Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Shortly before members of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco went into recess for the Labor Day weekend, the Court summarily rejected the Motion for an “Emergency” stay.

More on the legal hulabaloo and a copy of the motion can be found HERE!

Everyone have a wonderful and safe Labor Day.

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The Secratariat of Transportation (SCT) made the announcement yesterday that the border would be opened today to American carriers who have applied for permission to operate in Mexico.

A set of rules and regulations governing the American carriers has been established which mirror the rules and regs established by FMCSA for the Mexican carriers.
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But who? Which group of “Glory Hounds” is it?
The Teamster’s are taking credit, obviously

OOIDA, on their afternoon propaganda spot Landline Now on XM 171 said, “OOIDA intends to put a stop to the program now” and refers to the Teamster’s as an afterthought. Only saying they were notified of the intent by FMCSA yesterday.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting the story and reactions from various persons and Agencies and soon, the kooks and crackpots will begin leaving their comments on an issue they know nothing about on that website.

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Ten or fifteen years ago I’d pull up to a fuel island, any fuel island at any truck stop and two or more truck stop employees would be there before I’d popped the brakes. One would take my information (company name, truck number, etc, etc, etc) while the other(s) would pump the fuel, clean my windows and mirrors, check my oil and check my tires. Some places did more but that was pretty standard. Then I’d park the truck and go inside to a nice, quiet relaxing meal. Visit with the waitress maybe or other drivers. Then I’d leave a tip, pay at the cash register and leave. When “I” wanted to, on MY Schedule.

I remember a sign the old “76’s” used to have posted. Something on the order that this is a truck stop, truck drivers are why we are here . Truck drivers come first. If you’re a tourist you come second.

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I don’t highlight all the bad news about trucking and the economy only to fill white space or to scare everyone. It’s about being prepared and running smarter than the guy next to you.

I’m not going to bore you with the same old tips everyone else has. Slow down, etc… You’re bombarded with those everywhere. These might be different than what you’ve heard before and hopefully you will start thinking outside the box when it comes to saving money.

1. Know your cost per mile - OOIDA spreadsheet. How do you know how much you’re making if you don’t know how much it actually costs to run your truck?
2. Be smart about fuel taxes. Know what your paying and why. Get to know the states where it’s best to fuel in and not to fuel in and why.
3. Oil Changes - A lot of todays trucks are on extended oil change plans, yet some owners are still changing oil and spending $200 or more to change oil and filters every 10 or 15 thousand miles. An oil analysis tells you if your oil is still working and has more miles left on it. Getting an oil analysis is good to do anyway, but use it to extend your oil change interval and save money. Some things that will help extend your oil change interval is good fuel mileage and very little idling. Every truck is different and your lube, fuel filters and oil changes have different maintenance intervals on them. Getting everything changed at 10,000 miles is wasteful and expensive. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sounds like a title for a soap opera, or in Spanish, a novella, doesn’t it. But I refer to the fact that we can probably count on the border being open on September 1

With that in mind, it might be the time to review a few things.

1. These drivers participating in this program probably don’t want to be here any more than some of you want them here. Take a moment if the opportunity happens, to get to know these guys, and possibly ladies. You’ll be better off for it.

2. You’ll notice the rigs they’re driving are probably better than yours. That will be a surprise to some.

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Waiting here in Laredo has given me some time to think about the wave of trucks waiting just across the border, waiting to move out across U.S. highways possibly by the end of this month. I keep asking myself why, why do we need to allow access to these trucks, why is the President in such a rush to kick off this pilot program that is just the first step in allowing unlimited access to U.S. customers to Mexican companies, why is it going to happen against the overwhelming public opinion against allowing Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways. The only answer I can come up with is simply profit. Increased profit to the companies that have already exported their jobs to Mexico in the pursuit of the profit. Profit to Mexican trucking companies, who can blame them for wanting the borders opened up. They can use lower waged Mexican drivers to compete against U.S. trucks for loads. Profits for the grocery companies, greatly reduced transportation cost, does anyone truly believe the savings will be passed to the customers. I’ll guarantee that tomatoes will cost just as much after Mexican trucks take over as they do now. Read the rest of this entry »

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One of the biggest reasons why blogging has been such a phenomenon over the years is the sharing of information between people that write. Most of the writers for Life on the Road write for their own blogs as well.

• Mickey’s Heavy Haul wrote Intro to Heavy Hauling for us and now has written about his latest heavy haul with plenty of pictures.
• Porter lives in Mexico and is our expert about NAFTA and the Mexican Truck issues. His site Mexico Trucker is recognized by the FMCSA and is on their official press release list.
• Renee’s husband, Mark, was trucking in Iraq as a contractor.  Their site is American Truckers At War. She has also contributed to OOIDA’s Landline Magazine and several other sites.
• E. Phil Haley has published a book Over-the-Road Wireless for Dummies and keeps up with gadgets and technology for us and his own site The Cyber Truckstop
• Don keeps us up to date with the all things Government and politics here and at his Truckin’ Blog.

As you can tell we have an all-star line up of writers. The difference between us and a trucking magazine website is -

A truck magazine has writers that only write about trucking.

We are drivers and owners that work and live in the industry and the lifestyle every day for our livelihood, and we enjoy writing about it.

Are you a news junkie with an opinion, especially a trucking news junkie with a passion for everything trucking? Don’t want to hassle with a website? Join our team by clicking here. It’s that easy.

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This is how this article starts out -

Electronic logs touted as safety solution
Mile for mile, they have fewer accidents than cars. When a car and truck collide in serious accidents, it’s usually the car driver’s fault.

Okay, then why the big push for electronic recorders in trucks? FMCSA tried to push Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBRs) back in 2000. The main reason that made the most sense why they didn’t enforce installation back then is still true today, there is no standard for a black box. In order for enforcement to be able to download the data, everyone needs to have the same kind of hardware interface and have the same kind of data format. As far as I know, there still isn’t any kind of standard being set.

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In March 2000, the Mexican government amended its regulations to require the use of records of duty status (RODS) or logbooks by all drivers working for motor carriers authorized to operate on Federal roads in Mexico.

Prior to the 2000 amendment, RODS were only required of drivers transporting hazardous materials.

The minimum information that must be recorded in the RODS is as follows:

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