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Fleet Managementby Jim ParkJuly 9, 2013

Which Drivers Make Good Lease-Purchase Candidates?

While capacity is important, the DOT's new CSA enforcement regime and ever-nosier agencies like the IRS make it clear that you simply can't take people that need to be led by the hand into a lease-purchase program.

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Fuel Smartsby Jim ParkJuly 9, 2013

Transmissions: Automating for Fuel Savings

Traditional thinking on automated manual transmissions has it that AMTs are the great equalizers – bridgers of skill gaps between the best and the worst drivers in the fleet. While that’s still true, AMTs now bring even more to the fuel-economy table, offering fuel savings in their own right beyond what even the most professionally driven manual transmission could accomplish.

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Driversby Jim ParkJuly 8, 2013

Buy Used, Build Equity

Here are two things you need to know about buying a truck: it takes big bucks to play with big trucks, and there no such thing as a free lunch. Keep those two things in mind while planning your business strategy and you'll double your chance of success.

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Driversby Jim ParkJuly 8, 2013

4 Ways to Get More Miles from your Tires

Irregular tire wear is usually a symptom of some other malfunction such as poor alignment, improper inflation or even poor driving habits. The peril with mechanically induced irregular wear is that it begins the day you install the tire, though it won't produce any visible signs until weeks or perhaps months later. By then, its progress is almost irreversible.

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Taking the Driver Physical to a New Level

Trucking companies, drivers and the general public who shares the road with trucks would all benefit from an approach that treats truck driver health as an ongoing project rather than every-other-year paperwork – and the new National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners could be a step in that direction.

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Driversby Deborah LockridgeJuly 8, 2013

7 Ways to Cut Idling Costs

Royal Jones, president and CEO of Mesilla Valley Transportation, is known for his near-obsessive attention to saving fuel. Yet eight or nine years ago, the fleet was averaging nearly 50% idle time.

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Fuel Smartsby Kate HarlowJuly 8, 2013

Trailers: The Next Generation

There aren’t many things less aerodynamic than a box. And a dry van trailer is basically a 53-foot box on wheels. The drag caused by that box and its effect on fuel economy is a challenge that has been taken up by the SuperTruck program.

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Aftermarketby Denise RondiniJuly 8, 2013

Right To Repair Update

The Massachusetts state legislature passed the nation's first "Right to Repair" law last summer, but it excluded vehicles over 10,000 pounds. However, in November, state voters overwhelmingly approved a different version of the law, which includes all motor vehicles sold in the state.

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Driversby Jim ParkJuly 3, 2013

What Exactly Constitutes an Underinflated Truck Tire?

Why should we worry about defining underinflation? Because of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) enforcement program.

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Aftermarketby Jim ParkJuly 2, 2013

Wheel-End Problems: Beyond the Obvious

Wheel-ends function as a system: the spindle, hub, and rim (or wheel), as well as the bearings and the fasteners, all work in concert to keep the wheels in place and the tires running straight and true. If one part of the system is out of whack, the results will be seen and felt elsewhere in the system - usually at the tires themselves.

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