Summer Travel Concerns

• Concerned About the Lack of Campgrounds
• Electric-powered RVs Are On The Way
• Latest Recalls
• A Word About Ransomware

Concerned About the Lack of Campgrounds

Chuck Woodbury, RVTravel.com, has envisioned a campground system to help with overcrowded parks during peak seasons. I think he is on to something here.

It’s not about creating more resorts but instead bargain-priced camping places with bare bones rates. The idea revolves around buying cheap rural land along major roads (start with interstates), 100 miles apart; create 60 individual campsites at each with ample room between; provide electricity at one or two dozen sites which can be ordered for a few dollars with a credit card.

Forget restrooms, provide a few vault toilets, maintained by a sanitation service, for visitors without onboard facilities, add a few water spigots; but no dump station. With no sewer system, government permits to build are vastly simplified.

Pay Machine RV ParksTo stay: pay $10 with a credit card at an automated kiosk at the entrance. Push a button to add electricity for $5 or $10 extra. A ticket pops out with your campsite number and checkout date. Maximum stay: Two nights.

Chuck offers to be an investor. “We’ll name each location “Chuck’s Super Express RV Stop” with the motto: Quick stops for smart RVers who don’t want to waste their hard-earned money at an expensive RV park of uncertain quality just to sleep and then leave.”

If you are interested in investing or facilitating his vision, drop him an email. Chuck @ RVTravel.com.

Read the rest of the story . . .

Electric-powered RVs Are On The Way

Columbus-based Cummins Inc., a powerhouse in the diesel engine market, says it will launch its first all-electric powertrain in 2019 in response to industry trends. “We will be in the market with electrified products in 2019,” Cummins CEO Tom Linebarger said Wednesday. “That is a really exciting new area for the company.”

The manufacturer expects to have a fully electrified powertrain available for customers by the end of 2019. By 2020, the company plans to roll out all-electric products with an extended operating range, making them more suitable for longer-haul vehicles.

Read on . . .

Latest Recalls

Forest River is recalling 11 2017 Prime Time Manufacturing Crusader recreation trailers, model CSF338RSK. The federal placard indicates that the trailers have axles that have a capacity of 7,000 lbs when their actual capacity is 6,000 lbs. Incorrect axle information on the placard can result in the trailer being overloaded, causing a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash, NHTS.

Forest River will notify owners and dealers to replace the Federal placard with a corrected placard, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin May 2. Owners may contact Forest River Customer Service at 574.862.1025; recall # 49-02242017-0331.

Columbia Northwest Inc. is recalling 40 2017-2018 Aliner Ascape trailers. The trailers have liquid propane (LP) gas bottle trays that come loose from the frames due to the wrong rivets being used to attach the LP tray to the frame.

Gulf Stream Coach Inc. is recalling seven 2018 Vintage Cruiser travel trailers, model VN23BHS. The Federal Certification Label overstates the capacity of each axle by 700 pounds. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of 49 CFR Part 567, “Certification.”

Gulf Stream Coach Inc. is recalling 272 2015-2017 Vista Cruisers and 2016-2018 Vintage Cruiser travel trailers. The Tire Identification Label incorrectly states that the trailers are equipped with ST215/75R 14 Load Range C rated tires when actually they have ST205/65R 14 Load Range D rated tires. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 567, “Certification.”

KZRV is recalling 41 2016-2018 Venom fifth-wheel travel trailers, models 4040DQ and 4011QK, equipped with the outside kitchen option. The affected vehicles do not have a 12? copper pipe between the rubber gas supply hose and the cooktop pilot light.

Thor Motor Coach is recalling 88 2017 Challenger 37YT motorhomes. The exhaust pipe for the onboard gasoline generator may be incorrectly installed or missing completely from the vehicles.

For all the details . . .

A Word About Ransomware

Ransomware

Politico.com reports that Ransomware, wire transfer scams and tech support fraud were hot cyber crime trends last year, according to the FBI’s newly released 2016 Internet Crime Report . The bureau’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, received 2,673 ransomware complaints last year, with total losses topping $2.4 million, according to the report.

Fake tech support operations cost victims more than $7.8 million, the FBI said, with the IC3 receiving 10,850 alerts about it. Wire transfer schemes–which involve duping employees of companies that rely on wire transfers as part of their normal business operations–were far more costly: the 12,005 complaints that the FBI received led to more than $360 million in losses.

Overall, the vast majority of internet crime reports to the FBI last year – 81,029 – centered on internet buyers not receiving their goods or sellers not receiving their payment. Data breaches came in second, with the bureau receiving 27,573 such reports.

Read the rest of the story in their annual report . . .

Defend Against Ransomware

To find out about the lastest advances in protection against Ransomware on your mobile device, check out this article at eWeek about Google’s current solution. Google offers details on measures it has taken to protect Android mobile devices from ransomware and provides advice about what users can do themselves to mitigate the threat.

For more information about the RV Lifestyle:
Conquer the Road: RV Maintenance Conquer the Road: RV Maintenance for Travelers