RoadLog installation kit

Roadnet Anywhere updated

Lightweight steel dump body

Kits Offer More Compatibility for VDO RoadLog ELD Users

Continental's line of VDO RoadLog 9 Pin Green Installation Kits are designed to support 2015 and newer trucks that use the 9 pin type II green diagnostic ports as well as pre-2015 9 pin type I black diagnostic ports.

The Installation Kits allow fleets to install and use the VDO RoadLog ELD platform in a mixed fleet by offering more connection options for different vehicles. VDO RoadLog combines GPS data with input from the vehicle to create a digital log that the driver can either download or print out as needed. It is available as a standalone unit without monthly fees and as a connectivity package with affordable monthly plans.

The VDO RoadLog 9 pin Green Connectors are available as a direct connection or as a Y-Cable configuration that leaves an open diagnostic port and cleanly installs into the vehicle cab.

The new installation kits are available as a 9 Pin Direct Cable, 9 Pin Y with Flange Cable and 9 Pin Y with Plastic Nut Cable .

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Retract-A-Roll Pneumatic Roller Track System Improves Cargo Handling

The Retract-A-Roll 3 from Ancra International is a pneumatic roller track system designed for faster loading and unloading to reduce handling time for employees.

The Retract-A-Roll 3 features a heavy-duty top plate with dual skate wheel design, a first for the Retract-A-Roll lineup. The dual skate wheel design results in a smaller opening in the top plate to help prevent any debris from entering and puncturing the air bag, lowering maintenance costs and downtime. Additionally, the air bags in the Retract-A-Roll 3 use larger diameter air lines which aides in faster deflation.

The pneumatic roller track system is powered by the pneumatics off of a truck's existing air supply. When powered on, the racks raise from the trailer floor and after use, the system allows a trailer to convert back to a flat floor for general freight. The track system uses a high-strength, 11-gauge stamped steel top plate has a galvanized finish to fight corrosion and improve durability and it is designed to withstand regular forklift usage.

All Retract-A-Roll systems are manufactured with safety interlock. If the operator forgets to lower the rollers, a backup safety control value automatically lowers rollers when the vehicle's brakes are released, keeping loads secure while in transit and employees safe by limited any shift in cargo.

The controls are centralized in an easy to access, weatherproof container to make operation easier and safer. The controls feature one value to raise and lower, a factory preset pressure regulator, a liquid filled pressure gauge, an auxiliary air input, and track isolation valves. The centralized controls can significantly reduce operation time to help quickly load and unload cargo.

Retract-A-Roll systems are designed with flexibility in mind and can be retrofitted in used equipment and are compatible with other similar systems for repair or replacement.

Follow @HDTrucking ...Read the rest of this story

Commentary: The Delicate Truck Driver

Rolf Lockwood

My mandate with this column has me writing about technology most of the time, but I have a soft spot for drivers and owner-operators, so please bear with me. I think the folks at the sharp end of the trucking stick deserve a little attention, a little understanding.

Now, ‘delicate' is not a word you'd ever think of using to describe them. Rough, tough, maybe. But delicate?

Yes.

The word may be a bit extreme, but lots of drivers manage a very fine balance between simple frustration and outright anger. The truth is, slipping over what really is a delicate line is easy, and getting easier every day. Deeper traffic jams, more demanding shippers, endless rules and regs managed by bureaucrats who really don't seem to understand much or give a darn.

The potential for boiling over is very, very high. And the consequences? Downright nasty sometimes, almost never good.

The recent rash of snowy-road pileups got me thinking about the case of a driver I've known for a long time and some trouble he encountered more than a decade ago. My friend is a good guy, a third-generation trucking veteran who's willing and able to work hard, the kind of fellow who can make repairs on the roadside and who still stops to help another driver in distress. All of that said, he admits to having the occasional problem managing his anger.

So leading up to a tragic event 12 years back that obliterated the delicate psychological balance that he usually managed to maintain, he'd had a rough couple of weeks. Dispatch had been on his case and he'd been on theirs, the classic source of driver frustration. As he put it at the time, he “was already bent out of shape.”

And then one night he came on a bad wreck. A ...Read the rest of this story

Kits Offer More Compatibility for VDO RoadLog ELD Users

Continental's line of VDO RoadLog 9 Pin Green Installation Kits are designed to support 2015 and newer trucks that use the 9 pin type II green diagnostic ports as well as pre-2015 9 pin type I black diagnostic ports.

The Installation Kits allow fleets to install and use the VDO RoadLog ELD platform in a mixed fleet by offering more connection options for different vehicles. VDO RoadLog combines GPS data with input from the vehicle to create a digital log that the driver can either download or print out as needed. It is available as a standalone unit without monthly fees and as a connectivity package with affordable monthly plans.

The VDO RoadLog 9 pin Green Connectors are available as a direct connection or as a Y-Cable configuration that leaves an open diagnostic port and cleanly installs into the vehicle cab.

The new installation kits are available as a 9 Pin Direct Cable, 9 Pin Y with Flange Cable and 9 Pin Y with Plastic Nut Cable .

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter