Speak softly and carry a glowing stick

Entrepreneur Steve Rowe has developed a new truck driver’s height-measuring stick that he claims is the best yet in the heavy trucking industry.

All commercial trucks west of the Mississippi have a height limit of less than 14 ft. to safely drive through freeway underpasses. In estimating the height limit, some truckers will just guess instead of using a low-quality measuring stick or tape measure with sometimes less-than-desirable results, Rowe said.

The $149.95 “Life Saver” stick, which went on the market in August, expands to 16 ft. tall, is produced in a day-glow orange and has reflective strips, making the trucker highly visible when measuring a vehicle load at night. Rowe, who is co-owner of AutoHauler Supply, Portland, OR, developed the new measuring stick over a four-year period after gathering feedback from his customers on a similar product that had a lot of problems and drawbacks.

“It's something you probably wouldn't think about on a day-to-day basis for trucks to be under the height limit, but it really bedevils truckers,” Rowe said.

Made of thicker and more durable fiberglass, the stick collapses to 58 in., making it easier for a trucker to store it in a sleeper cab. It costs less to ship, so Rowe noted that the customer pays less.

The measuring stick includes both metric and American standard measuring marks and comes in a cloth storage bag with a drawstring. Most other sticks have only metric or standard marks and come in a plastic bag.

Rowe said his company sold more than 50 of the new sticks in the first week of going on the market, which can be ordered at AutoHaulerSupply.com.