Blog Archives




 

  • Have some holiday fun
    By David A. Kolman - Monday December 10, 2012
      How well do you know your holiday trivia? Why not test yourself with this fun quiz? 1. What do the songs Jingle Bells , Sleigh Ride and Winter Wonderland have in common? 2. Approximately what percentage of American homes eat turkey on Christmas? 3. What one reindeer is never mentioned in the poem ’Twas the night before Christmas ? 4. How many reindeer does Santa Claus have? 5. Name the eight reindeer mentioned in the poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas ? 6. When did the U.S. Marine Corps' Reserve Toys for Tots program start? 7. What president began the annual tradition of the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the White House lawn? 8. What newspaper assured a reader: “Yes, Virginia, there is a...

  • How to share the road with snowplows
    By David A. Kolman - Monday December 3, 2012
      Sharing the road with a snowplow can create some special challenges, along with the need for extra caution. Here are some tips from traffics safety professionals for helping you stay safe. - Be visible. Keep your headlights on at all times when traveling in snow and inclement weather. - Don’t follow snowplows too closely. Driving conditions behind a snowplow are better than conditions ahead of it. What’s more, snowplow operators stop, turn, back up or exit frequently, and often with little warning. You may not be able to stop in time on a slippery roadway. - Watch for flying material. Keep an adequate following distance so your vehicle doesn’t get pelted and damaged by any flying sanding materials, snow, ice or...

  • Showing my fuel economy prowess
    By David A. Kolman - Monday December 3, 2012
      As was reported on vehicleservicepros.com , I was among a select group of five veteran truck journalists invited to serve as a judge for the 2013 American Truck Dealers (ATD) Commercial Truck of the Year program. This is a national award that recognizes the top truck entries in the heavy and medium duty categories. Judging involved evaluating the nine truck nominees using an especially-created scoring system that encompassed three main judging categories: innovation and design, safety and driver satisfaction. One of nominees in the medium duty truck category was a Class 5 Hino 195h Diesel-Electric Hybrid. It had a 210-hp Hino J05E Series diesel mated to an Aisin 6-speed fully automatic transmission. As part of the judging...

  • Lift learning
    By David A. Kolman - Monday November 26, 2012
      I had the opportunity to participate in the Demo Day heavy duty vehicle lift manufacturer Stertil-Koni held recently at its U.S. headquarters in Stevensville, MD. The town is located across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Queen Anne's County, MD. The event was intended to highlight Stertil-Koni’s line of lifts to potential customers and customers, as well as to distributors and distributor salespeople. On display were four models of lifts: the Diamond Lift high-pressure telescopic piston lift, Earthlift wireless mobile column lift, ECOLIFT ultra-shallow, full-rise, in-ground axle engaging lift and SKYLIFT platform lift. I’ve been around vehicle lifts before, but not like at this event. First of all, the lifts were brand new...

  • What’s re-refining oil all about?
    By David A. Kolman - Monday November 19, 2012
      There are a lot of misconceptions about re-refined motor oils and lubes. Today’s re-refining processes are considerably different, and much more advanced, then when re-refining first began during World War II when everything was in short supply. To be honest, I never gave re-refined oil much consideration. When I came into the industry many years ago, I was taught to go with the “real” stuff. Last week, I was invited by Safety-Kleen to tour its re-refinery in East Chicago, IN. The company is a leading provider of environmental services to commercial, industrial and automotive customers, and the largest re-refiner of used oil and provider of parts cleaning services in North America. Safety-Kleen owns and operates two oil...

  • American ingenuity at work
    By David A. Kolman - Monday November 12, 2012
      It is in times of stress that American ingenuity comes into play more than normal. A while back, the DPW (Department of Public Works) garage in Oradell, NJ - a borough in Bergen County, made the decision to buy a large Mohawk Lift runway vehicle lift instead of mobile lifts. Among the reasons for the purchase: the town is in a flood zone and the garage frequently floods during severe rains. With the likelihood of Hurricane Sandy heading toward Oradell, the DPW garage personnel built a platform between the lift’s runway to be able to store tool boxes, shop equipment and other materials on the lift. Should the hurricane hit, they could raise the lift and hopefully keep the items dry. The accompanying photo shows a dry run in...

  • Attention to detail
    By David A. Kolman - Monday October 29, 2012
    You’ve no doubt heard about the importance of paying attention to the details. My question is: Do you? With all that we have going on these days, we tend to only concentrate on the bigger picture and miss a lot of the details. On my VSP News segments that appear on the VehicleServicePros.com website every two weeks (visit the “Blogs” tab), I have something that I change for each and every show. Can you guess what it is? Remember, I’m talking about the “details” here.

  • Hang up and drive
    By David A. Kolman - Monday October 22, 2012
      I don’t like to date myself, but I can remember a time when there were no mobile phones. If you needed to make a phone call while driving, you had to get off the road, find a phone and make a call. Back then, “texting” was nonexistent. Nowadays, it seems the vast majority of people behind the wheel are using a mobile communications device - and that scares me. The National Safety Council estimates at least 28 percent of all traffic crashes - or at least 1.6 million accidents each year - involve drivers using cell phones and texting. That equates to 6,000 deaths and 500,000 injuries a year. A recent Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study of commercial drivers found the following: - A safety-critical event is 163...

  • Fleet Maintenance Magazine subscribers know their stuff
    By David A. Kolman - Monday October 15, 2012
    In the article, General air spring maintenance tips for heavy duty trucks and trailers , that appeared in the August issue, it stated: “Air suspension systems require a minimal amount of maintenance that can be performed during other routine vehicle maintenance service. . . . As an added benefit, if an air spring fails, a trailer can still be pulled at slow speeds, whereas a trailer with leaf springs becomes immediately inoperable.” An astute reader contacted Fleet Maintenance and suggested we clarify the second sentence. He noted that while a trailer with a failed air spring can still be pulled, the rig should only be operated until it can be pulled safely off the road and repaired. Operating with a “blown air bag,” he...

  • One-of-a-kind Goodyear truck
    By David A. Kolman - Monday October 8, 2012
      There was an awful lot to see and do at the 2012 IAA Commercial Vehicle show, held this past September 20 to 27 in Hanover, Germany. Not that I’d know firsthand as I didn’t get to go. However, it is the world’s most important trade fair for mobility, transport and logistics, with the latest innovations from the commercial vehicle industry on display from manufacturers and suppliers from around the world. One of the “innovations” I heard about was a one-of-a-kind truck that Goodyear had on display at the IAA. Manufactured especially for the show, it was a 1:1 scale LEGO truck. The Goodyear LEGO truck is about 8 feet wide, 11-1/2 feet high and slightly more than 8 feet long. Its gross weight is nearly 1,632 pounds, making...

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