Category: truck tech

DIY Hacks To Make Your Sleeper Cab Feel Like Home

DIY Hacks for Sleeper Cabs

We’ve all felt it. The lonely feeling of the open road. While we’re addicted to driving for miles and miles sometimes we do get a little homesick. Sometimes it’s hard to be away from your spouse, children, and pets. However, somehow you have to fight through feeling homesick to make your drops in time. One easy step you can take towards not feeling homesick is to make your cab feel like home.

DIY Hacks To Make Your Cab Feel Like Home

You spend a lot of time in your cab, sometimes you spend more time in there than you do at home, so make it a comfy place to be.

In order to do that invest in at least one awesome seat cover. The seat cover can be heated and it can come with built-in massagers, making it the perfect place to lean back in relax in after hours of driving.

Make sure your mattress in your cab is a high-quality one. Not getting adequate rest on the road could leave you cranky and just wanting to head home. You don’t have to come with the factory issued cardboard mattress that came with your truck, especially if you got your truck used. Instead, consider your memory foam and gel mattress options.

You know what comes with a comfortable bed? Comfortable bedding! If you’ll be spending a lot of the nights on the road don’t settle for cheap sheets and blankets. Spring for the softer materials with higher thread counts. Heck, you could even treat yourself to an electric blanket to be warm and cozy.

To get a proper night’s rest you’ll have to block the world out. Invest in some blackout curtains to get rid of all the lights from tracking and truck stops. Also, consider getting some earplugs to block out some of the noise that traffic and rest stops produce.

It’s important to fill your cab with a few of your favorite things in order to boost your mood. This can be done by adding pops of your favorite colors around. From crimson red to sprinkle blue, whatever color is your favorite will work.

You can add your favorite color by getting a steering wheel cover, seat covers, rubber mats, a rug, a bedding set with multiple of your favorite colors, and more. The possibilities are endless, all you have to do is look around your cab to see what you can customize.

Be sure to put up posters you like and to put up a few of your favorite pictures. Seeing photos of your family and pets or posters of your favorite superheroes can really boost your mood.

It’s always good to be able to do more things in your truck, and the first step towards powering more electronics is getting a good power inverter. Then you can set up awesome things like a flat screen tv and your favorite gaming console.

Nights won’t feel so long and boring when you can watch your favorite movie on Netflix or play multiplayer games online with your kids back home. Also, you can bring a lamp for extra light in your cab at night.

Why stop every time you’re hungry or thirsty when you can stock your cab to be your own personal mini kitchen? You can have your own mini coffee maker to brew coffee anytime you want. If you don’t want to deal with coffee grounds consider getting a K-Cup machine.

For more food options you can place a microwave, mini-fridge, and freezer in your cab. This way you can bring more food items with you on your trips that can easily be stored and heated up.

Did you know that you could even bring along a hot plate to boil water? Sometimes nothing is better than a hot bowl of ramen!

You can complete your kitchen with a TV tray or fold out shelf or table to balance meals or your laptop on.

This item should never mix with kitchen items, but are you tired of walking across cold parking lots to wait in a long bathroom line? Then get your own portable toilet to bring along on the road with you. Just make sure it has a lid that you can seal tight to prevent spills.

If you want to bring something with you on the road like extra clothes and tools then bring them with you. Just invest in storage bins and organization items to maximize your storage areas.

Enjoy Your Home On The Road

Your truck is sometimes your office and can be the area where you spend most of your time. Be sure to customize your cab to fit your personal preferences to have a comfortable and cozy space when you’re missing home.

For more trucking tips visit ExpressTruckTax.com and please share how you make your cab cozy in the comment section below.

#TruckTechTuesday: Trucks, Tech, and Apps Galore!

Happy #TruckTechTuesday, Trucking Nation!

As the world of technology continues to grow, there are more and more areas that are providing excellent tech. Now the technology world has become so huge, that it has expanded beyond phones and computers to heavy vehicles.

Now we live in a world where technology is working to make trucks better. Through truck extensions, truck apps, and new truck concepts, the tech industry is trying to turn trucks friendly for our environmental future.

That and new tech makes your truck look really cool! Which is what we talked about in our previous Truck Tech Blog.

Trucking Awesome (Concept Trucks)

Last time we talked about BulletTruck from AirFlow, but this week’s truck looks even more sleek. Introducing Peterbilt’s trucking awesome concept truck, Sentinal.

