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Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips Email Newsletter, Issue #011, 2010-06-04
June 04, 2010

Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips Email Newsletter
June 2010 -- Issue #011


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.

Did you know that our site is not just about what we have found works for us? That's right. If you as a professional truck driver have a great money saving tip, please share it on our site!

To help emphasize the fact that we accept the wisdom of other professional drivers on our site, we've started to use our new two-pronged tag line:

Get and share great money saving tips for truck drivers right here.

With your help, we're looking to expand our website to provide money saving information on lots of different topics, information that provides tangible value to you and other professional drivers everywhere.



A Tweet A Day

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.

Read what we have published so far.



Reviews Requested and Completed

We are seeking these kinds of reviews on our site:


We ventured into unchartered territory this past month by setting up a page to allow drivers who use a particular service -- that we do not use -- submit a review:


As a service to you, we have completed the reviews listed below since our last newsletter.

Please be aware that we perform reviews based on our own personal set of expectations. We fully recognize that what one driver expects, another may not and vice versa. If you disagree with a review, please feel free to submit one of your own. (Reviews must be submitted by those currently employed as professional truck drivers.)

Restaurant Reviews

Shower Reviews

Fuel Island Reviews



Truckers' Savings Blog

Below are the "bloglets" (from newest to oldest) we have published on our Truckers' Savings Blog since our last email newsletter. They contain the titles and snippets of articles together with links to the original sources so that you can learn more. Each of these entries was accompanied by a link so that readers could read the entire article.

Through this blog, we send news about opportunities for saving money or getting rebates; share articles revealing how drivers saved money or lost money (as examples to learn from); and alert drivers to situations to be aware of that could cost them money.

  • US Truck Safety Event Scheduled For Next Week
    The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will conduct its annual Roadcheck event, June 8-10, at more than 1,500 locations across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Roadcheck is the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial vehicles in the world. The event mobilizes thousands of federal, state, provincial and local inspectors to conduct comprehensive North American Standard (NAS) Level I Inspections and other related roadside enforcement activities. ... Roadcheck 2009's record total of overall inspections and Level I inspections showed significant declines in vehicle and driver OOS rates, as well as a significant drop in safety belt violations. Data show the highest overall vehicle compliance rate - 80.4 percent - since 1996, and the highest overall driver compliance rate - 95.7 percent - ever. For NAS Level I inspections, the compliance rates of 77.8 percent (vehicles) and 96.1 percent (drivers) were both records for Roadcheck, and represented 7.1 and 20.4 percent improvements respectively over 2008's totals. ...

  • Shell Rotella SuperRigs kicks off next week
    ... The Shell Rotella SuperRigs competition is the premier truck beauty contest for actively working trucks. Owner-operator truckers from across the United States and Canada will compete for cash and prizes valued at $25,000. In addition, 12 lucky drivers will be selected to have their trucks featured in the 2011 Shell Rotella SuperRigs calendar. Every entrant in the contest will be awarded with a gift package valued at more than $50 while supplies last. ...

  • Alberta announces retrofit grants for truck owners
    ... Fleet owners as well as owner-operators are eligible if they install trailer skirts, fairings, auxiliary power units or cab heaters during the specified rebate period of June 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011. They can apply for rebates between $300 and $1,500 per vehicle or up to $7,000 for hybrids. An APU, for example, carries a potential $1,500 rebate. Companies are eligible to obtain a maximum of $30,000 in rebates. ...

  • Thermo King offering rebates on aftermarket parts
    Thermo King is offering rebates of up to $250 when customers purchase qualifying parts for Thermo King and Carrier units from participating dealerships in Canada and the US. The program is currently underway and will run through Sept. 30. ...

  • Alberta offers rebates for fuel-saving equipment
    Alberta is the latest province to provide rebates for truckers who invest in fuel-saving technologies. ... Eligible technologies include: trailer skirts and fairings ($500); end fairings ($500); cab heaters ($400); auxiliary power units ($1,500); gap fairings ($300); and hybrid commercial vehicles ($7,000). ...

