Truck Bed Covers – Save Gas And Transform Your Truck
Truck bed covers are attachments to a pickup trucks bed that protect against weather and provide security from theft. This allows you to store items in the bed away from the weather, from damage, and from the prying eyes of thieves. Unlike truck attachments like camper shells, bed covers do not provide additional vertical cargo space. Bed covers are best when you desire your truck to maintain a low profile or when you wish for your truck to have an easy on, easy off cover for its beds.
1. Save Gas!
As air flows over the front end of your vehicle, it careens into the hollow bowl of your bed and produces opposite force to your truck. This could easily eat several miles from your gas mileage every time you use your truck. These types of covers also provide extra gas mileage by reducing air drag that is exacerbated by the truck bed – an aerodynamic nightmare. You could even save about 10% on your gas with a good truck cover!
2. About Bed Covers
- Strong, rigid canopy covers
- Protect your transport items
- Some are detachable
- Easy to install
- Do not restrict the use of your tailgate
3. History Of Truck Covers
Truck covers are also known as truck bed covers. They have evolved from a number of versions that have been designed for a different uses. Because of this, no one person can claim to have invented the truck cover. Soft covers gained became popular on major speedways. Sport truck racers used soft truck covers to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag. Hard top truck covers rose in prominence as an alternative to camper shells. These highly-customized truck bed lids evolved to suit the various needs of truck drivers.
4. Truck Cover Storage Basics
When you need to transport items ranging from groceries, to heavy furniture, the truck cover does the trick. The cover shields your items from view, from the weather and from damage. Even simple covers can sufficiently protect your stuff. In some instances, truck covers employ strategically-placed weather seals that channel the moisture away from the covers. With such equipment, truck owners have a greater peace of mind when transporting items sensitive to such. With most models, installation requires no drilling into the truck bed.
Black is the standard color offered by most manufacturers, but many do offer a variety of other colors. When purchasing a truck bed cover, you need to decide between a hard cover (solid fiberglass) and a soft cover (vinyl). The differences between the two are highlighted below:
5. Hard Covers
Firmly attached, they do not blow off even at highway speeds. They are available with hinge systems to allow an easier lifting of cover to put or get cargo. It also is secure and lockable. These hard covers weigh about 100 lbs. Hard covers are also more expensive than vinyl covers. They are more durable and are also weatherproof.
6. Soft Covers
These, on the other hand, are easy to remove and install. They often just snap on to the truck rails and are ready to go. Although they may not be as tough as hard covers, they are still strong enough to provide protection for 1 to 2 people. If you are hauling large cargo, these covers come off easily to accommodate the extra space.
Recent media attention on the number of highway fatalities caused by semi-trucks has many people asking whether our roads are indeed ’safe.’ A fully loaded truck, like the one that slammed into the back of another truck on California’s I-5 last month can do an intense amount of damage. In that particular accident, three people were killed and at least ten more injured when the truck entering the 550-foot underpass crashed into the truck in front, causing a massive pile-up and ultimately, an explosion.
This isn’t the first time the safety of sharing our roads with oversized semi-trailer trucks has been questioned. Trucking industry practices are continuously being reformed to address the number of fatalities these vehicles cause, including reducing the amount of time a truck driver is allowed to drive without a break, instituting new methods of driver payment that do not include “paid-by-the-mile” incentives, and adding more highway patrol officers designated to specifically crack down on truck drivers that don’t keep proper log books or break traffic laws. But is it enough?
In theory, the enhanced safety measures are beneficial, but the process has been slow and for many families, too slow. The year 2000 marked the inception of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), an organization dedicated to reduce the number of fatality accidents caused by large trucks. By 2005, not much had improved. Estimated numbers of annual fatalities caused by large trucks is still over 5,200. In other words, 100 families in the U.S. lose a loved one due to a large truck fatality every week.
So what can you do to protect yourself and your families?
The trucking industry isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and while we can hope that some of these measures begin to drastically reduce the number of highway deaths, now is the time to make sure you’re driving the safest vehicles you possibly can.
Even the safest vehicles may not be able to stand up to a collision with a semi, but there are certain vehicles that tend to fare better than others. First, SUVs and pickup trucks generally keep their occupants safer than passenger cars when in collisions. While other factors obviously dictate how well passengers will be protected in a crash, such as the type of crash, the rate of speed the vehicles were moving, and the passive safety features installed on the vehicles, SUVs and pickups tend to be heavier and therefore sustain less damage.
Other key factors to examine are the active and passive safety features of your vehicle. For example, while most SUVS offer dual stage airbags (the type that protect occupants from rear-end and head-on collisions by preventing contact with the dash and steering column), the Isuzu Ascender 5-Passenger also sports head-curtain side-impact airbags that protect the body from injuries caused by rolling or side-impacts. Taking the time to compare the safety features of your vehicle to the available safety features in models offered by car companies that are known for safety (like Isuzu and Volvo) will give an indication of deficits in your vehicles safety system.
Each year, there are approximately 500,000 accidents in the United States involving large truckstractor- trailers, with 5,000 fatalities. In fact, 1 out of 8 traffic fatalities in America is due to a collision with a truck. Virtually all of these deaths and injuries are restricted to the passengers of the cars struck by tractor-trailers, while the truck drivers usually escaped unscathed.
