Sunday, January 23, 2011

THE TRAILERS GET A SKIRT

You might have notices lately, more and more trailers out on the road getting all dressed up with a skirt.  We first started noticing them with the Gordon Trucks out on the highway, and then with Swift.  Last month, when we were in the yard in Spokane, we noticed four brand new trailers parked, all dressed up with skirting of their own.  It's all about trailer aerodynamics.  I think they are very unattractive, but who can argue with fuel savings up to 7% with using them?  I would imagine they will be many more of these skirts showing up on trailers in the future.
In other trucking news, after picking up all the new year paperwork at the yard in Spokane, they once again were given an assignment to pick up apples, this time in Naches, WA and take them to the company yard in Bloomington.  On the way South, Roy had the pleasure of being invited in for a visit at the weigh station at Mt. Shasta/Dunsmuir, CA.   Everything went well, with a new 2011 sticker on the trailer, and they were so close to getting the 2011 sticker on the tractor as well, except for a bracket on the air filter on the passenger side, being about 1/4 of an inch loose from the tractor. 

He wasn't written up for it, but told to tighten it up and if they wanted, come back through for their sticker the next time around.  They would have tightened it on the spot, but with the salt corrosion and rust on the nut, if there were any problems, they would have been placed out of service, so they decided to let the shop have a go at it to tighten it.

They made it to Bloomington on Friday afternoon, and by 3am Saturday morning they were on the move again with a USF Reddaway load headed this time to Tacoma, WA, which by now has already been delivered.  Need I say that their driving hours are just about at zero again?  But Craig will have enough to drive to Ellensburg this morning, get a trailer washout and then let Roy take over to get them to Toppenish, WA for a load of meat tomorrow.  At least they have a small casino just down the street from the meat plant to spend some of their idle time at.

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