“ The first original song about truck driving appeared in 1939 when Cliff Bruner and His Boys recorded Ted Daffan's "Truck Driver's Blues," a song explicitly marketed to roadside cafe owners who were installing juke boxes in record numbers to serve truckers and other motorists.” - Shane Hamilton
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 40 million United States citizens have moved annually over the last decade. Of those people who have moved in the United States, 84.5% of them have moved within their own state, 12.5% have moved to another state, and 2.3% have moved to another country.
In the United States, a commercial driver's license is required to drive any type of commercial vehicle weighing 26,001 lb (11,794 kg) or more. In 2006 the US trucking industry employed 1.8 million drivers of heavy trucks.
There are certain characteristics of a truck that makes it an "off-road truck". They generally standard, extra heavy-duty highway-legal trucks. Although legal, they have off-road features like front driving axle and special tires for applying it to tasks such as logging and construction. The purpose-built off-road vehicles are unconstrained by weighing limits, such as the Libherr T 282B mining truck.
Trailer stability can be defined as the tendency of a trailer to dissipate side-to-side motion. The initial motion may be caused by aerodynamic forces, such as from a cross wind or a passing vehicle. One common criterion for stability is the center of mass location with respect to the wheels, which can usually be detected by tongue weight. If the center of mass of the trailer is behind its wheels, therefore having a negative tongue weight, the trailer will likely be unstable. Another parameter which is less commonly a factor is the trailer moment of inertia. Even if the center of mass is forward of the wheels, a trailer with a long load, and thus large moment of inertia, may be unstable.
A business route (occasionally city route) in the United States and Canada is a short special route connected to a parent numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or town, and finally reconnecting with the same parent numbered highway again at its end.
In some states, a business route is designated by adding the letter "B" after the number instead of placing a "Business" sign above it. For example, Arkansas signs US business route 71 as "US 71B". On some route shields and road signs, the word "business" is shortened to just "BUS". This abbreviation is rare and usually avoided to prevent confusion with bus routes.
Public transportation is vital to a large part of society and is in dire need of work and attention. In 2010, the DOT awarded $742.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to 11 transit projects. The awardees specifically focused light rail projects. One includes both a commuter rail extension and a subway project in New York City. The public transportation New York City has to offer is in need of some TLC. Another is working on a rapid bus transit system in Springfield, Oregon. The funds also subsidize a heavy rail project in northern Virginia. This finally completes the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Metro Silver Line, connecting to Washington, D.C., and the Washington Dulles International Airport. This is important because the DOT has previously agreed to subsidize the Silver Line construction to Reston, Virginia.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is an influential association as an advocate for transportation. Setting important standards, they are responsible for publishing specifications, test protocols, and guidelines. All which are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States. Despite its name, the association represents more than solely highways. Alongside highways, they focus on air, rail, water, and public transportation as well.
Full truckload carriers normally deliver a semi-trailer to a shipper who will fill the trailer with freight for one destination. Once the trailer is filled, the driver returns to the shipper to collect the required paperwork. Upon receiving the paperwork the driver will then leave with the trailer containing freight. Next, the driver will proceed to the consignee and deliver the freight him or herself. At times, a driver will transfer the trailer to another driver who will drive the freight the rest of the way. Full Truckload service (FTL) transit times are generally restricted by the driver's availability. This is according to Hours of Service regulations and distance. It is typically accepted that Full Truckload carriers will transport freight at an average rate of 47 miles per hour. This includes traffic jams, queues at intersections, other factors that influence transit time.
Truckload shipping is the movement of large amounts of cargo. In general, they move amounts necessary to fill an entire semi-trailer or inter-modal container. A truckload carrier is a trucking company that generally contracts an entire trailer-load to a single customer. This is quite the opposite of a Less than Truckload (LTL) freight services. Less than Truckload shipping services generally mix freight from several customers in each trailer. An advantage Full Truckload shipping carriers have over Less than Truckload carrier services is that the freight isn't handled during the trip. Yet, in an LTL shipment, goods will generally be transported on several different trailers.
