Monthly Archives2017 April

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Making your exhaust sound louder and deeper can be as simple as just replacing your muffler. Many owners of cars with V8 engines do not want to muffle the roar of their engines and always look for ways to improve the sound of their vehicles. The basic muffler design you are looking for to make your car sound louder is a straight-through muffler. Mufflers designed to silence engine exhausts loop the exhaust gases once or twice inside the muffler to deaden the sound. Some owners have found that using a straight pipe instead of putting in a replacement muffler is enough. With V8 engines, you can also put a cross-pipe just after the exhaust manifold collectors to give your engine exhaust a different sound. The sound will be much louder but this may be what you are looking for.

The distinctive V8 sound comes from the uneven exhaust pressures on either side of the engine, which is a direct result of having an odd firing order. The very distinct exhaust sound made by a crossplane V8 is from the irregular firing order. Crossplane refers to the crankshaft design used in most automotive V8 engines. These crankshaft designs provide smoother running because of the large crankshaft counterweights that are employed to balance out the vibrations of the engine. Opposite to a crossplane is a flat-plane crank that is often used in high performance V8s for their high-revving capabilities in exchange for rougher running.

Each time two cylinders fire on the same side in sequence, the two exhaust pulses create high exhaust pressure and noise which can be heard out the tailpipe. This repeats later in the firing order on the other side of the engine. Often times, balance pipes are used to equalize the large exhaust pressure difference between each side of the engine. The pressure equalization improves exhaust scavenging, especially at low RPM. This is why after the mufflers, succeeding exhaust system mods will include a larger diameter or differently-design cross pipe. The final exhaust system modification you can perform is to replace your V8 engine’s exhaust manifold with headers, which when properly designed will improve horsepower and give your engine a more aggressive sound. Some “advice” you will hear or read online is about removing the catalytic converters to produce a louder sound from your engine. While this may be so, cats are a legal requirement to operate a motor vehicle and it is irresponsible to remove them.

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Source by Janus Onbekend

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I am filing a consumer complaint against CCC Valuescope (CCCG) and my insurer USAA for falsely alleging a fair “market value” of my automobile.

My insurer USAA has breached its duty to exercise the utmost good faith to me its insured. By using CCC Valuescope (a company I allege violates the U.S. federal RICO Act) USAA has intentionally provided me a low and fraudulent valuation of my automobile in hopes of obtaining an unreasonable and unfair settlement.

CCC Valuescope (formerly known as CCC Information Services Group Inc – CCCG) can by no means be deemed a fair and market value of automobiles as CCC Valuescope works exclusively for insurers and therefore has an economic interest to supply valuations that are intentionally below the actual fair market value of what insured vehicles are truly worth.

It is known fact throughout the insurance industry that CCC gathers its values from what car dealers would sell a vehicle for at basement wholesale prices, not the true “retail value of an auto of like kind and quality prior to the accident” as mandated by FL insurance regulations. Moreover CCC Valuescope uses a mix of vehicles formerly leased, used, and abused among wrecked cars when compiling valuations to afford their insurance company customers paying out total losses the lowest possible “values” to present their insured.

Ironically, nearly every vehicle in CCC Valuescope’s appraisal of my car report consisted of vehicles that had over 20 records indicative of issues such as accidents and faulty cars. Among the report, some cars had 28, 31, and 32 records.

Cutting costs and denying its insured “the utmost due care” historically can be documented against USAA beginning with the class action lawsuit against USAA in Washington’s King County (March 12, 1999) for compelling auto repair shops to use “imitation” parts in repairs, while simultaneously hiding this practice from policyholders. Beyond auto insurance, USAA has countless complaints filed against it in 27 states across the country.

CCC Valuescope is not independent in their valuations since they are a hired gun for the insurance companies! Upon conducting a VIN search on the vehicles within the CCC report 39813905, many cars had over 20 records indicative of numerous collisions, issues with the vehicle, and several changes of ownership. By relying upon CCC’s intentionally low valuation of my vehicle, USAA is breaching its fiduciary duty to act in good faith in handling my claim. No fair and honest evaluation of my claim can be performed by CCC as it is contracted by insurers for the primary purpose of minimizing monies paid out by insurers to its fiduciaries. By using CCC Valuescope, USAA is clearly not exercising the “utmost due care” in the interest of me its insured as required by Baxter v. Royal Indemnity.

