Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

July 4th weekend. I’m under a load from a steel manufacturer in Elizabethton, TN. 3 days to drive about 600 miles, but at least I’m moving. I look at the trip info. A new church out on Long Island? Typically I’m delivering Southbound. My last load for this shipper was to a tiny Baptist church somewhere in Alabama.

I decide to rock ‘n roll early. I check Google satellite and see the final is an MT lot on a tight corner. The land there must be worth millions. Not much left on the Island. Turns out I’m headed to Baldwin NY. That’s a "hamlet" in the town of Hempstead. In 2007, CNN/Money Magazine ranked Baldwin as the 25th best place to live in the country.

I got the pre-loaded trailer Thursday. Braving the Goethals Bridge, Atlantic Avenue in Queens, and remembering to stay off the "parkways", I got to the job site Saturday afternoon. I opened the gate as instructed by the contractor and backed my rig into the small space next to the concrete foundation. Across the street is the "old" church – a perfect looking small white modern building with a simple cross on the front.

Soon after I arrived a car drove up to the gate, which I had shut and made sure to replace the warning flags and cone. This woman looked at me. I looked at her. She came over to the fence and yelled: "Is that our steel?" Yes ma’am it is. "Oh my, praise the lord. We didn’t expect you so early!" She squeezed through the fence to come and shake my hand and introduce herself as the secretary of the church. "I work with the Pastor", she said.

Are you going to leave it here?" No ma’am, I’ll be under the trailer until we offload on Monday. "You’re going to stay in the truck?" Yes ma’am. "Will you be alright?" Yes ma’am, do it all the time. I knew from the look on her face she had more questions. I took the initiative and explained how I was "self-contained." It’s kinda like my 2nd home on wheels, I said. Potty, TV, microwave, refrigerator, etc. "Ohhh, she replied."

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Special Report – Coney Island NY – July 4th – 5 PM this report live from the “famous” Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. 25 year-old Joey Chestnut “consumes” 68 hot dogs (yes, the buns too) in 10 minutes beating Takeru Kobayashi of Japan who lost by only 4 franks. Chestnut claims the new World Record -collects $20,000 and wins the coveted Mustard Belt.

And, he’s certainly not going to stop at a mere 68 dogs – his goal is 70! You go Joey, have a few on us truckers. I’m on a diet. I’ll raise my protein shake to your success!

PS/We really need to have some sort of truck stop buffet eating contest. Why should Chestnut and Kobayahsi have all the fun. Ya hear that Flying J, Pilot, Love’s and T/A – let’s get with it people. Maybe even, oh I don’t know, a truck manufacturer might want a “piece” of this action. Whatta ya think? And no, I’ll cover it, but not participate in it.

Photo credit: http://images.smarter.com/blogs/chestnut.jpg and the story from: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/04/2009-07-04_nathans_.html

The photo is by the talented Flickr photographer – april-jane in Maine. Yes, you got it right: april-jane in Maine.

So in case you don’t know – you might have been asleep in school – the legal separation of the colonies (that was us) from England happened on July 2nd 1776. The 2nd Continental Congress voted on and approved a resolution by Richard Lee of the great, but rest-area-less State of Virginia to separate the “colonies” from England.

John Adams wrote: “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

Big deal, he was a couple days off. Soon after, our Founding Fathers – you know – Ben Franklin, Tom Jefferson – those guys – approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4th. That’s them in the picture. By the way, I asked a “kid” today, here in NY, what was July 4th all about? He said: “Fireworks.” What else? “Hot dogs and ice cream!” Anything else? “Yeah, Will Smith save the earth!” Ohhhh – k.

Happy Birthday America! No doubt ’bout it – we live in the greatest country on Earth. Loud and proud truckers – loud and proud! Be safe out there today. God Bless the United States of America!

Photo credits: www.flickr.com/photos/7565780@N08/2636849383/, home.sprintmail.com/~robertajohnson ChapterIX121303only.html

Back more years ago than I care to remember I’d pull into just about any truckstop, and pull into the fuel island.  Normally anywhere from two to three guys, sometimes more, would walk out and meet me.  THEY would take care of fueling the truck, and usually other courtesy items such as checking tires and  cleaning my lights and windows, some would even “pop the hood” and check my oil and other fluids.  All I had to do was walk in to the Fuel Desk and pay.

All TruckStops back then had diners or at least a cafe.  I’d sit down and the waitress would walk up and we’d chat a bit and I’d order food.

When it came time to wash up I’d go back to the fuel desk, (or a customer service desk at the huge truckstops) and chat with an attendant while I was assigned a shower.

