Managing your mile per gallon

Did you know that 25 percent of all operating costs for a fleet of trucks come from the cost of fuel? Think for a second how much 25 percent really is… Say you make $100 per day. 25% of that is 25. This means that every day you are paying $25 for gas, meaning that you are really only making $75 per day.

To some people, this may not seem like too much, but $25 a day really adds up. In fact, in one week $25 per day adds up to $175, in one month it is $5,425. Imagine having the expense of $5,425 a month for fuel. Just looking at that number hurts.

Knowing how the price of fuel adds up, you might now be asking what can you do about it? Fuel is a necessary part of any truck driving job, unless you can find a truck that can run on electricity. So, since fuel is a must-have part of your job what you need to do is figure out how you can get the most out of each and every drop. Remember that even a two or three percent difference can make a big impact.

Trucking’s Hottest State

Imagine driving down a long road on a hot summer day. Nothing surrounds you but dry, hot, barren desert. You can feel the midday sun beating through your windows and even though your air conditioning is on full blast, you still feel like it’s 100 degrees.

Most truck drivers know this feeling, especially those drivers that drive from one hot state to another. Oftentimes when you are driving from state to state in the summer heat, it seems as though the state you are currently in is the hottest, but how true is that? Which state is truly the hottest in the continental U.S.? The answer might surprise you.

The hottest state in the continental U.S. is Florida with an average year-round temperature of 70.73. Now, I know what you’re thinking. How can Florida be the hottest state when places like Texas have reached temperatures of 120? The key words here are year-round. Florida’s combined temperatures for the year average 70 degrees. Because Florida doesn’t get much colder than 65 in many places and not much hotter than 90, the average temperature and the temperature that occurs most often is about 70. The average temperature of Texas is 64.83.

Now, that’s all good for a year-round temperature, but what about the heat that really makes a difference? What about the summer heat, which state has the hottest summers? This answer might surprise you too.

The state with the hottest summer ever recorded is actually Oklahoma. In the year 2011 Oklahoma had an average temperature of 86.9 degrees, while Texas averaged 86.7 degrees. So, Oklahoma only beat Texas by .2 degrees, but hotter is hotter.

Like with Florida, these temperatures are an average of summer temperatures. Throughout the course of the summer, both states reached temperatures well above 86 degrees, even crossing beyond 100 on multiple occasions.

Honestly, most of the states in the south-central region and southeastern corner of the country are considered to be the “hottest.” With temperatures that most often don’t get too cold, the average temperatures of these states are pretty steady. However, when you find yourself crossing places such as the Mojave Desert, be prepared for scorching heat. The highest temperature recorded in the Mojave Desert is 125. That’s hot!

When you find one of these places on your truck driving route, be prepared for some real summer heat. Make sure you have plenty of water and a working air conditioner. As a truck driver, you will experience some hot roads, all you can do is make sure you are ready for it.

Truckers Against Trafficking: Take a Stand

Each year there are over 17,500 people trafficked into the United States. They are transported by boat, plane, train, bus and truck. This is a staggering number, and the information only gets worse. Human trafficking is a billion dollar industry, second only to drug trafficking. It is prevalent in all areas of the world, including the United States.

Currently, there are more than 300,000 American children in the human trafficking industry. These children are forced into a lifestyle they have no control over and literally become slaves. These children are taken from their homes at a young age and sold repeatedly for many purposes including manual labor and prostitution. The average age for children in the trafficking world is thirteen to fifteen years old, with a life expectancy of seven to nine years beyond that.

Human trafficking is a real and ever-present danger and it has to stop. Now, you may be reading this thinking what can I do? The truth is, you can do a lot. You don’t even have to put yourself out there, you don’t have to do a single thing except make a phone call. When you are at a truck stop or anywhere else and you notice something strange, call it in.

There is an organization called Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) that specializes in providing help to those children who find themselves caught in the world of human trafficking. TAT was founded because the trucking industry has been targeted by traffickers as a premium industry for their business. The constant movement of truck drivers provides traffickers with the ultimate climate to sell and transport their “cargo”, which in this case is young boys and girls.

