv5ZFx9zthdewRPUMW3C_zOLHD_Xz1R5ITE0Q_pEkaFbXJahVyOIRtrvBpxhwFRkzax=s319" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="158" data-original-width="319" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5UmdA-P7CgY-IQfbmNXxSGMRcUqyL8l3b4UOxTHCHbCOn5pH2kocazzQtgGs-Prni6lK7odR26tyHIv61Ra3fecG5NaDShxLuCKENGGjF-AYbOFPm8fMwhIv5ZFx9zthdewRPUMW3C_zOLHD_Xz1R5ITE0Q_pEkaFbXJahVyOIRtrvBpxhwFRkzax" width="319" /></a></div>One of the unfortunate necessities of driving for a food company is having to deal with grocery warehouses. I’ve had to put up with a lot of them over my trucking career, some are not too bad, but many are disgusting places with poor management and union employees that like to abuse drivers just for the fun of it. Management tends to see drivers as free labor that they can take advantage of. Back in the 1980’s the abuse was widespread and it isn’t much better these days.<p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6ff668ad-7fff-3110-2c28-79302a277661"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After getting rehired by Frigo Cheese in Lena, Wisconsin in 1983 I was pretty much a local driver staying mostly in Wisconsin and getting home most nights. We had a weekly run down to the Milwaukee-Madison area that us four local guys took turns doing. The usual delivery stops on that run included a couple grocery warehouses, one of which was the Roundy’s Distribution center just off Highway 41 and Burleigh in Milwaukee.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One Wednesday, in 1986 or ‘87, I had a delivery appointment at 11am to deliver four pallets of cheese. They were my third or fourth stop and I showed up on time for my appointment, thinking my day was going well. Checking in with security they assigned me an open door and I backed the trailer to the dock and walked into the receiving door at almost exactly 11am. Seeing a receiver standing near the door I pleasantly greeted him saying hello as he stood silently looking at me. I gave him the paperwork and said I had four pallets of cheese for them. He took the paperwork, looked at it, and threw it on the floor saying “I don’t need this shit!”. The papers scattered all over and it took me a couple seconds thinking “don’t throw the first punch”.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It took everything I had but went and retrieved the scattered paperwork and neither he nor I said another word. The receiving office was quite a distance away and I walked down there, going in, and asking for a supervisor. Being very angry, I had to control myself and calmly tell him what happened. His response? “Well, he’s a union employee and there isn’t much we can do about it.” Still trying to maintain myself, I walked out of the office and went down to a payphone to call my boss in Lena. After telling her what happened I stressed that I needed to leave before I lost it saying “I can’t go back and deal with that guy again”.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She told me to wait there and call back in five minutes. As I was waiting by the phone a couple minutes later, some clerk came out of the receiving office and asked me to go back to the truck. She said someone would be right there. I went back and they evidently had pulled that guy off the dock and someone else was offloading my pallets. The supervisor hadn’t bothered to come out to tell me but sent a clerk to do it! Roundy’s Distribution Center, thanks for the memories, not. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few additional facts about Roundy’s: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the early 1980’s, at that location they had a serious accident on a receiving dock. The brother of a buddy of mine worked there as a produce receiver. He was unloading pallets of watermelon one day and the truck rolled away from the dock as he was coming off the trailer on a forklift. The forklift fell to the floor with a corner of the dock plate hitting him in the back turning him into a paraplegic. After the lawyers and lawsuits were done he ended up with a settlement of over a million dollars. Of course, no amount of money would make up for what happened to him. But the cash enabled him to buy a handicap equipped van and drive himself. He had a good supportive wife and the strength of character to maintain a positive attitude.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2003, Roundy’s opened a new distribution center in Oconomowoc and relocated out of Milwaukee. </span></p><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2021 a janitor went on a rampage killing two employees before running and killing himself as the cops were chasing him. </span><span style="color: #191919; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to a union official, the two men murdered had worked at Roundy’s for at least 20 years. The investigation was eventually closed with no real answer as to the janitor's motive, and I'll just leave it at that.</span></span><div> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink"><b>My Amazon Author Link</b></a><br /></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-81653805775014319252021-12-30T12:50:00.007-06:002024-01-17T12:39:07.312-06:00A Rookie Driver Comes Across His First Accident Scene<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhm5Xvey6yHW7EHSrq1v2LCmmi9C4NUf8cMFumxN8kNKJEMPCljh6BSdKYjHczHuORmnAV65Iy9CUU-PevxQ94D8T-MC_2hSsBY913_ME3dwxdr0j4qVdJuE5DYGhS_x52EeBBefgaGECgp_lYLQbGeySep7iTAOGRdSvhabTqFEcbU5I1c1hR-S5Am=s259" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhm5Xvey6yHW7EHSrq1v2LCmmi9C4NUf8cMFumxN8kNKJEMPCljh6BSdKYjHczHuORmnAV65Iy9CUU-PevxQ94D8T-MC_2hSsBY913_ME3dwxdr0j4qVdJuE5DYGhS_x52EeBBefgaGECgp_lYLQbGeySep7iTAOGRdSvhabTqFEcbU5I1c1hR-S5Am" width="259" /></a></div>In 1980, I was a newbie, only a few weeks into my first trucking job with Harry H. Long Moving, Storage and Express out of Milwaukee when I came across my first accident scene. I had to deliver a load to a small town in northwest Wisconsin early and was on a very rural two lane highway at about 3am in the morning. Coming around a shallow curve I saw an object in the center of my lane which turned out to be a large truck tire and wheel which had evidently fallen off a semi. It was very dark but I saw it in time to go around and as I came back into my lane saw the taillights of a car sitting past the ditch quite away off the highway. <p></p><p>I pulled off on the shoulder, activating my 4-ways and got out to check. Before exiting the cab I called out on the CB radio but got no response. I remember the sickening feeling in my stomach as I ran through the the weeds and brush to the car which was a Chevy Caprice. I could hear the engine idling but saw no one in the vehicle. Approaching and looking in the side window there was an older woman laying across the seat and I hollered, asking if she was OK and opened the door.</p><p>Her voice was weak and she responded that her back hurt and she couldn't move. I thought to myself "what do I do now?" </p><p>Seeing the transmission lever still in Drive, the car was wedged up against a stump or something preventing it from moving, I put it in Park, left the heater on, and told her to stay still while I get some help. Running back up to the highway, I went to the truck wheel and tire, moving it to the shoulder so no one else would run into it. There were no houses that I could see in the area, I ran back to the truck and tried the CB again with no luck. Finally after a few minutes I saw the headlights of a car approaching and got out to wave it down. There was a woman inside and I asked her to go to the nearest phone and call for help. She agreed and left the scene. That was way back in the days before cell phones and it was a lonely feeling wondering if she actually went to a farmhouse to phone or just blew me off. </p><p>I stayed at the truck, still trying to get a response on the CB, and finally the police and ambulance showed up. I reported my contact info and story to the Sherriff's deputy who checked my truck over to make sure the tire and wheel had not come off my rig. He then sent me on my way and I never did find out the status of the woman in the Caprice. Pretty eye opening and scary stuff for a rookie truck driver. </p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink"><b>My Amazon Author Link</b></a><br /></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-21962339608369485382021-11-28T14:32:00.016-06:002024-01-17T12:40:29.780-06:00Classic Car Stories - My 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS<p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xy09KN3We3g/YaPlwrxYgCI/AAAAAAAAM74/5RhY5PflpfwkLaeiMnWMubO-j3vXLeKMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1256/fIMG_20211111_0003.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1256" height="254" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xy09KN3We3g/YaPlwrxYgCI/AAAAAAAAM74/5RhY5PflpfwkLaeiMnWMubO-j3vXLeKMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/fIMG_20211111_0003.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">In early 1970, before graduating high school, I continued to drive a 1957 Chrysler New Yorker for a while which I kind of “inherited” after my dad bought another vehicle. The car had a hemi engine and I was satisfied with it. One night I stopped at the Clark gas station I worked at to visit for a while, staying an hour or two. I walked out to the car to leave, opening the door to a cloud of electrical smoke billowing out! The engine was not running as I had the keys in my hand. I raced to the front, opening the hood to disconnect the battery, which took a few minutes as I had to find a wrench to loosen the bolt on the terminal. It was way too late as a mass of electrical wiring had shorted out under the dash with the plastic coating melted off. Thankfully, a huge blaze and a call to the fire department was averted.</span><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-5119a713-7fff-052b-6192-db5f1a2c1159"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That meant my hemi Chrysler was toast as it would have been way too costly and time consuming to fix with well over 100,000 miles on the odometer. My dad came out, said “forget it” and towed me to Larry’s junkyard in Butler for my last drive in it. That put me in desperate need of a vehicle as it was winter and all I had was a Honda 160cc motorcycle for transportation. A few days later, my buddy, Ross called, telling me he had seen a nice 1962 Chevy Impala SS in a parking lot with a “For Sale” sign on it. I asked how much and he replied “$400”. Exactly how much I had! Well, I wasn’t a Chevy guy, but figured I’d go take a look at it. We went over and it was in great shape, had a 300hp 327 V-8 and factory 4-speed. I drove it around the block and the guy said he would take $375 for it. I then went home and got my dad to come tell me what he thought about it. He looked it over and said “It’s your money, buy it if you want it”. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SjA4mH-3zhs/YaPmA3n4ooI/AAAAAAAAM8A/hLz2l_Y0M7Epd7OSyeSel3GcYT0k25f5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1040/fIMG_20211111_0004.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1016" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SjA4mH-3zhs/YaPmA3n4ooI/AAAAAAAAM8A/hLz2l_Y0M7Epd7OSyeSel3GcYT0k25f5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/fIMG_20211111_0004.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That was the first Chevrolet that I ever owned and have had quite a few of them since! First thing I did was install Cherry Bomb glass pack mufflers, Hurst shifter, the biggest wheels and tires I could stuff under the rear of it and had a lot of fun “breaking” it. My auto mechanic buddy Rich came over with some tuning tricks up his sleeve. He advanced the timing a couple degrees more than the spec factory setting and there was a very noticeable increase in power that I could feel. Able to get rubber hitting third gear, I was drag racing it out at the strip and on the street. One time, racing a guy in a 383 Roadrunner, he got a half length on me in 1rst and 2nd gear but I pulled up even to him in 3rd until we had to shut it down. That 300hp 327 ran strong all the way up to 5800rpm where I set the red-line on the tach as you could actually hear the weird engine noise as the valves began to float. For all the abuse that engine took, it never let me down.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There was an abandoned Army Disciplinary barracks compound and old Nike missile site near Hopkins and Florist in Milwaukee that still had some concrete paved roads in it. I had an absolute blast going over there at night and racing around those streets treating it like it was my own personal race track. I would be sliding sideways around the corners having a great old time beating on that car. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fsEIA5LUuXU/YaPmQpQZuSI/AAAAAAAAM8I/BPHeoACWg2ksi01t4nYRcEQTinFCDCi6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1036/fIMG_20211111_0011.