If I broke down on the road I’d call up the nearest truckstop and they’d send out a service truck.

Times were good.

Times pretty much suck now.

Just today I walked into the Petro in Weatherford Texas.  I wanted a shower.  It was over a hundred outside and I’d been working some and I needed to clean up.  The lady at the convenience store check out (where I’d been getting showers there for years) said that showers were no longer available here, not from her.  TA, having bought out Petro, had changed things.  I had to go to a machine.

Machines.

I drive a machine.  I tell IT what to do.  Something inside me rebels when Machines tell ME what to do.

I don’t like it.

More years ago than I care to remember I pulled into a Flying J and there was nobody to come “get my fueling information”.  Instead there was a new fangled thing called a card reader.  You all know what that is.

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Here comes Sara..if you have not heard – Palin – the former Republican VP nominee, resigned today as Governor of Alaska effective July 25th. What an interesting day to make the announcement as the mainstream media and many Americans were “out of the office” preparing to enjoy the 4th. I, of course, as a dedicated professional OTR trucker, am working this “holiday” weekend – headed to Long Island NY with a load of steel for a new Baptist church – as well as bringing you this breaking news.

According to The New York Times: “Ms. Palin’s announcement was another unusual marker in what has been a tumultuous year for this first-term governor since Senator McCain turned her into a national figure over night by shocking his own party and naming her his running mate. It also underscored the instability within the Republican Party as it tries to find a strategy and voice in the wake of losses in 2008.”

However, there has got to be more to all this than Governor Palin is letting on. Believe me. the “whole” story has yet to be told. Bottom line is that Palin is potentially worth mega-bucks, yes millions, as a nationally syndicated radio or television talk show host.

Hannity, Limbaugh, Ingraham and others have become rich as “unofficial” mouth pieces of the conservative right. In July 2008, The Drudge Report said that “Limbaugh signed a contract through 2016 that is worth over $400 million.” Howard Stern’s Sirius deal was reportedly worth $500 million! Limbaugh is not getting any younger or thinner and Stern, for now, remains on board the sinking Sirius/XM “Titanic” satellite radio ship. Palin could easily command similar numbers and potentially could have a larger audience with much more desirable demographics. Just recently, Palin signed a highly lucrative book contract rumored to be in the $7-11 million dollar neighborhood. Her salary as Governor is approximately $125,000 per year.

Again from The New York Times: “Take the words of General MacArthur,” she said. “He said, ‘We’re not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.’ ” Later in the afternoon, as questions reverberated around Republicans circles about what exactly she intended to do, she posted a notice on her Twitter site, reading: “We’ll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election … This is in Alaska’s best interest, my family’s happy … It is good, stay tuned.”

You can read Palin’s remarks at http://gov.state.ak.us/ and The New York Times piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/us/politics/04palin.html?hp

Photo credits: http://mikeresponts.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/laurai61.jpg, lounge.cigarfamily.com, kps186media flickr.com

Really? If you think someone actually has the solutions to all of your problems, I have a few ebooks to sell you. This is going to be more of how to find your own solutions. If you feel like you have lost control of your life, your country and your job, there are a few things you can do.

Let’s cut out a few things we have no control over. If you’ve ever been in a recovery program, the Serenity Prayer will sound familiar.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

It actually goes on, follow the link for the rest. Accepting or ignoring the things you can’t change will take a load off your mind and you’ll be able to concentrate on the things that matter and the things you are able to change.

G-I, G-O

Dr. Buck has mentioned it before and it’s been mentioned elsewhere by other names, but I’m going to call it, Garbage In, Garbage, Out. If you’re sitting in your truck for hours and hours listening to politics and trucking talk shows, you’re going to get depressed, because it seems like you can’t do anything about everything that’s going on and all of the stuff you do, no one listens.

Getting Involved Helps

If your personal and family life are completely under control and you want to fix the rest of the country, get involved. Don’t just sit there, get really involved. Help out and get involved in your local party (even if it’s a Tea Party) and with local leaders you want to support. Solutions are going to come from the local level. Starting a blog and tweeting about politics and what others should be doing, you’re not solving anything. You’re venting, complaining and bitching, but you’re not solving anything and you will still feel out of control.

Take a Break

If you’re feeling out of control, change the channel once in awhile and take a break, you won’t miss anything. You can take a break from trucking and political shows for a couple months, go back and they’re still talking about the same stuff. Rush and Dale can live without you for a few weeks, you’re family needs you in the best frame of mind (and shape) as possible.

