Commercial Auto Dealers

Have you ever wondered where our funeral traditions originated? If so, there’s one place where you can go to learn all about the funeral industry, its traditions and some aspects of its future.

The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas is a one-stop place that has everything you could ever want to know about funerals. Robert L. Waltrip opened the doors of the museum in October of 1992 after dreaming of a place that celebrated and educated people about the funeral industry. Since then, it has become the “largest educational center on Funeral Heritage in the United States and perhaps the world,” according to the museum’s website.

One of the most popular exhibits in this museum is the 1900’s Casket Factory. The realistic replica of an authentic casket factory is one place visitors enjoy seeing when they come to the museum. Another exhibit takes you back to the American Civil War with a diorama that shows how doctors would embalm soldiers on the battlefield.

If you want to learn about other things related to death and funerals, the NMFH likely has it within its 20,000 square feet of space. Everything from fantasy coffins to the significance and history of funeral limousines and hearses is explored in these walls. If you’re ever in the Houston area, stop by the NMFH and take a walkthrough. You’ll come out with a new appreciation of the business and how important they are to our society.

Funerals tend to have a traditional atmosphere to them. When a loved one passes away, the family tends to stick to the conventional methods of saying “goodbye” without doing much out of the ordinary. But with more and more “baby boomers” passing away in recent years, some funerals are becoming non-traditional in some ways. Here are some new things popping up with funerals for this particular generation.

Memorabilia
More and more funerals tend to be a celebration of a loved one’s life rather than mourning the passing. One way some baby boomers are doing this is by surrounding the casket with memorabilia from the person’s life. If they won trophies or awards during their lifetime, you might see these around the room where the wake is being held. If they were an avid sports fan, you might see trinkets and decorations representing their favorite team. You may have even seen the caskets with the rock band KISS plastered all over them for the hardcore rockers who pass away.

Eulogies
Many baby boomers who already have their funerals planned opt to have family members and friends speak at the event instead of the traditional clergy. This gives the service more of a personal touch instead of the impersonal preacher.

Caskets
Many caskets today have drawers or compartments built into them. This gives friends and family members the opportunity to place special trinkets, notes or messages inside.

One thing that will likely stay the same is the ride to the somber ride to the cemetery. That’s why funeral hearses will always be a major part of any ceremony regardless of how non-traditional the actual funeral gets. There’s just something about them that makes then an essential part of any funeral.

One of the main reasons truck sales are falling is because they are simply too inefficient. But that’s all about to change.
These days, automakers are hurrying to make the biggest truck they can with hybrid technology. One mid-sized delivery truck that uses the new technology can haul up to 13,000 pounds!

Walt Conners, an expert in the field, did some demonstrations for business owners who use large trucks to show them how hybrid trucks switch back and forth between types of energy. “There’s a huge level of interest because of the price of fuel today,” he said. But, according to Conners, business owners who use large trucks are willing to pay $50,000 for one if it’s going to save them four times that much in gas alone.

Tom Burnette, the owner of Superior Drainage Products, is one satisfied customer of these large hybrid trucks. “I love it,” he said. “Drives like a sports car.” And since it can carry as much as a normal truck, the payoff is huge!

With companies like FedEx and UPS moving towards hybrid trucks, they’re becoming more commonplace on the roads. You might not find these trucks at your local GMC dealer, but you will find full-size pickup trucks and SUVs that use hybrid technology. See one today!

Before there were the hearses that we know today, funeral processions consisted of mourners following behind a horse-drawn carriage that carried the deceased. Last week, one funeral director in Monticello received one of these pieces of history.

The owner of the historic piece of funeral history, Bruce Van Gilder, traveled from their home in Huntington, Indiana to Monticello to present his friend with the carriage. The owner of the carriage and the recipient are friends and colleagues who have a history of working together in the funeral industry.
John Roscka, the co-owner of the Miller-Roscka Funeral Home in Monticello, began his career in the business when he started working for Gilder in 1983. Since then, the two have enjoyed a long friendship both professionally and socially.

