Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Contractor and driver retention is extremely important to the transportation industry. Many factors lead to drivers leaving a company. Certainly one of the first ones that come to mind is the driver is not making enough money. This is one of the major issues which increases driver turnover, but it is not the only significant one.

Through driver exit interviews throughout my career it has become apparent that other issues which lead to a high driver turnover rate are that the driver feels like no one cares about them, they get no respect at their current company, and there is no support or recognition of the drivers. I think that companies sometimes forget to treat drivers like business partners and sometimes treat them like a tool for revenue generation.

One thing I really focus on with my employees is to treat the drivers with respect and like partners in the company. Without the drivers, none of us would have a job. Something I think we forget sometimes.

I would appreciate your input on why drivers and contractors change companies and your personal experiences.

James Dawson
Vice President
The Mason & Dixon Lines

A film is being made focusing on the struggle young people are facing in today’s economy. The Academy Award winning director is looking for truckers in their 20s and 30s who are working to support their families and set aside money for their children’s future.

The website is Your Money Story.Net but if you want to send me your details at our editor address LifeontheRoadBlog@gmail.com I will forward your story directly to the journalist doing some of the scouting for the film.

I had a couple of problems come up last week that could have been easily resolved if the parties involved communicated with one another. Therefore, I wanted to share with you the ‘speech’ I gave concerning communication. I do not necessarily think that the lack of proper communication skills are any more prevalent in the transportation industry than any other industry; but we certainly do seem to have our share of it.

What one thing is essential to success? Communication.

Communication is the building block on which success is built, without good communication skills for a foundation you will never achieve your full potential.

Good communication skills are key whether you are a company driver, dispatcher, owner operator, customer, clerk or management. Most problems arise because of poor communication and can be avoided with proper communication. As a manager one thing I constantly preach is communicate, communicate, communicate.

Communication consists of being able to express ones thoughts, ideas, desires, concerns and instructions in an appropriate manner that encourages the person you are communicating with to listen and respond in a desired manner. Communication is both expressing yourself and listening to others express themselves. Communication is a two way exchange of information and a mutually beneficial experience even if you disagree. Effective communication includes seeing things from the other person’s point of view and working toward a mutually beneficial solution where possible.

Communication is not yelling, attacking, ignoring, or ordering. Communication is not being defensive or refusing to listen to the other person’s point of view. Being able to communicate does not always mean agreement, only that each person is able to express themselves. Sometimes an agreement cannot be reached because of outside influences or because of the different ultimate goals of the individuals involved, but you can disagree in a professional manner.

Doing a good podcast on a consistent schedule takes a lot of work. There are basically two ways to do a podcast, one is to do a lot of editing, add music for intros and outros, it’s a little time consuming, while other podcasts just turn on the mike and start talking, then stop talking and upload. Which way do you prefer? We’re are about to find out. I have a little poll in mind but first I need some nominations. I know which podcasts I would list, but I want to know about podcasts I may have never heard of.

Leave the nominations in the comments, if you see a comment with a podcast you’ve never heard of before, go check it out, because in a little while you’ll be able to vote for your favorite. I was going to turn this into a contest and I still may, depending on the number of nominations and the responses we get. Also with your trucking/trucker podcast/videocast nomination tell the rest of us why you like it so much.

Podcasts also includes video or audio only podcasts. Include podcasts by truckers or even radio shows that podcast their shows about trucking. Let’s see how the big radio stars stack up against the truckers. Podcasts / Videocasts must have an episode with the last month. Shows that don’t produce anymore can’t be eligible.

This post will remain at the top position till we get a bunch of nominations, then I’ll put a poll up so we can vote. If you’re favorite show has already been nominated, either mention it again (it won’t help, but won’t hurt either and may help later in the polls) or mention another. No limit.

