Blogunity

For the original write up of this custom classic cabover, click here.

Some guesses were made on the year of this Kenworth. Joey Bellandi said he used to drive a Peterbilt cabover with a double bunk (which he said was great for city driving but could be trick when bobtailing). He thought this Kenworth looks like around a 79 or 80.

Some people on the Plains, Trains page knew a bit more about it, though. Thanks for letting us know the details, people:

Roy Wade Richardson said, “It belonged to a truck driving school in Elm Mott, Texas. They also had a conventional used to park them out from so you could see them from interstate 35.”

Franke Vega added, “This is the old ATDS truck.”

Rowdy Farrington also knew about it: “This was a promotional/show truck for ATDS truck driving school in Ardmore, Oklahoma back in the late 90’s. When the school went bankrupt, this truck was purchased by Cliff Wilkins, who owns Oklahoma Truck Supply, the chrome shop in Tonkawa, Oklahoma.”

Lawrence Estrada Sr commented, “Nobody has ever seen a Condor Sleeper cab? Cause that’s what that is … Moving companies mainly have them to sleep crew’s.”

Thanks, guys.

Trucking Economy Predicts A Good Fourth Quarter – Economists And Companies

Every economic turn has been foreshadowed by a turn in the trucking economy, according to some economists, and the current healthy state of US shipping shows a healthy fourth quarter is on its way.

Many economists regard trucking as a bellweather for upcoming economic developments.

Nearly three-quarters of all freight tonnage in the United States is moved at some point by a truck.

“If you look at history, it’s been a bellweather. Before we go into recessions and when we come out of recessions, we typically see it beforehand,” said Swift Transportation President and COO Richard Stocking, who sees cause for optimism. “Things are steady. They’re strong. And we think we’ll have a vibrant fourth quarter.

Stocking says that based on how much his trucks are moving, we can expect things to pick up in the economy for the holiday season. If you have been involved in a truck accident and live in the Dallas area, you can look into something like Trucking Accident Lawyer Dallas to help get you the compensation you deserve for injuries and accident-related losses. You might think that you are the best driver in the world. However, accidents will happen. There are different types of truck accidents though, so it is always best to just be prepared.

Expedited retailer and e-tailer shipping company Covenant Transportation Group CEO David Parker agrees: “Everyone of our customers is anticipating a very good fourth quarter.”

According to Avendale Partners Donald Broughton, trucking tonnage has predicted every recession and recovery over the past 40 years, and right now tucking tonnage is predicting a steady strengthening of the US economy.

The trucking industry is currently facing a notable driver shortage, and the North American Trucking Association estimates the industry needs as many as 40,000 more truckers right now, and businesses are engaging in recruitment at trucking events such as the recent Great American Trucking Show.

Trucking companies are hiking pay, adding benefits, involving new truckers by allowing them to help design their own trucks, and looking to hire more women, who, despite having very good trucking records, make up only 5 percent of the industry. There are also companies that add perks like home by night trucking jobs to allow for a better work-life balance.

By Andy Scott

Custom Beast in Southeastern Canada

What is it? You don’t see this every day. We see a lot of Kenworths, Peterbilts, Freightliners, Macs, Volvos, and many others, but this one? It’s a HET (Heavy Equipment Transport System) made by Oshkosh powered by a Detroit Diesel 8V92 .. can haul like 70 tons. … 70 tons (140,000 pounds)!

According to the man who runs one:

“My truck and trailer scale out at 58,480 pounds empty. When I have the three axle jeep and two axle stinger pinned on I’m 78,000 pounds empty. I can legal about 230,000 pounds gross depending on which state I’m in. My T800 with 550 cummins pulls it no problem.”

A little about the custom job:

“We dressed it up a little…put square headlights because they are more readily available….and my boss designed the cheese grater grille…which i think looks stupid as hell…but whatever, not my monkey not my circus.”

