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Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips Email Newsletter, Issue #009, 2010-04-09
April 09, 2010

Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips Email Newsletter
April 2010 -- Issue #009

At Truck-Drivers-Money-Saving-Tips.com, we provide real world tips that help professional truck drivers save hard-earned money and personal reporting about products and services for use on the road.

Look for this icon alerting you to truck drivers money saving tips on our site:

money saving tipMoney saving tip:



Site Update

Since we published the March 2010 issue of Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips Email Newsletter, we hit a milestone of having published 100 pages of money saving tips -- geared specifically for professional truck drivers -- on our website.

With our 100-page milestone came the decision to update the look of our website from a 2-column format to a 3-column format. We hope you like the new look as much as we do.



Twitter Account Update

Through our Twitter account, we publish a "Truck Drivers Money Saving Tip" on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and a "Truck Drivers Money Saving Inquiry" on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

If you don't have a Twitter account, that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of part of what we publish through ours. Feel free to review the tip or inquiry we publish through A Tweet a Day. (When we convert this page to the 3-column format, we'll add the most recent tweets.)

Through Twitter, we also send out inquiries like this, seeking to interview people who have tried various products and services that are marketed to and sold to professional drivers:
"If you are a professional truck driver using Scrublade windshield wipers, we want to interview you. Please contact us: http://bit.ly/4SSgBU"



Reviews Requested

We are seeking these kinds of reviews on our site:

We have begun the process by providing reviews of showers at truck stops, travel stops and travel centers:



Truckers' Savings Blog

We started publishing "bloglets" on our Truckers' Savings Blog -- containing the titles and snippets of truck drivers money saving news articles -- together with links to the original sources so that you can learn more. Of particular importance this month were the money saving, longer lasting, and energy efficiency-enhancing innovations that were showcased at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS).

While we were in the process of publishing our first batch of bloglets, we published a page on our site containing a form through which others may contribute truckers savings news. (Note: We do not accept commercials or promotional pieces, just news.)

These are the bloglets that we have published through the Truckers' Savings Blog during the last month.
Each of these entries was followed by a bit.ly shortened URL link inside "[Click link for rest of article]."
Non-numerical characters (like percentage signs) may have been stripped out when we published the snippets on our blog.

  • Michelin releases new energy efficient single wide drive tire
    Michelin Americas Truck Tires today introduce what the company is calling is most fuel-efficient drive tire to date, the Michelin X One XDA Energy Tire.

  • MATS: Michelin launches new wide single drive tire
    Michelin is celebrating its 10th year of X One wide single truck tires with the introduction of what it claims to be the industry's most fuel-efficient drive tire to date, the X One XDA Energy tire.

  • Thermo King unveils 3 new products for cost savings, green compliance
    Thermo King today introduced a triple threat of three new products at the Mid-America Trucking Show here including the TriPac e APU electric auxiliary idle reduction and temperature management system, the T-1000 SPECTRUM multi-temperature unit and the SmartPower High Output Electric Standby option.

  • MATS: Webasto unveils hybrid APU
    Webasto has introduced a BlueCool Hybrid thermal storage auxiliary power unit (APU) that has the ability to use shore power to provide bunk cooling and hotel load power.

  • MATS: Bridgestone intros new long-wearing steer tire
    Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS) has introduced a new long-wearing Bridgestone-brand R287A steer tire. The new radial, which has already been approved for use on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWaySM-certified equipment and is California Air Resources Board (CARB) compliant, is designed to provide superior tread wear and mileage for low cost-per-mile in regional and long-haul applications. The tire was launched at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. this week.

  • MATS: Carrier unveils new multi-temp TRU
    Carrier Transicold has introduced a new hybrid multi-temp trailer refrigeration unit (TRU) it says is 20 more fuel efficient than the model it replaces.

  • MATS: Bendix says three air management systems can deliver 8 fuel savings
    Three air management systems from Bendix can collectively reduce a commercial vehicle's fuel consumption by up to 8, Bendix officials announced at the Mid-America Trucking show.

  • MATS: Detroit Diesel offers extended coverage for BlueTec SCR system
    Detroit Diesel said it will allow its customers to choose the warranty package that best suits their needs for its EPA2010 BlueTec SCR aftertreatment system.

