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Without duct tape, America stops. :)

Below is an excerpt from my daily blog. I offer it for newbies to consider as they develop their business strategies and practices. I don't have any freight to talk about today (Sunday, 8/10/08), but it is morning and there is still hope. We have been waiting for a load since Thursday morning...

Interesting reading. A few points if I may: 1. I think changing the name from Contractor Council to something that more accurately describes the body is an outstanding idea. It would relieve members of the heat that comes when other contractors misunderstand the body. It would help contractors...

Swing (barn) doors provide a better seal and insulation than roll-up (overhead) doors on reefer bodies, but a good roll-up door is adequate. I have never seen an R value given for a Skinnybun. But I have not shopped the Skinybun market either. (Why does it feel like I am talking...

Not everything important that affects contractors is presented to the council first. I know that because a council member told me so. From my point of view, the council gets far more attention from drivers than it deserves. Members are hand-picked by management. No one says much about what...

This topic is shifting a bit from the new dispatch system to four star, but about four star, let me say this. The four star contest is not unfair. The same standards apply to every contractor. If Diane and I wanted to be four star winners, we could easily do so. Safety and availability...

Insulation amount is a valid concern. A number of reefer operators address it by over spec'ing their truck body and reefer. Where three inches of insulation would do, they spec four. Where a Carrier 750 would do, they spec an 850 or even a 950. Keep in mind that insualtion effectiveness...

The last I heard, Skinnybuns (flexible bulkheads used in reefer bodies) are not alllowed with TVAL reefer freight with FedEx Custom Critical. That may have changed, but I don't think so. Check to be sure if you run with FedEx and are thinking of buying one. We do not have one in our truck. In a...

New Garmin Nuvi 750's are selling on eBay for $275 - $300.

Never thought of puppy training pads before, but you still have to buy them. Large pieces of cardboard are easily found behind most truck stop buildings. I carry a couple of those in the truck to use when changing generator oil. They make kneeling on the pavement easier. Oil drips on them are...

While I remain wary of CARB, recent developments in their proposed rules provide some relief for Diane and me, and people in a similar situation (one-truck owner-operators with plans to run their trucks for a number of years). This is from a recent Land Line magazine report: "According to...

This McBride/Caffee discussion has been VERY interesting to read. Thank you both for sharing in public. As I read it, the only thing I react to is the acceptance percantage. For some people it is improtant. For others it is not. Diane and I are in the latter group. While we are proud of our...

It gives you some awesome sleeper possibilities too. You could have a tractor 40 feet long. Behind the cab you could have a whole-lot-a sleeper and then the fifth-wheel.

It seems to me that you received a fair amount of feedback on the load opportunity system. In that regard, it was not a mistake to start the thread. Nor do I see your posts as maligning FedEx. Your comments are straightforward and raise legitimate questions about the system. If you have not...

I think it is fine for this thread to show up in the general forum and to keep it here. I do not think it is fine for people who admit to not knowing what they are taking about to talk anyway. But, this is an Open Forum so foot in mouth is permitted. So is expressing objections to negative...

The problem is not that you replied. This is an Open Forum. The problem is the unhelpful and disrespectful way you replied; namely, insinuation, innuendo and vague statements designed to cast a competing carrier in a bad light. Simple as that.

Time is saved because dispatch can send the same offer to multiple trucks at the same time. Before, an offer would go to one truck at a time, the truck would have 10 minutes to respond, and if the load was declined, the offer would go to the next truck. If three trucks declined the load and a...

That's right, Dave. You don't know. Do you really expect people to buy into your .... whatever? Think about it. If a truck is close and the load can be offered at one rate, offering a lower rate to a more-distant truck is unlikely to attract that truck to the load. The more-distant truck would...

Check out Paddock Solar; solar power solutions for the trucking industry. Great strides are being made in solar energy. One that is especially exciting recently came out of MIT but made surprisingly little news. See the story about solar powered fuel cells. Additional story I am following...

This long and sometimes-informative thread began with Dreamer's post, in which he expressed concern about regulators subjecting laptops to TV rules. It seems that as technology marches on, regulators will have their hands full. In a Best Buy store yesterday, I saw Garmin GPS devices that...