Apparently, the level of power supplied by these trucks is required:

“Its not overkill when you need to go into the wind turbine pad which is a “site road” which is gravel sprkinled on a farmers field…and with grossing 200 tonnes…you need the snort to drag the trailer…there are 96 tires on that thing. We also have a pair of kw t800s and a western star 4794x with 2 spd rear ends. We use those for the on highway stuff

Even though some might wonder about the amount of work required to do the brakes and bearings and other things on these, according to someone who uses them:

“Made in Germany…we have 4 lines from 1996 with less than 25% of the linings worn off…..its all proportional braking….there are another 36 duals that you cant see on that trailer”

Why fizzy or sour drinks cause sharp pain in the hinge of your jaw…

The phenomenon is called first bite syndrome. It’s from your salivary glands pushing out a large volume of saliva when you first bite into some types of foods.

When your salivary glands do this — push large amounts of saliva out — it causes pressure in the salivary ducts. This is experienced as “pain.” The location of the major salivary ducts are under the tongue and inside your cheeks around the area of the top molars. If you eat salt and vinegar chips, or dill chips, when you first bite in, you might notice this sensation.

Some describe it as a very sharp sensation — almost painful — right on their lower jaw, on the hinge of the jaw. Some describe the feeling as “burning.” The feeling seems “weird” to some people.

There is no harm being done to your body, though. And as you eat more foods that make you salivate, the feeling can be expected to generally improve. However, jaw pain can be very painful for an individual and in this case, it could be something more serious. Some jaw pain can be due to temporomandibular joints (TMJ) which is usually caused by clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth. So, that’s why you should make sure that you visit someone like this Dentist in Kennewick who will be able to help relieve some of this pain that you are experiencing. Most of the time though, this pain will be nothing to worry about, but always ask for help if you’re really worried or concerned. Hopefully, the pain will be resolved on its own though.

And time might effect how strong the feeling is. If you don’t eat anything for a while, then eat something, you can make a sudden flood of saliva, which will cause the pressure “pain” feeling.

How to maximize your chances of feeling this: maybe try eating something “tart.” Acidic foods — most “tart” foods are acidic — require saliva that acts as a buffer to the acid in you digestive system.

Bear Breaks into Pie Shop and Devours 38 Pies

A pie store in Pinewood Springs, Colorado had a great story to share with customers about how a gluttonous bear feasted on their pies one Monday night. According to Lehnert, the owner of the pie shop, the bear enjoyed the 24 cherry pies and 14 apple pies but did not touch any of the strawberry rhubarb pies.

If the fridge was not locked, the bear might have eaten all other sugary foodstuff inside.

In fact, bears just eat anything that they can grab, they are not that picky but this bear passed on strawberry-rhubarb pies.

Really, this is a very interesting incident that happened in a pie shop!

“Maybe he wasn’t feeling like a tart pie, I guess,” pie shop daughter Mikaela Lehnert told FOX31.

“Every time we’re forced to destroy a bear, it’s not just the bear that loses,” the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department explains on its site. “We all lose a little piece of the wildness that makes Colorado so special. So please, get the information you need, and share it with your friends, neighbors, and community.”

This Beehive Lets You Harvest Honey Automatically Without Disturbing Bees

Stuart and Cedar Anderson, father-and-son beekeepers in Australia, made this excellent ground-breaking invention! This invention allows honey bees to naturally inhale and exhale air while inside their hives. It makes it easy for beekeepers to collect honey directly from the beehives without any interference to the bees inside.

This is really a smart invention! It is a semi-complete wall of honeycomb cells, bees will then complete with their own wax. The bees will then keep on filling the cells with honey and cover them with their wax. Then the beekeeper will just open the other end. This will let the honey keep on flowing without interfering with the bees from their activity. The cycle continues as the swarm of bees will keep on reopening the cells and will keep on filling them up again and again.

In fact, honey bees around the world are in trouble from colony breakdown condition, and this is extremely troublesome because of the honey they yield and the cultivated plants they cross-fertilize. Positively, this hive will give exhausted hives a good halt from any disturbing visits from beekeepers!

This is great news for beekeepers, isn’t?

Foods to Buy Once and Regrow Forever

Every time we cook our food for our daily meals, we keep on throwing out heaps of vegetable scraps and we end up with full trash bins. But did you know that we can regrow vegetables, fruits and herbs? Imagine how much we can add to our savings from re-growing them, and we can also reduce our carbon footprint(s). It’s about time to serve the planet! After all, it has been tirelessly serving us with its fruit-bearing trees and flavorsome herbs.