Gilder bought the funeral carriage in 1969 and has restored several parts of it since then. But when he and his wife decided to sell the funeral home, they held on to the carriage. It spent a few years in a museum at the Indiana Funeral Directors Association and the Indiana State Museum also wants to put it on display soon.

Now, Roscka proudly displays the funeral carriage at his funeral home. He also makes it available to families who want to use it in their loved one’s funeral.

Horse carriages are great for funeral processions, but they don’t beat the comfort of today’s funeral limousines. Visit your local dealer today and see some of the latest comfort and style features on today’s limos.

As if GM’s OnStar service wasn’t great enough already, you can expect even more features in the next couple years.

OnStar subscribers already depend on this convenient service for many of their driving needs. Since 1997, it has helped bail drivers out of traffic jams, find their way around a new city and contact emergency services when an accident occurs. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to GM Chairman and CEO, Rick Wagoner, more than 85,000 OnStar users contact the service every day. OnStar has also responded to more than one million emergencies in the last 12 years. In addition, more than 60,000 drivers have used OnStar to have their locks unlocked remotely after leaving their keys in the car.

But, according to Wagoner, the service is “just getting warmed up.”

Instead of the small radio screen that current OnStar-equipped vehicles use, the 2009 models are going to have a full screen mounted in the dashboard so drivers can easily see and access the service. Another feature – OnStar eNav – allows users to download directions directly from their home computer. Wagoner also hinted to a few more features, including a way to let drivers use their cell phone as a remote control that they can use to lock their car from miles away, warm or cool their car from a distance and start the car from hundreds feet away as well.

OnStar is also working on implementing a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system in which your vehicle can “communicate” with other OnStar-equipped vehicles for additional safety on the roads.

Sound exciting? If so, visit your local GMC truck dealer and get a 2009 model equipped with the eighth generation of OnStar. With all of the conveniences and features, it’s definitely worth every penny and then some.

If you’ve been wanting a great deal on a truck or SUV lately, your local GMC truck dealer can help you out. With the company’s 72-hour sale going on right now, you can save thousands on a number of models that are sure to please your driving taste buds.

The sale is actually longer than 72 hours. It started June 24 and isn’t over until June 30. If you visit a GMC lot during this time, qualified buyers can expect zero percent financing for 72 months on many Pontiac, GMC, Buick and Chevrolet vehicles. That’s including the new HHR which everybody is talking about lately.

If you’re a qualified buyer, you’re also eligible for an extra $500 in bonus cash if you choose to buy a vehicle instead of leasing one. Below is a list of the makes and models included in this sale.

Hummer
H2 and H3

Buick
Lucerne and Lacrosse

Pontiac
Torrent, G6, Grand Prix, Solstice

Saab
9-7X and 9-3 Convertible

Saturn
Vue, Aura and Sky

Cadillac
All Escalade Models, SRX, DTS, STS

GMC
Yukon, Yukon XL, Envoy, Canyon and Sierra

Chevrolet
Avalanche, Equinox, Suburban, Colorado, Tahoe, Trailblazer, Uplander, HHR, Impala and Silverado

Of course, you might be able to find deals on premium models as well, including the Corvette and others. Run, don’t walk to your nearest dealer today while you can still take your pick of the inventory.

Recently, I read an article written by someone who was involved in a rollover accident. It was titled, “I’d Rather be Driving a Hummer” and it was written by a victim of a rollover accident. As a result of the accident, she and her husband had the chance to drive several different types of vehicles while waiting for their Envoy to get repaired.

The result?

After driving everything from a “bright red Dodge Neon” to a GMC Yukon, they both preferred the larger SUVs because they made them feel safe and secure. It wasn’t just the size of the SUVs that made a difference. After being in a rollover, the writer of the article couldn’t help but notice “escape routes” in every car she drove thereafter. Upon entering one vehicle, she immediately noticed that the windows weren’t large enough to crawl through in an emergency.