  • Electric APU, trailer skirt and new tires join SmartWay ranks
    ... Thermo King's new TriPace is the first electric APU from Thermo King, which the company says provides a clean, sustainable choice for those customers looking for APU options. The system is designed to maintain comfortable temperature conditions in the truck cab without running an engine. It is a battery-powered solution that uses sophisticated power management technology to optimize energy used. Silver Eagle's new Aero Saber skirt gains is said to improve fuel efficiency by 5.7 percent. As well, the Aero Saber is also constructed of 90 percent recycled aluminum and rubber, and the entire system is 100 percent recyclable at the end of its usable life. ...

  • Carrier Transicold now offering AeroFlex side fairings
    Carrier Transicold is now offering AeroFlex fairings through its North American dealer network. Officials say the side fairings, developed by Freight Wing, have demonstrated up to 7.5 improved fuel economy for tractor-trailers. ...

  • New Report Points to Benefits of Fuel Economy Technologies
    ... According to the report, increasing the average fuel economy of these trucks by 3.7 mpg with current and near-term technologies would reduce U.S. annual oil consumption by 11 billion gallons in 2030. Efficiency improvements could save Class 8 fleet truck owners more than $120,000 per tractor-trailer over eight years and owner-operators more than $80,000 per tractor over 10 to 15 years, assuming an average $3.50 per gallon fuel price. ...

  • White House Will Announce Plans for Truck Fuel Economy Standards Today
    ... [Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum] also said that many of the techniques EPA will rely on will be familiar to participants in the EPA SmartWay program, which promotes technologies such as aerodynamics, low rolling resistance tires and reduction of waste heat as ways to improve fuel economy. The EPA proposal will be guided in part by research recently published by the National Academy of Sciences. That study says considerable fuel efficiency gains are possible through a range of technologies and methods across a variety of truck vocations, and recommends that regulators employ a fuel economy measurement that takes freight into account, such as gallons per ton-mile. ...

  • Florida bills authorize exemption for APUs, raid on road funding
    ... One bill awaiting action from Gov. Charlie Crist includes a benefit for truck drivers. HB1271 includes an incentive to reduce trucking idling. Tucked inside a lengthy transportation bill, it would increase the maximum gross vehicle, axle weight limits for large trucks equipped with idle reduction technology. Trucks equipped with auxiliary power units would be authorized to weigh up to an additional 400 pounds. Supporters say the weight exemption removes the disincentive that otherwise would keep truckers from using APUs. ...

  • Trucking safer than ever under current HOS: study
    ... ATRI gathered data from nearly 260 motor carriers, representing over 127,000 commercial drivers for the survey, which compares 2009 safety figures to those collected in 2004 as part of a previous HOS study. The data shows that the total collision rate per million miles dropped for all fleets surveyed by 11.7 percent between 2004 and 2009 (TL 10.6, LTL 8.5), while preventable collisions dropped a whopping 30.6 percent for all carriers (TL 21, LTL 13.6). ...

  • Solving the riddle of empty repositioning
    ... Today, empty containers sit stacked by the hundreds of thousands all over the globe, waiting to be brought back into service. Often it will take an empty movement or two before that happens. ... It's a cost pegged by Drewry Shipping Consultants to be about $7 billion a year to the global logistics community. ...

  • Fleets Shift Focus Toward Cost Savings in 2010
    Cost savings is a top concern for fleet managers and executive management, with almost half of fleets naming it as their main focus for 2010, according to a survey conducted by GE Capital Fleet Services. In contrast, cost savings was a priority for 36 percent of respondents in the 2009 survey. ...

  • Truck owners in Nova Scotia offered energy efficiency rebates
    Truck owners in Nova Scotia, Canada, who invest in idle-reduction or fuel efficiency equipment may be eligible for rebates of up to $2,500 per truck. ...

  • IdleAire recharges handful of locations Truck stop electrification provider IdleAire is set to get plugged back in just a few months after calling it quits. On its website, the company confirmed it has been purchased by a new group of Investors who plan on reopening about two dozen locations in the U.S. ...

  • Kansas passes tax, fee increases for transportation
    ... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association adamantly opposes the conversion of non-tolled roads into toll facilities. ... Also drawing truckers' attention is a plan to increase annual registration fees for large trucks by $135. In 2013, the fee would increase from $1,735 to $1,820. A year later the fee would rise to $1,870. Vehicles weighing less than 12,000 pounds would not pay more. ...

