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The stunning profiles of shapely females on these gear shift plates by Jetztrim are a tribute to Alberto Vargas (1896-1982), the painter who became famous for his pin-up girls. His paintings appeared from the 1930s to the 1970s and were often featured in Esquire and Playboy Magazine.
Jetztrim’s motto is “Where Shine Meets Design.” The shifter plate pictured here is designed for quick installation over the rubber gear boot of a Class 8 truck. It fits Freightliner Classic and FLD trucks and is available online here.
Each of Jetztrim’s designs is unique. Want to dress out your truck cab? Start with these breathtaking chrome beauties.
Each image is crafted just for Jetztrim by a master illustrator. Then the plates are cut from 14-gauge #201 stainless steel. After cutting, and hand smoothing of the edges, the plates are chrome plated.
This work is not mass production. It is all done by metal craftsmen in a small shop where they stress quality over quantity. They take their time and they do it right. You can see this craftsmanship and quality up close. Just click on the main image in this slide show.
This innovative product can be used in place of the OEM retainer ring, or the ring can be placed over the Vargas Girls Shifter Plate. JetzTrim also supplies gaskets in two thicknesses; these gaskets go between plate and ring if you wish to protect the plate against scratches.
Jetztrim is constantly developing new product designs to enhance truck gear shifts, so there are more in the pipeline.
There are heroes and then there are heroes. Dictionary definitions cite factors such as “admirable achievements” and “noble qualities” as essential to the sort of person we call a hero. This is fine to an extent, and in this blog we intend to honor such achievements and qualities, as well as those “random acts of kindness” that truckers often display.
When we define heroism, though, we need to include attributes such as courage and daring. Also essential are willing self sacrifice, and valor. The willingness of any person to risk his life in the attempt to save the life of another is the greatest part of what heroism is all about.
While we aim to recognize hero truckers when we hear about them, we will never lose sight of those other heroes who are or have been among us, nor diminish their heroism. The U.S. military recognizes such heroes with the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, The Navy Cross and the Air Force Cross. Since its origin in 1862, the Medal of Honor has been bestowed 3448 times as of September 17, 2009.
Also among our heroes are law enforcement officers and firefighters. Risking their own lives is an everyday occurence among them, as is their readiness to act with courage and valor.
Thank you one and all for your service and sacrifice.
Can you be a strongman and inspirational at the same time? Anybody who thinks not should consider the accomplishments of Derek Boyer and Reverend Dr. Kevin Fast. These two world-class truck pullers competed for the Guinness Book record for “Heaviest Vehicle Pulled Over 100 Feet.”
Boyer, an Australian, had first taken the record in March 2004 by pulling a 61,000-pound truck. Eight weeks later, that record was broken by Reverend Fast, a Canadian. In 2005, Boyer re-captured the record.
Mister Boyer aka “The Island Warrier” was born in Viti Levu in the Fiji Islands, and currently resides in New South Wales, Australia. His competition career began in 1992 with a 1st Place finish in the Victoria, Australia Drug Free Powerlifting Championship.
He is inspirational in how he overcame adversity. In 1995 he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He did not compete that year at all, choosing instead to deal with his health and save his own life. He resumed world strongman competitions in 1996. For the eight years that followed, he competed in powerlifting and strongman events all over the world. Diabetes does not seem to have slowed him down. If anything, battling the disease has made him an even more determined athlete. Boyer consumes between 6000-7000 calories per day, and for all of his accomplishments is a beacon of hope to all who suffer from diabetes.
Kevin Fast is Pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cobourg, Ontario. He is well known in Canada, and is an inspiration in two ways: First, he has certainly pushed aside stereotypes about what sorts of earthly endeavors a man of the cloth can excel at. Second, he has leveraged his fame as a strongman into good works. He is active in community affairs and along with his competitions raises funds for charities such as the Hospice Cup Challenge and Tim Hortons Children’s Foundation.
On September 21, 2009, Reverend Fast pulled a 416,299-pound CC-177 Globemaster III cargo plane 8.8 meters. This took place at the Canadian Forces air base in Trenton, Ontario and it broke a Guinness Book record for “Heaviest Aircraft Pulled by an Individual.” The record had previously been held by David Huxley of Australia. Huxley pulled a Boeing 747-400 weighing 412,264 pounds in October of 1997 at Sydney, Australia.
Thanks and kudos to Methodist Pastor Mike Davis for giving credit where credit is due, especially when that credit goes to a commercial truck driver.
Mike was driving along Interstate 78 in New Jersey when the trouble started. He was operating a friend’s pickup truck and trailer when he suddenly began to lose control:
As I accelerated onto the highway, the trailer started gently fishtailing back and forth. The more I corrected, the worse it got. Finally, a trucker pulled up beside me and motioned me to pull over.
Mike had the good judgment to pull over and check things out; then he realized the problem was not with the equipment. The problem was, as he says, “behind the steering wheel.” He discovered that there is more to be aware of when driving a combination vehicle, and that it handles differently than a single unit. Long story short, he began paying closer attention, changed his driving accordingly, and all went well from that point on. Mike concludes his blog post with these words:
I thank God for the trucker who motioned me to a stop. He made all the difference.
Is there someone like that in your life who challenges you to stop what you are doing? Can you be that person for someone else, even a complete stranger?
It’s a good question, maybe one we could all ask ourselves from time to time.