Peterbilt refers to it’s concept truck as the new American dream. And if that picture is any indication, they definitely aim to deliver an extravagant truck basically drowning in luxury. Plus, it’s design makes it more aerodynamic (which is great for your fuel mileage)!

In fact, the design could improve fuel economy and range of long haulers by 25%! And this truck concept is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.

Truck Extensions

This week’s truck extension is a little bit of a wild card because is is both an app and a truck extension. The extension is called Peloton, and it is a trucking app concept built by Peloton Technology. 

 

Peloton is an automated vehicle technology company that is working to connect collision avoidance technology, and prevent the most common truck accidents. They also provide a reduction in aerodynamic drag by linking two trucks together in what they call a platoon. And on-road testing showed that they were saving fleets a lot of fuel!

So in addition to the added safety of travelling in packs, automatic braking, and generally being really, really cool, Peloton will also save you a lot of money in the long haul.

Apps for Road Warriors

Perhaps one of the most influential apps of the summer is the FMCSA Guide Rules and Regulations app by Wright Media, which you can download from both the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.

Now it might not sound like much, but consider this: this is the first mobile guide to everything you need to know about the FMCSA Rules and Regulations. That means you get instant access!

You can look up any rule or regulation just by using their search feature. No more searching through bulky books and trying to figure out the rules.

And, this app includes their new “Fuel Dawg” feature where you can locate the best diesel prices from thousands of truck stops based on your GPS location!

But wait, there’s more! This app also includes the latest trucking job opportunities, and access to contact those trucking company directly. It was even featured in our ExpressTruckTax IFTA blog about hot summer apps!

If you have any questions, comments, or more #TruckTech you want to see featured here, drop us a line on our Facebook or Twitter. We love hearing trucking stories and learning about new truck tech!

As always, if you find yourself with some tax questions, give our dedicated support team a call at 704.234.6005 or email them at support@expresstrucktax.com for 24 hour support in both English and Spanish!

And don’t forget! You only have 7 more days left to pre-file. If you want to be entered to win a ExpressTruckTax Swag Bag and save a little money of the e-filing price (with the promo code PREFILE), then don’t delay, pre-file today!

#FreightTechFriday: What’s New in Truck Tech

The world of technology is expanding, and so is the trucking industry alongside it. There are more technologies out for truckers now than there ever have been. 

Between apps like ExpressTruckTax, to truck extensions like Trailer Tail, truckers can now be more economic and more environmentally friendly.

And best of all, there’s even more trucks, truck extensions, and trucking apps coming out all the time to make the industry more environmentally friendly. Not to mention, these advancements in technology can make the lives of the people transporting our goods safer and easier.

It’s a whole new world out there, Trucking Nation! Let’s take a look!

Trucking Awesome (Concept Trucks)

High-tech truck concepts have been dominating blogs and social media posts lately. These futuristic concepts are not only helpful for the trucking industry and the environment, they’re also really, really cool!

Don’t believe me? Check out AirFlow’s new concept BulletTruck:

With this new concept truck, AirFlow is hoping to revolutionize the trucking industry in both aerodynamics and fuel consumption.

In fact, this summer AirFlow drove their BulletTruck prototype from Connecticut to California to show off the gorgeous design as well as test it’s amazing aerodynamics. Well, that and to show off it’s fantastic fuel mileage.

AirFlow has increased the mileage from the roughly 7 MPG trucks are averaging now to averaging 13.4 MPG on a trip across the country! If that’s not revolutionary, I don’t know what is.


Truck Extensions

Your truck is essentially an extension of yourself. You spend a lot of time hauling goods and travelling from place to place, essentially seeing all of North America.

That means you probably don’t want your truck looking drab; it should be a reflection of you and your awesome personality! Well, that and it doesn’t hurt to make your truck a little more environmentally friendly, with extensions like AirTab and Trailer Tail, that we talked about in a previous blog.

But there’s even more awesome technologies out there for truckers and drivers alike! Perhaps the most recent one gaining a lot of traction in the trucking market are Dash Cams.

 

Dash Cams are smallish cameras that go on your dash and film while you’re driving. This way any accident you get into, you have proof of fault. Well, that and you can take some fantastic video and pictures of your journey across the continent!

