fleet maintenance | Trucbrush.com

Jan 21
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Visit to TrucBrush Client Bellavance Trucking

Posted by | fleet maintenance, snow removal, Transportation | No Comments

Bellavance Trucking is the proud owner of two TrucBrush units, one for each of their Vermont facilities. At their Barre, Vermont location they have the TrucBrush SD-19 which clears their lowest step decks, as well as their flatbed fleet and their tractor trailers. “In seconds, TrucBrush took not only the snow off the fleet roofs and beds but also ice that had bonded to the surface,” said Danny Driscoll of Bellavance Trucking. Bellavance Trucking purchased their first TrucBrush a couple of years ago. They were pleased with the TrucBrush’s performance, especially given the weather conditions in Vermont, so in 2018 they bought a second TrucBrush for their Barre facility.

Ice that was removed by Bellavance’s TrucBrush during our visit at their Barre, Vermont facility.

All the snow and icy debris is blown away from the lane of operation by TrucBrush. This allows a continuous clearing of their fleet regardless of truck height for faster fleet deployment. Vermont has certainly received its share of snowfall this winter and Bellavance Trucking is glad to have TrucBrush. They no longer use manual labor to clear their fleet. TrucBrush has the flexibility to clear significant snow accumulations.

Mar 14
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Storm Stella barrels in

Posted by | Driver Safety, snow removal, Storm Stella | No Comments

Harrisburg_Storm_Stella_TrucBrushMarch 14th 2017 will be a day that many remember as Storm Stella hammered their community leaving a blanket of 2 feet of snow and covering up any signs of Spring.  These blizzard conditions for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast remind us that March is still a month when major snow accumulations can occur.  CNN reports that Stella has put 18 million under blizzard warning.  Held up in my hotel room in Harrisburg to avoid missing the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association’s Safety Conference this week, I’m reminded too at how these snow events wreak havoc on all modes of transportation.  The airport in Boston as I left showed more ‘cancelled’ notices on the departing and arriving boards than I have seen in years.   Talking with a friend who works for a large freight company I hear about the crazy amounts of work for their employees to redirect parcels from truck to rail to any means that will prevent the inevitable slowdown of the 24/7 cargo hum. Then there are the truck drivers seeking safe parking spaces to wait out Storm Stella, but as we all know, those parking spaces are becoming fewer and fewer in these areas.  Only the municipal and snow service contractors’ plow trucks are out working hard to try to keep the main roadways clear. These unsung heroes of winter have a big challenge:  Storm Stella’s fast and fierce snow falling, which is impacting visibility and their ability to stay on top of the snow clearing.   At TrucBrush, we care about safety.  We hope that after Storm Stella moves offshore that everyone will remember the importance of clearing snow off their cars, trucks, trailers and buses to prevent roadway hazards days after Stella is just a March memory.   #driversafety #stormstella #transportation

Feb 10
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In Terms of Snow

Posted by | fleet maintenance, snow removal | No Comments

Avid skiers know all the snow condition terminologies—corn snow, powder, packed powder, slush—so they will be prepared for what they are sliding on.  The same holds true for those of us who must follow weather forecasts to manage snow plowing or clearing snow off the tops of trucks and trailers.  Last week’s Nor’easter was described by those forecasting the approaching storm in many ways, but the term that stuck most in my mind was ‘Guerrilla Glue.’  Meteorologist Frank O’Laughlin used Guerrilla Glue in his forecast to describe a snow consistency that would be heavy and wet.  It would cling to trees and electrical lines and probably cause power outages.

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Snow and icy debris flying off trucks, trailers, buses and other vehicles in transit can cause damage and injury.

Wet heavy snow can also be a challenge for the transportation industry because it clings to the tops of vehicles.  When temperatures drop after it falls, as they did with this storm, the snow can become a crusty, icy, hard-packed mess.   This snow, when accumulating quickly, also adds to a trailer’s weight.   More importantly, it becomes a safety concern when it is not cleared from trucks, trailers and any passenger vehicle before transit.   In the aftermath of this recent heavy snow storm, we saw news stories across the Northeast of vehicles hit by flying snow and icy debris, as well as falling tree limbs which resulted in tragedy.

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TrucBrush at Pilot Flying J Travel Centers in Sturbridge MA and Milford CT will be available all winter.

This type of snow consistency, however, is effectively addressed by TrucBrush, a patented, mobile brush device that quickly clears heavy wet snow from the tops of trucks and trailers.  After this February storm, our clients reported that TrucBrush easily cleared the heavy snow from their trucks and trailers.  Even trailers which were not scheduled to leave terminals were cleared so that the heavy snow accumulation would not cause damage to the trailers due to excess weight.

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TrucBrush clears snow in approximately one minute from a tractor-trailer.

TrucBrush Services were also available in Connecticut and Massachusetts at Pilot Flying J Travel Centers #255 and #222 where truck drivers took advantage of having a quick, safe and effective means to remove the accumulated heavy snow from their trailers.  (Services at these two Pilot locations will continue to be available all this winter.)  Truckers took advantage of the service to eliminate the potential for flying snow debris in transit and in some cases to also avoid being over the limit prior to weighing in on the CAT Scale.  As with skiers who get the most out of their runs by being prepared, these dedicated truck drivers knew the type of snow they were dealing with and they were able to easily address it with TrucBrush.