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="1036" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fsEIA5LUuXU/YaPmQpQZuSI/AAAAAAAAM8I/BPHeoACWg2ksi01t4nYRcEQTinFCDCi6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/fIMG_20211111_0011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Impalas of that model year had two piece driveshafts between the transmission and differential with what they called a center support bearing in the middle with three total u-joints. I had to replace that center support bearing numerous times which was frustrating. A mechanic speculated that I probably twisted the suspension out of line as the cause of all the failures. I blew the transmission twice, clutch, two rear ends and several u-joints! Lying under that car in the back of the Clark gas station in January was no fun. It was about 5 degrees and I was freezing my butt off putting a differential in it.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-20b05291-7fff-9a24-98d8-855b86220bd2"><span style="font-family: arial;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All in all though I came of age as a driver in that car. I learned a lot of skills that helped me immensely later in life as a professional driver. Also learning a few hard lessons, I remember driving one night with Rich on the 41 freeway just northwest of Milwaukee in a snowstorm. Joyriding around, the roadway was snow covered and I was drifting the car sideways back and forth at about 65mph and no traffic. I was trying to impress a buddy with my driving skills and lost it, spinning the car around into a snowbank. The driver’s side had some body damage and a flat tire. While changing it out a county sheriff’s deputy drove up and chewed me out big time. He must have seen the see-saw tracks in the snow and figured out what I had done. I didn’t get a ticket but he ordered me off the freeway at the next exit. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the time I went to Army boot camp in 1971, there wasn’t much life remaining in that car. Having blown the 4-speed tranny twice, I couldn't afford another, so I replaced it with a junkyard 3-speed with a bad synchro in second gear! That's how I first learned to double clutch. My dad sold it for $20.00 after I left for Fort Polk. A lot of great memories in that car, one of my favorites and a great classic car story!</span></p></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;">Other of my car story posts:</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2014/02/classic-car-stories-1970-pontiac-gto-dick-hands-me-keys.html" style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><b>Classic Car Stories:1970 Pontiac GTO - Dick Hands me the Keys!</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2014/02/classic-car-stories-my-buddys-68-plymouth-440-gtx.html" style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><b>Classic Car Stories: My Buddy's 1968 Plymouth GTX</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2014/01/classic-car-stories-my-hemi-chrysler.html" style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><b>Classic Car Stories: My Hemi Chrysler</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/12/classic-car-stories-my-1965-buick-gs-400.html" style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><b>Classic Car Stories: My 1965 Buick GS400</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/04/classic-car-stories-mopar-man-to-chevrolet.html" style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><b>Classic Car Stories: Mopar Man to Chevrolet</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/04/classic-car-stories-second-corvette.html" style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><b>Classic Car Stories: My Second Corvette</b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/classic-car-stories-first-corvette.html" style="background-color: white; color: #33aaff; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;"><b><span style="color: red;">Classic Car Stories: My First Corvette</span></b></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;"><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/classic-car-stories-my-1993-camaro.html" style="color: red; text-decoration-line: none;">Classic Car Stories: My 1993 Camaro Z28</a></b><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/06/classic-car-stories-my-three-camaros-one-good-one-bad-and.html" style="color: red; text-decoration-line: none;">Classic car Stories: My Three Camaros - One Good, One Bad and One Great!</a></span></b><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #2a221a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;"><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2014/08/classic-car-stories-moms-1961-plymouth-valiant.html" style="color: red; text-decoration-line: none;">Classic Car Stories: Mom's 1961 Plymouth Valiant</a></b></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink"><b>My Amazon Author Link</b></a><br /></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-52977171814626806592021-08-08T10:49:00.005-05:002021-08-13T20:58:48.910-05:00What's Next in the War Against Motorists? Noise Cameras! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lUMdwyZ8ZK4/YQ_5m1PVGNI/AAAAAAAAM3A/FKamkebUmqotUYkuWMt9UWUTe4-fJD7cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s275/noisecam.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/new-noise-cameras-could-used-16406899" border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lUMdwyZ8ZK4/YQ_5m1PVGNI/AAAAAAAAM3A/FKamkebUmqotUYkuWMt9UWUTe4-fJD7cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/noisecam.jpg" title="manchestereveningnews.co.uk" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I'll preface this post by saying that I am not a fan of people driving around in unmuffled cars, trucks, motorcycles, atvs, etc. Especially frustrating are semi drivers using straight pipes with unmuffled jakes trying to sound "cool" and make noise! Then we wonder why so many communities are putting up "no engine brake" signs all over. The older I get, the more I appreciate peace and quiet. Sensible noise laws should be on the books and enforced by law enforcement. However, if you read the following newsletter put out by the National Motorists Association, we need to be aware of the reasoning behind ideas of such things as "noise cameras". The number one "government" motive behind this is revenue generation. But the more insidious backing of this bad idea is the anti-car tree hugging crowd, as you can read in the newsletter below. Consider their statements as to why they support something like this. Please support motorist's rights by joining the National Motorists Association at the links provided.</span></b><p></p><h1 style="background-color: white; color: #c52e26; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 37.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3D6b6ac6290e%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNFdHkTQJCqqIAOXypOy5m_pVW44kg" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=6b6ac6290e&e=04f26c8ec3" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-size: large;">Presenting the Next Automated Traffic Enforcement Device—the Noise Camera: NMA E-Newsletter #656</span></span></a></h1><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; min-width: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_3021205760248350637mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="m_3021205760248350637mcnTextContent" style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif"><b>August 8, 2021 </b>Let's face it—most of us dislike loud motorcycles or vehicles revving up next to us at an intersection, blowing by us on an interstate, or disrupting the solitude of our neighborhoods. But to use automated devices to catch people who are exceedingly noisy seems to push us deeper into the world of Big Brother than we should ever go. Unfortunately, the anti-car folks are using loud vehicles as an excuse to advance their agenda.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes recently <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3Df536840b14%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNHdykqVZmwkGY7NWOyTB-zW9EixBQ" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=f536840b14&e=04f26c8ec3" rel="noopener" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">introduced two bills to fight loud vehicles</a>. The first is S9009, the SLEEP Act (Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution). This bill would increase the punishment for noise limit violations and streamline the process for officers to enforce noise limit law. Currently, the penalty for violations attributed to after-market muffler and exhaust systems is up to $150. Gounardes wants to increase that amount to $1,000.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">The New York criterion for a violation was described only as excessive or unusual noise that was left to the officer's discretion. Under the bill, the noise limit would be defined as 95 decibels for motorcycles and 60 for cars. Here is a reference point—a vacuum cleaner within 10 feet has a noise level of approximately 70 decibels. If the SLEEP Act becomes law, it would also require that all police vehicles be equipped with sound level meters.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">The second bill, NY Senate Bill S6057, asks for noise-monitoring cameras to be implemented in New York City. Similar to speed cameras, the devices would capture photo and video footage of vehicles that exceed the noise limits outlined by the NYC Noise Control Code.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">Westchester County, New York, has already decided to do a trial run with these microphone-enhanced cameras. In July, the Westchester Board of Legislators approved a $125,000 noise camera pilot program located along the Bronx River Parkway. The county would not be able to issue any tickets during the six to nine-month program since S6057 hasn’t been passed by the state legislature in Albany yet.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">Where this all gets insane is through the overwrought rhetoric spewed by the anti-car crowd. Here are some snippets from a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3Defccc441d7%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNFi3Es-7V0sCi1aVTjUl0nlI_Rk1g" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=efccc441d7&e=04f26c8ec3" rel="noopener" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">recent opinion piece</a> on the Streetsblog NYC website:</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif"><em>"Loud driving is destructive recreation that glorifies fossil-fuel consumption."</em></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif"><em>"Promoting car culture by letting loud drivers do what they want normalizes driving for another generation of impressionable New Yorkers. It mocks our climate goals."</em></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif"><em>"Deliberate, fossil-fueled noise is a growing public-health threat demanding a multifaceted, whole-of-government solution."</em></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif"><em>"As with Vision Zero, better engineering of our public spaces is the most important part of confronting loud driving. The opportunity to speed is an opportunity to make noise. Engineering solutions to speeding—road diets, narrowed lanes, automated enforcement, and more—will also quiet traffic."</em></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif"><em>"Law enforcement should focus on the loud-driving profiteers, from carmakers to gas stations."</em></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">We would laugh if the people behind those thoughts weren’t so dead serious about canceling car culture.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">The acoustic cameras are currently being tested in the United Kingdom. In 2016, the British government enacted a law to limit new cars to no more than 74 decibels. The targets of the regulation are mostly older cars and modified motorcycles. At issue, though, is whether these <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3De18f9f4074%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNF0dwMhR1ovbJPaBPzafacaBC1I2Q" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=e18f9f4074&e=04f26c8ec3" rel="noopener" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">type of cameras can identify one vehicle's noise emissions from another's</a> and single out cars from other possible sources of sound.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">The website <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3D241d32b1cd%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNFl4co3raM7X0sGverf8sL8Uu_zag" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=241d32b1cd&e=04f26c8ec3" rel="noopener" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">DriveTribe</a> has a funny take on noise cameras that only a Brit might appreciate. Meanwhile, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3D06bd8cd19f%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNH9ph8fpvQsaA88nFb4DFLIg6BEkQ" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=06bd8cd19f&e=04f26c8ec3" rel="noopener" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling</a> remarked that the acoustic cameras could help the already stretched thin police officers enforce noise regulations on 'boy racers in souped-up vehicles.'