CCC admitted itself in its SEC Filing on 3-16-2005 that “the Company sometimes pays a new customer for the remaining commitment of its previous contract with third parties as an incentive”. In regard to regulation, CCC mentions in the same filing “in most states, however, there is no formal approval process for total loss valuation products”. CCC itself confesses in the same report “individual state departments of insurance have taken positions as to whether the use of CCC Valuescope valuations is in compliance with a states claim handling regulations”.

“The Company is aware that since 2002 the California Department of Insurance has advised some of the Company’s customers (which management estimates to be approximately 14% of the total revenue earned in 2004 from the Company’s CCC Valuescope valuation product and service) that the Department believed that their use of CCC Valuescope had not been in compliance with the California insurance regulations in effect prior to October 4, 2004, with respect to certain components of the products methodology. The Company believes the product was in compliance with the applicable California regulations.”

“On April 24, 2003, the California Department of Insurance formally adopted new regulations that required the Company to change its methodology for computing total loss valuations in California.” There is good reason therefore to believe CCC Valuescope’s valuation methodology is terribly flawed and skewed to favor its insurance company customers.

In CCC’s annual report filed February 13, 2004 the legal proceedings and numerous class action lawsuits against CCC are documented in pages 35, 42, 43, and 44 of the 53 page report.

On page 35, CCC Valuescope admits to setting aside $4.3 million as an estimate towards potential settlement to “resolve potential claims arising out of approximately 30% of the transaction volume of CCC Valuescope”.

By acknowledging 30% of transaction volume becoming potential claims, CCC Valuescope thereby makes it public record that it anticipates a sizeable percentage of lawsuits for unfair and fraudulent valuations. Such a high percentage of transaction volume alone attests to the flawed methodology of CCC’s report, its unscrupulous dealings, and wholehearted commitment to protect the financial interests of the insurers it serves.

Ironically, four of CCC Valuescope’s automobile insurance company customers have made contractual and, in some cases, also common law indemnification claims against CCC for litigation costs, attorneys’ fees, settlement payments and other costs allegedly incurred by them in connection with litigation relating to their use of CCC’s flawed TOTAL LOSS valuation product.

Certainly the countless class action lawsuits filed across the United States against CCC Valuescape provides further evidence concerning the grossly low and inaccurate valuations of vehicles they give the insurers they serve. Among the many are:

CCC Settles Class Action Suit on Valuation of Total Loss Vehicles (July 15, 2005)

Chicago-based claims software-maker CCC Information Services Inc. announced that it and 15 of its customers signed a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs in various class action suits pending in Madison County, Ill. These consolidated suits, Case Nos. 01 L 157, et al., relate to the valuation of vehicles that have been declared total losses by insurers.

Terms of the settlement agreement will require CCC to pay notice and administration fees and other costs associated with the settlement. The company estimates that these costs will total about $8 million, and including available insurance proceeds of $1.8 million, the company is fully reserved for these payments. Other settlement costs, including claims by class members, will be paid by the insurance companies that are participating in the settlement.

August 23, 2000, a putative statewide class action was filed in the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County, FL, against CCC and USAA Casualty Insurance Company (Peter Sintes et al. v. USAA Casualty Insurance Company and CCC Information Services, Inc., Case No. 00-006308). Plaintiffs allege that USAA contracted with CCC to provide valuations of “total loss” vehicles and that CCC supplied valuations that were intentionally below the actual fair market value of the insured vehicle.

Iinsurance companies “owe a duty to the insured to exercise the utmost good faith.” Baxter v. Royal Indemnity Company, 285 So.2d 652 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973).

Given the countless and ongoing class action lawsuits against CCC Valuescope there should now be no question that CCC Valuescope is not independent in its auto valuations and is guilty of violating the U.S. federal RICO Act and National Insurance Regulations, along with many of the complicit insurance companies such as USAA who willingly and knowingly use their product with the intent to deceive.

