JOO_05-17_OnlinEdition

A TARGET MEDIA PARTNERS PUBLICATION 

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FEATURES 

Glow in the Dark............................................................................... 14 

Class 8 Update................................................................................... 24 

Owning The Wheel........................................................................... 28 

Sudoku Puzzle.................................................................................... 34 

ADVERTISERS 

Bruce Oakley............................................13 

Celadon ................................................8, 29 

Coal City Cob Company........................23 

DSA Tax & Bookkeeping........................17 

Minstar..................................................2, 25 

Panther Expedited Services, Inc..............9 

Petro..........................................................10 

RTI...................................................... 11, 31 

Schaeffer Oil.............................................36 

Schneider National, Inc............ 4-5, 32-33 

Stageline Express, Inc............................ 6-7 

Star Freight...............................................21 

Transport Design.....................................19 

TruckJobSeekers......................................12 

UPS Freight..............................................35 

Job Opportunities I 3

SHOW TRUCK PICTORIAL 

Brian Davis 

1999 Kenworth W900L 

Owensville, IN 

14 I Job Opportunities

Pictures taken at the Paul K. Young Truck Beauty Championship (PKY) @ MATS 


Brent Repp 

2006 Peterbilt 379 

Shreve, OH 

Job Opportunities I 15


Bryant Mann 


Hampstead, MD 

John 

Jaikes III 

1999 Kenworth W900L 

Nanticoke, PA 




Kimberley 

Grimm 


Poynette, WI 

Candice 

Cooley 

2017 Peterbilt 389 

Hazelton, ID 




Jeff Dressen 

2017 Freightliner 122SD 

Elk Run Heights, IA 

Bill 

Warner, Jr. 


Circleville, WV 




Grant Alderman 


Union Grove, WI 

Kris 

Ringland 

2017 Kenworth W900 

Winnipeg, MB 

Canada 



CLASS 8 UPDATE 

A couple of 

CLASS 8-RELATED 

news items to note: 

KENWORTH SHOWS OFF 'DRIVER'S TRUCK,' 

T680 ADVANTAGE 76-INCH SLEEPER AT MATS 

Coming off a year with record Class 8 

market share, Kenworth marked its return to 

the Mid-America Trucking Show after a oneyear 

absence by highlighting its red, white 

and blue decaled Kenworth T680 Advantage 

76-inch sleeper — also called “the driver’s 

truck”– taking center stage. 

“The Kenworth T680 has established a 

high standard for excellence with its superior 

fuel efficiency, performance and comfort. 

There’s been a phenomenal customer 

response ranging from large fleets to owneroperators 

since the T680’s introduction five 

years ago at Mid-America,” said Mike Dozier, 

Kenworth general manager and Paccar vice 

president. “The T680 truly is ‘the driver’s 

truck,’ and has become the fastest-selling 

model in Kenworth history. It’s helping our 

customers reduce operating costs through its 

fuel-saving aerodynamics, while enhancing 


CLASS 8 UPDATE 

technology features. 

“The Kenworth Nav+ HD system with virtual 

gauges features a high-resolution seven-inch color 

screen for navigation, audio control — including 

satellite radio — along with internet access,” 

Dozier said. “Our Driver Performance Center 

with useful technology aids for the driver, and 

Predictive Cruise Control both help enhance fuel 

economy. We also spec’d the Bendix Wingman 

Fusion driver assistance system, as well as a lane 

departure system. Plus, the T680 comes with 

Kenworth TruckTech+ Remote Diagnostics to 

help drive uptime by speeding service and repair 

at Kenworth dealerships.” 

driver retention and recruitment by keeping 

drivers extremely happy … .” 

The truck starts with an optimized powertrain 

of a 2017 Paccar MX-13 455-hp engine, new 

Paccar 40K tandem rear axle and Eaton Fuller 

Advantage automated 10-speed transmission. It 

also offers the lightweight Meritor MFS+ 12,500- 

lb front steer axle with integral knuckle for air disc 

brakes, and new Kenworth taperleaf lightweight 

springs for a comfortable ride. 

The T680 Advantage is loaded with driver 

PRELIMINARY FEBRUARY CLASS 8 ORDERS STRONG; 

BACKLOGS OVER 100K FOR FIRST TIME SINCE JUNE 2016 

Preliminary Class 8 net orders for February 

rose 28 percent from the same period last year 

to 22,900 units, analysts at FTR Intel reported, 

adding that the total represented a 5 percent 

increase from January 2017. The steady order 

trend has now pushed backlogs to over 100,000 

units for the first time since June 2016, FTR 

stated. 

“February was another very encouraging 

month for Class 8 truck orders,” said Don Ake, 

vice president of Commercial Vehicles at FTR. 

“Orders have increased for four straight months, 

indicating the market is making a solid recovery 

after the second-half slump in 2016. This order 

cycle is much flatter and longer than usual, but 

this is a healthy order total for a February. March 

orders may not decline that much. This is what 

a turning point looks like.” 