For more information on TrucBrush, email info@TrucBrush.com.

Apr 09
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Mother Nature Roulette: Are you willing to take a gamble on fleet snow management?

Posted by | fleet maintenance, Snow and Ice, snow removal, Trailer Snow Clearing | No Comments

For Bostonians, the ‘Big Dig’ is a distant memory; replaced by discussions of the ‘Big Haul’ due to a record breaking 113.7 inches of snowfall this winter. Even as I write this, New England is experiencing snow squalls and Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory has reported 150.8 inches of total snow accumulation. It’s been the snowiest winter on record for Massachusetts since reporting began in 1881.

Before we let this winter of discontent melt away, however, it’s important to consider the challenges that snow accumulation has on your business. For fleet and facility management, what better time is there to evaluate the options for clearing snow from your fleets’ rooftops than while the ‘pain’ is still fresh in your mind? For snow contractors, this is an opportunity to review the season with your clients—the good, the bad, and perhaps even the ugly—and make recommendations that might include secondary services such as TrucBrush. It’s a time for snow contractors to approach potential clients and offer them a total snow service solution. Adding a secondary service such as TrucBrush to clear snow from the tops of trailers and trucks increases operational efficiencies, both for snow management and fleet logistics. Many companies are now seeking such solutions to address the issue at their terminals after this historic winter.

TrucBrush service is easily implemented into a company’s snow management protocol with either the snow contractor providing the service, a TrucBrush Preferred Vendor offering it in conjunction with a facility’s overall snow management or the facility itself implementing the TrucBrush method. TrucBrush improves deployment time during a period when a facility needs it the most. It increases operational efficiencies by allowing the same equipment that operates TrucBrush for clearing snow off the fleet’s rooftops to be utilized for terminal and parking lot clearing of snow if desired. When TrucBrush is coordinated with a facility’s overall snow management, bay areas can also be cleared of snow before melting and refreeze occurs that is so common at docks. This adds to your overall safety initiatives.

TrucBrush Corporation is available 24/7 to answer your questions and show your team how this innovative method can be implemented into your overall safety and operational planning for next winter season—since you never know where Mother Nature’s roulette wheel will land.

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Reach us at: info@TrucBrush.com or call 877-783-0237
Watch the latest video: http://www.trucbrush.com/TrucBrushWinter.mp4
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[1] WeatherWorks Snow Accumulation Report, Zip Code: 02127 reported 113.7 inches
[2] Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, Milton, Massachusetts report, March 29, 2015.

Mar 05
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Winter 2015, will it ever end?

Posted by | fleet maintenance, Snow and Ice, Trailer Snow Clearing | No Comments

Weather professionals may find themselves stealing the NCAA’s catchphrase “March Madness” to describe this month’s record setting snowfall and low temperatures. Today, Winter Storm Thor tracks across the Mid-west, South and East with significant snowfall and ice. Some drivers on Interstate 65 in Kentucky have been stranded for hours due to Thor’s heavy snowfall. In Memphis and in other parts of the South people are experiencing icy conditions and folks in Dallas woke up to 2 to 5 inches of new snow, with Grapevine Texas actually reporting 7 inches. In Dallas, the storm has broken records dating back to the 1940s. Philadelphia and D.C. are expected to receive 5 to 8 inches today and the New Jersey State Trucking Association just sent out an alert to its members letting them know of a declared State of Emergency in that state.

The bad weather brings more awareness of the importance of removing snow from the tops of all vehicles before heading out on roadways. Some states, including Connecticut and New Jersey, already require this, not just for buses, trucks and trailers, but also for passenger vehicles. More states are passing accumulated snow removal legislation and those that already have it are citing drivers more frequently. I was reminded of this recently when a freight company told me that one of their drivers was stopped in Connecticut for having accumulated snow on the top of the trailer. They were fined $1,000 and the driver was detained until he climbed up on to the trailer and manually removed the snow—expensive and unsafe for the truck driver.
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For trucks, buses and trailers, TrucBrush® is a mobile, fast and effective method to remove snow from vehicle’s rooftop. “The TrucBrush has been a pivotal component to our fleet when dealing with a New England winter,” said TrucBrush customer Jarod Warsofsky, General Manager of Boston Trailer. “The savings we have gained from significantly reducing down time has made this investment well worth it… Now we can effectively clear 20 to 30 trailers with TrucBrush in the amount of time that it would take us to shovel one manually,” he said.

Keeping roadways safe for all vehicle traffic continues to be a top priority for many in the trucking industry. Our company works with companies to help them successfully implement TrucBrush, whether they are performing the service themselves or working with their snow management vendor to provide this additional winter service.

Today’s storm may bring enough snow to set a new record for Boston. As of Monday, the National Weather Service had reported 104.1 inches of snowfall at Logan Airport this winter, making it the second snowiest since weather records started being recorded in 1891. Will today’s snowfall break the Boston record of 107.6 inches that was set in the winter of 1995-96? If not today, certainly before the real March Madness begins. Watch the latest video from TrucBrush

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