Are you regularly asking for discounts?  If not, why not?  The worst someone will say is no and it didn’t you cost you anything for asking.   But it could be worth your asking time if the answer is yes.  Think of the possibilities of where you could be saving some money.

Discount on your insurance for loss-free driving and ticket-free driving.  Insurance companies love the squeaky clean driver and sometimes reward you accordingly.

Shop around when looking for an insurance company.  Ask some questions about any discount programs they may have and compare pricing.  It could be worth it to be able to pay your truck insurance on a monthly basis rather than quarterly, semi-annually or annually.  If you are dealing with an Independent Agent, try to get a better deal on insurance by bundling your personal vehicles, motorized toys and home/renters insurance all together for bigger discounts on everything.  Ask other truckers who they have for insurance coverage and whether or not they would recommend them and why.  Most people will gladly share good and bad experiences with companies.  You ultimately decide who is going to get your $$ for coverage.

How about meal discounts?  Take advantage of customer appreciate cards at food stops you frequent.  Some may give you reward $$ that accumulate and others give a free meal after the purchase of others.   Ask the waitress/waiter if they have any program and participate if it’s to your advantage.  Those of you with AARP cards or eligible for the seniors discount, don’t be shy to ask for that discount on your meals.  It all adds up.

I can just hear what you are saying that you can write off your meals.  Maybe so, but we are talking daily out of pocket expenses that you encounter every day.  You decide whether or not you want to keep more of your money right now or wait until the end of the year.  You can still write off your meals, but a little extra cash right now is my first choice.  How about you?

Asking for discounts at big box stores like Wal-Mart doesn’t work so well unless the item is slightly damaged but still usable.  But if you are dealing with a local business, sometimes you can fernagel (negotiate) a better deal by just asking an employee or asking for the manager.

Did you know that the United States is the only country where the people don’t dicker (negotiate) prices with a seller.  True!  Give it a try sometime and tell me about your experiences.

About a year ago my stove quit.  We talked about what I wanted in the next stove and how much we could afford to spend.  And guess what, we found what we were looking for at the price we were willing to pay which was almost half what the stove was originally priced.  Of course the salesman is going to direct you to the more expensive models but we found ours discounted as a floor model and it came with the full one-year warranty which I took advantage of when the oven didn’t heat correctly.  A new “brain” was installed at no cost and everything is now good.  Had we not asked for a better deal, the salesman never would have directed us to the floor models that were for sale.

I am a big Dave Ramsey fan.  If you never heard of him, google the name Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University and check him out.  He gives sound money management advice/debt reduction which has helped us and many others we know.  He also teaches asking for discounts and negotiating prices and not to be afraid of walking away.  If someone is eager/commissioned for a sale, they will try to do whatever they can to make that sale.

We at Easy Trucking Software try to help you keep more of your money as well.  We provide a quality product at a reasonable price you pay for only once.  And if you are an OOIDA member, ask me about the discount we offer just for you.  www.easytruckingsoftware.com Get a FREE Trial Download to check us out before you even spend $1 of your money on anything.  www.easyruckingsoftware.com click on Download.

So back to asking for discounts…….like I said earlier, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.  And the worst that could happen is a no.  But the best that could happen is you save some money right now.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

Knowing the base cost of fuel can save you money.  Want to know how?  Keep reading.

With the cost of fuel what it is, being a successful trucking is getting harder.  That is why you absolutely have to know how to calculate your next fuel purchase.

As you know, the cost of fuel is comprised of the actual fuel cost plus the state and federal taxes collected on each gallon.

It is essential that you know the base cost of the fuel so you can make wise buying decisions.  For example, if you are in one state that has fuel of $2.99 a gallon and has a $0.35 per gallon tax, that would give you a base cost of $2.64 per gallon ($2.99 – $0.35 = $2.64).

The state right next to it is selling fuel for $2.79 a gallon. That looks like a very attractive price, however, their tax rate is only $0.09 per gallon.