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Source by Paul Davis

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Well, I guess you know that our energy prices are going up, up, and away. And I have no doubt that you changed most of your light bulbs in your home to the more energy efficient light bulbs. Still, there are LED lights which are even more energy efficient, and many businesses are going to those. There’s only one problem with that if you happen to be in the auto detailing business, or have an auto detailing shop. I’d like to discuss this with you if you have a few moments, because it is a real concern.

As you know with the auto detailing industry you have to do a perfect job on every car. And that requires adequate lighting. It requires real lighting. It’s almost impossible to tell if you did a perfect job on someone’s windows unless you are looking at the window or through the window with actual sunlight. The types of lights that you have or use matter very much. I can tell you this, having been in the franchising business, and having franchised detail shops prior to my retirement; those detail shops which had fluorescent lights, because we didn’t have LED lights back then for these type of industrial applications, had the most complaints.

Customers got their cars back and they noticed a film on the rubber, plastic, rims, windows, or clear coat. It was something that the master detailer or detailing technician did not see. And it wasn’t their fault. In fact, the lighting was all wrong, and they could not see the flaws in their own work. Even though our teams used the best possible products in the auto detailing industry, they still made mistakes due to improper lighting. Now then, fluorescent lights and LED lights are quite different. Neither of those choices are as good as UV lights, and in some cases LED lights may be better than fluorescent, but nothing beats natural sunlight.

One thing I always looked for when our franchises went looking for locations, was for industrial buildings which had skylights because it let in natural light, not only did this save on energy, but it also allowed for better detailing quality. Of course there are days when there is overcast, or when you are working late into the night doing wholesale detailing for a car dealership, an auto auction, or you just can’t finish all the work before dark, because it’s daylight savings time.

What’s the solution you ask? Well it’s important to get the right temperature (note: temperature is a visual lighting term), and there are specific LED lights, and lenses which can help you with this. Before you put in LED lights in your auto detailing shop to save energy, make sure you get with someone that really knows lighting, and all the applications. Make sure they have a good understanding about the science of lighting; because it does matter. Trust me on this. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

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Source by Lance Winslow

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Usage, tear and wear are not the only causes of failing subwoofers. There are in fact many reasons why subwoofers fail. Because of their complex design and cheaper subs using short lasting material, subwoofers can often die within their first few years, particularly if used heavily. Like any highly used electronic product, car subwoofers can fail at times, but also can be fixed.

A common is cause of subwoofer failure is the lack of power, which is caused by not enough amperage reaching the electromagnet coil, in turn causing the permanent magnet and electromagnetic coil to interact differently. This obviously drastically alters the way the subwoofer works and stops the subwoofer from doing its job. Check that that amp is channeling enough power to your woofer and make sure it is a compatible amp for you sub.

Another widespread problem is overheating. Like any electronic product, if used intensely, it is bound to overheat. Although the first time the product overheats, it may not cause obvious problems, it can if repeated cause long term problems to your subwoofers. It may cause damage to the woofers components, in turn causing the subwoofer to stop functioning. To avoid overheating subs, when purchasing subwoofers look out for a sub with a ventilation system, which will keep your system cool. Also, always place your subwoofer in a ventilated area, avoid compacting close together with other audio components and don’t place in an area without much air flow, such as the boot.

A prevalent cause of subwoofer failure is the short circuit, which causes that vital signal never to reach its destination, the sub, causing the sub to fail. The most lethal short circuit is the short circuit at the terminal of the subwoofer. It stops the electrical current and signal ever reaching the sub, meaning no power and in turn no sound can be produced. Short circuits in the subwoofer coil are also a common determiner of sub failure. Coil short circuits often mean there is not enough power to drive the cone, stopping the correct movement that is needed to produce the sound. Short circuits can be annoying, but may be fixed by a professional depending on the damage.

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Source by Marie Coles

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How would you like to get a great, almost new car for a very reasonable price? It is becoming more and more common for ordinary consumers, even those with bad credit, to be able to purchase a nearly new car at a very economical price. How, do they do that? They simply buy a car from one of the many car auctions that are cropping up all over the country.

So now people that are in need of a newer car have the choice of buying and owning a superb, expensive auto while not paying much at all by attending one of these auto auctions. This makes the dream on owning an almost new vehicle a reality for many consumers that become the highest bidder at one of these auctions.