  • West Virginia advances stricter truck rules
    ... Fines for drivers found violating OOS orders would increase from $1,100 to $2,500. Subsequent offenses would result in $5,000 fines. ...

  • North Carolina discusses I-95 as a toll road
    Tolling and public-private partnerships are on the table in North Carolina as state officials look into improving Interstate 95. ...

  • OOIDA: I-80 tolls in PA not the answer
    The leadership of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says tolling an existing interstate such as I-80 in Pennsylvania would be "nothing more than another regressive tax" that undermines sound transportation policy.

  • New Indiana law allows weight exception for APUs
    A new law in Indiana is intended to provide an incentive to reduce truck idling.

  • CARB fines produce company $32,000 over lack of reefer reports
    The California Air Resources Board has fined one Sacramento-area produce company $32,000 for not filing state-required reefer reports.

  • Seeing red over yellow lights. Experts say three seconds is not long enough
    More than 1,700 drivers given red light camera tickets in League City are due refunds, the city's police chief said Monday.

  • Judge rules Prime should pay driver $151,600, reinstate her job
    Nine-year trucking veteran and OOIDA Member Cynthia Ferguson of Oakdale, MN, was on Interstate 80 near Fernley, NV, on Christmas Day in 2008. That was when she encountered near-blizzard conditions and black ice, and received word there were treacherous road conditions on Donner Pass, where she was headed. ... Ferguson's attorney, Paul O. Taylor of Burnsville, MN, told Land Line that he then filed a complaint against Prime under Section 405 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, "which prohibits trucking companies from firing drivers for refusing to drive in violation of commercial vehicle safety regulations." ...

  • Feds reject Pennsylvania's plan to toll I-80
    The federal government has rejected Pennsylvania's application to turn Interstate 80 into a toll highway, Gov. Ed Rendell said Tuesday, eliminating a key source of money to pay for highway, bridge and mass transit projects across the state.

  • Truckers Pleased I-80 Tolls Rejected
    Truckers taking a break along Interstate 80 Tuesday are happy the Federal Department of Transportation has rejected Governor Rendell's proposal to toll I-80. This had been the state's third attempt to place tolls on the East/West thoroughfare.

  • Brown: Toll proposal rejection a clear sign
    ... By comparison, it costs almost $200 on Interstate 76 in tolls for a commercial trucker to drive from one side of the state to the other. Pending that trucker works 250 days per year and drives that route twice per day, it could add up to almost $100,000 per year. ...

  • Indiana adopts higher fines for OOS violations
    ... Previously SB74, the new law significantly increases fines for drivers found violating out-of-service orders. Instead of first offenders facing a $1,000 fine, they would be responsible for paying $2,500 fines. Motor carriers also face greater punishment. Employers convicted of knowingly allowing, requiring, permitting or authorizing a driver in OOS status to get behind the wheel would face fines between $2,750 and $25,000. The fine has been $2,500. ...

  • Maersk to begin new "damaged container" charges for truckers in May
    ...Maersk will begin assessing "out of service" charges of $150 per container and $350 per reefer container in order to cover costs when the containers are returned damaged, the shipping giant has announced. ...

Subscribe to Truckers' Savings Blog to receive these bloglets as they are sent.



New Money Saving Resources on our Website



Reader Submitted Content

On most pages linked in the left-hand navigation bar of our site, we have a form through which you may contribute tips, share ideas, give your opinion, submit reviews or ask questions. We look forward to having your input because our website is designed to help truck drivers save money.

During the last month, readers have made these contributions to our site:



In the Works!

We have quite a number of articles "in the works" and look forward to finishing and publishing them soon.

We have submitted "interview questions" from which to publish articles from two businesses that cater to professional drivers. We hope to have those articles finished and published this month.

We plan to contact more businesses that sell products and services to truckers, so that we can find the best money saving opportunities for you.



Word of Mouth Testimonials Work!

If you believe that our website, our news feed or our email newsletter is valuable, would you please share it with a fellow truck driver or those related to truckers? We surely would appreciate it -- and we believe they will, too.

Perhaps you'll be the next person to send us a testimonial.



We wish you safe travels and lots of money saving opportunities on the road!

Best regards,
Mike and Vicki Simons
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