As many know, my truck is on the road without me and I’m playing Safety Manager at my current company. I am taking this opportunity and going back to school and one of the rules of higher education is, you must take required classes to fulfill any degree requirements. I suppose they think it will make students well rounded instead of focused only on their chosen fields. Or it could be to get more tuition and textbook money out of the already broke students or it guarantees an opportunity to push an agenda, but that’s probably just my opinion.  Either way, I now know how the population has been brainwashed into believing what people tell them.

Today’s lecture covers weather, the atmosphere and greenhouse gases. The earth has always had natural cycles of climate change, except during the Industrial Revolution when the cycle was clearly man-made,  there have been so many studies the science is now settled that man causes climate change.  We don’t have enough time today to discuss it, just believe me, I know, it’s true. There exists in the world Climate Change Skeptics, but they are like the Flat Earth Society (chuckle, chuckle). Really! Look it up! There are people that truly believe the earth is flat. If you want more details about Climate Change take my other class and anyone that doesn’t believe is a crazy person and shouldn’t be believed.

I was going to mention emails that exposed the phony research, but I just want a grade and to move on with my life. Besides, arguing with these sorts of people is like convincing someone to change religions, facts mean nothing because they are so entrenched in what they already believe. Plus, I’m sure he had more reports and studies off the top of his head than I did, because I have a life and have to work for a living at something besides preaching my beliefs onto others. I also wanted to find out what kind of car he drives, because hybrids have a  bigger carbon footprint than a gas guzzling SUV. Is he vegetarian? and if he enjoys electricity? But today, I’m satisfied making it out of class without my head exploding.

California Air Resources Board

Meanwhile, in California, the Air Resources Board (CARB) is in the process of decimating California’s economy by forcing unrealistic standards for on-road and off-road diesel particulate emissions. This is having horrific consequences on not only California’s trucking industry, but all of the heavy construction equipment, buses, dump trucks, anything with a diesel engine must meet these new unrealistic standards.

The problem is the head of the research falsified his credentials when he was hired he said he had a PhD from UC Davis. I’m sure it was a typo or a misunderstanding because his PhD is really from Thornhill University, which only exists on the Internet and a PO Box and is owned by an accused  serial child molester. Mail in $1000 and you too can have a PhD. Seriously, how can someone lie on their resume and still be employed and anything he has ever done is now suspect. He is still employed and his “research” is unchanged.

How can CARB trust research done by a phony and dishonest researcher they employ? Easy, the research went through a peer review process and was confirmed as valid. The fact that six out of the twelve peer reviewers were involved in the original research and also employed by CARB is not a problem for the Chairwoman, who also hid the fact of the fake credentials from the rest of the board and is the same chairwoman who says since she isn’t an elected official and she doesn’t have to worry about the consequences of any regulations that come out of her office.

The science is settled.

CARB Chairwoman says she is saving lives and these regulations are good for the future of California and she doesn’t care about those businesses anyway. Since her husband was the attorney for Exxon and the Valdez oil spill, seems she is making money from both sides of the environment issue.

The arrogance and hubris of these people is incredible. If you’ve been in California recently, it’s illegal to idle more than a few minutes and even if you have an APU it’s still a fine, unless it’s a CARB approved APU. CARB officials descend on businesses, warehouses and construction companies like SWAT teams looking for running reefer trailers, idling trucks and inspecting engines for violations, while carrying guns pretending like they have a purpose in life besides generating revenue for the state.

Links:
Thornhill University: Where the air board’s diesel expert got his Ph.D.
Still shameful / Air board’s response to scandal is appalling
Research fraud spurs CARB member to call for truck rule suspension
http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/marine2005/portstudy0406.pdf

