Tag: Partners in Business: Page 8

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: SHOP FOR THE BEST VALUE. Get the most for

PIB TIP: SHOP FOR THE BEST VALUE. Get the most for your money in tires, whether you spend a little or a lot. It’s tempting to shop primarily by sticker price, but cost per mile and retreading potential are more important considerations. Making an informed choice means keeping written and dated records of purchase, fuel […]

January 18, 2011

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: SPEC FOR YOUR APPLICATION. Effort put int

PIB TIP: SPEC FOR YOUR APPLICATION. Effort put into careful spec’ing will pay off in any of the four main tire applications: long haul, regional, on/off road and urban. The different applications mean different tire lives. Specific steer, drive and trailer tires are available for each application. If you’re spec’ing a new truck, you can […]

January 11, 2011

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: YOUR IFTA ACCOUNT. You must get your own

PIB TIP: YOUR IFTA ACCOUNT. You must get your own International Fuel Tax Agreement account to do your own fuel tax reporting, whether you do it yourself or through a third party. You do not have to have your own operating authority to get an IFTA account, but independent owner-operators must have such an account […]

December 29, 2010

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Owner-operators can

PIB TIP: GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Owner-operators can save an average of 6 cents per gallon when they are able to participate in major carriers’ discount fuel networks. If your fleet has a fuel-optimizer program, use it. An optimizer program helps an owner-operator plan a trip, based on fuel prices and locations in the carrier’s […]

December 14, 2010

Channel 19

‘Who’s inefficient?’ Four wheels or 18?

So asks New Cumberland, Pa., resident and owner-operator Tom Bowers in a letter to the editor published in the Harrisburg, Pa., Patriot-News, in response to a letter from another area resident heaping the bulk of energy inefficiencies in the transportation arena on the back of the big rigs of the trucking industry. Bowers’ argument for […]

December 10, 2010

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: ASSESSING FUEL TAX. Each state gets its s

PIB TIP: ASSESSING FUEL TAX. Each state gets its share of taxes based on the number of miles truck drivers run in a state, according to the International Fuel Tax Agreement. If you run 100 miles in Missouri and your truck gets 5.9 mpg, for example, you pay tax on 16.9 gallons of fuel used […]

December 1, 2010

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: FINDING THE CHEAPEST FUEL. The real cost

PIB TIP: FINDING THE CHEAPEST FUEL. The real cost of fuel is the pump price minus the taxes. There are ways to save money on both the fuel you buy and the fuel taxes you pay. Learn what your carrier’s fuel tax policy is, and find out which states have the best diesel prices. Daily fuel prices […]

November 22, 2010

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: CUT OUT-OF-ROUTE MILES. If you’re like ma

PIB TIP: CUT OUT-OF-ROUTE MILES. If you’re like many owner-operators, with 6 percent to 10 percent of your miles out of route lost to detours, side trips and just human error, you could possible cut them 3 percent. Doing so would save 3 percent on fuel, as well as on other variable costs such as […]

November 17, 2010

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: PERFORM REGULAR PM. Preventive maintenanc

PIB TIP: PERFORM REGULAR PM. Preventive maintenance ensures your truck is running efficiently. Check your current miles per gallon at each fill, and if it falls off, determine the reason. Check often enough to catch low oil, a dirty air filter or an air compressor leak. Don’t use a higher-viscosity oil than you need. The […]

October 20, 2010

Overdrive Extra

Learning from a crash course

Such opportunities will increase as the economy struggles to get on its feet, and trucking already is ahead of the curve. It’s easy in the flush of good times to forget lessons so clearly illustrated during hardship. It’s best not to.

October 14, 2010

Partners in Business

PIB TIP: USE OF AERODYNAMICS SAVES MONEY. Use all-

PIB TIP: USE OF AERODYNAMICS SAVES MONEY. Use all-position tires on the rear, and make sure they’re the same tread as the steer tires. Match the sleeper package to the application: When you’re pulling a tank or flatbed, for example, a flat-top sleeper is the most aerodynamic option. Keep your gross vehicle weight as light […]

October 12, 2010

Channel 19

Still ‘dressed for success’ — Henry Albert’s opening salvo at GATS PIB

Overdrive 2007 Trucker of the Year, independent owner-operator Henry Albert (pictured, right, with our current Trucker of the Year, Mike Crawford), delivered an opening salvo at Overdrive’s Partners in Business seminar Friday, Aug. 27, at the Great American Trucking Show in an address that elucidated the effects of a very-small adjustment in his  business that, […]

September 29, 2010