Trucks

Delivery trucks are the backbone of the haulage industry as they are the vehicles that take the all important goods and distribute them between wholesalers and retailers in towns and cities. Let’s look at the role of these great vehicles and the people who drive them to get an appreciation of just how important these are to our society and the continued trade that it relies on so heavily.

The first you know about them is when you see them blocking the road outside the store you want to visit. Don’t be too hard on the driver, as he’s only doing his job and its tough enough trying to deliver stock to a store when there is nowhere else to park up. The last thing a delivery truck driver wants is to have to park a block or more away from the store he is delivering to and having to walk with a load of goods while having to lock up the truck every time he has to leave it to make the journey by foot to the store.

Delivery trucks are everywhere going about their business keeping stores stocked up with the stuff we need to buy, as well as keeping wholesalers turning over while smaller outlets need to get the odd car trunk full of odds and ends for the stores. They keep industry moving by making sure that the goods that are needed are always being supplied before they run out and without them we would all grind to an unceremonious halt!

So spare a thought for the driver next time you see a delivery truck getting stuck in traffic, or having to park in a bad neighborhood to deliver to stores and fearing for his safety and that of his cargo. Its not always such a nice job to do, but somebody’s got to do it!

Trucks

Welcome back to Trucks where in the last post I was looking at Chevy truck accessories in particular as well as some other truck related info. Here, I’m going to switch tack from the actual automobiles themselves to what they’re mostly used for, in the case of the big ones, that is!

I’m talking about transportation, haulage of goods and cargo and freight forwarders. Now without going into any great detail here, as I’m certainly no expert on this side of things, it is an interesting by-product of the machines that I am interested in. Of course, large trucks are used all the time for transporting cargo all over the country by road and despite rising fuel costs, this still remains a relatively cost effective method of transportation, especially for heavy items.

When it comes to transportation and logistics, that side of things leaves me completely confused. It takes someone with knowledge of times, distances, traffic flow etc to be able to figure out things like estimated arrival times and factor in how much it would all cost to do the whole transport thing. You have to factor in things like fuel costs, paying the driver, maintenance on the vehicle, loading and unloading plus storage in necessary and come up with a reasonable price to charge the person wanting the haulage done plus make a profit for the transport company. Save that for the professionals!

But from the driver’s perspective, once all the paperwork has been done, all he has to do is get into the rig and drive! Now that’s not such a bad thing to do and once you’re rolling, you’re on your own and there’s no one telling you what to do or how to dress. In other words once you leave the depot and until you reach your destination, you are your own boss. Its quite a liberating feeling.

But that’s about all I really want to write about for now. Like I said, its only a very broad overview of the whole transportation and logistics, haulage and freight forwarders side of trucks, which is a valid and important side of the interest in the big machines.

See you next time!

Trucks