Top 10 Interesting Facts about Trucks

Trucking businesses here in the Philippines are not as popular as the trucking businesses in the US, well I’m not as sure as hell with it but upon searching the internet, only facts about US trucking industry appears through the search results.

Regardless of the results, here are some of the interesting facts about trucks:

• An 18-wheeler truck is also called semi truck.
• An 80,000 semi-trailer truck weighs 20 to 30 times more than a car.
• A semi-trailer truck has a 55 degrees turning radius.
• Most semi-trailer trucks tires are not supposed to exceed 75 mph.
• The length of time needed for a truck to stop is 40% greater than cars.
• Semi-trailer trucks are generally 53 feet long.
• Semi-engines of trailer trucks can hold up to approximately 15 gallons of fuel.
• Semi-engines are designed to perform non-stop.
• In the Philippine economy, vehicle sales were above 300,000 where trucks where a part of 26,979 units sold, an 80% increase of the units sold in 2014.

Sources: https://www.trucks.com/2015/10/30/interesting-truck-facts/
               http://thestandard.com.ph/business/195842/2015-highlights-of-ph-economy.html

This post was made possible by: http://safehouse.com.ph/services/trucking/

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How to Fine-Tune Your Social Accounts for Mobile Users

Your company had conducted an exhaustive and rigorous social media analysis and had tuned in into different channels. Social media moderation has never been off your radar as well. You’ve done your homework. You have been hovering like a hawk on your laptop to monitor your tweets, shares and likes for so long, you’ve forgotten the tiny gadget in your pocket.

We’re referring to your smartphone. The small rectangular device that an average user checks 85 times a day, according to Daily Mail. Why does it have anything to do with your brand promotion and selling?

Ever heard of social media mobile marketing where, according to socialmediatoday.com, “68% of companies have used it as a part of their overall marketing strategy”?

Have you checked your company’s social accounts on your mobile phone? What does it look like? Is the mobile experience of your audience with your brand gains rave reviews? Did you know that “57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site”?

Could your mobile presence reach about 2.1 billion smartphone users worldwide?


This figure is based on eMarketer as shown in the image below:

Smartphone has been likened to a digital “Swiss Army knife” of this modern age, Time says. The common activities we can do with this small gadget are accessing emails, text messaging, internet search, social networking, getting news alerts, playing games, listening to music, reading, watching videos or movies and even getting directions, according to MarketingCharts. No wonder we can’t live without it. A piece of device that has been integrating itself into our waking lives and haunts us awake just as we’re about to sleep.

Businesses should take advantage of this immensely. So, how do you fine-tune your social accounts to be mobile-friendly?

Facebook
Fact Check: As of the last quarter of 2015, the mobile-only monthly active users of Facebook were 823 million. -VentureBeat

Fine-tune it by:

The leading social networking site had been adaptive for business ever since. They also made sure it can be accessible via mobile:

• Use call-to-action buttons like this:

s

image-url: Source: urbanrenstrom.com

Here is a short tutorial from their site.

• Add one or two new pages on your profile such as the Shop section (retail businesses) and the Service section.

• In a blog on Mashable, it tells us that Facebook is planning to put ads on their Messenger app. Sweet, right?

Twitter
Fact Check: It has 83% active users on mobile. -Twitter

Fine-tune it by:

Engage with your followers real-time and keep them updated with your latest promos and offerings. Here are a few nuggets of advice:

• Make your tweets searchable on search.twitter.com by using keywords relevant to your business.

• Use Twitter app cards to promote your brand on mobile, advised by Social Media Week.

• You can posts tweets via text messaging by doing these steps. Even without data, you can do business via Twitter!

YouTube

Fact Check: The average number of mobile YouTube video views per day is 1 billion. –Statistic Brain

Fine-tune it by:

It seems internet users today are hungrier for visual content and marketers are getting caught up with this trend. In fact, based on an infographic by wideo.co, “65% of consumers watched videos longer than 30 minutes.” How can your business join in the bandwagon?

• Use Bumper ads. TechCrunch defines it as “video ads that are only six seconds long and better-suited for smartphone video watchers.” It is quite challenging for the content creators, though.

• YouTube also introduced ‘Shopping ads’. Businesses can advertise their products directly on the video by clicking the info icon on the upper right corner. 

          https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/shoppingadsonyoutube.gif

          Source: techcrunch.com

• Optimize your videos to be responsive to smartphones by applying this simple trick.

