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Hybrid Trucks

June 21st, 2007 by shenron

You are probably familiar with hybrid cars- generally compact size cars that get great gas mileage such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, however for those that thought hybrid trucks would make their entrance into the showroom far in the future, you will be interested to know that hybrid trucks are available right now in many auto dealer showrooms.  In fact, a few auto companies (GM, GMC, Ford, Toyota and Lexus) currently have hybrid trucks or SUV’s available for purchase.

 GMC Hybrid Truck

Why a Hybrid Truck?

A hybrid truck makes perfect sense for those owners that want to save on gas and improve their emissions.  Hybrid trucks generally have much better fuel economy than a regular gasoline or diesel truck and the emissions that a hybrid trucks releases into the air is significantly lower than normal trucks – making hybrid trucks a much more responsible choice.

Hybrid Trucks and Performance

Generally speaking, hybrid trucks perform quite well and are as reliable as normal trucks in general day to day driving.  You should expect slightly less performance, especially acceleration 0 to 60, but for most drivers, the drop in performance is generally negligible and well worth the trade off for better gas mileage and reduced emissions.

Hybrid Trucks for Commercial Purposes

If you rely on your current truck for heavy duty hauling and solid reliability, you might want to wait a few years until hybrid trucks have been perfected.  While hybrid trucks do perform well, for heavy duty lifting, nothing yet is available in hybrid form that performs on par with heavy duty gasoline or diesel engines.

The Cost of Hybrid Trucks

For the most part hybrid trucks generally cost more at the point of sale, but you can usually save on gasoline costs over the period of time that you own the vehicle.  It should be noted that even with the gasoline savings, common gasoline cars are still more cost effective over the life of the vehicle.   However, for those willing to pay a premium for a greener vehicle, hybrid trucks make an excellent choice.

Hybrid Trucks - The Trucks of the Future

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Choosing Heavy Duty Trucks for Business

June 21st, 2007 by shenron

If you own a small business and rely on your truck, you probably want to make sure that your truck is as productive and effective as possible.  Heavy duty trucks are high quality trucks that are engineered for reliability and performance instead of flash and luxury.  The heavy duty truck market can include pick up trucks that are made for towing or carrying heavy loads, trucks that have a specialized purpose such as garbage trucks, tow trucks, dump trucks, etc and rigs that primarily haul trailers.

Lease or Buy

One of the most important decisions you can make regarding purchasing a truck is whether to buy or lease.  They both have their benefits and depending on your business model and finances one or the other will be a better fit.  Usually the decision comes down to whether or not you expect to keep a heavy duty truck for the long term, if you do then usually purchasing the heavy duty truck outright will make the most sense.

Features of Heavy Duty Trucks

Each type of truck has its own features, however since most heavy duty trucks are made for business, reliability and solid engineering are always top features.  Many businesses do prefer to customize their trucks, especially if they service a specific niche.  For instance, if you are looking for a rig to haul tractor trailers you might be interested in features such as GPS, ride stability, special braking systems and extremely strong transmissions able to haul large amounts of weight.

Comparison Shop

The great part about shopping for heavy duty trucks is that there is a lot of competition out there.  This means that the consumer ultimately wins.  Not only will prices usually be competitive, but each heavy duty truck manufacturer will try to out perform the other by delivering quality products and constantly creating new and innovative products.

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Tractor Trailer Trucks

June 21st, 2007 by shenron

Driving Tractor Trailer Trucks Can be a Great Career Choice

Looking for a great career that can earn you a good salary, allow you to see America and be your own boss- driving tractor trailer trucks offers all this and more. 

Most truckers can make a great salary, some earning over $75K or more and with truck drivers always in demand it is usually extremely easy for almost any driver to find a great company to drive for.

See America

Not that many career choices allow you to see many parts of America.  In fact, driving tractor trailer trucks can offer the ability for you to drive cross country on a regular basis.  Whether you enjoy the West coast, the Midwest or even the southern part of the US, driving tractor trailer trucks can give you these opportunities and more.  For those with families, you can also choose to find a local trucking company that offers local routes so you can go home each night and be with your family, however for those love the open road; there are plenty of companies that offer long haul routes for tractor trailer trucks.

Be Your Own Boss

One of the great parts about driving tractor trailer trucks is that you are for the most part your own boss.  While you most likely will still have to deal with management and dock workers from time to time, for the most part on the road, your tractor trailer truck is your own private office.  As a driver of tractor trailer trucks you are given plenty of independence, especially once on the road.

Be Part of the Trucker Culture

Truckers are an interesting bunch of people and they all share a common bond.  Whether you are on the interstate or at a local truck stop, for most tractor trailer truck drivers finding friends on the road is quite easy and makes the job a lot more fulfilling.  If you are looking for a great career- choose to drive tractor trailer trucks.

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What you need to know about Truck Wash

June 21st, 2007 by shenron

Whether you have a pick up truck, RV or are hauling cargo across the country in an 18 wheeler, one of the stops that all truck drivers need to make is the truck wash.  For most truck drivers, what they drive is part of who they are- so most truck drivers don’t want to make a negative impression.  If you want to look good both on and off road a truck wash can be a great service.

Truck Wash

For most truckers, truck wash are available at most truck stops across our nation’s highways, however, for those that are looking for special services, you may have to shop around.  Extra services associated with truck wash include wash out, wheel cleaning, full cab detail, tanker wash, engine wash and special chrome service to make sure your chrome accessories shine.

While most people will see the exterior of your truck and trailer when on the road, for many truck drivers there is nothing like a clean and spotless interior.  Interior truck wash is a great way to clean up a messy office.  Offered at many truck stops and truck wash facilities cab detailing can make a difference for those that spend their work week inside their cab.  Interior cab detailing usually includes ridding the interior of dirt and dust, cleaning the vents, vacuuming and shampooing the carpet and making sure the interior windows and mirrors are spotless.  While these services usually cost extra and are more expensive than your average truck wash, they are well worth the extra expense.

Besides individual truck wash services offered at the many truck stops across the country, for those that own or lease several trucks and trailers, you might be interested in fleet washing programs.  Fleet wash brings the truck wash to your lot.  Whether you have 5 trucks or 500 trucks and trailers, fleet truck wash is a convenient and affordable way to make sure all your trucking equipment looks good year round.

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Heated Tank Truck Trailers

June 5th, 2007 by shenron

Heated Tank Truck Trailers are trailers that haul liquid across vast distances.  You see them when gasoline trucks pass you on the highway - however they are not heated.  Heated tank truck trailers are usually heavily modified with fuel lines and a way to generate the heat, and are found most commonly in colder regions where the contents of the tank trailer needs to be heated or else it will freeze and cause massive problems for the transportation of said materials.  Some are the same shape and size as a gas tanker while others have a diminished capacity in order to carry the payload and the extra equipment for heating - as it is likely to need its own fuel supply and generator.  These heated tank trailers are usually towed around by semi trucks and are constantly monitored by an automatic system that keeps the core temperature of whatever is in the tank at the desired level - much as a cooling tanker truck would do if it is hauling something that must be kept cool and contained across warmer areas. 

When the liquid is poured into the heated tank it is at the desired temperature already - and that keeps the heating expense on the truck lower - rather than have the truck heat it from room temperature.  In colder climates some thing which would normally be kept at a moderate temperature during the summer may need to be loaded inside a large warmed warehouse so that it does not chill during the loading - and many of the valves are also heated to provide an extra amount of protection for the heated material.  If the material was - lets say hot wax, you could see how a lower temperature could have consequences.  Valves and pipes could clog up, as with many other materials that become solid-like when a certain lower temperature is reached.

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