Advocation for better transportation began historically in the late 1870s of the United States. This is when the Good Roads Movement first occurred, lasting all the way throughout the 1920s. Bicyclist leaders advocated for improved roads. Their acts led to the turning of local agitation into the national political movement it became.
Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) are fundamental to the FMCSA's compliance program. The purpose of the CSA program is to oversee and focus on motor carriers' safety performance. To enforce such safety regulations, the CSA conducts roadside inspections and crash investigations. The program issues violations when instances of noncompliance with CSA safety regulations are exposed.
Unfortunately, the CSA's number of safety investigation teams and state law enforcement partners are rather small in comparison to the millions of CMV companies and commercial driver license (CDL) holders. A key factor in the CSA program is known as the Safety Measurement System (SMS). This system relies on data analysis to identify unsafe companies to arrange them for safety interventions. SMS is incredibly helpful to CSA in finding and holding companies accountable for safety performance.
In the moving industry, transportation logistics management is incredibly important. Essentially, it is the management that implements and controls efficiency, the flow of storage of goods, as well as services. This includes related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet customer's specifications. Logistics is quite complex but can be modeled, analyzed, visualized, and optimized by simulation software. Generally, the goal of transportation logistics management is to reduce or cut the use of such resources. A professional working in the field of moving logistics management is called a logistician.
The word cargo is in reference to particular goods that are generally used for commercial gain. Cargo transportation is generally meant to mean by ship, boat, or plane. However, the term now applies to all types of freight, now including goods carried by train, van, or truck. This term is now used in the case of goods in the cold-chain, as perishable inventory is always cargo in transport towards its final home. Even when it is held in climate-controlled facilities, it is important to remember perishable goods or inventory have a short life.
In 1986 Stephen King released horror film "Maximum Overdrive", a campy kind of story. It is really about trucks that become animated due to radiation emanating from a passing comet. Oddly enough, the trucks force humans to pump their diesel fuel. Their leader is portrayed as resembling Spider-Man's antagonist Green Goblin.
Throughout the United States, bypass routes are a special type of route most commonly used on an alternative routing of a highway around a town. Specifically when the main route of the highway goes through the town. Originally, these routes were designated as "truck routes" as a means to divert trucking traffic away from towns. However, this name was later changed by AASHTO in 1959 to what we now call a "bypass". Many "truck routes" continue to remain regardless that the mainline of the highway prohibits trucks.
The decade of the 70's in the United States was a memorable one, especially for the notion of truck driving. This seemed to dramatically increase popularity among trucker culture. Throughout this era, and even in today's society, truck drivers are romanticized as modern-day cowboys and outlaws. These stereotypes were due to their use of Citizens Band (CB) radios to swap information with other drivers. Information regarding the locations of police officers and transportation authorities. The general public took an interest in the truckers 'way of life' as well. Both drivers and the public took interest in plaid shirts, trucker hats, CB radios, and CB slang.
The term 'trailer' is commonly used interchangeably with that of a travel trailer or mobile home. There are varieties of trailers and manufactures housing designed for human habitation. Such origins can be found historically with utility trailers built in a similar fashion to horse-drawn wagons. A trailer park is an area where mobile homes are designated for people to live in.
In the United States, trailers ranging in size from single-axle dollies to 6-axle, 13 ft 6 in (4,115 mm) high, 53 ft (16,154 mm) in long semi-trailers is common. Although, when towed as part of a tractor-trailer or "18-wheeler", carries a large percentage of the freight. Specifically, the freight that travels over land in North America.
In today's society, there are rules and regulations everywhere you go, the same goes for commercial vehicles. The federal government has strict regulations that must be met, such as how many hours a driver may be on the clock. For example, 11 hours driving /14 hours on-duty followed by 10 hours off, with a max of 70 hours/8 days or 60 hours/7 days. They can also set rules deciding how much rest and sleep time is required, however, these are only a couple of regulations set. Any violations are often subject to harsh penalties. In some cases, there are instruments to track each driver's hours, which are becoming more necessary.