</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 21px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span face="arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif">The mission creep of automated enforcement is impressive, and not in a good way.</span></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_3021205760248350637mcnDividerBlock" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; min-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; min-width: 100%; padding: 36px 18px 9px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); min-width: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px;"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; min-width: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 9px;" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="m_3021205760248350637mcnTextContentContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="m_3021205760248350637mcnTextContent" style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><h3 style="color: #202020; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><strong>Click the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3Df2643547a3%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNEfDdNLBGROw41EIptv8wy7e5zVmw" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=f2643547a3&e=04f26c8ec3" style="color: #c52e26; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate Today</a> button to find out how you can support drivers’ rights.</strong></h3><div style="text-align: center;"><h3 style="color: #202020; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Db1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23%26id%3Dc1e5a74532%26e%3D04f26c8ec3&source=gmail&ust=1628517742339000&usg=AFQjCNGHxtovRpMfjYXtuwoDUnaei6RhnQ" href="https://motorists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b1cabcf107071c4341a0eda23&id=c1e5a74532&e=04f26c8ec3" style="color: #c52e26; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img class="CToWUd" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiutli3-wGwPlhySVSdQaccaXzvcWzJ5qmxKcpHlqxD322uRk3QfG9bI5nVbO7ep5sGKkXOOWDYbzrYnzzvBsbWA_quCMcXufuYK5Bdl5kd7B0EFPbXWIlxVqf8qAyFJ1nxQAnjPfzoyDi0ymMvc5oTTBKygYKh5QJEupQ9Lkqmyf28aeWn4FTu_5J3bGKKEPqARacC7wSQnLZQWrmqZd62BdmN=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; height: auto; outline: none;" width="305" /></a><br /><em>Donations to the nonprofit National Motorists Association are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.</em></h3></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-26571882618889800622021-07-28T18:26:00.004-05:002021-07-28T18:46:06.369-05:00Comments on "The Mad Bomber" Frank Balistrieri<p></p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-noej6dUCHkE/YQHsBGePSiI/AAAAAAAAM2E/o5pnc659HJIrhonIlDsdmxJT1wldVDSpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s932/frank2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="524" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-noej6dUCHkE/YQHsBGePSiI/AAAAAAAAM2E/o5pnc659HJIrhonIlDsdmxJT1wldVDSpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/frank2.jpg" /></a></div>The following two very interesting comments were submitted this week by an anonymous contributor concerning my <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Tales of the Milwaukee Mob and Two Cigarette Men</a> post. Great first person accounts of him meeting Frank Balistrieri on a couple of occasions way back in the 1970's. There are so many great comments I have received at the end of this very popular post that are interesting facts and not well known. There is a link to the original post after his comments. Many thanks to all the people contributing great information!</b></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><br /></b></span><b>Comment received, July 24, 2021:</b><br />After a divorce, I lived in the Antlers Hotel next to Centre Stage. There was a pool hall in the hotel where I spent a lot of time playing pool. I saw plenty of well-dressed men frequent the pool hall just to talk with whoever was running it. There was a parking lot on the other side of the hotel with a White Castle on the corner. I became friends with the parking lot owner's son who ran it. Centre Stage customers would get their parking validated to park there for a dinner show. Once I went with my friend to go collect the validated receipts. Frank's big Caddy was always parked in front of Centre Stage with a parking ticket under the wiper. My friend said Frank always put the ticket there himself. We went upstairs and were let into the room where Frank was. Frank asked my friend, "Who's that?" because he usually came alone. My friend said my name and I quickly (too quickly) went to shake his hand. Another guy in a suit went to reach for something under his coat, Frank gave him a look and he relaxed but he refused the handshake with a wave. We met a lot of celebrities that came to perform at Centre Stage and parked in the lot. Tom Poston being the friendliest and funniest. Just a distant memory and I thought I'd share my brush with Mafia greatness. Good stuff on your page!<br /><br /><b>Comment received, July 26, 2021:</b><br />I wrote the above brush with Frank . . .<br /><br />Several months later after I had moved from the hotel, the lead guitar player, steel guitar player in my Country band and I along with our dates, attended a dinner show featuring Johnny Rodriquez. As we were finishing our dinner, Frank approached the table and said, "Aren't you Dave's friend?". I said, "Yes". He said, "Welcome" and quickly walked away without a chance for further interaction or to introduce my friends. Came time to pay and I was told that our entire evening was 'comped' so the waitress smiled and said, "Can I get you all another cocktail or some desserts?" I didn't want to 'look a gift horse in the mouth' and quickly declined. I never got another opportunity to thank him but I did mail a Thank You card to Centre Stage c/o Mr Frank Balistrieri with a hand-written note thanking him for his generosity.<br /><br /><b>Link to the original post:</b> <a href="https://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/2013/08/tales-of-milwaukee-mob-and-two.html">https://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/2013/08/tales-of-milwaukee-mob-and-two.html</a></span></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-38725622153708381692021-06-24T11:20:00.002-05:002021-06-24T11:38:16.774-05:00Ever hear of Anaplasmosis?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mixrWDd6HuY/YNSwHTuw0LI/AAAAAAAAMvQ/J3NvXBIr65cAjiuRylWKl5uKUi1LamzOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/tick2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mixrWDd6HuY/YNSwHTuw0LI/AAAAAAAAMvQ/J3NvXBIr65cAjiuRylWKl5uKUi1LamzOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/tick2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be aware of ticks, this update from my cousin's wife last night. He got bit by a tick at his cabin near Lakewood, WI. Tim got home today: "18 days in the hospital, 7 days in rehab at a nursing home and now he's home. Tim got bit by a tick, he got Anaplasmosis, which is an infection in your blood and got septic, Which caused his kidneys to shut down and other issues. It took 9 days to find out what was wrong and then they started treating for it. He's tired and weak, kidneys are working a little, so he's still on dialysis 3 times a week, but he's home and on his way to recovery. WE ARE BLESSED."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was no obvious bite mark and the delay in diagnosis nearly cost him his life. Awareness is critical if you are in tick infested areas. Not only Anaplasmosis, but Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are caused by tick bites. Awareness is key!</span></span></span></p><div class="syndicate" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif;"><h1 id="content" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Merriweather, serif; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; margin-top: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Signs and Symptoms of Anaplasmosis</span></h1></div><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505;"><b><span style="font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></span></p><div class="syndicate" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Signs and symptoms of anaplasmosis typically begin within 1–2 weeks after the bite of an infected tick.<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Tick bites are usually painless, and many people do not remember being bitten.</li></ul></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">See your healthcare provider if you become ill after having been bitten by a tick or having been in the woods or in areas with high brush where ticks commonly live.</li></ul><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Merriweather, serif; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; margin-top: 2rem;">Early Illness</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Early signs and symptoms (days 1-5) are usually mild or moderate and may include:</p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Fever, chills</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Severe headache</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Muscle aches</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite</li></ul><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Merriweather, serif; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; margin-top: 2rem;">Late Illness</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Rarely, if treatment is delayed or if there are other medical conditions present, anaplasmosis can cause severe illness. Prompt treatment can reduce your risk of developing severe illness.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>Signs and symptoms of severe (late stage) illness can include:</p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Respiratory failure</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Bleeding problems</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Organ failure</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;">Death</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span><b>Risk factors for severe illness:</b></p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Delayed treatment</span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Age:</span> being older puts you at risk</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0.4rem;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Weakened immune system:</span> People with weakened immune systems (such as those receiving some cancer treatments, individuals with advanced HIV infection, prior organ transplants, or people taking some medications) are at risk for severe illness.</li></ul><span style="font-family: Open Sans, apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, Segoe UI, Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/symptoms/index.html">https://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/symptoms/index.html</a><br /></span></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-91310813420170802762021-06-04T11:17:00.013-05:002024-01-17T12:48:01.293-06:00Vision Zero is a NO for me<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yv9VhnEEXEo/YLpQPDoaPhI/AAAAAAAAMto/eP3o-WcoRSQNzd6yllp46uT81XcS3bZ4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s318/nmo.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://twitter.com/motorists" border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yv9VhnEEXEo/YLpQPDoaPhI/AAAAAAAAMto/eP3o-WcoRSQNzd6yllp46uT81XcS3bZ4wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h200/nmo.jpg" title="https://twitter.com/motorists" width="400" /></a></div>I received an email this morning from a Susan Caro at meritmile.com asking if I wanted to speak to an "expert" in support of vision zero issues. I assume she was expecting me to use this blog to promote the "plan". For the record, I do not agree with the "plan" and fully support the National Motorists Organization's stance on the issue, of which I attached an article by written by a NMA board member below:<p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: red;"><b>The Orwellian Era of Transportation Planning</b></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 18px;">By Christopher M. DiPrima, NMA Board Member </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: x-small;">1/31/2021</span></i></strong></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">George Orwell’s seminal <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">1984</em> has defined political discourse for over 70 years. Among the book’s most prescient concepts is doublethink, the practice of using contradictory terminology to obscure the government’s actions. In <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">1984</em>, the Ministry of Peace propagates war; the Ministry of Plenty rations goods; the Ministry of Love incarcerates and tortures; and the Ministry of Truth distributes the state’s official lies.