I had a chance to visit with big rig racer and stunt truck driver Mike Ryan of Ryan Motor Sports. He had his championship Freightliner Century Class S/T super truck on display at the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week event that took place in Las Vegas last month.

It was most interesting to see his race truck up close - a finely-tuned, powerful, customized truck, and to visit with Mike - a most interesting individual.

A Hollywood stunt driver and stunt coordinator, he has more than 500 feature films, television shows and commercials to his credit. But, he is probably best known for his stunt work with rigs, and for his record-setting runs at the Annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, CO.

Mike told me he plans to once again compete in the race, also known as the Race to the Clouds. The 88th edition of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is set for this June 27.

The second oldest motorsports event in the U.S. after the Indianapolis 500, the race is roughly 12 and one-half miles long and climbs from an elevation of some 9,400 feet to more than 14,000 feet above sea level at a 7-percent average grade.

For this race, Mike and his super truck will have some competition from an unlikely challenger - a driverless car.

Car manufacturer Audi has announced it will put its Autonomous Audi TTS Coupé Quattro driverless project car in the race.

The project car is the result of a collaboration between VW Group’s Automotive Innovation Laboratory, Stanford University and Sun Microsystems.

The objective is to advance car technology and study how advancements in communications, driver assistance and other technologies can help motorists react to traffic and safety challenges on the road, including more autonomous handling of routine driving conditions, like bumper-to-bumper congestion.

The idea behind the project is to develop a car that can perform as well, and respond as rapidly, as a professional race driver, and eventually be able to take over or guide the driver around incidents.

The car would also compensate if a driver is inattentive to conditions or distracted.

I’m looking forward to the race results.

Heard the good news?

According to truck Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) figures just released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and previously released National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) data on crashes, the trucking industry is safer than ever.

The truck-involved fatality rate in 2008 declined 12.3 percent to 1.86 per 100 million miles from 2.12 per 100 million miles in 2007.

This decline marks the largest year-to-year drop ever and the fifth consecutive year the fatality rate has improved.

Since new Hours-of-Service regulations took effect in 2005, the truck-involved fatality rate has come down more than 20 percent and is at its lowest since the U.S. Department of Transportation began keeping those records in 1975.

The fatality rate has declined more than 66 percent since 1975.

Persons injured in large truck crashes went from 44.4 per 100 million miles to 39.6, an 11 percent reduction.

The decline can, obviously, be attributed to trucking’s commitment to safety.

However, I also attribute trucking’s safety improvement to better preventive maintenance and repair. After all, no matter how well a trucker drives, he isn’t safe unless his equipment is in good operating condition.

To those of you involved in vehicle maintenance and repair I say: Great job! Keep it up.

Throughout each year, motor carrier safety officials carry out inspections on interstate trucks and drivers.

Vehicles can be placed “out of service” when, by reason of its mechanical condition or loading, they would likely cause an accident or breakdown.

Drivers can be placed out of service for violating the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Hours-Of-Service regulations. These place specific limits on the amount of time a driver can drive a commercial motor vehicle, and how many total hours a driver can work each day and each week.

The top 10 states with the highest out-of-service rates for interstate trucks last year were, in order:

- Nebraska

- Connecticut

- Utah

- Colorado

- Missouri

- Arizona

- Idaho

- Delaware

- Louisiana

- Wyoming

The top 10 states with the highest out-of-service rates for drivers, in order, were:

- Oregon

- Connecticut

- Arizona

- Wyoming

- Utah

- Minnesota

- Idaho

- Georgia

- Maine

- Arkansas

What I’m curious about is: Are these states more aggressive in their inspection of vehicles and drivers, or are fleets that operate and through these states paying less attention to vehicle maintenance?

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

I’ve never been a big fan of New Years. I don’t like to see another year end and a new one start, and this seems to happen faster as I grow older.

Nevertheless, for each and every New Year, I make resolutions. Why? Because many years ago my Dad explained to me that the end of a year in is neither an end nor a beginning. Rather, it is a going on with the wisdom and intelligence that comes from experience.

Making resolutions each year is a good thing, research shows. Making promises to yourself means you’re thinking about reaching an objective.