I could have told them so. I’ve been writing for the longest time that it wasn’t going to work. Bad idea. Stupid. Waste of space. Dumb. Shame on T/A and all the other truck stops that erected this junk. Any trucker with an APU, cell phone, laptop or TV just didn’t need IdleAire. The better fleets wouldn’t pay for it. Arrow gave IdleAire to their drivers and now they’re gone and IdleAire is too. From their website: “IdleAire has closed operations effective 12 noon eastern time Friday, January 29. Truckers will not be able to use the service after today. Due to the economy, our customers had less freight to haul, resulting in reduced truck traffic and we have had extremely mild weather across the nation, reducing the demand for our climate control service. We continued to stay ahead of the financial issues and make adjustments as needed, but time and operating capital simply ran out.” That statement is absurd. This past summer was brutal and this winter is no better. The ice caps might be melting but we’re having as much snow and ice and frigid temps as ever. And I personally want to thank the suits at IdleAire for making my trucker life miserable when they made 25-100 spaces disappear in truck stops in their feeble attempt to make the planet greener.

The Big Rig breakfast was good at the T/A the other night. I need some eggs despite the 9 PM hour. There was the usual “special forces in Nam” chatter amongst the older saltier drivers. The waitress decided to chime in and said that if you have a CDL with a HAZMAT endorsement and you drive a car the law requires you to stop at all railroad crossings. Well, you’d think someone said Dale Earnhardt wore pantyhose under his racing coveralls or something. OMG. I thought there was going to be a food fight – flying sausage patties, pancakes and orange slices. Chill drivers, chill. And, somehow the question of just who runs the world was brought up. Just who is calling the plays? Interesting question.

And so, just who does run the world? Some people think the United States does. Is the President really the leader of the world? Some believe the Chinese do. The Russians thought they did. Others think Jews pull the levers. My Jewish trucker buds say laughingly they never got the memo. Some think the power is in the hands of the Vatican. I can’t imagine who Glen Beck thinks run the world. Dick Cheney and Sara Palin, I’m sure have an idea.  Is it the FBI or CIA or the maybe the Mossad?  Did you ever hear of the Trilateral Commission? Many used to think they ran the world. Some think they still do. Does big business – the Fortune 500 – call the shots? I used to work for the old Chase Manhattan Bank in NYC. We thought our chairman, David Rockefeller, ran the world. How about Wal-Mart or Halliburton or Blackwater – do they run things? What about the Bilderberg Group? I bet you never heard of them, right? Google them – do they run the world?

We all know truckers have a lot of time to think. Some say too much time. And no, I’m not smoking anything “funny” and decided to make this all up. I have nothing to do with it. As I said, out of the blue, around the counter at this T/A, this question was brought up. And I might add, one driver said something very interesting. It was that it seems one minute we’re all doing fine and the next minute, just like someone or somebody or some group pulls a switch and things go bad. And just as fast, when, let’s say six months or a year or more goes by, that same someone or group pulls that switch again and things get better. Do you follow this so far? I believe the theory has merit. Things sure went to hell in a hand basket real quick during the last Presidential election – right?

Does anyone find it interesting that when our auto industry is trying to recover, Toyota and Honda, after decades of manufacturing near flawless high quality automobiles, have massive recalls? What about some big banks near collapse one minute and the next earning billions. Investment firms almost going under and months later paying out millions in bonuses? One month, the country is going belly up, the next the economy is on the move again. Just like the clapper – clap on, clap off, clap on, clap off. Doesn’t it all seem kind of weird? Like there are “other” forces in play beyond what is being reported.

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I was hoping Steve Jobs – that’s him in the photo – was going to announce that the iPhone would now be available through Verizon. And better yet, service would be offered on their 4G network. No such luck. I have a Blackberry now and while it’s a useful device, I almost prefer to go back to a “regular” flip phone. I over did it on the e-mails, apps and do-dads and right now the “thing” is more stressful than useful. Upgrading to a Droid or Nexus 1, really wouldn’t be beneficial to me. They represent kind of a technology overkill as far as I’m concerned. Whatever cell phone I use shares prime importance with a GPS as far as tools I must have as a trucker. The IPad is not on that list.