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Americans across the political spectrum recognize that we live in an era of doublethink, certainly when referring to our governments’ brazen lies to its people on any number of topics. While the country’s political left, right, and center can come up with their own lists of examples, here I point to only one among many: the Vision Zero movement.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">In attempting to reach the noble goal of eliminating all preventable traffic deaths, the Vision Zero movement has propagated one of the most pernicious and effective forms of doublethink in use today: “traffic calming.” People who have been subjected to traffic calming know well that the actual mechanisms of “calming” should more accurately be called by their opposite name: traffic aggravating. In classic Orwellian style, the term “traffic calming” almost always refers to roadway design changes which worsen, rather than alleviate traffic, and causing aggravation, not calming, for motorists and other users of the public right-of-way.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">A hallmark of doublethink is that it forces the user to accept odd contradictions as gospel, like the famous “WAR IS PEACE” slogan of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">1984</em>’s Oceania. Here again, Vision Zero excels in doublethink:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Vision Zero teaches that moving more people requires fewer traffic lanes—a half-truth at best which obscures assumptions about coercion and mode choice elasticity. “MORE IS LESS.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">It asks that we increase the price of driving, but then claim that this is meant to increase economic and social equity. It decries subsidies for motorists, but ignores that all mass transit is, and always has been, heavily subsidized. “CHEAP IS EXPENSIVE.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">It advocates “complete streets,” then attempts to remove motorists—often the largest user group—from those streets. “INCOMPLETE IS COMPLETE.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">It advocates accessibility, but then removes parking and encourages dangerous bicycling behaviors which present elderly and disabled people from accessing parts of their cities. “LESS ACCESS IS MORE ACCESSIBLE.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">It claims that faster speeds always lead to more fatalities, ignoring the mediating factor of crash rate and thus disregards the fact that the fastest roads, freeways, are also the safest. “SPEED KILLS.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Most recently, Vision Zero extremists have added the term “traffic violence” to the lexicon, painting any traffic collision as a deliberate attack on innocent people. We live in a world with real traffic violence, from car bombs to the horrifying use of automobiles as weapons against protestors and other mass gatherings, and yet Vision Zero advocates insult the memory of those victims of actual violence by equating all traffic collisions to these acts of terrorism—and by extension, all motorists as murderers-in-wait.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">The broader anti-automobility interests use doublethink in an attempt to dupe voters into supporting their programs. For decades, these advocates have pitched mass transit improvements to motorists as a way of reducing traffic congestion. The sales pitch is that improved access to transit will take people off the roads, thus reducing congestion for those who choose to remain. But then, they make sure to take away general purpose travel lanes, cut back traffic signal timings, and prioritize slow and inefficient street-running buses rather than grade-separated transit. They fight against any measure which would improve traffic congestion because they believe that if traffic is less congested, then transit would become less appealing. So, congestion mitigation through transit improvements isn’t allowed to mitigate congestion.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Motorists who have been subjected to Vision Zero doublespeak know better than anyone that the tenets of “traffic calming,” “road diets” (a euphemism for lane reduction), shortened signal timings, arbitrary turning restrictions, and unnecessary and unsupportable speed limit reductions—all serve to aggravate rather than calm traffic, and all road users suffer. Motorists in cities which have implemented “traffic calming” know that the driving mindset has changed from a relatively polite and orderly world to a Hobbesian war of all against all—where every second of delay cascades into gridlock, and where courtesy becomes the enemy of efficiency.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">I posit that this is the primary reason why Vision Zero has been such a spectacular failure in our cities, failing to reduce traffic deaths while also failing to deliver on meaningful transit improvements or congestion mitigation. All that Vision Zero has offered American cities is a state of perpetual warfare between modes. Is it any surprise traffic aggravation techniques have failed to produce calmer, safer streets?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Far from being a fringe set of ideas, Vision Zero is now embedded into the transportation philosophies of many major cities. We now live fully in the Orwellian era of city transportation planning. This is doublethink’s most complete victory: cities’ Ministries of Transportation now attempt to prevent us from transporting ourselves.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">It was all right, everything was all right—the struggle was finished.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">They love Vision Zero.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;">Please support the National Motorists Association, you can join at this link:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px;"><a href="https://www.motorists.org/">https://www.motorists.org/</a><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink"><b>My Amazon Author Link</b></a><br /></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-38529081221677069872021-05-30T09:55:00.005-05:002021-05-30T09:57:24.014-05:00Memorial Day Weekend - Remembering Our Fallen Heroes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8WRRWqZaeYY/YLOmV-k42JI/AAAAAAAAMtE/F2WsEkJu4VUPalSpj4ECHeOHS630FbUNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/gene2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="233" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8WRRWqZaeYY/YLOmV-k42JI/AAAAAAAAMtE/F2WsEkJu4VUPalSpj4ECHeOHS630FbUNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/gene2.jpg" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 14, 1945. On that single day in the history of World War II there were 810 American casualties. One of those was my father’s cousin, Captain Gene Sucharda, who was killed while commanding a tank company at the Battle of the Bulge. I remember seeing his picture hanging on the wall of Gene in uniform when we visited my dad’s Aunt Claire and Uncle Edmund in Akron, Oh. It was above a small table with his memorabilia laid out on it, like a small shrine. He was their only child and I, even at my young age, wondered how the parents could have gotten through something like that. His remains never made it back to the USA. My youngest brother Gene was named by my parents in his honor. So many heroes are responsible for the lives we have today. What follows is an account written by David Kasavan, a fellow soldier, for the 11th Armored Division Legacy Group:</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d54972be-7fff-3fd3-3bb3-7260b3176d55"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Captain was leading the way as he always did, when the shell came from his right flank. It must have been right in line with him, for suddenly he fell, and slumped down into the turret. The tank started burning, and Ramee gave me the order to back up quick behind a house. I saw Cpl. Armin Stodolenak, the Captain’s gunner get out of the tank after he looked around and saw he could help the CO or the loader, Pfc. Stan Chadwick. The bog and the driver Pfc Clarence Busch and T/4 Key both got out of the tank but not before it was hit the second time. And then suddenly our tank was hit, right in the back deck which was sticking out past our shelter. No one was hit bad, and dodging all of the mortars and artillery, we finally made it back to a house where we were later picked up.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2jj_PrV_Bs/YLOmjmX34QI/AAAAAAAAMtI/m6qxdQVU8Q4ncFB3vKcDnq_3ltYKUPnCACLcBGAsYHQ/s545/Gene.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="545" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2jj_PrV_Bs/YLOmjmX34QI/AAAAAAAAMtI/m6qxdQVU8Q4ncFB3vKcDnq_3ltYKUPnCACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Gene.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>The Captain and Chadwick must have been killed instantly. Stodolenak had some nasty shrapnel in his hip, and he hopped into Sgt. Jones’ tank for safety and first aid. “That made six men in the tank,” Jones said, “and before long there was a knocking on the tank. We opened up and there was Pfc. Sid Meyer, loader in Cohen’s tank, so we took him too and sat him on the transmission. Then the artillery started falling in town. Lt. Brendan Burns, who was to lead us through the rest of our battles, was outside scouting around with Captain Dick McCoy, from the battalion staff. They both hopped into the tank, too, so we had a total of nine men there. Probably set some sort of record.”</span><p></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Link to the entire article:</span><a href="http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/c41tk_revised.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/c41tk_revised.htm</span></a></span>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-9784361859366738752021-04-11T15:10:00.012-05:002021-04-12T08:05:52.626-05:003PL Explained: What Is It, Benefits and How to Choose <p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K_xWeGdCDx4/YHNOEL_IHvI/AAAAAAAAMrQ/NTEjX9L97OUoGpNfGyS4XRnZ9fwXF1KpACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/pexels-kevin-bidwell-2348359.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K_xWeGdCDx4/YHNOEL_IHvI/AAAAAAAAMrQ/NTEjX9L97OUoGpNfGyS4XRnZ9fwXF1KpACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h213/pexels-kevin-bidwell-2348359.jpg" title="Photo: Kevin Bidwell" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Photo: Kevin Bidwell</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>The following is a guest post written by Lassee Petersen at <a href="https://www.mactrans.ca/">https://www.mactrans.ca/</a></b> </span><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"></span><b>3PL</b>, or third-party logistics, is an order fulfillment strategy. To best understand what 3PL is, it helps<br />to talk about 1PL and 2PL.<br /><br />Imagine a maple syrup farm that has to transport its produce to market. The owner decides that the<br />most convenient way to do this is to buy a truck and do the transportation himself. That is a first-party logistics strategy or 1PL.<div><br />As the farm grows it might start producing so much maple syrup that it doesn’t make financial sense to invest in more trucks. It hires another company to take care of transportation. The company that they hire is second-party logistics or 2PL.<br /><br />Now imagine that the operation grows so big that the 2PL company can’t handle logistics and<br />transportation efficiently. The farm owner hires a subcontractor or logistics management company, which subcontracts some (or all) of the transportation logistics. The subcontractor is a <a href="https://www.mactrans.ca/">3PL</a>.<br /><br />A 3PL supply chain model comprises three components: the business (manufacturer/producer), the logistics provider who takes care of warehouse management, packaging and other services, and the carrier who is in charge of making sure that goods get to their intended destination in time.<p><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Benefits of 3PL Providers</span></b></p>Why do so many businesses opt to involve 3PL companies for transportation services? There are several reasons, and they have to do with efficiency and cost-cutting:<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> <b>Cost Savings</b></li></ul>Companies are able to negotiate lower transport costs based on frequency and volume of deliveries.<br />The other option would be to hire individual drivers to move goods, and the downside to this is that<br />it leaves packaging and warehouse management unattended. The cost will quickly rise and efficiency<br />will likely drop.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Wider Networks</b></li></ul>3PLs come with networks already in place which allows businesses to deliver goods over vast areas.<br />The business owner doesn’t need to worry about whether goods will get to faraway locations; that<br />headache falls to the 3PL. The best ensure that they have networks that go far and wide.