Summer and fall host a variety of holidays that spark an increase in traffic and travel. July 4th and Labor Day are hosted in July and September. With July 4th being on a Thursday this year and Labor Day on a Monday, the chances of substantial weekend traffic increases. Did you sit in July 4th weekend traffic this year? As a truck driver, and sharing the road with holiday drivers, there are steps you can take to make you and the roads a safer place.

Be Aware Of High Travel Times

Summer and fall weekends are filled with people coming and from their vacations as well. The Wednesday before July 4th was be a big day of travel, and the Labor Day will be a massive day of travel as well. When you’re aware of these high travel times at any time of the year, you can plan your routes ahead of time. Morning and evening travel are also busy times on the road for holiday travelers. Christopher Elliot from Fortune explains, “Here’s the best way to beat Labor Day traffic the weekend,” as you consider travel plans for Labor Day Weekend this year.

Take It Slow, Steady, And Safe

As you plan your time on the road, be sure to leave yourself enough time, so you’re not tempted to speed or to exceed your driver hours of service. When your speed increases and exceeds the speed limit the chances of a crash triples. Keep focused on the road by not using your technology while driving and buckle up every time you sit in the driver’s seat. Did you know most drivers are not aware of your blind spots? Keep an eye on your blind spots in case other drivers are not. Lastly, dial 911 if you ever suspect or notice an impaired driver on the road.

Bulldog Truck Sales wants to get you on the road safely and at an affordable rate. We offer high quality, late model semi-trucks for lease at affordable prices with attractive terms. Come in and see us today.

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“The higher the truck, the closer to God.” – Earl Dibbles Jr.

Truck driving is a fulfilling and complex job. You cover hundreds of miles in a machine made for covering those miles and hauling big loads. Staying on the road means you have the ability to continue earning money for you and your family. In order to keep you and your truck on the road, it’s crucial to maintain your commercial truck to prevent breakdowns.

When your commercial truck breaks down, it can lead to a significant loss of income for you. Waiting on the proper maintenance and repairs can keep you off the road. The cost of repairs can be overwhelming, and the downtime related to the breakdowns all add up and dig negatively into your profits. Avoiding setbacks is vital to every trucker’s job. You can do this by properly maintaining your truck for optimal use.

Accidents and unexpected things can happen with your truck, but there are steps you can take to help avoid them. You can do this by ensuring that your pre-inspection checks are complete. Also, keep your truck up-to-date on maintenance requirements for your particular truck. Every time you get back on the road perform your pre-trip inspections and get anything checked out and repaired before heading out on the road.

Bulldog Truck Sales wants to get you on the road safely and at an affordable rate. We offer high quality, late model semi trucks for lease at affordable prices with attractive terms. All our trucks are DOT ready and come with a one-year engine warranty included in the price.

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Bulldog Truck Sales in Atlanta, Georgia is a truck leasing company. Our truck leasing program is designed to help you get back to work and on the road. Part of our leasing plan includes a DOT inspection and a two-year warranty on all our leases.

In addition to DOT Inspection And Two Year Warranty, Bulldog Lease Plan Includes:

1. Short term (36-42 month) lease purchase agreement
2. Low fixed monthly payments of $1,750 to $2,250 depending on vehicle type and mileage.
3. Credit scores as low as 500 accepted.

DOT Inspections

Department of Transportation (DOT) inspections ensure all your CMV parts and accessories are safe for use and in good condition and functioning properly. A DOT inspection involves six primary levels.

Levels of Inspection

Level 1 – North American Standard Inspection – This level of inspection involves a meticulous review of your documents. They also will inspect for drugs, alcohol or other hazardous materials you may be transporting.

Level 2 – Walk Around Driver/Inspection of Vehicle – This level mirrors level 1. However, your inspector will not check any parts that require getting under your CMV.

Level 3 – Driver-Only Inspection – This level focuses on an in-depth look at you. Items such as your driver’s license, medical card, driver’s log, seatbelt, inspection report, driver incident history, and Hazmat requirements are all inspected.

Level 4 – Special Inspection – This is a special inspection and a one-time examination to look at a specific feature of your vehicle. It is usually conducted in response to a previous claim about your vehicle.