Instead of paying an inflated amount to your neighborhood car dealer, you can buy direct from a source that sells cars at reasonable pricing. Yes, auto dealers do have to make a living so they offer you a price which includes large markups that must be passed on. Obviously these markups are going to increase the price you must pay and this makes the car expensive to purchase.

The majority of these auto auctions are organized by insurance companies, lenders, banks and government agencies, both local and federal. The vehicles are usually brought into a very large, central area from different parts of a state, or even from many states. The most numerous amount of cars are the ones that have been seized by the bank for the failure of the owner to make timely payments. There are also many vehicles of all kinds that have been seized by assorted government agencies from people who owe back taxes or have been put in jail for drug charges.

The preponderance of these vehicles are normally in excellent condition and may even include brand new models with a still valid warranty period. The auction will try to raise as much as possible so the lenders can be reimbursed for the defaulted amounts.

Did You Know?

There are auctions where only used cars are sold and then there are others where a large number of products, including new and used cars are being sold.

These auctions are affordable seeing that the selling amount of the vehicle is decided by the purchaser who wins the bidding session. The price of the car is exempt from any sort of supplementary amounts that were additional when the auto was initially bought from the dealer. The bidding in this variety of auction starts from a low price and depending on how many people in the crowd are interested in the car, you potentially can pick up a really,

Many of these auto auctions are advertised on the net so you can get an idea of what’s coming up in your area of the country. The easiest and most convenient way to find these auto auctions is to look for a car auction directory. There are huge databases and announcement boards of vehicle auctions, both current and in the future. This way you may be able to find an auction near your home and check out the cars in person.

Without exception, you need to do your homework on the type of vehicle you’re seeking, peruse the blue book prices for the cars you may want, make a listing and go for it! Who knows, you could acquire a brand new Hummer or Harley Davidson for half or less than it’s original market price!

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Source by Patrick Morgan

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Drifting is becoming more and more popular by the minute. Everywhere we see, on the street and in the stores, drifting is on fire. Ever since drifting busted out onto the mainstream with help from Hollywood movies and with the increase in drifting fans, the surge for wanting to learn how to drift, like they see in the movies has grown rapidly.

Sure drifting looks easy, just drive really fast and get your car sideways and smoke the rear tires. But as you’d know if you’ve already tried drifting, it isn’t as easy as they make it look on the big screen.

Here’s a short drifting lesson for beginners. The very basics of drifting. First, here’s what you need:

1. You need a car – preferably rear wheel drive.

2. It should be a manual car preferably. Automatics are harder to drift but not impossible.

3. You need to go practice in a wide open area where its legal and safe. Drift days are the place to go.

4. You’ll need some spare tires. Obviously.

Now, here’s what to do:

1. You want to practice doing circles or donuts in one spot on the donut pad or wide open flat area around a pilon / cone. DON’T go straight to the circuit trying to drift around corners on your first time attempting drift.

Do donuts to the right, then change and do circles to the left. Start with small circles and then get bigger.

2. Once you have mastered the donuts, you can start to use the handbrake and try some 180 degree spins. Set up 2 pilons about 100 feet apart and go up and back doing 180 handbrake turns.

You shouldn’t try to drift out of the turns yet, just get used to your handbrake and feeling of the slide of your car. Once you can get it nice and smooth, you can try drifting out of the slide.

NOTE: Keep the handbrake on for longer than a split second. Slide it right around with the handbrake until you’re facing the way you want to go then you can power out.

3. Keeping the 2 pilons where they are, you can now try figure-8 drifting around the pilons. Just like you we’re doing in the 180 degree spins, use your handbrake to slide it right around and then power out straight, lining yourself up for the other side of the pilon at the other end. Repeat and try to get close to the pilons with your ront bumper as you can – touching the clipping point – just like the pro drift drivers!

Try these beginners drifting tips before you hit the track and total your car. Just like any sports, practice makes perfect and the right training when learning how to drift will keep you and your car safe so you can live to drift another day.