This then brings the base cost of the fuel to $2.70 a gallon which is considerably higher than the previous state.  ($2.79 – $0.09 = $2.70)

Finding the tax rates in the Easy Trucking Software program is very simple.

Just go to the tax table page in Fuel Manager and click on the fuel tax rates on the internet button.  That will open your web browser to www.ifta.org which lists the tax rates for each quarter.

By subtracting the tax rate from the gallon of fuel you will know the base cost of fuel and be able to make wise buying decisions.

Let Easy Trucking Software help you run your business successfully.

Get a FREE Trial Download of the Easy Trucking Software software by visiting the website www.easytruckingsoftware.com and click on Download

Tires…….are they really all equal???

According to one of our customer’s by name of Wildbill this is what he has been doing to help improve his MPG.

Wildbill tells me he got another 1.5 mpg out of his old 95 volvo with 2,398,523 miles on it and 3.91 rears with 18sp.  “Unless you drive in mud or off road like flat bedders, change your drivers out for all position steers.  I am using Bridgstone r280 getting almost 200,000 miles on them with rotation of course.  But fact is they are extremely fuel efficient and according to Bridgstone the tire has about 5 % less rolling resistance than a normal drive tire.  And when you do that times 8 tires thats 40% difference on the roll.”

“I get great traction in rain, snow, and ice using the same driving practices.”

Thank you Wildbill for sharing your experiences with us.

Tell me how your tires measure up and what are you doing different to help with more getting MPG.

If you have a topic you would like to see an article on, let me know.  I am always interested in hearing from the audience of what you think and what you want to hear more about.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

Lets start with staying physically cool.

Staying at a comfortable temperature in your truck is a must.  Nothing is worse than being outside in 90+ degrees weather with matching humidity.  All your clothes stick to you and it’s just plain uncomfortable.   Your truck air conditioner is working extra hard to keep you cool but here are a few other tips to help keep you cool with or without air conditioning.

• Have a fan mounted to the inside of your cab and let it run in low to keep the air moving around.  Having air moving across your skin makes you feel cooler even in warmer temperatures and allows you to turn the truck air conditioner a little higher to help on mpg.  Air circulating also helps keep you more alert.
• Wet a bandana in cold water and wrap it over the back of your neck.  It helps cool your head and makes you feel cooler.
• The body radiates heat from the hands, feet, face and ears, so cooling any of these will efficiently cool the body.
• Use a spray bottle of water and give your face a quick spritz.  Ahhhhh I feel cooler already!
• When you make a stop, hold your wrists under cold running water or use a cold beverage bottle on your wrists, face and neck.

Keeping a cool head helps keep your body healthy.  Losing your temper and getting all worked up over something raises your blood pressure.  And lets face it, none of us need this!  Here are a few tips to help to keep a cool head.

• Think before reacting.  Everyone makes mistakes, no exceptions.  A slip of the tongue at the wrong time can hurt business relationships.  Not Cool!
• Check your blood pressure when you can.  Use either your own portable unit or free-standing blood pressure stations when you find them.  Almost any Wal-Mart with a pharmacy will have one.  If you get more than a couple readings that are on the high side, see your doctor or healthcare professional for their opinion.
• Drink your water.  If you are waiting until you become thirsty to get a drink of water, you are already dehydrated.  Bottoms up with a tall glass of cool crisp refreshing water!
• Thirsty????  Go get yourself a refreshing bottle/glass of water!
  