Have a Plan

If you read about some of the successful people and what they do, one of the key points is, write down a plan and write down your goals. Even if you don’t write them down, make a plan and involve your partner. The plan my wife and I came up with was very clear and with only a few changes, it’s still coming together, but we know what to do next. Plan for the worse (hope for the best) so you’ll be ready and it won’t catch you off guard. Plan what will happen if you lose your truck now and you’ll feel more in control if that event happens.

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July 1st. New regulations day. And usually, they’re nothing to perk up your day. But, this time, we  got a good one. Today’s the day the law raising the truck speed limit in Ohio goes into effect. Starting today, you can actually drive a truck sixty-five miles per hour on rural and suburban interstates. I was going to say you could drive as fast as everybody else but that wouldn’t be true. . . cars will still be going fifteen over the speed limit and I wouldn’t try that if I were you. Because you know ‘they’ will be watching.

When the Ohio Turnpike raised the truck speed limit, the Ohio State Police went on a propaganda campaign to say that it would surely increase the accident rate. Sure enough, after the first year, they declared there had been more accidents caused by  65mph trucks than under the 55mph limit. I have no way to find out if that is really true, they have the statistics, not me. But I’m old enough to know a skilled interpretation can make statistics say anything they want them to say and they wanted to prove the 65mph truck speed was dangerous.

Anybody with a lick of common sense and a little road experience quickly realizes that traffic flows better at a uniform speed. And, with good traffic flow, drivers are less likely to attempt stupid stunts to get ahead of someone else, causing accidents. Still, traffic incident statistics are like ballots: it matters more who counts the vote. And, truckers wont be the ones counting, so I think we’re going to hear, once again, that accidents have gone up simply because we’re no longer rolling roadblocks. You don’t need a crystal ball to figure out that we can expect some very heavy enforcement of the new speed limit and every thing else truck related.

We’ve been seeing a lot of enforcement of all truck related regulations for some time now. I have friends who are complaining bitterly about being subjected to one inspection after another in certain states.  As Everett said in his post the other day in “Its a jungle out there. . “ motor carrier and police are finding the pickings quite a bit slimmer as there are so many fewer trucks on the road. That’s one reason. But, a friend of mine who runs through North Dakota regularly was sick of getting DOT inspections up to twice a day there for awhile. He finally asked the officer why he was being targeted so often and the guy confided that, with fewer trucks, they were doing fewer inspections and were hearing scuttlebutt that they might be laid off. So they unofficially upped their inspections to make it look like they weren’t under-worked in hopes of keeping their jobs. Instead of every tenth truck, they brought it down to every third or fourth truck being pulled in for inspection.

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While everybody – well almost everybody – is standing around water coolers (pallets of bottled water?) everywhere talking about the untimely death of “thrilla” pop star & odd-ball Michael Jackson or Johnny Carson’s side kick Ed McMann or even poster queen Charlie’s Angel’s blond bombshell Farah Fawcett – the real tragedy is the passing of our beloved television pitchman Billy Mays, a favorite of truck drivers everywhere.

“Hi,Billy Mays here!” Yes friends, Billy Mays, pitchman extraordinaire, died this weekend in Tampa FL of heart failure. He was only 50 years old. Mighty Putty, What Odor, Flies Away, the Awesome Auger, Green Now, Simonize Fix It, the Grater Plater, Tool Band-It, Mighty Mend-It, the Quick Chop, GrabIt, Impact Gel Souls, Shuffles, the Spin Gym, Jupiter Jack, the Heel Stick, iCan Benefit Insurance, the Dual Saw, Orange Glo, Kaboom and of course, Oxy Clean! are some of the products he “hawked” on television.  Mays told Portfolio magazine recently that he felt that “the magic price for his products on infomercials was $19.95.” He said, “The best things in life are free and $19.95."

Wikipedia tells us that Mays was the CEO and founder of Mays Promotions, Inc. His services as a pitchman became highly sought-after, and he appeared in commercials for many diverse "AS SEEN ON TELEVISION" products.  Mays claimed to be an avid user of the products he promoted. In February 2009, Mays publicly challenged Vince Offer to a "pitch-off" between their respective products, the Zorbeez and Shamwow. Popular Mechanics compared the absorbency of two towel products and declared Shamwow the clear winner.”

According to a PR release – “the Discovery Channel has decided to devote its airwaves to the legendary pitchman this Wednesday, July 1. A marathon of Mays show – Pitchman – episodes 1-11 airs from 11AM ET/PT through 10PM ET/PT culminating in the never-before-seen season finale at 10PM ET/PT. To celebrate a man who was larger than life, the network will run tribute promos honoring Billy Mays and never-before-aired moments throughout the day.

