Posted by Benjamin Crudo on January 31, 2018 0 Comments
cities in Canada, and Toronto is in the top spot. The creepy critters are also crawling through Winnipeg and Vancouver, which took the second-and third-place spots, respectively. With heightened reports of bed bugs in movie theatres, on public transit, and even truck cabs, no one is safe. If you have the heebie jeebies just thinking about it, read on as we tell you the top five ways to prevent beg bugs from bugging you. n Check yourself, before you wreck yourself So tonight you’re spending the night in a motel. That means cable, a hot shower, and some room to stretch out. It could also mean bed bugs. Beg bugs are notorious for transporting themselves from one location to another on soft clothing and bags. Before you lie down remember to check the sheets and seams of a mattress. The bugs may be no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence, but if you look closely, you should be able to spot them. They like to hide in crevices, so do a quick survey of the floor, headboard, and baseboards before heading to sleep. If you find anything suspicious, report it to management and ask for a new room. Leave all non-essentials in your truck. If you’re just staying for the night, there’s no need to bring a week’s worth of clothes with you. Bring only what you need, reducing the risk of the bugs latching onto something you own. oCheck everyone else, too If you have a guest or team driver, ask if they’ve checked for beg bugs. Be polite but firm, ask them to do a quick scan of their luggage, and consider placing luggage in a heavy-duty garbage bag while it’s in the cab. pRemember that heat kills Bed bugs are resilient little buggers, but can be killed in the dryer. While you can’t microwave your whole sleeper, separate and heat the stuff that might have come into contact with the pests. Once you realize you have a beg bug concern, stop moving items in the cab around. Don’t take your clothes, pillows, blankets, luggage, or other soft items back into the house, motel, or other areas without sealing them tightly in a plastic bag. The same can be said for moving things from an infected area into your truck. Don’t do it! Plastic garbage bags will be good enough to get to a dryer, but the bags won’t kill them, and beg bugs can live up to 10 years, so don’t assume you’re safe just because something has been in a bag awhile. Separate things that are a concern into two piles – those that can go in the dryer, and those that can’t. Put the sealed bag in the dryer, open it once inside, empty the contents, then remove the bag and close the door. Use high heat, as the bugs die at 117 Fahrenheit. Don’t reuse the bag, either. Replace your mattress It’s expensive and a giant hassle, but an infested mattress has to go. Get a Mattress and pillow protector for an added layer of protection,Bed bugs have been known to live inside mattresses for up to 10 years. If you can’t get rid of the mattress, seal it up in a specialized plastic cover. You can find them online, made in every size. Once the protector is on, it never comes off. Make sure to treat your protector as part of the mattress and not assume it can be removed to be washed. Taking it off before the 10-year mark may unleash a wave of bugs. rClean every surface So they’re in your cab, and it’s going to be a nightmare. Not only can the tiny creatures live up to 10 years, but they can also survive the inside of the vacuum. After you’ve tossed things in the dryer, and sealed up your mattress, vacuum everything else. But do it with a vacuum that has disposable bags. You want to be able to throw the bags out in a dumpster far away from anything you own. Vacuum every crevice and corner. Then be prepared to do it again. You’ll have to vacuum your cab two or three times a week for several months until you’re sure they’re all gone. After you’ve cleaned, spread Diatomaceous earth – available at most hardware or gardening stores – around your bunk or anywhere the pests can hide. The white powder is a pain, but it dries out and kills the bugs. TT Dispatches Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite
Posted by Benjamin Crudo on November 10, 2017 0 Comments
Sleep plays an important role in your physical health. For example, sleep is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.Jun 7, 2017
Why should we sleep?
Researchers have also shown that after people sleep, they tend to retain information and perform better on memory tasks. Our bodies all require long periods of sleep in order to restore and rejuvenate, to grow muscle, repair tissue, and synthesize hormones.
What is the adaptive theory of sleep?
Evolutionarytheory, also known as theadaptive theory of sleep, suggests that periods of activity and inactivity evolved as a means of conserving energy. According to thistheory, all species have adapted tosleepduring periods of time when wakefulness would be the most hazardous.
Why do we sleep at night and not during the day?
