Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/141405
VOICES SHARING KNOWLEDGE What's your best tip for cutting fuel costs? T here are dozens of ways to save fuel, as these and other readers show. Some involve equipment, others smart driving. For more reader advice, check OverdriveOnline.com/ SharingKnowledge. " Thermo King TriPac helped me save thousands on fuel, not to mention the hours on the main [engine]. It's the best $11,000 I've ever spent, and I don't want another truck without one. Cody Blankenship " Owner-operator, 4B Transportation LLC " My best tip from hauling trade shows with a 53-foot van-trailer was to close the gap to at least 28 inches with the rear of the tractor. At about 30 inches, wind removes the aerodynamics, so I specifically measured each trailer I was hooking to avoid fuel mileage loss. " R.A. "Bob" McConnell | ROMCO Equipment Voices: Sharing Knowledge brought to you by: JULY JACKET WINNER What's your best maintenance tip? Submit your idea at OverdriveOnline.com/SharingKnowledge. You could receive a Mobil Delvac jacket for participating! " Driver training — truck inspections, driving habits — is the single most important variable that can be tweaked to achieve the biggest positive difference in cutting fuel costs. " Miguel Cazares Owner-operator, Cazco Speedwagon Strange bedfellows in truck weight alliance Broad cross-organization support materialized for SHIPA (Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2013) legislation in early May. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Teamsters were joined in backing the bill by a group that has used the term slaughter rather routinely to describe America's cartruck collisions: the Truck Safety Coalition, an alliance that includes Parents Against Tired Truckers and CRASH. The bill would close a loophole allowing 80,000-poundplus trucks on parts of the National Highway System. Secondly, in the wake of the May 23 collapse of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington state, such public support redoubled. Online prognosticators were quick on the draw against renewed efforts at legislation in ongoing consideration on Capitol Hill to raise truck weight limits to 97,000 pounds from 80,000 with the addition of a third trailer axle. Such reaction was markedly similar to that seen in the wake of the I-35W collapse in 2007 in Minneapolis, though truck weight arguably had nothing to do with that disaster. In the I-5 case, the fact that an oversize load striking bridge supports seemed to be involved led to no The collapsed span of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington State was reopened with a temporary span in June, though at press time it was still closed to over-dimensional loads. shortage of speculation. "Just like most incidents out here on the road, too many people jump to conclusions prior to hearing the real story," wrote a commenter at OverdriveOnline.com. "How easy is it to sit behind a computer screen or microphone making statements just merely to be heard? There is an old saying: It is an empty wagon that makes the most noise." Find more related to the collapse and truck weight limits in the May 9 and 28 posts to the blog. Visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' CHANNEL 19 BLOG at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19 Write him at tdills@randallreilly.com. 6 | Overdrive | July 2013 Voices_0713.indd 6 7/1/13 11:13 AM