Analysts at ACT Research of Columbus, 

Indiana, pegged the February order total slightly 

higher at 23,200, a 14-month high. • 


OWNING THE WHEEL 

BY JOHN EWING 

HANDLING A BLOWOUT 

BANG! It’s a sound that no one wants to hear 

and when it’s accompanies with a jerk on 

the steering wheel and the front starts 

jumping up and down your heart in your throat 

is a common response. Having been there/done 

that not once but 3 times I thought I’d share my 

perspective on how to deal with this particular 

crisis and come out on the shoulder stopped 

rather than in the ditch on your side. I’ve 

developed, by watching my instincts at work a 

method that seems to work and so I thought I’d 

pass it on. So here’s what has worked for me – 

you are preparing to go there. That is NOT 

where you want to end up. It is much harder 

to control a big rig in the soft dirt of the center 

divider or off to the right of the highway. So 

the goal first and foremost is to stay on the 

hard (asphalt or concrete). So first step is fix 

your gaze down the road a little ways and 

keep your eyes on that point as you continue 

down the road. 

SECOND – if they’re not already there get both 

hands on the wheel. If you have something in 

FIRST, LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, this is 

a key ingredient to staying on the road and on 

stopping where you want once you’ve slowed 

down enough to pull to the side of the road. If 

you are looking at the center divider or off to 

the right to see what it looks like over there, 

one hand DROP IT. Whatever you’re holding, 

a cup of coffee, or a sandwich is much less 

important than keeping the sunny side up. The 

slight mess a spilled cup of coffee or sandwich 

will make is minor and you’ll have time 

to clean it up while you’re waiting for the 

service truck that’s bringing you a new steer 


OWNING THE WHEEL 

BY JOHN EWING 

tire. The wheel will shimmy a lot, just keep 

it as steady as you can and do as little ‘steering’ 

as you can while keeping your rig headed 

straight down the road. If you blow a steer on 

a curve do the best you can to hold the line 

around the curve and give up a little ground if 

you need to, but stay on the hard if at all possible. 

Watch the dash cam videos if you can 

find them online – the dirt is not friendly to a 

big rig with only one steer tire. 

THIRD – and I may be disagreeing with some 

‘experts’ here, but this has always worked 

for me. Slow down as fast as possible. That 

means brakes, don’t slam them on you need 

to keep those steers turning, but apply as 

much brake as you can while still maintaining 

control. The faster you can slow the truck 

down the easier it will be to control it. This 

is also a big part of the reason to stay on 

the hard. I’m not a fan of trying to use your 

trailer brakes alone to get stopped. You need 

both hands of the wheel and you need you 

attention on the road and going where you intend 

to go. Trying to apply just enough trailer 

brake requires too much of your attention and 

takes one hand off its primary job. So brake 

slowly but with determination. The faster you 

get slowed down the faster you’ll get your rig 

and yourself out of danger. 

As soon as you have the rig slowed 

enough that you’re confident of being able 

to control it move to the shoulder and get as 

close as you can to the edge of the shoulder 

before you stop. One of my blowouts occurred 

near an unused drive way and I was 

able to get the front end on that driveway 

before stopping. That made jacking the front 

up and getting the wheel off for the tire 

change a lot easier (and faster) once the new 

tire arrived. So if you have an opportunity to 

get in a good spot do it but don’t drive any 

further than you need to in order to get 

there. 

rim 

You don’t want to tear up the 

any more than absolutely 

necessary. I’ve never gotten 

stopped with a lot of 

tire left, but I’ve also 

never destroyed a 

rim getting stopped. 

As that tire disintegrates 

it’s saving 

your rim. Read this over a time or two and 

fix these points in your mind. Then mentally 

rehearse them a few times. The time to figure 

out what to do and to make a plan is not when 

you hear the tire blow and feel that jerk on 

the wheel. Make a plan before you need it and 

hopefully being prepared will help you handle 

a potentially deadly situation easily. 

So to recap, look where you want to go 

(a point on the road in front of you), get both 

hands on the wheel if they’re not already 

there and hold the wheel as steady as you can. 

Start braking gently but firmly immediately. 

A final thought ALWAYS keep a firm grip 

on the wheel. That initial jerk will turn you 

sideways and roll the truck if you don’t have 

a firm enough grip on the steering wheel to 

keep it from moving very far. Being prepared 

for the unexpected will help you survive it. 

TILL NEXT TIME, BE SAFE. 


SUDOKU PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

How to play: You must complete the Sudoku puzzle so 

that within each and every row, column and region, the 

numbers one through nine are only written once. 

There are 9 rows in a traditional Sudoku puzzle. Every 

row must contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 

and 9. There may not be any duplicate numbers in any 

row. In other words, there can not be any rows that are 

identical 

There are 9 columns in a traditional Sudoku puzzle. 

Like the Sudoku rule for rows, every column must also 

contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Again, 

Difficulty: Easy 

there may not be any duplicate numbers in any column. 

Each column will be unique as a result. 

A region is a 3x3 box like the one shown to the left. 

There are 9 regions in a traditional Sudoku puzzle. 

Like the Sudoku requirements for rows and columns, 

every region must also contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 

5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Duplicate numbers are not permitted 

in any region. Each region will differ from the other 

regions. 

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