Jasele Oita's Blog A weblog about everything

Products can get shipped across to you in numerous ways. Out of all of them, only one method requires you to pay before it is even sent across. The exception to this rule is when something is sent COD, which stands for ‘Collect on Delivery’. So if a California delivery service sends you something COD from one of their customers, then you need to pay for the item only when it arrives – not before that.

Collect on delivery is the process of paying the courier who acts as the collector on behalf of the company you are buying something from, instead of paying the business directly. The method of payment in COD systems can vary – but generally include paying by cash, certified checks or even money orders. In some cases – you can even pay using your credit card.

Shipping COD is governed by a few laws. The customer receiving a shipment via COD has a legal right to decline the shipment. These laws are in place to prevent any type of fraudulent shipping orders which otherwise could obligate the customer to pay for items they never ordered or were never meant to receive.

The legalities enforced are as a means of protecting the consumer and should not be taken advantage of. The COD shipment laws are not in place to encourage people to ‘window shop’ and return if it so pleases them – unless of course, the company selling those items specifies on an ‘order to view’ basis prior to payment.

A high speed crash close to San Diego in August 2009 that killed four members of a family in an out-of-control Lexus ES 350 led Toyota Motor Corp., to issue its largest ever US recall – 3.8 million vehicles. The Toyota recall is to address problems with a removable floor mat that has the potential to cause accelerators to get stuck and lead to a crash.

On September 29, Toyota and the government warned owners to remove mats from their vehicles temporarily, until the automaker found a way to fix the potential safety hazard. The recall of 3.8 million vehicles includes popular models such as Toyota Camry (2007-10 model year) which is the U.S.’s top-selling passenger car and the best-selling gas-electric hybrid – the Toyota Prius (2004-09). Others include: 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, 2005-10 Toyota Tacoma, 2007-10 Toyota Tundra, 2007-10 Lexus ES 350 and 2006-10 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350 vehicles.

Toyota is still working with officials of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find a solution and stated that car owners would be notified about the recall as early as next week. The company’s spokesperson, Irv Miller said that until Toyota finds a solution, owners should take out the removable floormat on the driver’s side.

According to the NHTSA, reports of over 100 incidents had been received in which the accelerator might have been stuck on Toyota vehicles. However, it was unclear regarding how many of them led to crashes.

Toyota’s previously largest U.S. recall was about 900,000 vehicles in 2005 to fix a steering issue.

It’s possible that in the future, the freight quote that you get could include added fees to offset the carbon footprint of the transportation of your goods. There’s no denying that, between oil consumed and greenhouse gases emitted, the trucking industry has had an impact on the environment. While it would cost a lot for the average freight shipping service to overhaul or replace their fleet of trucks for improved efficiency, the long-term benefits must be taken into account as well.

How can these behemoths of the road be improved to reduce their impact on the environment? There are a number of possibilities that could improve the efficiency of FTL and LTL shipping vehicles. One would be to redesign the vehicles to reduce air resistance. Less drag would mean less fuel consumed. Another possibility is to use heating and cooling units that run on auxiliary power — this prevents drivers from idling their engines.

Although it won’t help move the number of travel trailers for sale on RV dealers’ lots around the country, the new $787 billion stimulus package recently signed into legislation by President Obama could help sales of motorhomes. Under the provisions of the bill, a portion of the sales tax on motorhome purchases between now and December 31st is tax deductible as long as the buyer earns less than $125,000 per year individually or less than $250,000 per year jointly. The bill was also designed to stimulate lending and help thaw the frozen credit market in hopes of encouraging Americans to make purchases of items such as RVs. The tax break, coupled with the significant savings that many RV dealers are currently offering to move inventory, could present a very good buying opportunity for anyone in the market right now for a new motorhome.

For every credible, helpful RV salesperson at dealerships across the country, there’s at least one Jack Rebney, a.k.a. The World’s Angriest RV Salesman, lurking in the shadows. At Go RV Dealers, we try to recommend trustworthy dealers when you’re searching for motorhomes for sale, but it never hurts to do some additional research on your own before you contact a dealer. When available, we provide contact information and/or a website for each dealer so that you can call or email prior to visiting the lot. By doing this, you can ask questions in a relatively pressure-free environment and get a good feel for the dealer’s customer service. It also helps to ask friends who have worked with RV dealers which dealer they recommend. You can contact Go RV Dealers for more information about local dealers as well.

Recreational vehicles (RVs) have become more and more popular over the past few decades. Different groups of people get RVs for various reasons. Each individual and family has a budget, and some find that finding a good RV value can save them thousands in travel costs for recreation, work-related travel, and vacationing.

Many families use RVs for recreational purposes—camping, road trips, and long-term travel. The costs of rental cars and hotel rooms add up, especially for large families. After the costs of hotel, food, airline tickets, and rental vehicles, one family vacation can easily add up to a few to several thousand dollars. After a few trips, some families could pay off an RV using money lost on hotels and rental cars. Likewise, many retirees who spend weeks or months on road spend hundreds or thousands on hotels alone. For frequent and long-term travelers, buying an RV can be more economical than paying alternative travel-related costs. This is especially true when one considers the price on used RVs.

Motorhomes are used for work as well as recreation. In today’s highly mobile society, whether by choice or due to the nature of a career or job, some people regularly change locations for days, weeks, or months at a time. Contractors from numerous industries including construction, journalism, and film, to name a few, live this type of lifestyle. Housing costs for companies can add up dramatically over weeks, months, and years. Purchasing an RV can reduce those costs in the long-run. Individuals or companies with temporary housing needs should review a used motorhome price guide and compare it to the alternative housing options—in some cases, an RV might be a more economical choice.

Motorhome dealerships and rental companies can guide individuals and companies in choosing a motorhome to meet their specific needs. One such company called El Monte RV has several rental and sales lots to suit buyers in various regions. Whether a family, retiree, or company, if long-term travel becomes costly, it might be worth considering the purchase of a reliable, affordable RV.