Realizing this, TAT has implemented a program to educate truck drivers across the nation that this problem is there and that they can do something about it, all you need is a phone. There is a hotline (1-888-373-7888) implemented by TAT for drivers to call when they see suspicious activity. When calling this hotline you do not need to give any personal information, just tell them what you see.

If you see young women walking around the truck stop, don’t just roll your eyes at the “lot lizards” and go to sleep. Pick up your phone and call the police or the Truckers Against Trafficking hotline. You may think that you can’t make a difference, but you can. Mark, a truck driver for more than 30 years, remembers a time when he had the chance to make a call:

“I’ve been in the transportation industry since 1971 and I remember one time about 31 years ago I pulled into a truck stop, it was night and I was doing some paperwork. I noticed some girls going from truck to truck. Then a little bit later, I heard a knock on my door. I looked out the window and saw a girl standing there, so I got out and she asked me if I wanted a date. She was probably about thirteen or fourteen, really young. I said no, but let me ask you, why are you doing this? and she said, “See that Cadillac down there? That’s why.” I knew what she meant. I got back in my truck and I thought, why don’t I just walk across the parking lot and call the police? It would be easy, just walk across and call. Well… I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it and it’s been bothering me for 31 years. I feel that if people were aware, if they would just get involved… it’s just a simple phone call. Don’t let it bother you the rest of your life. It’s just a phone call, but it can make a big difference.”

Mark’s story is one where there was not a call made. However, there is also a story where the call was made and it made all the difference in the world. Shari was fifteen when she and her cousin, age 14, were kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Every day was full of abuse and fear with no hope of escape. Then, one day Shari was rescued. She was back at home and her life was given back to her. The reason she was freed is because a truck driver made a call.

“I have a life now.” Shari said.  “I’m married to a great guy and have a daughter with a son on the way. I’m sitting here next to my mom and all this could have been taken away if it weren’t for a trucker who made the call.”

You may think that you alone could never make a difference, but that is not true. From this one call from one truck driver, seven other children were rescued, 31 offenders were convicted and a 13-state prostitution ring was shut down. You can make a big difference.

To learn more about how you can be an everyday hero, visit www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com. As a truck driver, you are the eyes and ears of this nation’s highways, you can see things on one else can. This also means you can help in a way that no one else can.

Overcoming the Challenges of Trucking

In the trucking industry, there are many great perks to life on the road. The ability to drive across the country and meet new people from all over the world is great. However, as with any industry, there are also challenges to a truck driving job.

According to the annual King of the Road Survey, the top challenge met by truck drivers is eating right. This is followed closely by coping with hours-of-service regulations and exercising. Each of these challenges provide a different level of difficulty to a truck driver’s life, affecting both their personal and professional lives.

To help truckers overcome or at least lessen these challenges, we have provided some tips concerning each topic. It is our hope that by reading these tips you will learn something that can help you improve your life as a truck driver.

Challenge number one, eating right. Practicing healthy eating habits are hard enough for most people without adding the difficulties of a trucking job onto it. As a truck driver you are constantly on the road with a strict schedule. This means that you do not always have the time to go to the grocery store and purchase healthy foods and even if you do find the time, it is rather difficult to cook in a truck…

One thing you may try is just making weekly or even bi-weekly shopping trips when you can purchase fruits and vegetables and perhaps lunch meats for light lunch sandwiches. To do this, you would need a refrigerated storage unit so your food will not spoil. You can also try some healthy dinners that can be fixed in a microwave.

In the King of the Road Survey the top snack foods were fresh fruit, nuts, M&M’s and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The first snack, fruit, is a great choice. The second, mixed nuts, is also a good choice if eaten in moderation. Nuts are high in protein and if you eat too many you may find them adding to your weight problems. The last two snacks, M&M’s and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, are not quite the best choices for a mid-day snack.  If eaten sparingly, like once a week or less, these foods are okay but when eaten daily they can become a real problem.

Eating healthy with a truck driving job is not impossible. It does, however, take both time and dedication. It’s not easy, you need to exercise self-control but once you do start to eat healthy you will quickly find that the pros literally outweigh the cons.

