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4/30/15

Violation of certain federal safety regulations is about to get a little more expensive.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is set to publish April 3 a Final Rule increasing fine levels for a bevy of different violations of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The increased fines will take effect 60 days from the April 3 publication.

The increases are meant to account for inflation, FMCSA says, and were mandated by 2012’s MAP-21 highway funding law.

Follow this link to see the chart of all of the violations that will see increases, with their old and new fine levels:

http://www.overdriveonline.com/fmcsa-set-to-increase-fines-for-some-safety-reg-violations/

4/27/15

Motorhome Servicing at North Bay Truck Center


North Bay Truck Center is becoming the go-to place for motor home chassis work. That is because if you take the shell off of a motor home, you take the body off of it. Let’s say, for example, a diesel pusher. It’s really a bus chassis. It’s really built by the manufacturers. Some of them that built the motor home chassis also built big trucks, Freightliner, for example. For us, if we’re under the motor home or we’re looking into the engine compartment, we’re really looking at the same picture as we are if we’re looking on a Class 6, 7 or 8 truck.

We are well versed on the platforms of engines that they use, primarily, they use Cummins or Caterpillar engines on some of the older ones. For the diesel pushers, we’re very well versed on those engines. We have the computer software to plug into them. We’re familiar with the Allison transmissions that are most all of them use. The braking systems on a lot of them are airbrakes, similar to that of a Class 6 through 8 truck. They also have suspension components that are shared. They use air ride suspension on the front axle a lot of times, which is found on the newest class 6 through 8 trucks. We’re very familiar with the chassis of the diesel pushers.

North Bay is also going to be able to look up maintenance schedules on those as well. Motor homes generally will come with all manuals in a big binder referring to your refrigerator, your heating system, air conditioning. If your vehicle is new, you should have the Cummins manual for the engine and in the case of the Freightliner chassis, a Freightliner chassis manual with maintenance intervals for that chassis as well as the engine, again, we can help look those things up if you don’t have the manuals.

On the diesel pushers, we have a facility large enough to bring the biggest unit into the shop. A 45-foot 3-axle diesel pusher, we can bring it in to our shop and it can be kept under cover. If it does require to be outside or you have surveillance cameras outside our shop, we can assure that the place is lock down that the cameras are working 24/7. Even the nicest motor homes, you can rest assure they’re going to be locked up and safe in our facility.

The smaller coaches that are built on a gasoline chassis such as Ford or Chevrolet, or even the Sprinter chassis, those we’re familiar with and able to recode with our standards. Again, it’s a Ford van setup or a Chevrolet van, or GMC chassis. Very similar to the pickup trucks so we’re well versed on those, braking systems, air conditioning. When it comes to the chassis, air conditioning on all motor homes. The air that comes out of the dash registers, we work on. The overhead air which is the roof mounted air, we do not work on, but we can definitely get the dash air working if you have an issue with air conditioning. We work on all of the components on the light duty coaches. This is the diesel pusher, but it comes from the Springer chassis up to the Ford and the Chevrolet chassis and there’s some new ones coming out.

Bearings, tires, the rear differential, the transmission, the steering components. Everything to do with what makes it go down the road and stop for sure.

When it comes to tires, as with the trucks, it is just as important with the motor homes and it’s a huge area that is neglected on motor homes because they sit so much. They develop flat spots in the tires, and they can get to the point where you have a side wall cracking. In some cases, UV rays really heat up the rubber over years of it’s being exposed, and then you flat spots developing because the coach, the way that it coaches is just one spot on the tire. Now, you got a tire that is not round any longer and it won’t fix itself if it’s bonded into the rubber. The only way to get rid of that is you replace the tire. We do sell and install tires on any motor homes, from the class piece on it to the big diesel pushers. We’re able to balance the biggest tires on the diesel pusher as well. We have a large tire balancer here that we recently purchased.

North Bay recently purchased 6 Mohawk pedestal lifts that will allow us to lift the largest diesel pusher up in the air outside of our facility. If we’re not able to work on it inside or get it on one of the lifts inside and the work should require to be underneath it, we’re able to lift the vehicle up in the air.
   

4/24/15

2015 GMC Canyon SLE All Terrain Start Up, Road Test, and In Depth Review



Hello and welcome to Saabkyle04! YouTube's largest collection of automotive variety. In today's video, we'll take an in depth look and drive with the all new 2015 GMC Canyon All Terrain!