So, this past week, Apple announces the iPad. Some folks like the name, I hear many women hate it. I have no opinion. What I do want to say is that I personally don’t need another device that does something while not eliminating something else. What I mean is that unless you’re a true first adapter or techno geek that must have the latest thing Apple or Google comes out with, I can’t get rid of my camera, Blue Tooth and laptop by spending $499 on the IPad. There is no built in SSB CB on the iPad. That’s a joke, but supports my point. The $499 model has 16 gigs of memory + WiFi – there is also a $899 model with 64 gigs of memory, Wifi and 3G cellular, through AT&T, which I detest. Those latest AT&T commercials by the way are outright lies, if you believe what just about everyone says about AT&T’s horrible service, specifically all the drop-calls. If I wasn’t an OTR trucker and had a much higher disposal income, then I’d say whatever, sure, the iPad’s a fun thing to have, I’ll pick one up on the way home from my salaried suit job and be the first guy at the club to have one.  Be advised folks, there are still truckers that don’t have a cell phone or a laptop and sit in those old wooden public telephone booths at the Flying J.

I was listening to the Tech Guy – Leo Laporte – on Sirius/XM today and this is his take on the whole iPad phenomenon. He says the iPad is the new Kindle or a Kindle Plus. Kindle, if you don’t already know is the electronic book reader that some people seem to love and others hate. I don’t have a Kindle and wasn’t planning on buying one. Kindle is black and white – the iPad offers a color screen. Laporte calls the iPad a “content consumption device. It’s not a phone, not a computer, not a movie player – it’s an “appliance” – great for reading books but without Flash and 720p not much else.” Laporte plans on buying one, but then that his business. He was, by the way, present at the Apple iPad launch and had the opportunity to actually “touchy-feely” the new “revolutionary” device.

According to The New York Times, “The half-inch thick, 1.5-pound device will feature a 9.7-inch multi-touch screen and is powered by a customized Apple microchip, which it has dubbed A4. The iPad will have the same operating system as the iPhone and access to its 140,000 applications. The device lacks a camera, the ability to make phone calls and does not work with the ubiquitous Flash software that runs many Web sites.

David Pouge, the Times’ tech guru/reporter says: “Overall, the iPad seems like a dream screen for reading and watching-at some loss of convenience in creating. True, there’s an on-screen keyboard, big enough to type on with both hands in the usual way. And Apple will offer a specialized multitouch word processor, spreadsheet and presentation app for $10 each. But I’m guessing that, with no mouse and no physical keys to feel, writing and editing will be more effort than on a laptop. Apple will also sell an external keyboard that holds the iPad upright as you type. Then again, if you need to carry all that around, maybe a laptop would make more sense.”

I agree. If I want to read something – a book – I’ll just buy one. I don’t need an electronic reading device. I prefer to buy a “hard-copy” of The New York Times – reading it “on-line” is just not the same. And I do a tremendous amount of typing. I need a keyboard. The iPad just doesn’t offer me anything that is going to make my trucker or writer life more productive or more efficient. Just having something that would let me watch a YouTube 6 minute vid in less than 30 minutes would be great. There are many truckers that do the audio tape book thing and an iPad wouldn’t make any sense. Besides, and at some point soon I’ll need to “invest” that $499 in a new laptop – one that will, in fact, make me more efficient and productive. The iPad to me is a pricey toy – a gadget – and I’ll wait until it does more for less or just ignore it.

Listen, I read Jimmy Dawson’s well thought out piece on becoming a successful owner-operator. Running the truck as a business, etc. Great advice. But quite frankly, I would rather own and operate a hot dog stand on some corner in NYC than be a owner-operator in the trucking business. A Subway fast food restaurant, a house painting business, something or anything to do with computers would all be better choices than to go buy a truck and be an owner-operator. Trucking will kill you. Yesterday, I almost turned into a human popsicle. I was fortunate to spend the night in a warm motel room. I was overtired and didn’t sleep well. At 3 AM I was wide awake watching Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason in Smokey and the Bandit. I don’t know when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, I took a long very hot bath and washed away 4 weeks of life on the road. Then it was time to get roll’n. Today’s temperature was, by the way, four degrees. That doesn’t take into account the wind chill. I could have remained in the motel several more days just “listening” to the quiet.