This resides in our Brain which dictates when to sleep and when to wake up. The sleep and wake up cycles are controlled by a hormone named Melatonin whose secretion inhibits in presence of light. So if someone wants to reset his internal clock Exogenous Melatonin can be used.
Why do you have to close your eyes when you sleep?
In Unihemispheric sleep, half the brain is asleep and the other is awake. ... Closing eyelids during sleep allowsa prolonged contact between the cornea and tears killing resistant bacteria in the process. The action of the tears during blinking is not sufficient to completely get rid of the foreign bodies in the eyes.
34 TruckersReport.com by Samuel Barradas / 4d // keep unread // hide // preview
A news release from the U.S. Department of Labor reported that 2014 was the worst year since 2008 for trucker’s work-related fatalities.
A total of around 725 heavy vehicle or tractor-trailer drivers died as a result of work-related injuries, with for-hire truck drivers accounting for 477 of the deaths.
Transportation was the most deadly industry last year with 28% of all work-related deaths occurring in transportation. The study also noted that across ALL industries, transportation incidents accounted for 40% of all work deaths.
An agreement was reached this past week between auto manufacturers and those who repair commercial trucks to share proprietary information that will allow truck owners third-party mechanics to be able to maintain their vehicles without being forced to return to a dealership.
The so-called “Right To Repair” is a huge win for small fleets, owner operators, and anyone responsible for maintaining their own trucks. Until recently, newer trucks had to be taken back to a dealership to undergo a growing number of repairs due to the increasing complexity of the systems being used.
“With today’s complex, computer-controlled heavy-duty vehicles, having access to the correct information and the latest diagnostic tools is essential to being able to complete repairs for our customers,” said the chairman of the Commercial Right to Repair Coalition.
Since repairs within the dealer network often cost much more than using a local mechanic’s shop, the coalition claimed that some truck owners ended up choosing the cheaper option, and – because the shops didn’t have the proprietary information they needed – the repairs would be sub-par and dangerous.
Another issue with having to stay within the dealer network was that it meant there were too few dealer-licensed shops for the amount of work, resulting in long downtimes for trucks that needed service and lost revenue as a result.
“One of the significant benefits of the [Right to Repair] is that it addresses the unique characteristics of the heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing industry as well as the special needs of independent heavy-duty repair shops,” said the president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association. “With that accomplished, we can avoid a patchwork and potentially disruptive effort to regulate service information through government action.”
The warm summer nights and hours of sun are past us. Fall has brought cooler temperatures, colorful trees, and flu season. While the official flu season generally occurs from December through February, flu outbreaks can occur as early as October. Fall is a great time to get yourself ready for the upcoming cold and flu season before the germs really hit the American population.
As owner-operators you don’t get sick time like many workers who work for a company do. When you’re not working, you’re not making money. You’re also traveling great distances to different parts of the country that exposes you to different strains of viruses and bacteria that your body has not been exposed to before. Combine those two factors with a high stress job that entails little sleep and possibly a diet that involves too much fast food and your risk of developing a cold and flu is higher than people working in an office every day.
Luckily there are many ways to reduce your chances of developing a major cold or flu this year. While nothing will 100% prevent you from getting sick, these tips can help you keep your immune system strong and reduce your chances of succumbing to the flu and keeping you off the road.
5 Tips to Reduce Your Chances of Getting the Flu
Get the Flu Shot
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends getting the flu vaccine every year. Each year the flu vaccine is slightly different based on the most common flu virus so it is important to get it every year to account for the changing strains. While the flu vaccine does not 100% prevent the flu, it can greatly reduce your chances of getting sick. The CDC recommends everyone over the age of 6 months to get the shot, especially people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes, and heart and lung diseases. The flu vaccine is readily available in your healthcare provider’s office, flu clinics, and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS.
Wash Your Hands
Washing your hands is one of the best germ prevention methods you can do. Fecal matter from people and animals are a host to germs like Salmonelle, E. coli, and the norovirus. These germs often get on the hands after people use the bathroom and if they don’t wash their hands properly, the germs can spread and live just about anywhere. It is important to wash your hands with soap throughout the day, especially after using the bathroom and before and after handling food.