Level 5 – Vehicle-Only Inspection – This level is conducted without your presence and includes everything in a level one inspection.

Level 6 – Enhanced NAS Inspection for Radioactive Shipments – This inspection includes inspecting for radiological shipments and requirements, procedures, and enhanced out of service criteria and level 1 inspection.

Bulldog Truck Leasing Professionals

Even if you have bad credit, you may still qualify for one of our affordable truck leasing programs and financing options. Contact our truck leasing professionals today or call our office to speak with one of our knowledgeable and professional staff members.

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It’s no secret that truck drivers spend many hours on the road. When driving you have a lot to consider and navigate. However, there are also hours when you’re able to both listen and drive at the same time. Listening to something can be an effective way to keep your mind engaged and alert while covering many miles as well.

Suggestions For Your Road Trip Listening Pleasure

Playlists – Why not consider making a playlist of your favorite tunes or genre of music? Consider mixing up the songs and variety of music to keep it interesting. If you’re not so tech savvy and you’re not sure how to make a playlist on your phone, you can go here for “How To Create A Playlist On Your Phone.”

Podcasts – If you need a change from listening to music, why not consider listening to a podcast? Podcasts are informative and entertaining ways to pass your time on the road. They offer a wide variety of topics, and you can learn something along the way. All Truck Jobs lists the “Best Trucking Podcasts of 2018” here.

Audiobooks – Trucking and reading books are not a good combination for many, obvious reasons. However, you can have books read to you on audiobooks. Almost all books are available for your listening pleasure. Take the time to download them before you hit the road.

Bulldog Truck Sales has high quality, late model commercial trucks at affordable prices, attractive terms with creative financing and lease programs available. Come see us today!

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If you’re a trucker, you know what it takes to get your truck from Point A to Point B. Keeping your eyes on the wheel, navigating the roads, maintaining a safe truck and following the rules of the road are all a big part of your job. However, another big part of your job is to keep a much broader eye on industries and laws that could make a significant impact on your bottom line and your career.

NAFTA is one thing you probably are keeping your eye on these days. Since Trump was elected into office speculation has been going around that we may soon pull out of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). This agreement was initially signed in 1994 as a free trade agreement among the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This agreement reduced or eliminated tariffs and other restrictions on trade among the three countries. The trucking industry has gained significant benefits from this free movement of goods. It’s important to keep an eye on this to stay clear about how trucking companies can operate under the new trade pact.

The ELD mandate is something else you have probably been watching as truckers. April 1, 2018, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) started penalizing fleets, and drivers found to be noncompliant by putting them out of service.

The trucking industry is ever changing. However, Bulldog Truck Sales’ commitment to serving clients has never wavered. Come see how we can get you in a truck that you buy or lease. We have high quality, late model commercial trucks at affordable prices. We have attractive terms with creative financing and lease programs available. Come see us today.

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Bulldog Truck Sales is pleased to see all of the recent good news that is surrounding the truck driving industry.

According to the Department of Labor’s monthly Employment Situation Report, the for-hire trucking industry added jobs on a month-to-month basis in December 2018.

According to TruckersNews, “Trucking’s addition of 2,900 jobs came amid strong employment growth in the U.S. economy, which added 312,000 jobs in December – one of the largest gains of 2018.” In addition, “On a year-over-year basis, industry employment was up 36,000 jobs from December 2017.”

In another article in TruckersNews they explain, “Pay increases help drive down the 2018 third quarter.” They explain that the drop in turnover can be potentially explained in a few ways,” Costello (The American Trucking Associations’ Chief Economist) said.

1. Large pay increases fleets have been offering.
2. Drivers are remaining with their current carrier.
3. A softening of freight markets in the third quarter.

Bulldog Truck Sales is pleased to celebrate the good news surrounding the trucking industry. If you want to enter into this exciting industry, we can help. We offer big rig trucks for lease and even offer bad credit leasing programs.

If you had credit issues in the past, but are currently stable and ready to work, we offer you various truck financing and loan options.

For more good news, call our truck leasing professionals today or call our office and speak to one of our knowledgeable and professional staff members. We look forward to serving you with more good news related to the trucking industry.

