A few good trailersXTRA Lease has joined up with the U.S. Marine Corps to field a fleet of rolling billboards dedicated to saluting the military. “The Marines, the most renowned member of the armed forces, were looking for partners to help in recruitment efforts,” relates XTRA Lease president Bill Franz. XTRA Lease will donate space on 50 trailers, converting them into murals displaying Marine Corps graphics.
Truck pulls trainTrains that carry people are OK in our book — especially when pulled by a Class 8 truck like this baby. But seriously, when engineers with Portland, OR's Interstate Metropolitan Area Express light-rail project were ready to test track and power line clearances, they purchased a highly customized Western Star 4900 SA to haul the 100-ton train. The truck was modified by Canada-based Brandt Industries.
Talk about multitaskingEveryone's heard of the fabled Unimog but how many have seen one at work? Now you have. Here is a Unimog in the field, specially outfitted to turn timber into wet chips for fire control. It is equipped with implements, as the Unimog folks call the truck's attachments, for grappling trees and chipping wood and carries a dump body for capturing the chips. Apparently, with this do-all machine, the lumberjack needn't even leave the cab.
WD-40 hits 50That miracle elixir of motorists and many others, WD-40, has hit the half-century mark. Originally developed as a rust preventive for the Atlas missile program in 1953, its name was inspired by the 40 attempts it took to finalize the water-displacement formula. Today the space-age product, reports the WD-40 Company, is found in 8 out of 10 U.S. households and is sold in 160 countries. Among its thousands of official uses no doubt are many ways to keep trucks rolling smoothly.
Bumper-stickers-we-like department: “Hang up and drive”
— seen on back of trailer owned by Allied Van Lines, Chicago, IL
Two-timer When the judging was over recently at the 21st annual ROTELLA SuperRigs Truck Beauty Contest, Vladimir Bilik, Jr. of Santa Clarita, CA, was awarded the top prize — Best of Show — which he had also received in 2001. His black, orange and heavily chromed ‘01 Peterbilt 379 tractor-trailer, known as “Peterod,” features a hot rod theme, complete with a chrome kickstand and a stainless steel undercarriage covering extending from the transmission to the rear trailer axle. Contestants competed for $10,000 in cash and prizes and the chance to appear in the 2004 edition of the renowned ROTELLA SuperRigs calendar.
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