Get Enough Sleep
Lack of sleep can make you sick. Research studies have shown that people who experience a low quality of sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, like the flu or common cold. While you’re sleeping, your immune system releases cytokines, which are proteins with several jobs. Some help promote sleep while other will help you fight infection and inflammation. Doctors recommend between 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
Avoid Close Contact
This might seem like a no-brainer, but avoid close contact with people who are sick. This works both ways too. If you’re sick try to avoid healthy people to avoid spreading your germs. While you can’t completely avoid everyone who is sick everywhere you go, you can certainly visibly see if someone is really sick and avoid any close contact with them. If someone is coughing and sneezing a lot, that’s a good indicator they could be sick. If you do come into contact with a sick person, remember to wash your hands.
Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is important for your health and is especially important when you’re starting to get the tingle in the back of your throat. Drinking water is essential to your health. It serves as your body’s natural detox system by flushing waste out of your cells. Many providers recommend drinking half your bodyweight in ounces per day. Herbal teas can also help relieve the symptoms of colds and flus. Many herbal tea ingredients like lemon and honey can help soothe a sore throat. You can’t 100% prevent getting the flu, but you can find ways to reduce your chances of feeling miserable on the bathroom floor. The above tips can help you reduce your chances, but it’s up to you to follow through with them. Remember, as owner-operators everyday lying on the couch sick is a day not making money.
She was driving through Arizona when she saw what she thought was leaves blowing across the road in the distance. This puzzled her since there’s mostly pine trees in northern Arizona. When she finally got to the “leaves” she realized that they were migrating tarantulas, 1000’s of them. There were so many of them that her truck was sliding on their guts so she had to slow down. She stopped at the first truck stop and told her co-driver to fuel up (he was sleeping at the time) because she wasn’t going to step foot outside after what she just saw. Her co-driver was pissed since it was technically his time off, and he thought she was crazy, until he saw the tarantula guts and legs caked in the inside wheel well of the truck.
She also outran a tornado in the midwest. She was about to pull over and take cover until she saw another big rig that was parked on the side of the road get tossed a couple hundred yards like a toy. She called me and told me that she thought she was going to die and wanted her last words to be “I love you” to me. She pulled off the freeway and got to a Wal-Mart, where she ran into the basement where all the staff and customers were taking shelter. After the tornado passed, they stepped out of the basement and into daylight, since the Wal Mart was destroyed.
She has many many stories like this. Trucking is 90% boredom, 10% insane shit like this.
Posted by Benjamin Crudo on July 04, 2017 0 Comments
When you settle in for the night, the last thing you probably think about is what may be lurking in the nooks and crannies of your bedding.
And your ignorance is most likely bliss, because it turns out, beds are ripe — pardon the pun, hotbeds — for microscopic life.
"You have spores of fungi, bacteria, animal dander, pollen, soil, lint, finishing agents of whatever the sheets are made from, coloring material, all sorts of excrements from the body including sweat, sputum, vaginal, and anal excretions, urine milieu, skin cells ... " Philip Tierno, a microbiologist and pathologist at the New York University School of Medicine, told Tech Insider. "Plus there are cosmetics that people use — they put oils and creams on their body, all of that is in that milieu."
And there's a lot more, Tierno said, "including food by the way, people eat in the bed. That of course provides a nice environment for these organisms."
Your home's environment is so nice, in fact, that scientists all around the world are trying to identify and quantify the diverse array of pollutants and allergens that not only shack up in your bed, but fawn out across an entire household. These domestic microbes may negatively (or sometimes even positively) affect our health. Nasty bacteria from raw meat and vegetables, for example, can live on surfaces for days or even years and cause horrendous cases of food poisoning. Mold on bathroom surfaces and damp cloths can exacerbate or cause allergies and asthma.
Pascal Rossignol / Reuters
Think this doesn't affect you because you're a relatively clean person? Think again. Humans naturally produce 26 gallons of sweat in bed every year. This moisture, at high humidity, is an "ideal fungal culture medium."
In a 2015 study that assessed the level of fungal contamination in bedding, researchers found that feather and synthetic pillows 1.5 to 20 years old can contain between 4 and 17 different species of fungus.
And over time, Tierno said, the amount of fungi, bacteria, and many other debris that accumulate is dramatic.