People who make explicit resolutions and write them down are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t.

But as we all know so well, thinking about doing something doesn’t get it done, and breaking old habits doesn’t happen quickly or easily.

I recall something newspaper columnist Eric Zorn said: “Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.”

I wish you good luck in keeping your resolutions - whatever they may be, and pass along my New Year’s wishes:

H ours of happy times with friends and family
A bundant time for relaxation
P rosperity
P lenty of love when you need it the most
Y outhful excitement at life’s simple pleasures

N ights of restful slumber
E verything you need
W ishing you love and light

Y ears and years of good health
E njoyment and mirth
A angels to watch over you
R embrances of a happy years

– Author unknown

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop,
Not a creature was stirring, not even Farbish and his mop.

The stockings were hung by the entrance with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The technicians were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of 2010 engines and bonuses danced in their heads.

When out in front of the shop there arose such a clatter,
The 24/7 shop manager sprang from his desk to see what was the matter.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below.

When what to the manager’s eyes did appear on the street below,
But a massive new tractor trailer with its chicken lights all aglow.

He spotted a big burly trucker, so lively and quick,
The shop manager wondered if his technicians were pulling another trick.

The driver was well-groomed and dapperly dressed,
His red uniform bright and smartly pressed.

A large bundle of something he had flung on his back,
He entered the shop and in short time, came right back.

The trucker did a safety circle check, looking his rig over all around,
And the shop manager could see the trucker’s face now wore a frown.

“What’s the matter driver?,” the shop manager called from his spot,
At that the trucker turned and began to complaint a lot.

“So many technicians have come to my assistance throughout the year,
I like thank each of them personally at this time of year.”

He spoke no more words, just mumbled and grumbled,
Climbed up into the cab, despite a few stumbles.

The trucker fired up the diesel and gave the air horn a long blast,
Giving the shop manager a salute, he stepped on the gas.

As the rig pulled away, the trucker yelled out his window door,
“Got to get rolling ‘cause I’m late for this annual thank-you tour.

“Can’t imagine what’s in store for me and trucking this New Year,
“Once thing is certain, technicians will always be near.”

Over the diesel’s roar the shop manager heard the trucker exclaim as he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

While surfing the web earlier today, I came across a story “broken” in North America by Today’s Trucking Magazine. The story was about a strong-willed, but not too common-sensed trucker in Shandong, China.

This trucker was so determined to deliver his load on time that he drove his rig with a piece of cardboard where his windshield was supposed to be.

He got about 400 miles before the police stopped him.

The driver explained that he had been in an accident in Hubei province a few days earlier, but was under such time constraints that he didn’t have time to do a proper repair job.

According to the China News Network, the trucker was almost blue from cold when they pulled him over. He told the police he had to stick his head out the window to see where he was going.

“I would drive like that until my neck got too sore and numb when I would drive by looking through the little holes in the cardboard,” the trucker was quoted as saying.

I give this truckers an A+ for resourcefulness, but an F- for safety.

I’m hoping someone can help me understand this issue with Toyota and floor mats.

It seems that driver-side floor mats on certain Toyota models could get stuck on the accelerator, which could cause unintended acceleration, which could cause an accident.

This “situation” has led to the sixth-largest recall ever in the U.S., and the largest recall in the U.S. for Toyota Motor Corporation.

Toyota plans to replace the gas pedals on four million vehicles in the U.S. because of the potential problem.

The car manufacturer’s dealers will offer to shorten the length of the gas pedals by three-fourths of an inch beginning next month as a stopgap measure while the company develops replacement pedals.

Is all that really necessary?

What in the world is a driver doing with his feet to move a floor mat up onto the accelerator?

If a floor mat does ride up onto the accelerator and cause the vehicle to accelerate, why doesn’t the driver depress the brake and slide the floor mat back off the accelerator. Or, why not simply shut the car off and steer to a safe spot?

Could it be because drivers are too distracted doing all the things they do behind the wheel?

When are people going to start taking responsibility for their actions?

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

The idea of Thanksgiving is to remember the things we have to be grateful for.

For me, it is also the time to thank those that have helped me throughout the year.