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>You can scale</b></li></ul>A good 3PL allows you to adjust depending on demand without hurting your business. During peak<br />season they can help you handle the growth without eating into your profits or your time. If it<br />shrinks, you only need to let the 3PL that you have fewer logistical needs.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Stellar service</b></li></ul>One of the primary functions of a 3PL is to ensure that all deliveries are made on time. You can<br />avoid retail vendor chargebacks that occur as a result of logistical delays. Your customers will come<br />to trust your brand, which, in turn, helps grow your business.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Access to the latest technology</b></li></ul>Your customers expect you to use the latest technology to provide timely deliveries, and this falls<br />squarely on the 3PL you choose. It is up to them to invest in equipment and software that facilitates<br />transportation, driver and inventory management.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>You can focus on your core competencie</b>s</li></ul>You’re not in the business of providing transportation. A 3PL company takes this function out of<br />your hands so that you can focus on what you’re good at.<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Driver management</b></li></ul><p></p>Managing drivers happens to be one of the most complex tasks in the logistics chain. When you hire<br />a 3PL company it’s taken out of your hands. The subcontractor you hire vets drivers and makes sure<br />they meet their goals as mandated.<br /><p><b><span style="color: red;"><u>How to Choose a 3PL</u></span></b></p>What is the best third-party logistics provider? Many companies provide these services, and their<br />offerings differ. Before you hire, look at the following:</div><div><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>How long has the company been in business? Ideally, the longer the better. They should be able to provide testimonials from their long-term clients.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Capability – this includes things like kitting and equipment, multi-channel logistics, software and systems. The company you choose should be able to handle your company’s evolving needs.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Safety and security – hire a company that complies with safety regulations and has a good track record for personnel and assets safety.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Good customer service – this is one of the essential features of a good 3PL.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Customization and scalability – can the company you have in mind handle your business’s unique needs and can they scale as you grow?</li></ul>A good <a href="https://www.mactrans.ca/">3PL</a> company can help you simultaneously streamline logistics and grow your business.<br /><br />Look for a provider that is transparent about its processes and that doesn’t charge hidden fees.</div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-72456046875798234902021-03-30T10:55:00.002-05:002021-03-30T12:42:32.605-05:00The Mantua, Utah Speed Trap (Updated 3/2021)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FvzKOgP3a_0/VUac5matzCI/AAAAAAAAHKM/VjskpLWuWMg/s1600/speedtrap.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FvzKOgP3a_0/VUac5matzCI/AAAAAAAAHKM/VjskpLWuWMg/s1600/speedtrap.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Tickets funding this small town's revenue</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span><b><span style="color: red;">(Original post from 2015:)</span><span style="color: blue;"> Our drivers have to pass through here on a daily basis. Using speed traps for the primary purpose of revenue generation is just wrong! He's basically writing tickets to pay his salary. All the local and regional people are well aware of this situation, so all the town cop does is trap motorists who are not familiar with the area. The southbound side of the highway is a down slope and a driver unfamiliar with the area can easily be unaware that his car/truck is speeding up if not watching the speedometer. Help support the fight for motorist's rights by joining </span><a href="http://www.motorists.org/" style="color: blue;">The National Motorists Association</a><span style="color: blue;">. You can join for free at this </span><a href="http://www.motorists.org/" style="color: blue;">Link</a><span style="color: blue;">.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Article and video thanks to <a href="http://www.kutv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/The-Mantua-speed-trap-tickets-funding-this-small-town-39-s-revenue-123998.shtml#.VUaXUflViko">KUTV.com</a> and <a href="http://www.kutv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/The-Mantua-speed-trap-tickets-funding-this-small-town-39-s-revenue-123998.shtml#.VUaXUflViko">Chris Jones</a>. Links provided:</span></b><br />
<h4>
<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">April 28, 2015</b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;"> (KUTV) If you’ve ever driven Sardine Canyon, between Brigham City and Logan, you might be familiar with the little town of Mantua.</span></h4>
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">But, with a population of 741, the town is less known for its hospitality than its vast ticket writing. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">“The cop down there is like a sniper,” said Sheri Leishman, whose husband has been ticketed multiple times on the stretch of road. “Everyone knows he comes right out of nowhere and slides right in.” </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">In Mantua, police wrote 2,185 tickets in fiscal year 2014. That helped the town bring in more than $221,000 in speeding fines, which makes up more than a third of the town’s $649,000 revenue. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">So how does this compare to other similarly situated Utah towns? </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">Take neighboring Williard, also in Box Elder County. Its population is three times that of Mantua — with three times the number of highway to patrol. But in fiscal year 2014, Willard wrote only 706 tickets. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">“The main thing with speed is the excessiveness on it,” <b>says Mantua Police Chief Mike Johnson</b>, who is also the town’s mayor. (He is paid $42,000 a year to be chief, but is unpaid as mayor.) </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">In 2012, the Utah Department of Transportation had to write a strongly worded letter to the town warning them that the location where they camp out was being torn up by the town’s patrol cars. UDOT told the city their actions were “creating an immediate safety issue,” and the town did eventually fix the problem.</span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">Johnson says their speed enforcement is critical. Not only does it reduce speeds on the highway, it helps support a police department that is a constant presence in the small town, he said. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">But, in 2014, the town’s police made only a few dozen arrests unrelated to speeding. Among the most recent citations: fishing without a license.</span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">With the meager crime rate it begs the question: Does the town of Mantua have an addiction to speed? </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">The fees collected by the town help support Mantua’s two part-time officers, the full-time chief, a court judge and a court clerk. The highway, and the tickets that come from it, stand as a major revenue source funding a large chunk of the town government. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">“We could [still] have both of those,” Johnson said, “but it would just be a lot more limited. There is no doubt that we benefit somewhat by the highway.”</span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">The chief is quick to point out if you are not impressed with the work he and his two part-time officers do in the town, then look at dangerous Sardine Canyon, where speed is a killer. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">“Everything we do basically comes back to safety of motoring public,” he said, noting UDOT began making an effort to make Sardine Canyon more safe about 15 years ago by reducing speed limits, adding rumble strips and barriers. </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); font-size: 14px;">Fatalities have been reduced by 93 percent since the improvements to the roads have been made, according to UDOT statistics.</span><div><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Update: 3/30/2021</b></span></h2><div><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>by KSL.com</b></span></span></div><div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 18.4125px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MANTUA, Box Elder County — The police chief of the small northern Utah town of Mantua has been let go after eight months on the job and other officers there resigned on Monday.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Box Elder County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Dale Ward confirmed the dismissal of Chief Michael F. Castro, who became the city's police chief in July, according to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/446144292846562/posts/the-town-of-mantua-would-like-to-welcome-michael-castro-as-our-new-police-chief/724772714983717/" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #2354ac; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">a Facebook post.</a></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">City officials have not said why Castro was dismissed.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ward wasn't sure if all the officers had resigned Monday, but did say that the Box Elder Sheriff's Office will be helping out in Mantua in their absence.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The small city has had several police chiefs in recent years, including current Mayor Michael Johnson and more recently, Shane Jacob Zilles, who was arrested and subsequently fired for impaired driving in February 2019.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Zilles, <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/46491569/uhp-utah-police-chief-arrested-in-dui-was-driving-in-highway-median" rel="follow" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #2354ac; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">who was pulled by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper</a> for driving in the highway median, <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/46724049/more-charges-for-former-mantua-police-chief" rel="follow" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #2354ac; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">was later charged</a> with five counts of falsifying, altering or forging prescription drugs, a class A misdemeanor.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.14px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/50066946/chief-trooper-rescue-man-who-fell-through-ice-on-mantua-reservoir" rel="follow" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #2354ac; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Castro made headlines in December</a> after rescuing an ice fisherman who had fallen through the ice in Mantua Resevoir, telling the Deseret News: "It just wasn't an option to see him drown right in front of us."</p>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); color: red; font-size: 14px;"><b>http://www.kutv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/The-Mantua-speed-trap-tickets-funding-this-small-town-39-s-revenue-123998.shtml#.VUab2vlVikp</b></span><div><span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); color: red; font-size: 14px;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span face=""helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7); color: red; font-size: 14px;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-1038788185423722862021-02-11T20:16:00.003-06:002021-06-08T15:45:25.763-05:00Witnessing the famous 1990 Tower Drive bridge crash<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hiZ-eefw5MI/YCXdywxV9SI/AAAAAAAAMoc/aZpE01HPOCQWcwj2Z4dvnmRVjnTxpS40wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1128/figo.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="1128" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hiZ-eefw5MI/YCXdywxV9SI/AAAAAAAAMoc/aZpE01HPOCQWcwj2Z4dvnmRVjnTxpS40wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/figo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>T</b>he terrible news today about three major traffic catastrophes in this country due to bad weather got me thinking about the day I was witness to a catastrophic accident in Green Bay, Wisconsin on the Leo Frigo bridge in March of 1990. It was called the Tower Drive bridge before they renamed it later. The changed namesake was actually a cofounder of the Frigo Cheese Company, the company I worked for in Lena.