Apps for Road Warriors

Smartphone applications are the largest market for truck technology (and for technology in general). There are apps for almost everything these days, including several trucking-specific ones. From tax calculators to truck tax apps galore, you can find them for your smartphone or tablet.

A big chunk of the app market for truckers, especially lately, are reminder apps. From simple calendars to apps that are a little more complex and contain pre-loaded trucking industry deadlines.

That’s where RigMinders comes in. Rigminders is a reminder app geared specifically toward truckers, and it contains lots of pre-loaded industry deadlines, such as when 2290’s are due and when IFTA is due as well.

Then on top of all that, you can also load personal deadlines and truck maintenance deadlines. You’ll never forget another appointment, tax due date, or whatever you want!

Rigminders will send you push notifications on your phone and an email reminding you of your upcoming deadlines. You can even set how many notifications you want, what types of notifications you want, and when the reminder will be sent to you (5 days before, 1 day before, etc).

If you have any questions, comments, or more #FreightTech you want to see featured here, drop us a line on our Facebook or Twitter. We love hearing trucking stories and learning about new in truck tech!

And as always, if you find yourself with some tax questions, give our dedicated support legends a call at 704.234.6005 or email them at support@expresstrucktax.com for 24 hour support in both English and Spanish!


The Future of Truck Tech is Here, Trucking Nation!

Since the beginning of time, trucks and wind resistance have been mortal enemies. 
Maybe that’s why truckers and trucking companies alike have been developing new technology and new trucks to be able to combat this aerodynamic issue!

Minimizing wind resistance for trucks is becoming a very possible reality with the new technology being offered by AirTab, as well as TrailerTail. 
 Not to mention that Walmart and Mercedes are currently working on concept trucks that are not only built to minimize wind resistance, but also increase highway safety!

These new truck technologies will provide more savings and safety for truckers and everyone else on the road. But what exactly are the benefits of these new technologies?

AirTab


Let’s begin with AirTab. AirTab is a small triangular, wishbone-like device you place on the end of your trailer and the end of your cab.

This tiny device provides better fuel economy without being bulky, and minimizes wind resistance to help stabilize the trailer and make for a smoother ride. According to their website, AirTab can also increase fuel economy by up to 5% simply by combating the effects of wind resistance.

AirTab benefits other drivers as well. Not only does it amp up the safety on heavy vehicles, it also minimizes the rain and snow blow back, providing more visibility for truckers and cars alike. AirTabs come in a variety of colors, and they provide a line for compact cars, small trucks, and SUVs.

TrailerTail

The concept of TrailerTail is similar to that of AirTab. However, the TrailerTail takes a different approach to minimizing wind resistance. Instead of a small triangular device, TrailerTail provides a large square “tail” to place on the back of your trailer.

TrailerTail is incredibly easy to install and is very durable. It even makes opening the back of your truck easy because it folds as you open the back of the trailer, holding the doors open until you’ve unloaded.

In addition to durability, TrailerTail, much like AirTab, also increases fuel economy by up to 5%. TrailerTail is compliant with 2010 CARB regulations for trailer aerodynamics and is exempt from U.S. DOT length restrictions.

New Concept Trucks

Walmart and Mercedes have introduced new concept trucks with better aerodynamics. These trucks are like something out of a science fiction novel, but both companies are trying desperately to make these vehicles less of a concept and more of a reality.

With Walmart, their design aims to minimize wind resistance and provide a light-weight truck. Their new concept design is made exclusively with carbon fiber, which makes the design almost 4,000 pounds lighter. Not to mention, the overall design of the truck is mouth-watering.

Mercedes, on the other hand, has introduced a truck concept that will virtually drive itself (in addition to being more aerodynamic)! Their truck concept is all about keeping truckers and the roads they drive on safe.
The truck cannot completely drive itself, so it would still need a driver to remain in the cab in order to function, but it can work with the driver to allow them time to drink coffee, check messages, or use a business management program like TruckLogics.

No matter where the future of truck tech is heading, ExpressTruckTax will always be here to help you. Whether you’re E-filing in your current big rig or a futuristic giant from Walmart or Mercedes, we’ll be here to answer your questions and provide an excellent product, from the now into the future.

As always, if you have any questions call us at 704.234.6005 or e-mail us at support@expresstrucktax.com for 24/7 support. And don’t forget to tell us what you think about what’s next in truck tech on Facebook or Twitter.