Now for the next challenge, coping with the hours-of-service regulations. It is difficult to plan out your trip to the degree that you have every hour scheduled out, especially when there are so many variances like unplanned traffic congestion. The best way to be sure you are in accordance with your hours-of-service regulations is simply to do your best to plan ahead. To make a better trip plan, take into account the time of day, will you be driving during rush hour? The hours-of-service is meant to help drivers be safer on the road. If you are working against it, you will have a harder time with it.

The last trial that many truck drivers deal with is the challenge of exercising. After a long day of driving, most people are tired and one of the last things you want to do is get up and move about. If you do, however, you will find that you aren’t tired so easily and you will have many, many other benefits as well.

Exercise is a vital part of life. Not only does it keep your weight down, but it also has been proven to increase your lung capacity, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, help you sleep better and even improve your mood. If you are having trouble encouraging yourself to get up and exercise, think of all the things you can gain from it. Then, weigh this against what you will gain from not exercising…

Convincing yourself that you do indeed want to exercise is only half of the battle. Now you have to find a way to do it. Most people would simply go to the gym or exercise in their living room, but as a truck driver you don’t have that luxury. Know though that this does not mean exercise is impossible.

There are some exercises you can do right in your trailer during your break. These include sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, leg rises, or certain yoga moves. If you don’t have the room to do all of this or are simply unable to exercise in your cab, there are other alternatives. Some truck drivers take their bicycles with them on the road, taking it out when they stop and finding a trail or simply riding around the truck stop. This is a great idea to help you lose weight and improve your health. You can also simply run around you truck.

Some truck stops have gyms available for their driver to use. This is a great option, but if there is no gym don’t let yourself use that as an excuse. Like eating healthy, exercising is difficult and takes a level of dedication and self-control but is definitely worth it.

Your truck driving job should enable you to live a better life. Don’t let your career stop you from a healthy and happy life. Combine your truck driving job with these few tips and you will see that overcoming your challenges is not impossible and that it really can help you live life to the fullest.

Audio Books on the Road

Having a truck driving job is a very rewarding experience. You get paid to travel the country, meet a wide variety of people and drive a really big truck. However, a truck driving job can get lonely. Driving hour after hour with nothing but the roar of your engine to keep you company can get wearing after a while. Even the musical talents of your radio can become monotonous and the longing to actually hear someone talking makes you realize how alone you really are. 

At times like this, when you feel like you are going crazy, the solution is simple: listen to a book. Really, listen to a book. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes. When listening to a book, not only are you hearing the calming sound of a human voice speaking to you, but you are also being delightfully distracted by a story. Even as adults, most people enjoy being told a good story. The stimulation of your mind to create the scenes told in a story can also help you wake up a bit of you are feeling drowsy.

As a story unfolds, the characters will join you in the cab of your truck and you will likewise join them in their adventures. They can become your friends on the road, your companions through the long stretches of nothing but deserts or open fields. You may be surprised at how quickly you get involved with the story.

For those drivers who do not like story books, but prefer something a little more academic, there are plenty of text books or self-help books that have been recorded as well. Listening to one of these books can relieve your feeling of solitude by turning your thoughts inward, or toward the noble pursuit of knowledge. Having a truck driving job doesn’t have to mean being lonely anymore. You can have company on the road with you whenever you want, all you need to do is listen.

To learn more about truck driving and how you can begin your career as a successful truck driver, visit www.crengland.com.

Truck Driving School?

Going to truck driving school is the first step in beginning your career in truck driving. In trucking school you will receive the education and training you need to operate successfully on the road and in the end, you will have a CDL with your name on it. Because schooling is such a vital part of any trucker’s career, choosing which school to go to is also very important.

At CR England’s Premier Truck Driving School students are able to receive the education they need to drive a truck and upon successful completion of the school, England’s students are guaranteed a job with the company. There are plenty of trucking schools out there and each one has unique aspects to it. Some schools mostly take place in a classroom using diagrams and charts with very little hands-on training. On the other hand, there are schools that have little to no classroom training and focus primarily on hands-on training.

