Your 10-Codes of the Day

10-100 = Need to go to Bathroom

10-18 = Anything for us?

10-99 = Mission completed, all units secure

10-6 = Busy, Stand By

10-34 = Trouble at this station, help is needed

Your Truck driving Definitions of the Day

Spread Axle (Spread Tandem)

Tandem axle assembly spaced further apart than the standard spacing of 54 inches. The U.S. federal bridge formula favors trailer axles with an eight or nine foot spread by allowing higher weight than on tandems wth standard spacing.

Runaway Truck Ramp

Emergency area adjacent to a steep downgrade that a heavy truck can steer into after losing braking power. Usually two or three lanes wide and several hundred feet long, the ramp is a soft, gravel-filled pathway which absorbs the truck's forward momentum, bringing it to a safe stop. Depending on the surrounding terrain, the ramp may be level or run up or down hill.

Blind Spot

Areas around a commercial vehicle that are not visible to the driver either through the windshield, side windows or mirrors.

Gear Ratio

Number, usually expressed as a decimal fraction, representing how many turns of the input shaft cause exactly one revolution of the output shaft. Applies to transmissions, power takeoffs, power dividers and rear axles. Example: If 2.5 revolutions of an input shaft cause one revolution of the output shaft, the gear ratio is 2.5:1.

Tractor

Truck designed primarily to pull a semitrailer by means of a fifth wheel mounted over the rear axle(s). Sometimes called a truck tractor or highway tractor to differentiate from it from a farm tractor.