</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ca86abd4-7fff-96af-272a-10cd14cb804a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We made regular deliveries of cheese to Northland Cold Storage, a facility that was located just off I-43 near the Atkinson Drive exit before crossing the Leo Frigo bridge. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">We generally arrived there around 7am to off load on a FCFS basis and I had planned my trip to get there about that time. It was only about 30 miles south of Lena and I noticed the fog really getting thick as I got within a couple miles of the exit I needed to take. The exit is immediately before the rise up onto the 1.5 mile long bridge over the Fox river which flows into the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The closer I got to the exit, the worse the visibility and I slowed down with traffic coming up and passing although I had seen much worse. I remember being relieved to be able to exit the freeway at Atkinson Dr. After getting off the interstate, I had to turn north and go under the bridge and then east and south to the warehouse.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xxjFgg3FsWQ/YCXeEuh6IZI/AAAAAAAAMoo/HpcwWuYQChQWj-IVcpS-zjXZbz8frLp0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s840/frigo.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hours later after the fog cleared" border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="840" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xxjFgg3FsWQ/YCXeEuh6IZI/AAAAAAAAMoo/HpcwWuYQChQWj-IVcpS-zjXZbz8frLp0ACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h180/frigo.jpg" title="Hours later after the fog cleared" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;">Hours after the fog cleared</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After my final turn and approaching the warehouse, I started hearing drivers yelling on the CB radio that there were cars crashing on the bridge. I pulled up to the staging area, got out of the truck and could hear vehicles crashing as I was standing there. Of course I could see nothing because of the limited visibility. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bridge being about 2,000 feet north and overhead, the dense fog must have the perfect conditions to carry sound and it was horrifically loud to me, almost like I was in some kind of terrible dream. It actually went on for 4 or 5 minutes listening to crash after crash feeling helpless trying to think of anything I could do. I could actually hear people screaming and hollering up there! There was an explosion and I just remember this helpless feeling and deep sorrow. Hearing sirens in the background, I knew rescue was on the way, but I’ll never forget that feeling. The sound of those vehicles crashing while I stood there effected me for quite a while.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What happened was that there was a perfect accumulation of factory smoke combined with fog and wind direction that made a blinding wall of zero visibility across the interstate and three people died that morning along with thirty injured. 52 vehicles were involved.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my 37 years of professional driving I've seen and experienced a lot, but that was one of the worst. Among one of the days that I will never forget. Please drive careful out there. Link to my book below, published in 2020:</span></p><div><br /></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=dansbristrubl-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B089DT7HQ1&asins=B089DT7HQ1&linkId=d55870a31329859df7dd8d930877f6e7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div>
Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-51466735412177601842020-12-15T14:44:00.006-06:002020-12-16T12:17:30.358-06:00Heater Box for Your Truck – 5 Reasons Why Stainless Steel is the Best Choice<span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jypruysx3xI/X9kbAyosETI/AAAAAAAAMkc/sHqEso425nYlLbGKCA3saGJG0C9lupQFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Kenworth-1-1024x683.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jypruysx3xI/X9kbAyosETI/AAAAAAAAMkc/sHqEso425nYlLbGKCA3saGJG0C9lupQFwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h213/Kenworth-1-1024x683.jpg" title="shorelinemanufacturing.com" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>The following guest post is written by Jon Lewis at <a href="https://shorelinemanufacturing.com/">Shoreline Manufacturing</a>. Check out their excellent product line at the links provided:</b></span></span><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>If</b> you find yourself driving your rig in areas of the country where there are brutal winters, you may have had to replace your truck’s heater box more than once. This is due to the fact that most if not all OEM heater boxes are made of steel. Many states that receive significant snowfall heavily salt their roads. Steel, salt, and water are a bad mix. This combo will cause your heater box to corrode quickly, eventually rendering it useless. <br /><br />Drivers that find themselves in more warmer climates don’t necessarily escape the wrath of aggressive heater box rust. Condensation is the rust causing agent that typically rusts out the bottom of the heater box.<br /><br />Having said that, you might already know that replacement heater boxes come in a variety of types when it comes to their construction material. You can find them in steel, aluminum, and stainless steel variations. We have already established that replacing your heater box with a steel box, may not be the greatest idea. This then leaves you with two choices, stainless or aluminum. Which material is better in terms of durability, performance, and value? Let’s find out.<br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Stainless Steel vs. Aluminum Heater Box</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Stainless steel and aluminum can look similar but are quite different. Let’s compare the key aspects of each metal.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Strength</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">The prime factor that contributes to the durability of any heater box is the construction material's strength. That's quite obvious. And while aluminum has a better strength to weight ratio, stainless steel delivers more raw strength. Yes, it is substantially heavier as compared to a standard aluminum box but it is also considerably stronger. It means that a stainless steel heater box has an enhanced capacity to withstand rough weather, especially chilly winters. Aluminum features a tensile strength of 276 MPa while stainless steel strength measures at 505 MPa.<br /><br />Cold temperatures have a negative effect on materials as it forces metals and alloys to contract which ultimately affects the structural integrity of the box. Stainless steel heater boxes make for a better choice for truckers who find themselves traveling through particularly cold regions.<br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nUWV94sCryI/X9kbc6nmodI/AAAAAAAAMkk/mJrQfmRPS4wrczQBrfjvYhy4LDAZHNEVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Rusted%2BBox.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nUWV94sCryI/X9kbc6nmodI/AAAAAAAAMkk/mJrQfmRPS4wrczQBrfjvYhy4LDAZHNEVQCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/Rusted%2BBox.jpg" title="shorelinemanufacturing.com" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Corrosion Resistance</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">Another key factor that determines the long-term durability of a metal is its corrosion resistance. Rusting is a natural oxidization process that leads to deterioration in quality which you can witness in the form of holes. If you are a trucker who has been using aluminum heater boxes for a while, you must have seen those dreaded holes. Needless to say, such severe damage means you either have to pay a high maintenance cost or completely replace the heater box which is once again a big investment on your part.<br /><br />This is where the stainless steel heater box can prove to be a better alternative as it is highly corrosion-resistant. Although aluminum also resists corrosion it is still susceptible to oxidization and rusting. Stainless steel has enhanced corrosion resistance because of two reasons:<br /><br />The stainless steel alloy includes chromium which forms an invisible corrosion resistant film around the steel.<br /><br />Stainless steel is also non-porous which means it is difficult for moisture to settle in and start the oxidization process that leads to rust formation.<br /><br />Many truckers have to drive on salted roads during winters which further contributes towards pacing up the oxidization process that you want to avoid. Stainless steel heater box gives you a much higher resistance.<br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thermal Conductivity</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">Being a poor thermal conductor makes stainless steel a better choice. During summer, aluminum heat conductor will continue to leak heat making your cabin hotter than it should be. On the other hand, a stainless steel heater box retains the heat well and does not let it leak into your truck's cabin so you can stay cool. Moreover, stainless steel can tolerate temperatures up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit while aluminum will start softening up around the 400 degrees Fahrenheit mark.<br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Alloy Workability</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">Stainless steel is a hard material whereas aluminum is comparatively soft. And while it does make it easier for metalworkers to mold aluminum, it also means that aluminum isn't as resistant to abrasion and wear. In comparison, stainless steel's hardened nature allows it to be substantially more wear-and-tear resistant increasing its long-term durability. It means that truckers who invest in a stainless steel heater box can use it for years without having to worry about corrosion or rust.<br /><br />Another thing that you should keep in mind is that being a softer alloy, aluminum also cannot tolerate high temperatures and will start to soften up which can result in potential damage to the structure of the heater box. Stainless steel, being a harder material, can handle high temperatures while maintaining its structural integrity. Drivers and truckers who also have to work during summers won't need to be concerned about their heater boxes taking damage due to elevated temperatures.<br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B3PO9YhXlw4/X9kbzg52SwI/AAAAAAAAMks/AcAjdf2Jp9oUJD3EZKGPsxZEHdljMVGxgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Front%2BAngle%2BWeb.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B3PO9YhXlw4/X9kbzg52SwI/AAAAAAAAMks/AcAjdf2Jp9oUJD3EZKGPsxZEHdljMVGxgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h240/Front%2BAngle%2BWeb.png" title="https://shorelinemanufacturing.com/product-category/kenworth-heater-box/" width="320" /></a></div></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Easier to Maintain</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">As discussed above, stainless steel is comparatively a harder material than aluminum. This malleability makes it difficult to carry out repairs since softer alloys take more power and skill to weld. And while aluminum can be easily bent, stretched, and manipulated, it will not be as friendly when it comes to welding. On the other hand, stainless steel's hardness makes it a better choice for maintenance since you can do the repair work with more ease and convenience.<br /><br />Another factor that contributes to aluminum being a challenging material to weld is its thermal conductivity. It easily loses heat which makes it a poor contender for welding. In comparison, stainless steel's poor thermal conductivity means it can retain heat for longer periods while maintaining its hardness making it easier to weld. So, even if your stainless steel heater box gets damaged, it will be cheaper and easier to get the repairs done. That might not be a possibility with an aluminum variant.<br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can I Get Premium Quality Stainless Steel Heater Boxes?</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">If you are needing to replace a rusted out heater box, there are a few companies that fabricate a modified stainless steel variant of the OEM product that are compatible with the OEM heater box. For instance, you can buy a stainless steel <a href="https://shorelinemanufacturing.com/product-category/kenworth-heater-box/">Kenworth heater box</a> here that will be much more corrosion and rust-resistant as compared to the original steel version.<br /><br />When you want your heater box to go thousands of miles, even tens of thousands of miles, without getting damaged due to corrosion or rust, stainless steel is a much better alternative.