Posted on behalf of Bulldog Truck Sales

Happy New Year from our entire team at Bulldog Truck Sales. We’re proud to serve you and all our clients with the best products at the highest level of customer service available to you. We’re dedicated to getting you in the right truck for your specific needs and wants.

As you enter into your truck in 2019, it’s time to reevaluate and freshen up on your driving as you hit the highways in the New Year. Bulldog Truck Sales would like to remind you of three small but very important steps to take to ensure you’re driving your truck safely in 2019.

1. Maintain your truck. Keep up-to-date with the regular and routine maintenance steps for your particular truck. Not only will this keep your truck running efficiently and safely, but it will also give you a peace of mind, knowing that you’re behind the wheel of a safe vehicle.
2. Pre-plan your trips. Navigating your trip while trying to drive is a sure way of becoming more prone to accidents. As you’re pre-planning, also check the weather to avoid any possible dangerous weather conditions you may encounter.
3. Avoid distractions while on the road. Put any potential distractions out of reach so they’re not tempting to grab and become a dangerous distraction.

Bulldog Truck Sales specializes in getting you and keeping you on the road. We provide financing to owner operators and small fleets. Apply with us today and we may be able to get you same day approval. Come see us today.

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Have you heard that diesel prices are predicted to increase? This can be a little bit of a scary consideration, especially when your job depends on diesel to fuel your work in more ways than one. As you consider that diesel prices are about to rise, you can also consider ways to reduce your usage to keep increased costs down.

According to an August article in Forbes, Robert Rapier explains “Why Diesel Prices Are Set To Soar.” He states that, “The world is ticking down to a deadline that promises to have major ramification in the global fuel markets. On January 1, 202, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will require the sulfur content in marine fuel to drop from a maximum of 3.5% down to 0.5%.”

Rapier goes on to explain that due to the phasing in of ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) in 2006, and the investment of billions of dollars for equipment to remove the sulfur, it drove up the price of diesel. Rapier projects that “it seems certain that diesel prices are set to rise, and perhaps significantly.”

With the almost certainty of a diesel fuel increase, it’s important to reminded about ways to reduce the amount of your fuel consumption. Here are ways to help you conserve fuel.

1. Stick to a steady speed. You can do this by keeping a good distance from you and other vehicles so you don’t have to brake and speed up constantly. Anticipate stopping and allow your truck to slow naturally. Stopping and going, slowing down and speeding up all are bad for fuel economy.
2. Stop idling your truck.
3. Use Shore Power if you have it.

Contact Bulldog Truck Sales today.

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If you live in Atlanta, you probably are not shocked to learn that the American Transportation Research (ATRI) Institute named the city of Atlanta as #1 in the 2018 Top 100 Truck Bottleneck List. Each year, since 2002, the ATRI has collected and processed truck GPS data. They do this “in support of the Federal Highway Administrations’ Freight Performance Measures initiative, a program that maintains and monitors a series of performance measures related to the nation’s truck-based freight transportation system.” They see the value to measuring freight movement performance so we can better understand where and what level future investments should be made.

This effort by the ATRI will help stakeholders in both the private and public sectors better understand the severity of congestion and mobility constraints on the U.S. highway transportation system. Through the testing and measurements completed, it was found that Atlanta, Georgia (I-285 at I-85 North) is the largest bottleneck area in the United States. In addition to this stretch of highway, several other areas of Atlanta also made the list including:

• #4 1-75 at I-285 North
• #17 I-20 at I-285 West
• #46 I-20 at I-285 East
• #79 1-20 at I-75/I-85
• #90 I-75 at I-85
• #95 I-75 at I-675

In addition to this information, the ARTI also found that the most critical challenges facing the trucking industry in 2017 were: Driver Shortage, ELD Mandate, Hours of Service, Truck Parking and Driver Retention.

At Bulldog Truck Sales, we want to help you and other drivers be a solution to some of these issues facing the trucking industry. We proudly serve in Cumming, Georgia and Mesa, Arizona. Come see us today and let’s discuss ways we can get you in a truck through our leasing programs.

Posted on behalf of Bulldog Truck Sales