My official website: http://saabkyle04.com/


4/21/15

MICHELIN® TIRE CARE™



Uptime is everything. With the new MICHELIN® TIRE CARE™ service program, you can get the most out of your assets and keep your fleet up and running with confidence. Here's how: Our fleet monitoring program offers comprehensive tire evaluation, analysis and network service you can trust for accurate, actionable fleet guidance and smart, effective decision-making.

4/18/15

2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel: Ike Gauntlet Extreme Towing Test. Fully Loaded.



( http://www.TFLtruck.com ) 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is here and is ready to take on the Ike Gauntlet Extreme towing test. The 3.0L turbocharged diesel V6 engine makes 240 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. It's got the low-end torque, but not a lot of horsepower. Can the EcoDiesel keep the fast pace set by the F-150 2.7L EcoBoost? Which truck will get better MPGs?

( http://www.patreon.com/tflcar ) Please visit to support TFLcar & TFLtruck.

4/15/15

Pipe Dreams - Trail Magazine



Miller Pipeline, a local business turned national contractor, expands its efforts with the help of DuraStar® with Cummins ISB6.7.

4/12/15

HO Bouchard - Western Star - A Serious Truck for Serious Truckers



At HO Bouchard, Hampden, Maine, they consider the Western Star the serious truck for serious truckers. Watch the video interview employees from drivers to mechanics explain that they keep these trucks about 10 years, whereas before they turned trucks over in around 5-6 years.

4/09/15

QCMobile App

QCMobile is a new smartphone app that will allow for more convenient access to currently available online safety performance information for interstate truck and bus companies.  
 
The app is expected to be a particularly valuable tool for state and federal law enforcement personnel, as well as insurers, brokers, freight-forwarders, and others interested in reviewing the USDOT registration and safety performance information of motor carriers. The app, which requires no log-in, immediately reveals whether the federal operating status of the carrier is authorized while helping to expedite an “inspect/pass” decision by a certified commercial vehicle safety inspector.
 
The QCMobile app is available for free on both Android and iOS devices. Visit the Apple App Store or Google Play to download QCMobile.  
 
Updated: Friday, March 20, 2015 
 

4/06/15

The History of Freightliner Trucks 70 Years of Innovation


Welcome to the past, present and future of Freigthliner Trucking. 70 years of innovation, with no plans of slowing down!

4/03/15

A&T Road Service - We Triage to Get You Back on the Road!



At A&T "Mobile" Truck Road Service we like to think of ourselves as the "Ambulance Service for Trucks." If your truck is broken down, we will come to you and perform the necessary triage to get you back on the road. Now includes towing, load adjustments, and more.

A&T "Mobile" Heavy Duty Truck and Trailer Road Service is a 24-hour, 7-days a week roadside mobile truck repair service for light and medium-duty to heavy duty commercial trucks and trailers. A&T Road Service, a subsidiary of North Bay Truck Center.

Our fleet incudes a 2014 Kenworth (Shown in video) with a 500 hp Cummins and 18-speed gearbox is outfitted with an NRC Quickswap detachable tow unit with a tag axle for extra capacity. This allows the truck to be a wrecker and also a transfer vehicle, so with the unit disconnected, it will tow mobile home units, trailers of all kinds and with the wrecker unit attached is capable of lifting up to 20,000 lb steer axles for heavy duty truck towing. This unit can easily to HD trucks, buses, mobile homes.


Not only do we provide 24 Hour Emergency service, we could come out and do light mechanical work on site to our customer's fleet and avoid the truck having to come in the shop.We will go just about anywhere for anything, at anytime. We have a wide normal service area and have been known to go beyond those boundaries by request. See our Service Area.

Below is a bullet point list of services by A&T Road Service.


 New: In-House TOWING
            Fully Equipped Mobile Repair Units
            Tire Replacement
            Load Adjustments
            Welding
            Fuel Delivery
            Lock-Outs
            Vehicle Storage
            Hydraulics
            DOT & BIT Inspections
            Crane Inspections
            Glass Replacement
            Vehicle Rentals
            Liftgate Repairs and Service
            Tens of Thousands of Parts In Stock


North Bay Truck Center is centrally located in Fairfield CA to service all of Solano County along with much of the San Francisco/Oakland bay area and Sacramento. A&T Road Service is available by calling 800-434-1205,

You can also visit our website at http://www.NorthBayTruckCenter.com