Instagram

Fact Check: “Over a third of Instagram users have used their mobile to purchase a product online. -Brandwatch

Fine-tune it by:

The power of virtual storytelling is evident on Instagram and every company has its own story to tell. But how can it be utilized for business? Social Media Examiner suggests the following:

• If social media moderation is not enough, you can use trackable links instead of posting the full URL of your website to track traffic by shortening it using Bitly or goo.gl.

• Showcase your products and services through the images and videos you upload.

• Use 10-15 hashtags. This is appropriate because, as stated on the site, “this will help increase your reach, engagement, and overall visibility.”

By applying these techniques, you can adapt your company’s social channels into mobile technology almost seamlessly. Indeed, social media plus mobile marketing is a powerful combination; it’s just a question of how far you’ll push the envelope to reach your customers.

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How to Handle Expansion Joints in Piping Systems

image-url: Source: triadbellows.com

Expansion joints are of great use in the Philippines especially in piping systems. According to Pumps and Systems, expansion joints or bellows can “absorb all directional movements, reduce noise and vibration, resist shock, relieve pipe and anchor stresses, compensate for misalignment and provide access to piping and equipment.” Aside from piping systems, it can be seen in buildings, bridges and roads.

There are also types of expansion joints, and these are free type, guide rod type, reinforced type, universal type, hinge type, gimbal type, straight pipe pressure balanced type, and bent pipe pressure balanced type. It allows pipes to be flexible due to movement and thermal expansion. It should be able to adjust to axial movement, lateral deflection, angular rotation, torsional rotation and pressure thrust.

But for expansion joints to last, proper care and maintenance should be enforced. Ramachandran explained how to do this in his paper entitled “Metal Expansion Joints/Bellows.”

Bellows should be properly stored. The area should be dry and clean and free of work traffic. Keep it away from weld spatter, molten metal, and heavy and sharp objects. The primary ‘enemy’ of metal expansion joint is corrosion. Cover it with water resistant sheets and place it in an enclosed space. The protective coating in the packing should be intact and don’t stack it above another.

Several things must be kept in mind in order to retain the original shape of the bellow. The shipping brackets with yellow coating should remain in place. The surface or ground is smooth and flat. But don’t let it touch the ground directly or on bare earth; rest it on a weld end pipe or flange.

Treat bellows with utmost care during installation. Conduct a thorough inspection before installing the expansion joints. It should not have damages like broken hardware, loose shipping bars, dents and scratches. Check also the accessories or components of the bellow such as gaskets, fasteners and removable liners.

Mind also how the expansion joints are lifted and handled. Pick it up using the lifting lugs, and avoid using chains or any other handling devices. Do not use the shipping bars because this is not designed as handle bars of the expansion joints. In addition, do not lift an unrestrained bellow.

The shipping bars must remain in position and only remove it after installation is complete. In cleaning bellows, avoid using cleaning chemicals containing chlorides, caustics or sulphides. These substances may corrode the expansion joints. If the bellow needs to be insulated, apply it with chloride free insulation material. It is not just chemicals that may harm bellows. Avoid abrasive tools such as wire brush and steel wool.

Assign a construction personnel who is well-trained and knowledgeable in installing expansion joints. One of his basic tasks is to ensure the piping fits the bellows. The personnel should inspect if the system drawings are strictly followed. After installation, make sure any damage had not been made; no expansion joint is misaligned; the shipping bars are removed and ensure it is free of foreign materials. A pressure test should also be performed.

Expansion joints in the Philippines are not just simple commodity based on the preparations that should be done before and after installation, and even on how it should be stored. Every unit should be handled with care or it will lead to irreparable damage.

An article by: GCK 

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Mid-Year Fiscal Updates that will Surely Affect Healthcare Outsourcing

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General just released the mid-year update for the fiscal year work plan for 2016. It laid out some important information that will be useful in predicting the direction of several undergoing and planned legal and investigative initiatives. Some of the note-worthy contend of the mid-year update that might affect healthcare outsourcing are the following:

Outpatient Outlier Payments for Short-Stay Claims
Office of the Inspector General will start to determine the extent of potential Medicare saving in cases wherein hospital stays were ineligible for an outlier patient. The purpose of the outlier payment is to ensure beneficiary access to services by having the Medicare program share in the financial loss incurred by a provider associated with individual, extraordinarily expensive cases. Prior OIG reports have concluded that a hospital’s high charges, unrelated to cost, lead to excessive inpatient outlier payments.