The fatal crash rate for trucks is 2.6 deaths per one hundred million miles traveled, a statistic more than 50 percent greater than the rate for other vehicles. As well, tractor trailers and trucks are more likey to be involved in multiple vehicle accidents, and eighty percent of all truck accidents include more than 1 vehicle.
The Federal government requires truck operators to have a commercial drivers license and undergo limited drug and alcohol testing. However, due to the continuing number of accidents, the effectiveness of these safety measures is questionable.
Many accidents are caused by truck driver fatigue. In a recent survey, 20 percent of truck drivers admitted falling asleep while driving within a month of the questionnaire. For financial reasons truck drivers often stay on the road beyond the limits of human endurance.
In 2003, US Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) tightened regulations governing downtime for truck drivers in an effort to lower the accident rate. The compliance date was set to January 4, 2004.
A complicated set of guidelines now governs how long drivers can stay on duty. The revised Hours of Service regulations permit truck drivers to drive eleven hours after ten consecutive hours off-duty. Truck drivers are not allowed to drive beyond the 14th hour after coming on-duty, following ten hours off-duty. Truck drivers may not to drive after being on-duty for sixty hours in a seven-consecutive-day period of time or even seventy hours in an eight-consecutive-day time period. This on-duty cycle can be restarted if a driver takes at least thirty-four consecutive hours off-duty.
Short-haul truck drivers (those who routinely return to their place of dispatch after every shift and then are released from duty) may have an increased on-duty period of time of sixteen hours after a week of standard shifts. The 16-hour exception takes into consideration valid business needs without jeopardizing safety. FMCSA estimates that without the flexibility of additional 2 on-duty hours, the industry would have to hire at least 48,000 inexperienced new drivers, actually increasing the accident rate.
The FMCSA estimates the new rule has the potential to prevent 75 fatalities and approximately 1,326 crashes annually. However, studies reveal that many truck drivers violated the old regulations on hours of service, and without vigorous enforcement compliance with the new regulations will likely be poor as well.
Growing up in small town Wallis, TX, where the farmlands flourish and tractors play a key role in everyday life, it seems only right that restoring old tractors would become a passion for local Future Farmers of America (FFA) teens.
Inspired by that passion, two Wallis teens entered the 2005 Chevron Delo Tractor Restoration Competition, making it all the way to the event’s finals at the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The Tractor Restoration Competition rewards the determination, mechanical skill and business savvy of high school-aged FFA members from around the country. Students are required to submit a workbook that details the entire restoration process. The skills learned through the competition help develop the participants into future leaders in the agricultural community.
The teens, members of the Brazos, TX, FFA, share an aptitude for mechanical repair and an interest in vintage tractors, as well as one other thing: Tyler and Jordan Raska are brother and sister.
While the scenario might have turned into a sibling rivalry, the Raskas instead took an alternate approach to their restoration projects. Rather than battling to beat the other, Tyler and Jordan worked on their tractors together, providing support and encouragement along the way. Throughout the long hours spent revamping their tractors and carefully documenting the entire process, the brother-and-sister team bonded amid the grease, paint and rusty tractor parts.
In the end, however, there could only be one winner. Hard work, dedication and mechanical savvy paid off for 18-year-old Tyler Raska, the individual winner of the Chevron Delo Tractor Restoration Competition.
A senior at Brazos High, Tyler is no stranger to tractor competitions. He has been restoring tractors for four years, and had a particularly successful year in 2005, winning the eight shows he attended with his Grandpa’s 1959 John Deere 630, including a national competition and three state competitions.
Tyler, who has a learning disability, has benefited greatly from participating in the tractor competitions. They have helped him focus on his strengths and build confidence, improving his project management and public speaking skills. And each year his knowledge of tractor parts has grown.
“I like to take an old tractor and make it as good as new, if not better than the original,” said Tyler. “This year was especially rewarding because I worked in the garage with my Grandpa and restored something that was special to him.”
While falling a bit short in her quest for the title, the experience was an immensely positive one for Jordan, the only girl from the Brazos FFA to enter the competition. Tired of being the “go-fer girl” for Tyler as he worked on his tractors, Jordan decided to conquer her own restoration, a John Deere 420.
Jordan, in her first year showing tractors, initially drew inspiration from an unlikely place-the music video for “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,” by country group Big and Rich. The music video showcases Gretchen Wilson driving a “cute” tractor and Jordan decided she wanted to restore one like that.
Working side by side with her brother and her dad, Jordan’s knowledge of tractors increased tremendously over the course of the project. She did as much of the work by herself that she could and then consulted the men for explanations and hands-on demonstrations when necessary.
“I highly recommend the Chevron Delo Tractor Restoration Competition to others,” Jordan said. “It’s an incredible learning experience that helped me develop skills for life. Plus, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside my brother, meet new people and make great new friends.”
“Chevron sponsors the Delo Tractor Restoration Competition knowing that the skills and lessons learned during the restoration process benefit the teens for life,” said Nicole Fujishige, commercial automotive lubricants marketing manager, Chevron Products Company. “We consider it one of our more vital and important sponsorships, one that helps ensure that the industry’s future leaders have the tools to succeed.”
Currently, both Tyler and Jordan are restoring tractors for the 2006 Chevron Delo Tractor Restoration Competition. They each have their own tractor, plus they’re working on one together. With another year of experience under their belts, the teens are looking forward to next year’s event-and maybe a different Raska on the winner’s podium.