I walked across the ice and snow and got into the truck. Key in – and what else is new – it didn’t start. Low voltage warning. I know it wasn’t the fuel. Maybe the oil’s a little thick? The inverter began whistling, so I disconnected the frig. I had lights, radio and CB running with the little juice that was left in batteries. I started the APU to try and charge the batteries. No luck. They were gone. It wasn’t that long ago that they had been replaced. The temperature then was about 85 degrees. The company bought used batteries – junk. Talking to the T/A road service guy, he confirmed what I already knew – that carriers are operating in a “patch and drive” mode. Whatever can be done as cheaply and quickly to get the truck up and running will be authorized and nothing else. Forget what might happen a week or a month down the road because an alternator or some other part is not replaced – patch it, get it running and get down the road. Preventive maintenance at its worst. Thank goodness these MBA suits are not running the airlines – or are they?

The “national” hourly rate for a T/A type repair is about $96 an hour. Here at the Thermo-King dealer in downtown Chicago, the rate is $106 an hour. Some truck dealers can go as high as $120 an hour. T/A might have done drivers a big favor by offering free seconds and all-you-can eat meals, but the truck repair business is as expensive a rip-off as ever. And as we all know, “they” are never in any hurry to do anything. Customer service is terrible and parts always seem to have to be flown in from Madagascar. Couple that with manufacturers who sell trucks with electrical flaws and hurriedly and poorly designed necessities like APU’s, well, just thinking about being an owner-operator, let alone a company driver – scares the hell out of me. I think Dawson should have recommended you get your ASE diesel certification before you go out and buy that truck.

So my company authorizes changing out two of the four batteries. About an hour of charging along with a can of ether and the truck starts. It has been three hours since I was in the nice hot tub. But my day is not over. The APU heater still doesn’t work. Time to head to downtown Chicago to deal with that. Amazingly Thermo-King, as busy as they are – you should see this cash cow gold mine – said they’d get to me in an hour and they did. As I write this, the truck is still being worked on. The customer waiting room doubles as the tech break room. There is a Sunflower (now Shaffer aka Crete) driver sitting across from me and his cologne is so potent my nose hairs are straightening. I wish he would go away or take a shower. He has told me three times what’s wrong with his truck and I just don’t care. I grunt and don’t engage him. The Simpson’s just came on the TV – he seems enthralled and it should take all of his brain power to follow what’s going on.

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No I did not listen to the State of the Union. Why? I don’t care right now because I’ve got a whole bunch of my own problems to deal with. Trucker problems. Problems from being out on the road for four weeks. Problems from not being at home. Am I in the truck right now? Heck no! I’m in a quiet, warm and king sized bed equipped room at the Super 8 motel off I 90 very west of Chicago. It even has a bathtub – imagine that! I forgot how to use one. And the rig, the one with the APU heater that doesn’t heat, is parked outside in the 15 degree frozen Illinois tundra next to a humongous sparking clean Atlas Van Lines truck. Those van line guys are always sleeping in motels – must be nice.

So I just got back over the border from Canada. Got stuck in traffic outside Toronto on that miserable 401. I turned on the CB. It’s illegal to drive and talk on the CB in Canada now – but what the hey. And guess what? I “participated” in a twenty minute “conversation” with other Canadian drivers and I never heard the “f” word, not one driver questioned another driver’s sexual identity, no mention of 4-wheelers – in fact – everyone involved was quite friendly with the goal of trying to pass the time until the traffic opened up. What a concept! I’m pretty much convinced that if I wanted to seriously lower my blood pressure, I should just move to Canada. All I have to do is drive from one end to the other and I’ll make good money – there is socialized medicine and everyone says hello and thank you. And let’s keep Pilot OUT OF CANADA! Independents only – ey!