National Background Checks for Long-Term-Care Employees
The Office of the Inspector General will also review the procedures implemented by participating states for long-term-care facilities or providers to conduct background checks on prospective employees and providers who would have direct access to patients and determine the costs of conducting background checks. These analyses will determine the outcomes of the states’ programs and determine whether the background checks led to any unforeseen consequences. This mandated work is expected to be issued in fiscal year 2019, in accordance with section 6201 of the Affordable Care Act.

Medicare Home Health Fraud Indicators
The Office of the Inspector General will describe the extent that potential indicators associated with home health fraud are present in home health billing for 2014 and 2015. They will analyze Medicare claims data to identify the prevalence of potential indicators of home health fraud. This will help prevent cases in which the Medicare home health benefit from being exploited leading to fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has a wide portfolio of work involving home health fraud, waste, and abuse.

Oversight and Effectiveness of Medicaid Waivers
The Office of the Inspector General will determine the extent to which selected states made use of Medicaid waivers and if costs associated with the waivers are efficient, economic, and do not inflate federal costs. Oversight of state Medicaid waivers will also be assessed. More states are using waivers to alter their Medicaid program in significant ways, and oversight of these programs presents challenges to ensure that payments made under the waivers are consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care. This initiative is expected to be issued in 2017.

Implementation of Recommendations Regarding HHS’ National Security Program
The Office of the Inspector General will assess whether applicable classification policies have been adopted, effectively administered, and followed, based on a 2013 report. The Reducing Over-Classification Act of 2010 requires that the Inspector General of each Federal department or agency with an officer or employee who is authorized to make original classification decisions conduct two evaluations. This mandatory review is expected to be issued in 2016.

There are also a handful of completed items in the OIC fiscal plan. Most of which are focused on Medicare as a result of the governments continue campaign for affordable healthcare.

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10 Quirky Cleaning Tricks for Emergency Cleaning

You have to do a quick cleanup before your guests arrive tonight but there’s a teeny-weeny problem—you’ve run out of cleaning supplies. Oh, no. We’ve got an emergency situation here because your house really needs a serious cleaning. Hold up! Before you go to the nearest janitor supplies store in Manila, raid your kitchen and bathroom first. You badly need some cleaning paraphernalia, right?

The products you are supposed to find should be in the ranks of the famed white vinegar and baking soda as wonder cleaning agents. White vinegar, as stated by davidsuzuki.org, is a great disinfectant, cuts grease and removes stains. Baking soda, which also goes by its lesser known name ‘sodium bicarbonate,’ is used for “cleaning, stain removal, laundry, odor removal,” says Stain Removal 101. Do the unconventional cleaning products below stand a chance to be worthy rivals? Just read on to find out:


Coca-Cola

It isn’t just a thirst quencher but it fights tough stains as well. Wise Bread provided a list of its other uses as follows:

• Remove the greasy stain on your garage floor by soaking it with this and hosing it off afterwards.
• Clean kettle and burnt-on pans. Soak it in coke and rinse.
• Clean toilet bowls with it. Pour the coke and after a few minutes flush it.

Ketchup

This condiment is a delicious partner of fried dishes but it could also help you out on your household chores. Lifehacker unlocks its cleaning abilities such as it restores the shine of your copper and silverware (thanks to its high viscosity). Got wheels? Use it to shine your car and alloys.


Toothpaste

According to lifehack.org, toothpaste is a good abrasive that is why it is used to “clean grouts; polish metal; and defog mirrors.”


Mayonnaise

Another common condiment made it on this list. Lifehack.org describes it as white gooey foodstuff that can “clean spills, oil-based paint, food stains off your wooden floors/furniture, and removes certain types of glue.”


Kool-Aid

It has similar properties to soft drinks. Just pour a packet of lemonade Kool-Aid in the toilet bowl, let it sit for a few minutes and then flush it.


Gatorade

This is the certified thirst quencher and toilet bowl cleaner, too. HuffingtonPost.com shares its secret concoction. Pour two cups of it in the commode; leave it for an hour; brush the surface; and flush it.


Salt

Burnt-on food spill is an unsightly mess on oven floors and stovetop. Sprinkle salt on the spill and wipe it after.


Coffee Grounds

A household tip from allyou.com. Eliminate odors inside your fridge by putting a bowl of coffee grounds and replace it every two months.


Mouthwash
This is another surprising hack from allyou.com where your pour a cup of mouthwash on a gallon of water, dilute it, then use this to clean your vinyl or tile floors.