With C.R. England’s truck driving school students receive both teaching methods. With England’s classroom training students can learn the facts about truck driving and receive an understanding of the rules of the road. With England’s hands-on training students can get the feel of truck driving with their instructors guiding them. Also, with C.R. England students receive a special emphasis on safety making sure they are truly ready to drive a truck and drive it safely.

Besides training new drivers, CR England can also provide experienced drivers with a refresher course. If you already have our CDL but have been off the road for a while, C.R. England can help you brush up on your truck driving skills. England has 5 schools located throughout the U.S. and can also provide training to those drivers who have a CDL, but no driving experience.

At England’s truck driving school, both new and experienced drivers can get what they need to get on the road to their truck driving career. If you would like to learn more about CR England’s Premier Truck Driving School, visit their webpage and also learn how you can start your truck driving job today.

Zero Tuition Truck Driving School for June 18, 2012

 

Have you ever thought that you would really love to drive a truck, but simply can’t afford the training? After all, truck driving school nowadays usually costs about $3,000. Who can afford that when you don’t have a job.

CR England understands how difficult this can be, which is why we are currently running a promotion that will help you out. If you start truck driving school on June 18, 2012, you can go to school for ZERO TUITION! Sound too good to be true? It’s not.

We understand that sometimes finding the money to pay for truck driving school is difficult and we want to help out. Now, you might ask how can we afford to give away some of the best training in the industry? The answer is that the trucking industry is booming and the freight demand is higher than ever. Simply put, we need drivers. We need drivers and you need a job, so let’s help each other out.

CR England’s Premier truck driving school is a world-class program and is considered to be the best in the trucking industry. Our truck driving school puts a special emphasis on driver safety and efficiency. This three to four week program is a great start to a great career in trucking.

Upon successful completion of CR England’s Premier Truck Driving School, you are guaranteed a job with C.R. England and you will set out for your on-the-job training with a certified trainer.

To qualify to receive zero tuition, you must agree to a 6 month employment commitment with C.R. England. Upon arrival to CR England’s Premier Truck Driving School, a $50 administration fee is required.

C.R. England is pleased to offer this special of ZERO TUITION and to do our part in stimulating the employment market by providing training and guaranteeing job placement upon successful completion of CR England’s Premier truck driving school.

Don’t wait any longer. This offer is ONLY for classes starting June 18, 2012. Apply now and get started on your truck driving career.

To apply visit www.crengland.com

Safety First: Truck Stops

Truck stops are a vital part of any truck driving job. Whether you use them for overnight parking or for simply filling your tank, every truck driver has to pass through a truck stop at some point. That being said, there are some truck stops where it is better to stop at and some where all you want to do is drive past as fast as you can. But how are you supposed to know if a truck stop is good or not? In this article you will find a few suggestions on how you can tell if a truck stop is truly one where you should stop or not.

There are a few ways to tell at first sight whether a truck stop is preferable. One thing to look for is lighting. Are there a lot of dark areas in the parking lot or is the area pretty well lit. Usually, if the area is well lit you are pretty safe. Another thing to look at is the people walking around the truck stop. Do they look like people who should be there, people like truck drivers or truck stop staff? If you see a lot of questionable people walking around the parking lot then you might want to see if there is anywhere else you can make it to. You can also check out the area surrounding the truck stop. Check if the area seems clean or if it seems like it might be a problem area.

Another thing you might want to consider when looking at truck stops is maneuverability. Are the parking spaces large enough for your truck and are the aisled wide enough for you to maneuver safely? If you are in too tight a space it may increase the risk of an accident.

Some other ways you may be able to make sure you are stopping at a decent truck stop is by asking around. Try finding a truck driver that has been around long enough to know about different places, he may be willing to give you advice. If you stop at a truck stop and find that it is a bad area, try to see if there are any others close by that you could go to.

It is true that sometimes you don’t have the choice to stop or not, when you are out of hours you are out of hours. If this is the case then just be sure to take precautions to make sure both you and your truck are as safe as possible. Be wary of knocks on your door during the night and take a notice of your surroundings.

Truck driving safety does not stop once your truck does. You always need to be practicing safe habits. Remember that safety is always worth a little bit of extra effort.