  • Alabama law provides incentive to reduce idling
    A new law in Alabama is intended to help truckers who want to reduce their idling in the state while staying comfortable in their cab. Other states have acted recently to authorize the incentive. ...

  • Climate legislation a hidden tax on trucking: ATA
    ... The American Trucking Associations (ATA) announced that it cannot support the American Power Act introduced to the Senate by John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). The ATA says the legislation raises the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel without any real significant reduction of carbon dioxide by the trucking industry, which the ATA notes is a non-discretionary user of diesel fuel. ...

  • Virginia governor proposes I-95 tolls
    Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has asked the federal government for permission to convert part of Interstate 95 into a toll road near the North Carolina border. Highway user groups, including OOIDA, wasted no time announcing their opposition to the proposal. McDonnell announced Monday, May 10, that state transportation officials filed a request for tolling authority from the Federal Highway Administration. The idea is to charge $1 or $2 per axle to fund improvements and eventually add capacity to I-95. ...

  • Senate climate bill would raise trucking costs
    ... the proposal would likely lead to higher fuel prices, stricter emissions standards and a push to convert commercial trucks to cleaner burning fuels - all of which could add costs that would be passed on to truckers. ... [OOIDA Director of Legislative Affairs Mike Joyce said,] "Number two, the way I read this proposal so far, and it's 1,000 pages long, is its no different than what I read in previous climate-change bills in that it ultimately will impose a tax on those that use fossil fuels, mainly truckers." ...

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

If you have news about how professional truck drivers can save money (directly or indirectly) please submit it for publication on our Truckers Savings News page. (Note: We do not accept commercials or promotional pieces, just news.)



New Money Saving Resources on our Website

These are the articles we have published (besides the reviews above) since our last email newsletter.



Reader Submitted Content

We provide on our site numerous opportunities where our readers may contribute tips, share ideas, give opinions, submit reviews or ask questions. We look forward to having your input because our website is designed to help truck drivers save money.

Since our last email newsletter, readers have made these contributions to our site:

  • Chicken Paprikash
    Chicken Paprikash This is delish....and the easiest chicken recipe ever! Mixing the paprika with the onions brings out the spice's sweetness. No need



We Answer Readers' Questions

One form on our site is specifically designated as the place where drivers can ask questions: Ask a Question. It was through this page that we recently answered this question:

  • Food Cost
    My biggest expense on the road is food! I have used a Coleman fridge and microwave, but fridge is too small and does not keep food cold enough! Also the



Do All Our Readers Always Agree With Us?

Has all of the feedback we've received to date been positive? Nope! And this submission is evidence of that.

  • Three ring binder
    NOTE: The following opinion is about using a three ring binder instead of an aluminum forms holder. ----- The item shown, an Adams aluminum forms holder,

So now you know we're sincere when we ask these questions at the bottom of many of our "Tier 3" pages.

Agree? Disagree?
Info not complete?
Click here to share a tip, idea, opinion or review
-- or ask a question -- on this topic.

Please note that each Tier 3 page where these questions appear has its "Click here" link tied to the Tier 2 page under which it is categorized. The one above just happens to be for product reviews.



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. While Vicki made great strides in preparing one article for publication in the past month, it just didn't happen. (We're sure you understand this as you may deal with load delivery appointment times that get changed.) However, we hope to finalize and publish it this month. Thanks for your patience.

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.



Website Update

After we updated our website from a 2-column format to a 3-column format, we found that we didn't like the way that the fluid design made the middle column jump from wider to narrower. So Vicki tweaked the design to a fixed width.

We've also added some links to selected pages on our site just under the logo to make them easier to find.

We hope you like these improvements. If you have suggestions on how to make our website better, please contact us.



Word of Mouth Testimonials Work!

If the number of unsolicited testimonials we receive is any indication of the positive impact we're having in professional truck drivers' lives, we think that we've struck a nerve.

We're not paid to give a positive or negative review of anything -- and wouldn't accept a bribe even if one was offered. (There's an old saying that we desire to always observe: not to distort justice, not be partial, and not take a bribe -- because a bribe blinds one's eyes.)

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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