Here are a few vegetables that can be easily grown:

Carrot – this kid-friendly vegetable is one of the favourite veggies of kids and grown-ups too. Its bright orange color makes it fantastic for fresh salads. You can easily re-grow them by cutting the top and soaking it into water. Wait for some weeks and you’ll enjoy your nutrient-packed carrots.

Celery – it is a flavorsome spice for soups and broths! Re-grow it on its base. Soak it in water as you do with your carrots. Just make sure that the stalk is firm enough as this will serve as its foundation. You have to use clean water for this to avoid germs and bacteria otherwise your celery will rot and it will really smell awful.

Bok Choy – it’s fantastic as a main veggie for potages and sauteed recipes. Just like celery, you can re-growing it from its base. The same procedure like how you re-grow celery. Soak it in clean water and slowly it will grow. You can transfer it in a small pot when it has grown of at least seven inches.

If vegetables can be re-grown easily, fruits are also simple and easy!

Avocado – this nutrient packed fruit is common to many areas in the world because it is easy to re-grow it. Dry the avocado seed. Insert at least three toothpicks into the seed. Soak it in water and store it in warm dark place. After a week, you can plant the seed when it has sprouted.

Tomatoes – this super delicious juicy fruit is very common in various food blends all over the world. It can be sauteed with cabbages and it can also be added with fresh vegetable salads like lettuce. To re-grow it, dry the seeds under the sun. At the end of the day, spread them on your backyard. In just a few weeks, you will see how it gradually grow into a tomato shrub.

Pepper- hot and spicy peppers don’t need much care and attention as pests don’t feast on them because of their hot flavor. This makes it easy to have them in your yard. Simply dry the seeds under the sun. Plant the seeds in your yard with at least ten inches gap so as not to overcrowd your garden. You’ll be amazed how it will bring you lots of hot and spicy peppers without much effort on your part.

It’s very easy right? Simply use the methods above and enjoy your home-grown vegetables and fruits. Save money from buying pricey foodstuff in local supermarkets by cultivating them in your own garden.

http://www.naturallivingideas.com/17-foods-to-buy-once-and-regrow-forever/

Lime Green Custom Shows the Good of the US Petroleum and Trucking Industries

This lime green custom semi petroleum hauler is part of a fleet owned by the Rethwisch family of Tomah, Wisconsin that was built from the ground up.

The fleet now includes seven Peterbilt 389s, and part of the reason the family has made every one of their fleet custom and impressive is to show the good of the petroleum industry and the trucking industry. The Semi’s within their fleet are all fitted with various ELD’s (Electronic Logging Device) such as this VDO Roadlog rated by ELDreviewer, for example.

Ten Four magazine interviewed and quoted Bill Rethwisch, Jr., about this:

“We’ve always tried to promote a positive image in all parts of trucking,” said Rethwisch. “So many gas and chemical haulers you see out there don’t seem to have any pride, so we try to use these trucks as promotional tools. It gives the drivers we have a sense of pride and a feeling of being part of something bigger.”

Several of the Rethwisch’s custom semi trucks have won awards, including Pride & Polish and Shell Best of Show awards.

This particular semi though:

“Bill acquired a 2013 Peterbilt 389 with a 12.7 liter Detroit and an 18-speed Eaton-Fuller transmission from Fitzgerald Glider Kits in Crossville, TN for his driver Jeff Schultz.”

The father and son began with their crew an extensive rebuilt in Feb of 2014. The tore the truck apart, pulled out the complete drivetrain and interior. They sand-blasted the frame, then they could apply the pain and install the custom deck plate. They also put in a stationary fifth wheel to give it a “clean look.” They also did:

• 4 straps on the fuel tanks (to make things look smoother)
• New Dynaflex exhaust system
• Hooked the exhaust to the Detroit engine
• Customized the Detroit engine (500 horsepower) with matching paint and chrome
• Put “Rethwisch” logo on side of valve cover.

They built this lime green project between Bill Rethwisch, his dad, the driver Jeff Shultz and his dad Chuck Shultz.

Visit Ten Four