<br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Final Word</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">Due to increased competition and skyrocketing expenses, truckers are looking to find ways to cut down their overhead and costs as much as possible. And when they end up replacing their heater boxes about every three years, it is not only a frustrating experience but does not make business sense. Such unnecessary expenses rack up pretty quickly and eat into their profit margin. That's why many truckers are now moving to stainless steel heater boxes.<br /><br />They may cost a bit more upfront but they repay your investment with interest by not requiring multiple repairs and heavy maintenance. What's even better is that they continue to go on for miles and miles, year after year without taking any damage caused by rust or corrosion.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>See our products at:<span style="color: red;"> </span><a href="https://shorelinemanufacturing.com/product-category/kenworth-heater-box/" style="color: red;">https://shorelinemanufacturing.com/product-category/kenworth-heater-box/</a></b></span></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-32617150279444462162020-12-15T12:23:00.064-06:002021-01-21T15:48:29.729-06:00Another Reason to dump DirecTV for Dish Network<p><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gK-u578t300/X9j0GkjWCCI/AAAAAAAAMkA/ZDGpWd7JFm04YbU-2cgnqboOzYlR_0KygCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/s-l640.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gK-u578t300/X9j0GkjWCCI/AAAAAAAAMkA/ZDGpWd7JFm04YbU-2cgnqboOzYlR_0KygCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/s-l640.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>A</b> couple months ago I wrote about our decision upon moving to get rid of DirecTV and <a href="https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2020/10/directv-or-dish-which-is-better.html"><b>go with Dish</b></a>. We are just about to start our third month with Dish and were happy with their service.</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-95a31c68-7fff-267f-7918-003ac47b7ffc"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our three month free premium channel add-on was about to expire and we called to cancel before they started charging extra for that package. The call was short, no extended wait and no hard sell to keep it. Two issues have come up in the past week, both have which have really convinced us we made the right decision.</span></p><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since AT&T bought DirecTV, as I stated in a previous <b><a href="https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2020/10/directv-or-dish-which-is-better.html">post</a>,</b> their product offering and service have taken a nosedive. After abandoning the recreational vehicle market, the only current choice for mobile television RVers have is Dish. I also found out by chance this week that for the past two years Dish has been unable to offer HBO to their subscribers. The reason? AT&T also owns HBO and tried to price gouge Dish network. That doesn’t sit well with me and there is a workaround if you have Dish, you can stream HBO Max for $14.99 per month if you really have to have it.</span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">What follows however is the best reason yet to switch, a couple weeks ago Dish had to drop CBS network from it’s lineup over an ongoing pricing dispute in contract negotiations. It’s been happening more and more as networks try to increase their fees to subscription satellite TV providers for local channels. These same channels are free over the air to the general public. Both Dish and DirecTV have to fight them or increase customer's subscriber rates continually.</span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p></span>Last week there was a Packer game on CBS that I couldn’t get through the Wally receiver because of the ongoing dispute with Dish Network. So I went downstairs and ran cable from my rooftop OTA(over the air) antenna bypassing the Wally receiver so we could watch the game. Just by chance this past week, looking for some kind of transfer switch on Amazon to buy in order to more easily accomplish this task I discovered they make a dual tuner to hook your OTA antenna into which then plugs in a USB port in back of the Dish receiver. You can then scan ALL your local channels through Dish Wally (or Joey). The channels will appear in your on-screen TV guide and you can record those channels as well! The local OTA channels are bolded yellow and will appear next to the satellite local channels in the guide. No need to switch cables or inputs to get OTA, who could ask for more? Channels will appear in the Wally as well as all the connected Joeys.<span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETa-0zaYq8c/X9j803pv5nI/AAAAAAAAMkQ/KYG6fdJ72n8uwxo6JQSLbr9Ep1cc_ZbdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201215_110852.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETa-0zaYq8c/X9j803pv5nI/AAAAAAAAMkQ/KYG6fdJ72n8uwxo6JQSLbr9Ep1cc_ZbdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201215_110852.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><br /><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No more worries about the feuds over local channels and the cost? $60 to $70 on eBay or Amazon for the tuner. I paid $63 for mine. And there are no fees from Dish. As far as I can tell, DirecTV offers nothing like this. Why put up with inferior service and products from DirecTV? This post is entirely my personal opinion and I have received no compensation for it.</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=dansbristrubl-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B087V5HJ6Z&asins=B087V5HJ6Z&linkId=31fc9344dc4e2a5afbeee54ea794614f&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2020/10/directv-or-dish-which-is-better.html">directv-or-dish-which-is-better</a><br /></div></blockquote></div>
</div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-26751197862273858812020-10-04T19:10:00.010-05:002024-02-27T18:26:36.258-06:00DirecTV or Dish: Which is better?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.gadgetreview.com/directv-genie-vs-dish-hopper-how-the-genie-and-the-hopper-compare" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="900" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFUsWQ5U3xY/X3phjQqgwTI/AAAAAAAAMfc/gvB1Tqrr2VggN5ecqsNKp4Qo40-I46i_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/dish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>H</b>aving been a very long term customer of DirecTV, we faced a dilemma after selling and purchasing a different house required a move. Except for about a six month period of cable tv in 2008, I have been a steady customer of DirecTV for over 26 years.</span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-f72ea03e-7fff-ed04-c15f-8c01cbfa758b"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a long time I’ve been fed up with the seemingly constant battles over Direct’s continuing price escalations over the years. I started with a DVR and boxes for every TV and slowly gave them up one by one negotiating lower prices. Eventually I was down to one DVR on one TV in the living room and the most basic channel lineup they offered. New customers were offered great deals while long term customers had to haggle with them every time they jacked the price up. The compelling reason for me to start and stay with DirecTV was that they were the only option for getting NFL Sunday Ticket games. I was a diehard Green Bay Packer fan, born and raised in Wisconsin, who moved to Utah for 25 years to work, paying well over $200 extra annually to be able to watch the Packers every week.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After retiring and moving back to Wisconsin a couple years ago, I stayed with DirecTV probably just because I was familiar with them. Last year we bought a motorhome and I was checking into putting a satellite dish on it for TV reception on the road. In 2015, AT&T bought out DirecTV and I believe their customer service has been on a decline ever since. After checking RV forums I discovered that DirecTV has basically abandoned the RV market and only Dish is now compatible with mobile systems. Another strike against them for me(us), and the final one.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After finding that the house we bought was already set up for Dish Network with their satellite dish equipment, we decided to pull the plug on Direct and go with Dish. A couple weeks before the move we dialed up Dish customer service and got ready for the hard sell. Our first surprise was that we got a customer rep down in Tulsa, OK who could actually speak clear and understandable English. That was great.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surprise number two: No hard sell, he asked what we wanted and we told him the second tier channel lineup, a Hopper DVR box and a Joey for the bedroom TV. Total package was a bit over $70 per month and a two year price guarantee. Free installation and a $300 Mastercard gift card included for new service. We told him the move was in two weeks and we got our pick of appointment times for the serviceman to come out.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surprise number three: A couple weeks later near the appointment time the service guy called and told me what time he’d be there. I went to meet him and was surprised that there were two techs, they introduced themselves and said one of them was training. Since the place was already set up for Dish, I assumed they would swap out the satellite dish for the newest model, bring the boxes, hook them up and be on their way. They were there for almost three hours! They said that the wiring was too old and they were going to replace everything from the dish into the house to the boxes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surprise number four: The techs finished up the install and gave me a demonstration of the system and it is excellent. We had the latest and greatest Genie DVR from DirecTV and the Dish Hopper and remote is much better! It has built in to the remote/box the Firestick/Roku streaming system that is all controllable with the Hopper remote. It also has the voice command system to find programs you want to watch or pick up where you left off. I’m still going through learning all the features and we are very impressed. All this and we don’t have to worry about price hikes for at least two years.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dish has branched out somewhat by offering extra products like sound bar audio systems, surge protectors, and services like installing televisions, home security systems, doorbells, cameras, etc. It’s a way for them to increase profit margins and hopefully slow price increases. They show and offer these services and there was no hard sell when I declined.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are extremely happy with the switch and so far, so good! Would not hesitate to recommend Dish Network.</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><div><a href="https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2020/12/another-reason-to-dump-directv-for-dish.html">Part II - another-reason-to-dump-directv-for-dish.html</a><br /></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-71824565104808808652020-06-30T10:05:00.002-05:002021-03-14T16:52:15.945-05:00My 2nd Florida Car - 1983 Buick Regal Limited<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ciaUeaBN_OE/XvtUJXHzllI/AAAAAAAAMQo/egJZmfBEkV8nTwAkF-0_LXx0zCzmuN1TACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20190308_0009.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1512" height="216" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ciaUeaBN_OE/XvtUJXHzllI/AAAAAAAAMQo/egJZmfBEkV8nTwAkF-0_LXx0zCzmuN1TACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20190308_0009.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In 1980, my dad, who lived in Sarasota, FL, found me a great deal on a used 1973 Buick Century that I happily drove more than 100,000 miles with no problems. About 1988, he called again, perfect timing as the old '73 Century was starting to wear out. This time, he knew an elderly man who lived about a block away and he decided it was time to sell his car. It was a fully loaded 1983 Buick Regal Limited with 8,000 miles on it! The guy bought it new when he was 90 years old and drove it for 5 years before he got into a fairly minor traffic accident that damaged the front end. A body shop had fixed the damage and it looked and drove like a brand new car. That crash convinced him to give up driving and he wanted to get rid of it. With only 8,000 miles in 5 years he sure didn't use the car much and it was always kept in a garage. <br />
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Like I stated, the car was loaded with a V-6 motor, padded vinyl top, fancy wheels and power everything. It felt like a very luxurious car driving it. The factory sticker was still in the glove box, with the MSRP at $13,500. That was not inexpensive for a car in 1983. My dad had driven it, said it was good and I told him to make the deal and I'll find a way to get down there. <br />