Just like taking care of yourself, you also need to take care of your business.  Using Easy Trucking Software helps you do just that.  The Easy Trucking Software program is designed for truckers just like you.  Here is what Easy Trucking Software can do for you:

• Track all your income
• Track all your expenses
• Create invoices
• Track fuel purchases and miles in state for IFTA reporting
• Reports galore – Totals Report for IFTA, IRP, Profit & Loss, Statements, plus much more

Click here to get a Free Trial Download of the Easy Trucking Software program.  Check it out and see for yourself.  We have thousands of customers using Easy Trucking Software every day.

www.easytruckingsoftware.com click on Download

You know, I was reading an article the other day that stated during the summer and when it is particularly hot, that fuel expands.  A 1.5% fuel expansion during the summer could amount to an annual cost of $1,200 per truck for fuel that you never receive.  So pumping fuel at night when the temperature cools down could prove beneficial to you.  Something to think about.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

First some terminology:

The term Crash, this is when a program or your entire PC stops working and may also include a frozen screen.

Reboot means to restart your computer.

Control Panel is the windows feature that gives you access to your system utilities and settings.

OK, with that said, the best thing to do when your PC crashes is nothing.  That’s right, I said nothing.   Give it a couple minutes, it could be your computer is working on something behind the scenes and has not crashed.

After a few minutes and nothing has happened try the “3 finger salute”.   The “3 finger salute” is pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time.  From here you can either restart your computer or in the Task Manager box you can End Task the program that is giving you the problem.

If your computer is still unresponsive, repeat the “3 finger salute” and click Shut Down on the dialog box.

As a last resort, press the Reset button on your CPU.   But again, this is a very last resort.

Taking care of your PC should cut down on the crashing frequency.  Here are a few thing to watch for:  Always keep about 25% of your hard disk free.  Anything less than that and your hard disk will struggle.  To find our how much free space you have go to My Computer (XP) / Computer (Vista) and right click on the hard disk icon.  Choose Properties from the drop down menu.

If your hard disk is filling up fast, delete any programs that you rarely or never use.  Do that by choosing the “add or Remove Programs” icon from the Control Panel.  This should help free up some space for you.  Deleting large audio or video files will also help.

We at Easy Trucking Software www.easytruckingsoftware.com can’t say enough about backing up your files.  We recommend using a flash drive with our program because it is inexpensive and can save hours of time having to rekey information into the program.  Use a Flash Drive, external hard drive or internet storage.  You decide what is right for you and then DO IT!  Do it on a regular basis and it will make your life much easier in the event something happens to your PC and you need to restore a program or file.  I personally have an external hard drive attached to my computer that mirrors the capacity of my hard disk (i.e. 30 GB computer hard disk and a 30GB external hard drive).   I back up everything!

Programs also need a certain amount of RAM (random access memory) to work properly.  Each program will tell you what it needs by selecting Control Panel and click on System Tools and then System Information.  Toward the bottom of the list is the total available physical memory.  Software with lots of graphics, video or sound usually need the most RAM.

Keep your hard disk (C: drive) cleaned up too.  Some regular housekeeping is necessary to keep your PC running at peak performance.

Defragment your disk by going into System Tools and click Disk Deframenter.  This process may take quite a while depending on the size of your hard disk.  Just start it and walk away and do something else for a while.

Remember – A healthy PC is a happy PC.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

What the heck is a firewall?  I know I have one in my car and truck, but what is it doing in my computer?

Your computer firewall is a piece of software or hardware that sits between your computer and the internet that restricts what types of data can flow into your computer or out from your computer.  Viruses can be prevented by using a good firewall.  It will filter or block certain types of network traffic entering your computer.  Things like viruses, worms or unwanted/unauthorized remote access into your computer are blocked at the firewall.  The firewall is built to know the difference between a virus and email and can be configured to allow certain kinds of connections from the outside.

There are two different firewalls, hardware and software.

A hardware firewall would be a broadband router that filters traffic before it even gets to your computer.

A software firewall is a software program that runs on your computer and filters and prevents traffic from getting through to your operating system of your computer.

If you are looking for more information about firewalls, do an internet search on firewalls.

What is the best virus scanner around and will it catch all viruses trying to enter my computer?

