 shopping for new ideas, for maintenance, engineering, communication, equipment, administration, training, safety. If you are, then welcome to the Idea Store, a store whose stock and trade is imagination. This is edition five of the Idea Store, and we will begin with safety and the subject of a great many misconceptions. The horrible hard hat. People say it's too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and too heavy anytime. Are they right? Tests show that in hot weather, temperature inside a hard hat is 12 degrees cooler than inside a baseball style cap. The hat's surface reflects heat while the suspension permits ventilation. As for cold weather, liners that cover the ears are readily available. And again, the suspension provides proper ventilation. Too heavy. The average hard hat weighs 13 ounces. Properly worn, you shouldn't even notice it. The hat weighs 13 ounces, your head about 13 pounds. 13 ounces to protect 13 pounds. Not a bad return on investment. Do hard hats work? You could ask Pennsylvania's R-Tap director, Bill Polgash. Next time someone complains about the hard hat, tell the facts, not the fables. With gasoline prices fluctuating dramatically, we thought the following would be worth seeing again. This piece originally ran in the ideas that make a difference video series, an internal program of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Good afternoon. My name's Steve Petuted. I'm the equipment manager in Delaware County. I've been the equipment manager for about 13 years. In that time, we've always had some problems with tire inflation, either over or under on our trucks. The problem with these three trucks here is that they're all identical. The first truck takes 85 psi on a front tire, even though the tire is an 1120. The second truck is 90 psi, again an 1120. Different manufacturer. The third one is 100 psi. And you can see what problem we had is an operator might have been driving a truck yesterday that needed 75 psi. And today he got in his truck and he checked the tire. Another truck, maybe his truck was in for preventive maintenance. He took another truck and when he checked it, it said 75 psi and he over-inflated the tire. This 115 psi is on this truck as a reminder to our operators, there's all these trucks we put the stenciling on her so that they don't have to look at the tire. Also this 115 psi, again, this is a radial tire and requires more air. Now most operators don't take that into account when they get in the truck, the radial or the standard or whatever, and they might under-inflate this tire, so this reminder comes in handy. Rear tires present still another problem. On this truck here, we have these two mud and snow tires that require 90 psi. Now if one of these tires should come off and be mounted on a truck with just a single tire on the rear, it will require 100 psi. So you have to take that into account and make sure that the psi label is correct. The tires are under-inflated by 5 pounds. We lose a gallon of gas for every 100 miles of operation. As our truck fleet drove 84 million miles last year, we are dealing with a projected cost savings of $840,000. This idea is simple but thoughtful. Easy but possibly very productive. Your fleet may drive less, but the message is the same. Air saves gas. In the second edition of the Idea Store, the Orange Town, New York Highway Superintendent, Skip Pazzetti, shared with us a couple of brochures he uses to keep his township informed about the services they can expect. A quick update on those brochures. Skip told us a recent snowstorm involved him and his maintenance forces from 9 p.m. to 10 o'clock the following morning. Calls from citizens concerning the snow removal procedures? None. Unusual? Yes. But we're betting a lot of calls were not made because the brochures have been routinely distributed. Isn't communication wonderful? Well, Skip is back again. Using the theme attitude, behavior, and control as the ABCs of safety, a committee of rank and file employees and Mr. Pazzetti investigated accident causes and produced a series of safety grams. From defensive driving, the importance of proper traffic signs, to the use of seat belts, and quite a few other safety topics. Orange Town got not one, but two awards. And thanks to the work of many employees, Orange Town earned a $24,578 rebate from the New York State Insurance Fund. You can contact Skip by writing to Mr. Charles Skip Pazzetti, Town of Orange Town Highway Department, Route 303, Orangeburg, New York, 109-62, or call them, Area Code 914-359-6500. Here's a place where a lot of communication can occur. More and more municipalities are making the trip to the courthouse and defending themselves in tort suits. More and more of these suits involve the use of signs. This book, The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices or Your State's Traffic Control Device Manual, has all the information on what signs to use and when and where to use them. Contact your local Technology Transfer Center on how to obtain a copy. The lawyers have a copy. You should have one too. While you're at it, get a copy of a handbook for flagging. They are easy to obtain and very useful. Again, contact your T-square. Speaking of signs, here's an idea that has communications, safety, and a money-saving message. From the state of Maine, where saving money is still a virtue. Thomas Hale, the Electman from Westmoreland Town, population 53, heard about a community that asked its citizens to adopt a pothole and help share the repair costs. He figured if they can adopt a pothole, his neighbors could adopt a sign. So for one year, a family adopts one or two signs doing what maintenance was required with the town providing new signs or posts if needed. Here's how it went. A short training class in painting. Then the workforce completes the job. The required end-of-work picture. But as always, mom has the finishing touch. A plaque identifying who adopted the sign. So give Thomas Hale a call at area code 207-896-5213 or write to him in care of the Maine Local Road Center, Maine Department of Transportation, Station 16, Augusta, Maine 04333. Obviously an idea store needs ideas. Here's how to get your idea on the program. Tell us who you are. Better yet, send us a picture. Give us a good description of what your idea is. Show us the where at the locale of the idea is important. Why was the idea done? For reasons of safety, cost benefits, et cetera. How do you do it? Show us step-by-step. Provide plans, pictures, whatever you think we might need to understand what it is you want us to understand. Send your idea to your Technology Transfer Center for evaluation. Thanks for shopping at the idea store. Until next time, remember an idea never shared is an idea never appreciated.