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That also was a great car right up until early 1993 when I started hearing lifter noise with the engine fully warmed up. I had always religiously maintained that car and was very surprised it let me down. This happened just as I was getting ready to make the move to Salt Lake City in July. Being just about ready to load up a U-Haul truck, I got a trailer to haul my other car and decided to leave the Regal behind. My wife had to stay an extra month to close on the house so she drove it until then, took it to a used car lot in Crivitz and took whatever the owner would give us. The amount he offered was ridiculously low, so I had not one pang of guilt selling the car to him. In fact, I believe he could have replaced the motor and still have made money reselling it.</div><div><br /></div>
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-53471578485324532342020-05-18T15:01:00.001-05:002020-05-18T15:01:48.887-05:00What's your CDL Score?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MKhk8kEtL9s/XsLmAbxEu0I/AAAAAAAAMHE/UjMViOC-j2ISeDcbi-LT4P-RqZZyZEo2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/CDLScore.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1600" height="166" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MKhk8kEtL9s/XsLmAbxEu0I/AAAAAAAAMHE/UjMViOC-j2ISeDcbi-LT4P-RqZZyZEo2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CDLScore.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>The following is a guest post written by Kate Speer at <a href="http://www.getmycdlscore.com/">GetMyCDLScore.com</a>, an interesting and unique new trucker service. Check them out, links provided!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What's your CDLScore?!</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You know that you are the best driver. Can you prove it? How do you stack up against your peers? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prove your knowledge, skills, and experience and see how you rank compared to other drivers. You will be able to see where you rank in terms of other drivers in your state or other drivers in your category (dry van, flatbed, etc). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sign up for </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FREE </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.getmycdlscore.com&source=gmail&ust=1589917135872000&usg=AFQjCNFpqU038BSpdCeSE32UKmaLsOL-hQ" href="http://www.getmycdlscore.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.GetMyCDLScore.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and get your score. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your CDLScore is similar to a credit score, but all about your driving skills, experience, and knowledge. This is going to be the new industry standard for finding a job that is your best match, asking for a raise or additional hometime, and just having a third party measure of how you stack up compared to other drivers. Not to mention the bragging rights earned for having the top score around!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve helped 582 CDL drivers find their ideal job in the past 12 months. </span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not looking for a job? No problem, you can still get your own CDLScore, see where you measure against your peers and be entered to win great monthly prizes. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We can help you improve your skills, knowledge, and provide a standard way to measure your performance and progress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We find your CDLScore using a proprietary 32 point algorithm. </span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our scoring algorithm takes your driving history, tenure, freight experience, on the job performance, Professional Driver Quality Assessment (PDQA) and more, to create a CDLScore that we use to compare you to your peers and find the right carrier for you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beyond the number, we can help you increase your score, learn new skills, connect with other drivers in our community, and find the right opportunities to succeed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-966e3515-7fff-f97c-6bc7-5b022f582629"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Find a job, improve your skills, win prizes - it's all here at CDLScore. Get your free score today at </span><a href="http://www.getmycdlscore.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.GetMyCDLScore.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></span></div>
Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685058230551016214.post-70011827009352573902020-05-13T10:48:00.011-05:002024-01-17T12:43:04.489-06:00Deciding on a Trucking Career - Part VIII The End<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TWOEMHOA-3I/XrwFPaK0A1I/AAAAAAAAMGI/SOZcwhTKixYYpkwGPVcx-gO3u8QOyCzjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/cokenew.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TWOEMHOA-3I/XrwFPaK0A1I/AAAAAAAAMGI/SOZcwhTKixYYpkwGPVcx-gO3u8QOyCzjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/cokenew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5117432281840593" style="font-family: "times new roman"; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(This is Part VIII of a series,<a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career.html"> “Deciding on a Trucking Career”</a>. I would suggest reading <a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career.html">Parts I</a> through<a href="https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career-part-vii.html"> VII</a> first, they were posted earlier in this blog.) Links provided below:</span></b></b><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leaving Utah</b><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: blue;">In February, 2018 I wrote:</span> </b><span style="color: purple;"><i>"In a couple days, after retiring the first of this year, I am moving back to my home state of Wisconsin. I’ve spent almost 25 years living and working in Utah and it’s been quite a ride. This move is with mixed feelings, knowing I will always miss this place."</i> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Update May, 2020:</span></b> Back in 2016 my marriage had ended after almost 8 years. Fortunately, there was no hostility between us and the divorce was amicable. I was almost 64 years old and my priorities had to undergo significant change. I really had no family out west and needed to start preparing for retirement. My mom was still alive in a memory care facility in Wisconsin and the cost of living in Utah was astronomical compared to rural northern Wisconsin. So I made the decision to move back after I pulled the plug. Part of this was written as a good-bye post to Utah in my blog in early 2018.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to my dear friends back in Wisconsin I found a nice 3.3 acre wooded property with a large garage and A-frame house near Crivitz and closed on it November of 2017. Then all I had to do was find a buyer of my double-wide mobile home in a 55 and over restricted park in Salt Lake. That took a while as the park had been bought out and they were drastically raising the lot rents to unbelievable rates. After finally finding a buyer and closing at the end of February, 2018 I was ready to go back to Wisconsin, the same way I left 25 years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: purple; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>"After having been a regional semi-driver from Wisconsin since 1980, I transferred to Salt Lake City with Ryder in July of 1993 driving a 24 foot U-haul truck with all my possessions, pulling a car and tow dolly behind. Coming across I-80 in Iowa I had to detour many miles off the interstate due to flooded roads from the huge winter storms of early 1993. Back on I-80, in the western side of Nebraska, just east of Wyoming, I ran into a thunderstorm and saw an empty semi-truck with a husband-wife team get blown sideways in a micro burst and flip over only a few hundred feet in front of me. Thankfully, both were unhurt and able to climb out the top through the passenger door of the cab-over as I pulled up. They were pretty shook up and I had never seen anything like that before. Coming down Parley’s canyon into the Salt Lake valley with that U-haul and tow vehicle behind was a whole different experience than with my car a few weeks earlier! I remember having thoughts, wondering what I was getting myself into. </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Being from the mid-west, I didn’t know what a mountain was until Boyce, Bob and other drivers coached me through a few canyons, my wide eyes staring and white knuckles on the wheel! Utah is a special place to live and work, having traveled and spent extensive time as a trainer in cities throughout the inter-mountain west. There is nowhere I’d rather live other than in a cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin, getting back to a small town quiet life, near family and friends."</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both Boyce Williams (79) and Bob Carter (80) passed away in 2019. Bob was a fellow driver trainer with me for many years from 1994 until he retired. Boyce had been selected as Ryder Systems corporate Driver of the Year and had well over 2 million miles accident free.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: purple; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>"There are so many people I’d like to acknowledge, I’ll miss them, fellow drivers, supervisors, employees and vendors of our customer. I’ve worked with so many people in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and elsewhere. A lot of great friends, the list would be long and thanks to Facebook, I can hopefully stay in touch. Most of all, thanks to my “Utah family” of the last 10 years, who always made me feel welcome and I will forever love and miss! Thanks for all of the great memories. The circle of life pulls me back to Wisconsin, but my time here has been so special! Oh, and by the way, I will never miss being stuck in Wyoming weather...... and that’s all I got to say about that, LOL. I hope the drive back (in another U-Haul and my car on a tow dolly) will have a lot less drama than the first one coming here. Take care!"</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's been almost two and a half years now since I retired. I'm in a great relationship and content. Now, in the middle of this Covid-19 mess, I'm sure glad I don't have to work. I really don't miss driving for work but did find a good deal on used 36-foot motorhome last year with a car to tow behind. I guess you can't keep a natural driver in one place for too long. We were able to escape the Wisconsin winter and spend three months in Florida this year. We had a great time and hope to repeat annually.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">All in all, trucking has given me the opportunity to have a good life. It was a lot of hard work but I always made decent money and have enough put away for a comfortable retirement. I don't know what the future holds for professional drivers, but, if you keep your record clean, there are good companies to work for. Unlike some, I have never had the desire to own my own truck and be self-employed. I've seen so many do this and slowly go broke. Company drivers get a lot in the way of benefits and vacation that owner operators do not. But for some, it can work out. If you choose to be a professional driver, good luck with your endeavor, drive safe and get onboard with a good company. You can make some very good money if you are a true "professional". The market for drivers is always cyclical but an old trucker friend once told me "Drivers are a dime a dozen but good ones are always hard to find". My employer for more than 25 years was Ryder, they have locations all over the country. Happy Trucking!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: red;">Links to: </span></b></span><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; white-space: normal;"><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part I</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-career-partii.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part II</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career-part-iii.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part III</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career-part-iv.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part IV</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career-part-v.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part V</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career-part-vi.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part VI</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/03/deciding-on-trucking-career-part-vii.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part VII</a></b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/danbridgerslink"><b>My Amazon Author Link</b></a><br /></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13030368303892949012noreply@blogger.com0