Lemon
Microwaves are difficult to clean but that mess is no match for this citrus fruit. DoItYourself.com suggests diluting lemon juice and water in a microwave safe bowl, and then run the appliance for about three minutes.


Cornstarch

This ingredient is as awesome as baking soda in terms of cleaning. DoItYourself.com says it “is a wonderful tool for removing both the smell… as well as the stain left behind.” How? Sprinkle it on the stain, let it settle for 24 hours and vacuum.

Surprisingly, the products we’ve mentioned above are as tough as the janitorial supplies in Manila. Its chemical composition can remove stains, polish metals and deodorize your home to make it inviting for guests and cozy for its occupants. It’s quite disturbing though, because we also put these inside our mouths and we even digest them.

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Free Internet Use without the Hassle of Using Your Globe Load

In today’s advancement of technology where almost everybody has their own smart phones and almost everyone in the Philippines have their Facebook account or almost know about it, who could have thought that still many of the Filipino people does not have internet connection? Unlike before where the internet is only used by the intelligence in the military, nowadays, the internet is to be considered as one of the basic necessity of a human being. It is used in business transactions, online banking, marketing, research and especially on education.

So, how can you avail free internet services?

To tell you honestly, this is not a hack in getting free globe load, smart load or sun load. In this article I will teach you how to access the internet for free without alternating or cracking any codes in your phones. To get free internet, simply download free basics from the app store.

What is Free Basics App?

Free Basics App or Internet.org is a browser specially made by Facebook in partnership with Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm to provide free internet services to less developed countries to get the whole world connected.

It provides people free access to useful services using their smart phones without being charged for the data consumed by the user. Useful contents included are about the following topics: news, employment, education, sports and local information.

Free Basics App is very useful to less privileged families for their education and communication purposes. From the internet.org Facebook page, I watched a video there where a little boy and his bigger brother narrates how useful Internet.org is to them to get in touch to their mother who is working overseas to secure their family’s future.

God bless you Mark Zuckerberg for doing a good deed for the entire population of the Earth!

Brought to you by: Load Me Na

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9 Warehouse Functions That Keep Operations Growing

To meet maximum productivity in a warehouse for rent, managers and production staff exert unfailing efforts. Commonly, warehouses for rent are seen to be places where materials and products are stored until the time they are ready to be distributed. Moreover, warehouses are used to effectively protect company’s assets and take proper control over company’s operating cost.

Here is a quick list of warehouse functions that determine the success of the operations.

Loading and unloading

Since customer’s satisfaction is paramount, managers make sure that each product is carefully handled starting from the loading process. Check out this guide on how to load packages in a truck.

Receiving and checking inbound goods

Upon receiving products in a warehouse, they must also be checked. A report must be done indicating the following: date the product was received, whether it is on time or not, the quantity of products and discrepancies (if there are any), if the quality meets the specification, and names of the personnel who performed the checking, to name a few.

Internal product movement

It is specifically important especially if warehouse managers and workers decided to move products to a different place within the warehouse. While doing internal product movement, it is advisable to update the record system else picking and packing notes would be inaccurate.

Storing

This is commonly pertained to as the central function of a warehouse but it is more than just about keeping the products or packages in a safe place. Storage must be systematically organized. Upon product storing, put on each an information label. Keep similar items together. This will be helpful especially when there is a need to pick items on delivery. See this on how to effectively organize the storage of inventory.

Order-picking

It is the process of withdrawing items in the inventory to fulfill an order. Labeling and logistic listings can help expedite this process much faster.

Stock rotation

Keeping an information label on all the items is helpful when rotating stocks. Stock rotation is the arranging the oldest items in the inventory for them to be sold before the newer units. It is done to reduce losses especially for items that have expirations.

Packing

Like storing, products should be packed properly. Individually, they must be packed with cushioning to ensure that there would be no damage.

Cycle counting

It is a specified process in which products are counted on a specified day. Cycle counting leads to accurate accounting in business. This enables managers to effectively make necessary decisions when it comes to purchasing and dispatching.

Replenishment

This concerns the maintenance of product quantity in a warehouse. Warehouse replenishment is divided into three types: demand, routine and top-off. With demand replenishment, only needed products to fulfill an order or group of orders are picked from the inventory. Routine replenishment, on the other hand, requests more products to be brought in a certain location if it had reached the minimum threshold. While top-off replenishments are attempts to bring the stock back up to satisfactory levels when picking up is less active.

Effectively handling these processes means reduction of product loss. Consequently, there would be a continuous improvement in the operations concerning a warehouse for rent.

Tags:
Warehouse for Rent

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