How are petrol prices calculated?
While petrol and diesel are both produced from crude oil, the price per barrel of oil doesn’t influence the price you pay at the pump by much. In fact, over the long term, every US$1 increase in the price of…
Advice Resources
Why you should enrol yourself in driving lessons
Driving in real life is a totally different experience than in a video game. You’ve probably played a sim or racing game and mastered high-speed driving around a track or city. Driving in real life is not like that. It’s…
How to stop birds pooing on your car or truck
The acidic nature of bird poo is particularly bad for your paintwork. If left on, it can eat through the clearcoat and into the paintwork. Once the clearcoat is damaged, water can get underneath and suddenly a small patch becomes…
How to find a mechanic you can trust
Research from online marketplace BookMyCar found that 6 out of 10 drivers are worried about ‘getting ripped off’ when they get their car serviced, an alarming statistic. There has been recent research in Australia by CanStar Blue with similar findings.…
Can speed cameras catch trucks and other heavy vehicles?
The speed limit for heavy vehicles on the open road is 90km/h, but the open road speed limit for cars and motorbikes is 100km/h (or 110km/h on selected stretches). This means that trucks could exceed their speed limit by up…
What is side underrun protection on a truck or trailer?
Side underrun protection devices or ‘lateral protection devices‘ occupy larger spaces between axles on a rigid truck or a semitrailer. They are barriers or plates that sit in the space between axles. They are designed to: The barriers help stop…
Why do some trucks and trailers have wheels that lift?
What is a retractable axle? Sometimes trucks will have an axle that they can lift up – a retractable axle. If it’s on the tractor unit it’s often called a pusher axle while if it’s on a trailer it’s often…
How to check out a refrigerated or chiller trailer (reefer)
Refrigerated trailers enable temperature-sensitive freight to be moved by road. If you are purchasing a reefer, or if you are simply doing a pre-trip inspection, this article explains what you should be looking for to make sure the trailer is…
What is good road etiquette: how you can be polite while driving
While most people know the basic rules of the road, there are many more unwritten rules or obscure rules that help keep traffic flowing smoothly and reduce incidences of road rage. If you can practice most of these, you’ll find…
How to conquer your fear of driving
According to Anxiety UK, driving phobia or ‘vehophobia’ affects as many as one-in-ten drivers, making it one of the most common phobias. Why do people suffer fear of driving? Driving phobias are all learned fears. A learned fear of driving…
How should you signal when you merge?
When one or more lanes end or where two lanes join into one or where a feeder lane (e.g. an on-ramp or slip road) joins another road, vehicles need to merge. The rule for merging where a lane ends is…
How and when should you use your handbrake or parking brake?
This brake has different names: handbrake, parking brake, e-brake and emergency brake. From its names, you’d expect some radically different scenarios, but they do hint at its intended use if we go back far enough. It’s often called a handbrake…
How to maintain your truck or car battery
The average lifetime of a vehicle battery is around 3-4 years, but it depends on their maintenance, operating conditions and how frequently they are used. If your battery fails at a critical time it can cause a lot of inconvenience,…
Got a chip on your windscreen? Why you need to get it fixed or replaced as soon as possible
A windshield is an important component of the vehicle’s construction; a chip or a crack on it could compromise your safety. Even a small chip in the wrong position can cause distractions or impair your vision, leading to an accident.…
5 auto mechanic tools you need to have in your car
We all hate that feeling we get when you have to pull over to the side of the road because you’ve heard the car make a funny sound. Maybe you’ve even been unable to avoid something on the road and…
How do you work out distance, speed and time?
These are often set as questions in maths tests but are useful for us to know so that we can approximate how long a journey will take. There’s a simple formula which governs the three, and it can be expressed…
Winter driving: what you need to know
Winter driving is predominantly characterised by less traction available on the road. Basically, your tyres have less grip because the road’s surface will have ice, snow, mud or water on it. As well as slippery road surfaces, this is a…
How long do you have to wait to drive after a C section?
Why can a C section make it difficult to drive? A Caesarian or C section is a surgery that involves cutting the muscles of the abdominal wall. The healing process can be painful as those muscles are used all the…
What are retreads or regrooves and when can you use them?
Retreads or regrooves are tyres which have been used at least once and had new tread or new grooves applied so that they can be used again. They were popular for passenger vehicles a couple of decades ago but fell…
What happens when a truck tyre blows?
Heavy vehicle tyres are filled to a much higher pressure than car tyres. Because of the potential injury to the tyre technician if the tyre blows while it’s being filled, truck tyres are filled in a cage. If the tyre…
Vehicle and workplace training
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