"You know how Rome was covered and we excavated to find out Rome? That's because gravity [causes debris] to settle over time and bury things," Tierno said. "The same thing happens with mattresses and pillows: Gravity brings down all this debris and it settles in the core of the pillow and the mattress. And you’re inhaling that debris 8 hours a day."
Considering that 1 in 6 people have allergies, Tierno says, and the average person spends about a third of their life in bed, scientists are speculating that our beds may be the source of our misery.
"I didn't even mention the dust mites," Tierno said. "There are dust mite feces and dust mite debris, which are allergens. Even if you don't have an allergy, you react to it as a normal person."
These allergens may cause you to wake up with a stuffy nose, cause or exacerbate allergies, or aggravate asthma.
Therefore it's imperative to keep your bed relatively clean, Tierno says, so that you don't overexpose your body to these allergens.
So how often should you wash your bed sheets?
"Stuff like that accumulates to become significant usually between 1-2 weeks," Tierno said. "Bottom line, they should be washed probably on the average of once a week."
Shutterstock/lenetstan
And while there aren't any formal studies on how often you should be cleaning things in your home, Tierno says, this weekly sheet washing suggestion is just a recommendation.
"Certainly if you go one week and two days you're not going to get arrested," Tierno said.
And if you're like most people and have a hard time wrestling with washing your duvet cover, do not fret. You only have to wash that periodically, about every six months, Tierno says, depending on use.
Posted by Benjamin Crudo on July 20, 2017 0 Comments
Bear like
Was driving north through the mountains of Colorado towards Pueblo, and it was my first time dealing with anything like the Rocky Mountains so I was taking it nice and slow with my hazards on and in the right lane. This was in the spring, and there wasn’t much snow on the ground aside from a light dusting.
I remember passing another truck pulled to the shoulder on my way up, nothing out of the ordinary. However, as I was heading down the mountain (which can be scary as shit in an 18-wheeler, trust me) I saw the same truck I passed earlier FLY by me in the left hand lane. Now being passed on the left going DOWNHILL in the ROCKY MOUNTAINS by another TRACTOR TRAILER is crazy enough, but what really makes this story is this guy’s trailer brakes were on fire. He was pulling a load (could tell because the trailer was sealed) and if you know anything about trucks you know there’s only so much braking you’re supposed to do before they overheat and, worst-case, catch fire.
This guy’s truck looked like a fucking comet as he sped down the mountain at what I thought was a surely to be deadly pace.
I grabbed the mic to the radio and called out to him, “Hey Driver! Your brakes are on fire! I mean literally on fire!”
This rough and weathered sounding voice comes back over the speaker of my radio and says, cool as a cucumber, “I know.”
And he disappeared around a curve.
I never saw any wrecked truck, emergency crews, or even mention of an accident over the radio.
I did see a discarded fire extinguisher on the ground at the base of the mountain though.
Many years ago I was on what is called a “meet and turn” This is where a driver that is domiciled out of one city will drive a load halfway to its destination, while a driver domiciled out of that destination will drive halfway with a load that is destined for my city. We meet in a parking lot, switch trailers and drive back home. I had been on this run for a few months and found that I always got to the meet point about an hour before the other driver. It was a dark and empty dirt lot at about 3 am, so I would stretch out across the seat and take a short nap.
One night, about 10 minutes into my nap I was awoken by a barking dog. I tried to ignore it, but it carried on for several minutes and got louder as the dog got closer. Soon, it became apparent that the dog was right outside of my truck barking at me. OK, either this dog is Lassie and is trying to alert me to something, or else he is just a pain in the ass and I will need to throw something at him to scare him off. It is important to note that the barking had been going on for a good 10 minutes at this point.
So, I sat up and looked out my window. Standing there, mere inches on the other side of the glass was a man of about 35. He was a large fellow. And was barking at me. his eyes were crazy and he was frothing at the mouth a little — the scene really held my full attention for a moment. The sheer creepiness of this struck me. Gently, and making an absolute minimum of sudden movements, I reach down and started my truck and slowly pulled away. He chased me, much like you might expect an angry dog to do, barking all the while.
Needless to say, it played hell with my power naps from then on.
An agreement was reached this past week between auto manufacturers and those who repair commercial trucks to share proprietary information that will allow truck owners third-party mechanics to be able to maintain their vehicles without being forced to return to a dealership.