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Source by James Hendricks

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In the world today, small businesses suffer from the lack of marketing their customers and sometimes its due to the insufficient amount of money they have to brand and advertise their business. Just to have a billboard of your company on a building you would need close to a million dollars for advertisement. I had the privilege of catching up with Ed Buss, a CEO of fresh filtered air Inc in the small town of Shawnee Oklahoma. Ed Buss and his wife started his company by the idea of his wife seeing an ad in the local newspaper about 21 years ago and thought it was a good idea so they decided to create Fresh Filtered air inc.

Ed Buss has and runs a small filter service business, he serves his business on a 2-week service plan, 2-4,6-8-10-12-week plan for his customers. His business isn’t a popular company but it does well for how small it is. Some of the challenges he faces with his filter company is in the social media marketing area. He doesn’t have a true website, his company isn’t on any social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. he doesn’t have a strong way to connect with current or future customers, his business has been stringing simply from word to mouth over 21 years’ span. He also struggles with a company logo which I personally believe will help him establish a bigger customer base. By allowing his company to partake in the social media world it could improve his customer base drastically and help bring in more potential clients rather than going from door to door selling his service price by word to mouth.

Another challenge Ed Buss faces with his small business is field expenses, he has to make sure that when someone calls in for a service order that they are for sure going to go through with it due to gas and mileage on the trucks. Ed Buss’s filter service has two employee trucks and he does a great job making sure that all the services are around and done on the same route. Ed Buss says that his employees have a lot of window time and drive a little over 90,000 miles a year. As a small company that means that your customer base isn’t very big, so you want to make sure you have enough funds in your business to keep the trucks that carry out your business’s service orders in good shape.

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Source by Steven Green

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Purchasing a car has become quite a common trend in the present era, which shows that the automobile sale and purchase industry has become advance now. However, there are still few things, which are quite unique despite of all awareness and advancements in the industry.

Have you ever noticed that whenever we think about someone, who is selling or buying a vehicle, the virile image came into our mind? Yes, it is always a man, who sells or buy the car. Why it is not any girl? Many people think that car sale and purchase activity is for men, which is not at all correct. The time has changed now and where girls can do everything, selling or purchasing of a car is also possible for them.

If you are also a girl and want to buy a car then worry not. It is very easy to buy a used or new car. You only need to follow few steps with ‘Buy Any Car’ approach. These steps are mentioned-below:

The first thing you will have to decide is that whether you want to buy a used car or a new car. If you have the make and model of the car in mind, then the best is to look into your budget first to make sure that you can buy that car.

In case, you have nothing in mind then find out what type of car you are looking for. Are you looking for a family minivan or a stylish sports car? What is your budget? Such questions will help you to find out which type of car will be best for you.

An Approach Towards Getting A New Car

The decision of acquiring a new car will give you a peace of mind that your car is not being rescued from any accident. Moreover, it will not be damaged from anywhere. Apart from this, you will not have to worry about its servicing history before its purchase.

You can make a purchase of any new car with any of the three simple ways, which are:

• You can contact any reliable car dealer.

• You can import your favorite car on your own from any foreign country.

• You can consult the services of any car broker.

An Approach Towards Getting A Used Car

In case, you cannot afford to get any new car then purchasing a used car is also a possibility. To buy used car, you can consider two best sources, which are as following:

• You can contact to any used car dealer.

• You can purchase a used car privately.

Whatever approach you prefer, make sure that you select legitimate and professional service provider to secure your investment whether you make it to buy a new car or a used one.

Last but not the least, once you have decided to buy any car based on your requirements and budget then the next step is to make sure that the documents of your car are complete to avoid any hassle in future.

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Source by Anum Sharf

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The Nazis stormed into the house of Stanislavsky Lech, who was Jewish, herded the entire family out at gunpoint, packed them into an overcrowded train, filled with the stench of death and despair, and sent them to Krakow.

Then, before his eyes, Lech saw his entire family shot. Somehow, he managed to live from one day to the next, in a numb, oblivious, zombie-like state. Impatiently, he awaited his own death. But one day, he realized, that his own death was not an unavoidable truth. He could, in fact, do something about it: he could make an attempt to escape.

Once he had made his decision, he didn’t know how to execute it. He only knew one simple thing: his decision was irrevocable, and, somehow, he had to find a way to act on it.