By the way, this morning after I thawed myself out, I went into McDonalds for breakfast. There was some punk yelling at the scared Mexican American employee behind the counter. Seems he wanted some special order burrito that is found on whatever planet he’s from. Great to be high on Meth or Crack at 6 AM.  No one else behind the counter comes to her aid. So I walk in. My head already aching from my night, which I’ll tell you about in a second. And this punk is saying the worst things – wetback, speak English and worse. Unfair, stupid and cowardly. No other customers around. And he’s doing what I called the Ghetto dance. A Caucasian jerk swaying back and forth insulting this poor woman like a horny caged parrot. So I walk right behind him – all 300+ lbs. of me – and just stand there looking at this dumb SOB. And he moves closer to the exit. And I move right right behind him. Anyway, he leaves dancing and ah scream’n with the woman shaking trying to dial 911. I told her to forget it and get me some coffee – please – emergency! It was on the house. I had to pay for the sausage, egg and cheese McGriddles. Chivalry only gets so much these days. She made a great cup a Joe. And I’ve only been up about fifteen minutes.

Ok, so here’s the skinny – last night in the bunk it was 14 degrees. I had on two pairs of heavy socks, sweats, a vest, two t-shirts, a jacket and a ski mask. I found an extra fuse for my electric blanket and got that working. Over me was a sleeping bag and three blankets. And I was freezing. My nose was the coldest part of me and I kept waking up trying to cover it. Now you ask just why was I doing this to myself? Well, here’s the list – two weeks ago in Baltimore where my GPS was stolen they didn’t know how to repair my TriPak APU – day after day goes by and the thing gets “more broken” – worse and worse smokey-er and more toxic. My company says drive drive drive. Can you get this load – can you get that load. Do us this favor and that favor. Oh, please we can fix it better there and do that somewhere else. And the heater gets colder and colder. Boom, we’re in Canada where apparently no one repairs trucks – right. BS. Ohhh, please please can you rush something from Cambridge – that’s Ontario – to Chicago. Better to fix the thing in Chicago – right? What a idiot I am. And the header dies – dead – poop – no heat.

It was about 35 degrees in Canada. Remember what I just said? 14 degrees last night. By first light it was colder inside my truck than outside. And no, you cannot disengage the auto engine shutoff in this Freightliner despite there being a toggle switch that is labeled to do just that. Did I say that I’m an idiot? Oh, yeah it’s cold, but I can stand it – no problem. Did I say that I’m an idiot? At about 5:30 AM I open my eyes. OMG! I think I’m frozen. I just can’t move. But nature calls – badly – really badly – and the smoke or steam or whatever is puffing from my mouth like I’m a angry bull about to gore a matador. I have to think where I am. My hand comes out from under the layers. It’s sooo cold. The top blanket is sopping wet. No not from me – it’s like some kind of icy dew that has formed on top of all the layers of blankets. And my poor nose is – no BS – frozen. Just what the heck am I going to do now. After being on the road for four weeks, I have no more fresh winter clothes – everything is short pants.

I make my way into the front seat with the electric blanket around me. It’s still plugged in but doesn’t even feel warm. Oh please, start engine start. Come-on baby go go go – roar to life – pleeease! Chugga chugga stooo stoo chugga chugga stoo stoo grrrrrrr YES YES it’s happening – it’s starting – varoooom – go baby go – YES and the heater is going from blowing freezing air to heat. And I’ve got to 10-100 so badly. I need food. I need COFFEE. Screw the fact that all my inner clothing layers are soaked. I put on another down vest that I’m to fat to zip up and creep out of the truck into the McDonalds. And how was your life on the road today? Oh, yeah, the company is still not sure where they’re going to get the thing fixed. Will I get reimbursed for the room? Two weeks ago I washed my trailer – a company trailer – it was full of grease and Alabama mud. The company wouldn’t pay the $37.50 for the wash. An e-mail to the company CEO went unanswered. $70 for the room. At least I’m warm.