Overdrive

Custom Rigs ReadeR Rigs 50 | Overdrive | August 2018 PDQ Performance_OVD0518_PG.indd 1 4/12/18 4:43 PM Louisiana blues Adrian Bendich of Slidell, Louisiana, drives his 2015 Peterbilt 389 for West Memphis, Arkansas- based Blackjack Express and hauls "anything we can fit up to it." The truck is powered by a 550-hp Cummins with an Eaton-Fuller 18-speed and 3:36 rears. It sits on a 292-inch wheelbase and features a custom 22-inch polished alu- minum front bumper. The trailer is a 2016 XL Specialized flip axle. Home on the road Greg and Danelle Swafford of Weaver, Alabama, are leased to Mercer Transportation and use their 2016 Western Star 5700 to haul military freight on a 2017 Doonan Platinum step deck. The truck is powered by a Detroit DD15 and a Detroit DT12 12-speed automatic. It features a 34-inch rest sleeper and a 132-inch ARI sleeper for a total of 166 inches of living quarters. Custom work includes a rear T-bar bumper and fend- ers from Talladega Fiberglass.

• Cover
• Remember relationships when talking rates.
• Pulse: Driving skills for tomorrow’s trucks.
• Making a health case for hours change.
• Podcasts on broken ELDs, reefer washouts.
• Readers mixed on tariff freight impacts.
• Ruling keeps restrictions on glider kits.
• FMCSA denies e-log exemption request.
• FMCSA to test new CSA scoring system.
• Younger driver pilot proposal advances.
• Medical examiner registry functions improve.
• Putting old-school Pete in the new school.
• Bright orange W9 grabs attention.
• Morgan, Ball pick up first Bandit wins of ’18.
• Reader Rigs: ’13 389 all in the family; ’15 389 is Louisiana blue; ’06 379 beats the heat; ’16 Western Star 5700 lives on the road; ’16 VNL 780 a Peach State Volvo.
• EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT CBs and accessories.
• GEAR GUIDE Prefilter, tires, suspension, more.
• FLEET NEWS A. Duie Pyle opens Bronx service center.
• BETTER HEALTH Prostate health can decline with aging.
• UNFORGIVING CLOCK | For all the attention on hours reform, it’s ELDs that still stir the most ire.
• Business: Flatbed leads broader gains in owner-op income Net income for leased owner-operators and independents in the first three months of 2018 continued to march upward. Operators across all three segments took home more in 2018’s first quarter on a
• COVER STORY: Some pain amidst the gains Overdrive’s annual CSA’s Data Trail update of national enforcement trends shows that it’s the smallest carriers that are catching the brunt of issues arising from ELD malfunctions and user errors. They’re also get
• Today’s flatbeds lighter, stronger The newest flatbed trailers, if spec’d properly, are more productive, require less maintenance, are safer and are built to last longer. Aluminum alloys offer the durability of high tensile-strength steel at less than ha
• Combating heat’s toll on batteries Winter weather takes a lot of blame for battery failures, but the damage caused by hot-weather driving is often the primary culprit. Battery wear can go undetected for months, but routine checks can head off potential f