But another factor she considered was the way the different vehicles handled in a variety of driving conditions. Luckily, she experienced fog, hail, rain and snow during the time their Envoy was getting repaired. What she found is that the larger SUVs handled much better in some of the worst road conditions that Milwaukee had to offer. In addition, she also noticed the hauling power of the larger vehicles when they went to the home improvement store to buy decorative bricks for their landscaping efforts.

Do you feel more comfortable in a larger truck or SUV? I know I do. Call me a gas-guzzler. Call me unpatriotic. You can call me anything but “late for dinner” and I still want to drive my SUV. If you’re like me, visit your local GMC truck dealer and get a great deal on one today. With the unbelievable incentives, you can save thousands of dollars without even trying!

If you just purchased a vehicle from your local GMC truck dealer, there’s no better way to finish off the look than to get a tonneau cover. These accessories serve three purposes.

1. Tonneau covers are stylish
You can get a simple tonneau cover that matches your truck or get on with a design that expresses your personality. My uncle had a canvas tonneau cover years ago and I painted a scene with the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote on it. It was a great conversation piece and it showcased a piece of his personality as well.

2. Tonneau covers protect your cargo.
You can get a tonneau cover that locks. As such, you can store some of your tools in the bed of your truck without worrying about them getting stolen. Or you can even carry your groceries and other goods in the back of your truck without them blowing out when you’re on the expressway.

3. Tonneau covers save gas.
In recent studies, tonneau covers have increased a truck’s fuel economy by as much as two percent. That might not seem like much at first, but it adds up over a period of weeks or months. The new research actually placed trucks inside wind tunnels and experimented with their efficiency with and without tonneau covers at different speeds. The results showed that trucks without covers incurred more drag and, as a result, decreased gas mileage.

Transit officials in southern California encouraged people last week to “Dump the Pump” and use mass transportation for one day. The third annual “Dump the Pump” day occurred on June 19. It’s an effort to protest rising gas prices and make people aware of transportation alternatives besides their personal vehicle.

Unfortunately, some mass transit riders are using the buses and other forms of transportation because that’s the only choice they have. Bob Gooian, a local resident, uses mass transportation about four days a week now that prices in the region average around $4.62 a gallon. Transit officials are seeing more and more people like Gooian who want to save on gas. “Just in this last May, May 2007, when we compare that to 2008, our ridership is up six percent on our rail lines over what it was last year,” said MTA CEO Roger Snoble. He also said that ridership on the area’s subways and Metro Rapid buses have increased since last year as well.

But saving money on gas prices isn’t the only benefit transit riders enjoy. They also save money on parking. That’s not to mention the amount of frustration they usually deal with in southern California traffic.

By making the switch to mass transit, you can afford to get a truck at your local GMC truck dealer. That way, you can use your full-size truck for pleasure without needing to commute to work with it every day. Think of the money you’ll save while still having the truck or SUV you’ve always wanted!

The hip hop culture’s SUV-of-choice now features some of the latest hybrid technology available. The 2009 Cadillac Escalade was unveiled to the public earlier this month and has the same look that SUV lovers have come to know and love. But underneath the hood is where it’s different.

One of the most notable features is the fact that many components of the exclusive vehicle were made in and around Baltimore where the Escalade is manufactured. Actually, it’s in White Marsh, but that’s just a stone’s throw away from the popular Maryland city. What these new features mean, though, is that the Escalade now gets 50 percent more miles per gallon than its non-hybrid brother. It also joins GM’s Tahoe and Yukon models as the latest hybrid to enter the automaker’s hybrid lineup.

The new hybrid Escalade comes just days after GM announced that it was closing down some of its truck plants in order to make smaller cars. Instead of a complete lineup that includes 50 percent cars and 50 percent trucks and SUVs, GM plans to cut back production of trucks by about 10 percent. That will make the mixture closer to 60/40.

You won’t see the hybrid Cadillac Escalade at your local GMC truck dealer until August, but it sounds like they’re definitely worth the wait. Some dealers are reporting waiting lists with at least a dozen people already anxiously awaiting their release. I know I can’t wait to take one for a test drive!