There are a variety of virus scanners on the market.  To name one that is the best is subjective and we all have our own favorite program that we swear by.  Pick one and install it on your computer.  Something is always better than nothing.  The advantage of having a real time virus scanner, which is preferred, is it will detect viruses as they they try to enter your computer and are stopped and deleted.  You may notice that your computer runs a little bit slower in this mode but it is worth it if you don’t end up with a virus in your machine and all sorts of computer headaches.  If you feel you need a second virus scanner, run it from time to time to catch anything that slips through the first scan.  There isn’t one anti-virus program out there that will catch every virus.  Each program is a little different from the next.

This is where having a firewall in place is another deterrent of viruses sneaking in and infecting your computer.  Pay attention to warnings you may get from your firewall or virus scanner when downloading anything to your computer, and don’t open an email attachment that is not recognized.

My computer is running slower and slower and where is all this junk email coming from?

What could be happening is you have spyware that has attached itself to your computer, gathering information about your internet habits and sending them back to someplace else.  Suddenly you are getting more and more email from places you have never visited making your email a nightmare to wade through.

There is help!  Do an internet search for Free anti-spyware software.  There are quite a few out there.  Read the reviews and pick one and run it to remove the spyware from your computer.  Do this on a regular basis if you are a regular internet surfer and be sure to update your anti-spyware software too.  The first time I did this to my computer it ran over 30 minutes cleaning out all the “junk” that had attached itself to my computer.  Wow, did it make a difference in my computer speed.  If you can set this up as an automatic function on your machine, so much the better.  Then you won’t have to try to remember to run the anti-spyware.

Just as you want your computer to run smoothly when you need it, so should your business.  Tracking all your data is important to know exactly how much money you are making and the expenses you incur.  That’s where Easy Trucking Software comes in.  Easy Trucking Software will keep track of all your income, your expenses, your fuel and mileage, helping you stay on top of your business every day.  But don’t take my word for it, visit our website at www.easytruckingsoftware.com and get your FREE download (don’t you just love that word FREE).  Try it out before you buy it and remember that your trial download can be turned into the real thing with just a phone call to purchase.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

This is my new word of the day.

Definition:  To enlarge or expand the range of their business.

When doing the same thing gets you the same results and your results are poor, it’s time to diversify.

Did you ever wonder why some trucking companies are thriving while others are going under?  Do you think it’s maybe because they are better at money management than the next business?  Sometimes but not always.  Do you think they maybe this great crystal ball that is giving them insight?  Probably not!

When doing the same thing isn’t getting you the results you need, it’s time to look at diversifying.  Making a change isn’t always easy.  It takes out of our comfort zone of something familiar and puts us in a place of maybe having to learn something new.

Trucking companies are having to close their doors and lay off their employees and/or owner operators because of lack of freight to haul.  Lack of freight coupled with low or even lower rates makes it difficult to make money.  I’ll bet you can name off a few companies and people that you personally know in this situation right now.  Life isn’t always fair.

I talked with a trucking company the other day that has diversified what they were hauling and are now growing and making money again.  Good for them.  I love hearing success stories.  This wasn’t always the case though.  They had to figure it out and change direction with what they were hauling.  They had to change their thinking and open up the possibility to change and learn something new.

Change can be a positive word if you let it.  Change can be a good thing, especially if it means the difference between making money and NOT making money.  Change is inevitable and a daily thing.  Think of change like a detour, a detour to making more money.

I don’t have a magic pill that I can recommend to you that will suddenly make you smarter at selecting loads to haul or give you insight to what you should do in your business.

Being an owner operator means keeping on top of your business and making sure it’s profitable.  This may mean looking to haul something else other than what you have been.  Keep your mind open to other possibilities of other freight to haul.  Don’t be afraid to learn something new.

Ask other truckers what they are hauling and who they are working for.  Get input and weigh your options for something better than what you already have.

Get yourself a good trucking program to keep track of your business.  Know where your money is going and what kind of expenses you have.  Easy Trucking Software is a GREAT software that is economically priced and created just for you, the owner operator and small fleet owner.

The economy isn’t going to turn around overnight and we all need to help ourselves as best we can.

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.