Tag: overdrive: Page 16

Channel 19

Excerpting ‘Roll On,’ a novel by Fred Afflerbach

The book is out, owner-operators. And what a book it is, telling the story, as I’ve written here, of owner-operator Ubi Sunt, an old-school “bedbugger” and child of the orphan trains facing down in the early 1980s an incoming rush of new faces, new ways of doing business, new pressure from his family to settle […]

April 17, 2012

Channel 19

Colin Stuart’s ‘Working Class,’ shown in Knoxville this weekend

Just as I was wrapping up my time at the Southeastern Regional Truck Show this past Saturday, April 14, what would pull into the lot at Knoxville, Tenn.’s Chilhowee Park on East Magnolia but this stupendous custom 1984 Peterbilt 359, the usually heavy-hauling (he had on a load of pallets Saturday) Working Class of Harvard, […]

April 16, 2012

Channel 19

New hotel-search iPhone app from Booking.com

Need a hotel last-minute on the road? The new free Booking.com Tonight app for the iPhone taps into the Booking.com website‘s global listings for more than 200,000 hotels and other accommodations and offers some built-in price discounts for many, the company says. The app’s geared toward last-minute bookings and thus may be particularly useful for drivers. Simple, […]

April 15, 2012

Channel 19

Latest job rankings: ‘Truck driver’ gains to 128

Next time you encounter a bear with an attitude, remember you may well not be dealing with a happy man — or woman, as it were. As a highway hauler, your occupation is ranked far ahead of “Highway Patrol Officer” and “Police Officer” in CareerCast.com’s top 200 job rankings this year. Smokey Bear came in […]

April 13, 2012

Overdrive Extra

Ice Road Truckers season 5 DVDs available

A set of DVDs with the entire season 5 of History Channel’s “Ice Road Truckers” franchise is now available via History’s website. The season pit the Canucks against the Americans, with a crew of haulers in Alaska as well as another group in Canada battling it out for the top spot, as you may recall. […]

April 12, 2012

Channel 19

The debate over fighting broker fraud

The high-profile case of fraudulent broker Kulwant Singh Gill, who last week was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution to his carrier victims, has owner-operators and industry watchers debating just how to solve the problem of fraud in transportation for once and all. A big part of that debate is […]

April 12, 2012

Channel 19

NFI driver delivers third roadside baby

I was all set this morning to write about the debate over the appropriate strategy toward dealing with fraud in the trucking industry from crooked poseur brokers and the like (tune in tomorrow for more on that), but sometimes a story hits that is just too good and/or unbelievable to pass on. Today, that story […]

April 11, 2012

Overdrive Extra

Standard live weight tool making bulk life easier

On-board scale manufacturer Air-Weigh’s QuickLoad Trailer Scale now comes standard on all Sidump’r trailers, says Sidump’r General Manager Jennifer Koepke. “It’s a major customer benefit, providing protection from overweight citations, improving productivity and, at the end of the day, extending trailer life by protecting from overloading.” The QuickLoad onboard scale features an icon-based touch-screen display […]

April 11, 2012

Channel 19

Owner-operators’ road trip guide from Atlas

Atlas Van Lines’ King of the Road operator survey, conducted earlier this year, garnered close to a couple hundred responses to questions running the gamut of operational details and preferences for various businesses delivering services to drivers the nation over. Favorite coffee? Dunkin Donuts. Best fast food? Subway. Biggest difficulty on the road? Eating right, […]

April 10, 2012

Channel 19

Some L.A. port truckers voting for union representation

Employee unions can be tools toward giving workers a stronger basis in decisions regarding their collective interests, just as small-business associations can help to give collective voice to small business interests. Where the line between the two is blurred, however, there may well be unintended consequences of legal moves in either or the other direction. […]

April 9, 2012

Overdrive Extra

TCA’s weight-loss contest week 7: Individual driver leaders

After we posted last week on the week 6 results of the Truckload Carriers Association’s Weight-Loss Showdown competition among carriers and their drivers and staff members, the organization released the week 7 results, including not only cumulative carrier percentages (Prime Inc. remains the weight-loss leader) but results among individuals. Drumroll please…. Hirschbach Motor Lines driver […]

April 9, 2012

Channel 19

Cummins introduces iPhone app with 3-D engine views

The latest in the trucking-related smartphone apps world is a nifty program offering 3-D views of engine componentry and systems from the folks at Cummins. It’s geared toward connecting technicians with careers with the diesel engine manufacturer, but I imagine there are plenty of you who’d get a kick out of the the app’s features […]

April 8, 2012