A slate will also be added to the end of the season finale in his remembrance. In addition, a special tribute show is being planned. No decision has been made regarding season two of Pitchman. The network is focused on supporting Mays’ family and friends during this time of incredible loss.” As the Discovery Channel website says: “We’ll miss his voice – We’ll miss his style.” And in every truck stop in every town in TV rooms everywhere, drivers are wearing blue (the guy in the photo in red told me he’s gonna change soon) in honor of Mays and with a tear in their eyes saying: “we luv’d ya Billy!

Photo credits: http://www.asseenontv.com/, www.mirror.co.uk/…/ AND the official Billy Mays website – where you can his infomercials, outtakes, etc. is at http://www.asseenontvvideo.com/Billy-Mays.html

Highway infrastructure cost is a continuing problem. Now we’re facing the next big Transportation bill. We’ve been watching individual states bandy around the idea of raising fuel taxes and also watched these same legislators sneak around in the dark of night and move those earmarked tax dollars to someplace other than where they’re supposed to go. Then, they immediately start crying poverty and try for yet another tax to fill a pothole.

Every few years, we get another Transportation bill that’s supposed to solve all of our problems-temporarily. Every time, within months, everybody’s crying there isn’t enough money, or somebody got more than their share. Usually, they’re right-somebody DID get more than their share, and it usually isn’t to pay for roads. With the current big push to build out mass transit, I think we can be pretty sure that, no matter how much is earmarked for transportation, our roads wont get fixed and our bridges will still be falling down. In the current political climate, we’ll all be trying to move freight on high-speed rail because that’s the only thing that’ll get paid for. That is, if they can even get a bill passed in these tough times. Obama just wants an extension of the current bill. DeFazio doesn’t.

DeFazio’s Great idea!

You remember Pete DeFazio: he’s the Democratic congressman from Oregon that  is currently the head of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. I’ve suddenly decided the man is an un-sung genius!

His idea is that, instead of more taxes at the pump, we should be taxing oil speculators! If you remember last year’s price-gouging increases, you probably remember that most experts finally decided that the price increases were more because of speculators buying oil futures than any shortage or delivery problem. It turned out that, although many transportation-related companies such as trucking, rail and airlines buy oil futures as a hedge against future price increases, much of the speculation was being done by big banks-the same banks we just ended up bailing out with the TARP funds! They never take possession of the fuel-what they want to do is hold the rights to it at one price and sell those rights when the price goes up. If they do enough of it, the price goes up simply because they bought enough of the supply that it appears there is more demand or a shortage. All the while folks were blaming the War in Iraq, the oil companies and assorted sheiks in the Middle East, it was greedy bankers right here in our country that were putting honest truckers out of business and causing a  major meltdown of the economy. Our own dear banksters did more than nearly any other thing to plunge this country into a serious recession. Making sure they get the payback they have coming just seems like poetic justice.

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……and the bears are getting hungry.

In nature the predator follows the herd and generally preys on the weak, the old or the sick.  In bad times, however, those animals die off and the predators are left with no other prey than healthy strong animals.

The same thing appears to be happening in trucking.  The herd (trucks) has been thinnned.  The weak, the sick, and the old have been dropping like flies.  Twenty to thirty THOUSAND bankruptcies  among trucking companies just recently.   More to follow.

That leaves mostly first class carriers on the road.  The fly by nights have gone.   This presents a problem for the bears (Smokies).  If everyone follows the rules who do you ticket?

So they’re getting inventive.

Just recently:

Trucks in Texas have been cited for having torn mudflaps (not missing…just torn)

Trucks have been cited for having low air pressure in their tires.

During the recent nationwide  trucker harassment flatbedders have been ticketed for having straps misplaced by one inch or less.  The rule says “a strap every ten foot”.  The bears were using tape measures and, you guessed it, if the straps were ten foot one inch,  GOTCHA!

According to an article in LandLine trucks in Minnesota have been put out of service for “messy sleepers” and “improperly made beds”.

And my favorite.

Recently a driver pulling an oversize load in Maryland was cited because his provision sheet wasn’t firmly attached to his permit.  He had it paper clipped and the officer thought a staple would have been more appropriate.

Apparently it’s getting HUNGRY out there, for the bears.  The carriers that are left are “the good ones” who follow the rules.  Used to be there were enough “outlaws” that the bears  could find a good meal.

Not any more.

So the bears are getting creative.

Watch yourselves out there.