As the weeks passed into months, he interrogated his fellow prisoners. “How can we escape?” he would ask. He became a nuisance, an irritation. “It’s hopeless,” they would echo. “Stop hurting yourself,” they would plead. Some would abuse him openly; others would turn away in silence.

In turn, he rejected their answers, their silences, their overbearing despair. There has to be a way, he told himself, and I will find it. This is my revenge: by surviving I will prove that the Nazis aren’t invincible and that they don’t have complete control of our wills and that they can’t do what they like with us.

Each day he would run a dialogue through his head. “Today I choose to escape from this nightmare. I will not continue to be a victim. I will not accept these conditions. I am a man, with rights and dignity, and I will, so help me God, find a way to let the whole world know about what is going on here. I will escape. There is no doubt in my mind. How can I escape today, perhaps right now? There is a weakness in their security.

They cannot watch us every minute. There is something I need to find, and I will find it today, something that I have overlooked, something that will bring me freedom. There is a weak link here, somewhere. I will find it.”

The urgency of his question pounded on his heart and mind every waking moment, and it followed him into his dreams.

Then, one day, as dismal as any other, he saw what had been before him all along. The Nazis would let the corpses of naked men, women and children, shot because they were too weak to work in the labor camp, pile up on the ground before a truck would come and haul them away. With typical efficiency, the truck would only come when there were enough bodies to fill it up.

Hiding behind a bush, he stripped off all his clothes, then dived into the mound of corpses. He lay still, pretending to be dead, the nauseating odor of death all around him.

He lay there for a day. More corpses were thrown on top of him. He did not flinch. Finally, the truck came. Rough hands pushed his inert body into the truck.

In the truck, many more hours of horror passed. Finally, his body was dumped into an open grave.

He waited until nightfall before climbing out.

The sweet smell of night, the fresh breeze, filled his lungs as he ran twenty-five miles to freedom.

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Source by Saleem Rana

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Looking to become a tucker? There are tons of carrier companies out there to work for, but most likely, you’ll be working for one of the really big companies that represent the backbone of the U.S. trucking industry. To familiarize yourself with the business, here are the top five largest carriers in the U.S. as of 2003.

1. United Parcel Service – You may know them best as UPS or, as “The Brown Machine.” UPS is headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia and UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Ironically, this massive company was started in 1907 by two teenagers as the American Messenger Company. They capitalized the start-up with a $100 loan and grew it into a multi-billion dollar company.

2. FedEx Ground – This shipping juggernaut was created to take advantage of new bar code, material handling and computer technologies and has expanded to cover the entire United States. As of 2009, FedEx ground employs over 70,000 people.

3. Schneider National – It is the largest privately-owned truckload carrier in the United States and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Schneider National operates 14,000 tractors, 40,000 trailers, and has partnerships with over 6,000 carriers. Schneider drives more than five million loaded miles per day, and provides services to more than two-thirds of the companies in the Fortune 500.

4. Roadway – Through its full-service network, consisting of 349 service centers, and with its 32,119 trailers and 8,426 tractors, Roadway is able to deliver over 49,000 shipments per day. Roadway employs over 23,000 people and their trucks are easily recognizable by their ROADWAY logo that is printed boldly across their trailers.

5. Yellow Transportation Inc. – Originally founded as the Yellow Cab and Transit Company, a bus and taxi company that served central Oklahoma. Why are Yellow’s vehicles actually orange, you may ask? Because in 1929, a study was done for safety concerns which determined that the color of the swamp holly berry would be most visible from the greatest distance. Swamp Holly Orange became the color used on all company tractors.

If you’re looking for employment after graduating from a trucking school [http://www.ait-schools.com/financialaid.html], going to work for a major carrier just may be in your best interests. The economic conditions after the 2008 financial meltdown have put many companies in on a not-so-great footing, so getting in with one of the larger, more sustainable companies may be the best idea for someone just starting their career. The good news is that after graduating and getting your CDL license, you can enter the lucrative world of driving an 18-wheeler. But be careful not to rush into working for a company until you’ve thoroughly gone over your employment options.

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Source by Jack Tatum