This isn’t as simple it sounds. Human nature is such that we tend to remember the bad things more easily than the good things.

What’s more, we frequently become too busy or preoccupied and forget to say thanks.

I also believe it is important to express our thanks one more time when the occasions warrant.

All that said, I want to pass along a few thank yous.

I want to thank my dear, loving parents for instilling in me honesty, integrity and a strong work ethic, among other traits.

I want to thank my brothers, family and friends for their love and support.

I want to thank my family and friends for their love and support as well.

I want to thank my coworkers and some, not all, bosses and overseers for their help and guidance.

I want to thank all those I have interviewed for articles for their time and insights.

I want to thank all those who I use as resources.

I want to thank those special people who I turn to for advice, guidance and wisdom.

I want to thank that wrecker operator who came to my assistance for that roadside breakdown in the pouring rain and cold.

I want to thank that anonymous person in line behind me at the checkout counter for giving me the 14 cents I needed to pay my bill so I wouldn’t have to break a $20 bill.

And I want to thank you, the reader, for reading and commenting on my Fleet Maintenance Magazine blogs and columns.

That means a great deal to me.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

And as always, I welcome your comments and thoughts.

I’ve been doing a lot of interstate driving of late, visiting shops, and I figure I must have somehow missed hearing about the federal mandate that if you drive on an interstate highway, you must do something in addition to driving while behind the wheel, preferable talk on a cell phone, check your e-mail on a handheld device, do text messaging or use an in-cab satellite communication devices.

It was very rare for me to spot someone just driving.

A lot has been made of distracted driving, especially the contribution of mobile communication devices.

Driver distractions are nothing new. You may be interested to know that they’ve been a topic of discussion since windshield wipers were introduced in cars during the early 1900s.

Distractions take away a driver’s attention to the all-important task of driving. This lack of focus increases the likelihood of accidents.

Inattention inhibits a driver’s ability to react to what’s going on ahead and around them.

Nowadays there are many more distractions. Aside from communicating while mobile, we eat and drink behind the wheel, perform grooming functions, read, make to-do lists, fiddle with the CD player, CB or two-way radio, ad nauseam. But bird watching?

A recent mishap occurred in La Marque, TX, which is about 35 miles southeast of Houston, that involved a bird, a cell phone and a million-dollar sports.

A man told police he was driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when a low-flying pelican distracted him, which caused him to drop his cell phone, which caused him to reach to pick it up, which caused him to veer off the road, which caused him to drive into the salt marsh. The car settled half-submerged in the brine. 

While common sense can’t be dictated, it’s high time that we minimize ALL distractions and focus on the safe driving. Oh . . . and don’t become mesmerized with birds.

The advance of technology never ceases to amaze me, although it constantly overwhelms me.

Engineers can now see sound? You heard me right.

Ford Motor Company is using a new technology that allows engineers to actually see unwanted sounds and eliminate them during vehicle development. The objective: to ensure that its new vehicles have the quietest interior cabins.

Ford is the first automaker in North America to use the new Noise Vision tool - a small sphere equipped with more than 30 highly sensitive microphones and 12 special cameras that is placed inside the vehicle cabin.

Powerful software reads data from Noise Vision and creates a computerized image showing interior noise “hot spots,” including wind noise, a squeak or rattle or unwanted feedback from the engine or the road.

Vehicle engineers say the key element to interior quietness is to pinpoint the source and location of every unwanted sound.

When it comes to car buying, third-party customer satisfaction studies show that automobile owners connect an ultra-quiet cabin with overall product quality and satisfaction, and quietness is one of the top reasons to buy a vehicle.

Ford used to rely on trial and error to make a vehicle quieter, using a process of elimination. Noise Vision literally shows engineers where the noise is and allows them to eliminate it once and for all.

No doubt Noise Vision type tools will find their way to other vehicle manufacturers.

I think vehicle engineers have been dong a very good job of making vehicles quieter through the process-of-elimination technique. Today’s vehicles are considerably tighter and quieter than the cars and trucks I drove way back in the late 1970s.

I wonder what technology has in store for us next? Got any ideas?