Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Thanks for all of those who participated in the survey that I had posted. I really appreciate everyone’s efforts and input on the answers that were given. I am only going to post the answers to the truck questions as at this point and time I feel that the other answers were more of a need to know basis. I am also only going to give the answers that were actually used (percentages).

What type of reader are you?

Driver: 80%

Transportation Worker: 10%

Transportation Industry Family Member: 10%

What brought you here today?

Curious about the site: 20%

Avid reader: 60%

Surfed the Internet and Found the Site: 20%

If you are a driver, what kind of truck do you drive?

Kenworth: 40%

International: 20%

Peterbilt: 5%

Bus: 5%

F650: 5%

Freightliner: 5%

Not a driver: 20%

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I mentioned it before and here it is! This is just a GENERAL survey to see how this is going to go.  Let me repeat that, a GENERAL survey. This means that the survey is about general things.

This particular survey is a little about trucks and a little about the this site. It’s not very hard to fill out. There are a few multiple choice questions and then there are some fill in the blank questions.

You can voice your opinion about a few things and let us know what you like in a truck. What could it hurt?

The survey will be up for a week. But is open to the first 100 participants. I thought I would start small. So please, if you would be so kind, take the time to fill it out and give us a little feedback and let us know what you like!

There will be another post once all the results are in letting you know what everyone likes the best (or doesn’t like) about trucks.

Feel free to pass it on to your friends! Just click the link below:
Click Here to take survey

I know a lot of you do not take the time to watch regular TV on the road. Opting for the more important – sleep – than anything (and thank you for keeping yourself and others safe by doing so!). But I have a huge gripe about a nice little stereotype that was on the other night. First I was very angry, then I could not believe the stupidity of the writers of the show, and now I just sit here and think “Do these people live under a rock?”

The show: Law and Order. The episode that was on Wednesday night partially dealt with prostitution in truck stops. So let me start picking the show apart and you can either laugh, get mad, or sit and wonder “Do these people live under a rock?”

First: the truck stop. The “truck stop” consisted of them driving a container into what looked like, a container drop yard with a few chain link fences around. It looked like a container drop yard because all of the trucks that were in this “truck stop” had containers behind them.

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When I was a teenager a new family moved in next door. They had three children, a very important fact, as my trendsetting clothes budget depended solely on my babysitting income. Three children in one household would bring $1.50 an hour. With dollar signs in my eyes I welcomed them to the neighborhood and let the mom Sherry know that I loved babysitting, especially late on Saturday nights.

My first babysitting opportunity for that family came quickly but it was not what I had anticipated. Seems the regular babysitter at Sherry’s church was ill and could not make it, and would I like to be the substitute baby sitter on Sunday morning?

I dressed appropriately and went to church with the family. “How many children will I be babysitting?” I innocently asked Dave, the dad and driver of the family car.

Sherry answered, “Oh, we never know! Sometimes ten, sometimes, two or three.” Read the rest of this entry »

Since the truck show is coming up I thought I would share an experience I have had for not one but two years in a row while attending.

Since I am the person who usually goes to the truck show to scope out the latest trailers, we decided these last two years to start pricing “pots”.  For those who do not know they are all called “bull racks”, in other words livestock trailers. (More than likely you have been behind one and complained of the smell!)

The first year I went and spoke to one certain company, I asked a simple question “How much does the trailer weigh empty?” As anyone in the trucking business would know, this is very important. For those who do not, you can take the empty weight of a truck and trailer (preferably with full tanks of fuel) and weigh them to find out how much weight you can haul. This is very important in the livestock industry as a lot of the people who haul livestock get paid by the “100 weight” (so much per pound hauled).

Much to my surprise the people at the truck show had no clue why I wanted to know this nor did they know the weight. I asked if someone could find out (I thought maybe they could call their home office) and let me know. I received a “deer caught in headlights” stare.  I gave them all the vital information they needed and never received as much as an email saying “We just don’t know!” Read the rest of this entry »

We made our chili, I baked some goodies for boys and their friends, and we sat down to watch the Super Bowl. Myself, I am still learning a few things about football so I have to ask questions which seem to irritate the young people at times (like I should know these things! ha ha). But for the most it’s always fun to watch a game together.

I like watching the Super Bowl, not just for the football, but like everyone else, for the advertisements. I have to say though, I really feel that they fell short this year from previous years.

Did anyone else notice that a few of the commercials were re-runs? The “McGruber” clip that played three or four times during Saturday Night Live made its way to played during the Super Bowl. And wow, the amount of ads for movies that are coming out. I really do not remember THAT many being on last year.

You would think if they paid the $3 million it cost for a spot that they would at least come up with something original wouldn’t you?

At any rate, the game was well worth watching. It was definitely one of those games that if you walked out of the room for a minute and came back you would be like “What happened??” Those are the kind of games I like to watch because they keep you entertained.

By the way, my favorite commercial this year had to be the one with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. Now that was original, different, funny, and new. Just what everyone expects from a Super Bowl commercial!!

As I am sitting here getting ready to embark on my next semester, I decided to check my grades from last semester. What? Are you kidding me? They put a “B” in instead of a “B+”? What’s up with that?

Oh yeah, I am the kind that freaks out about that kind of thing. When I was in high school and my mom told me very fervently that I was NOT going to college on dad’s GI Bill because she didn’t want to pay for it (mom I think needed to do a little more research on that one but that’s a totally different story – and for those of you not familiar with the GI Bill – it’s only something that someone IN or has been IN the military can get!).  After that conversation I started not caring about my grades. Why study so hard if I wasn’t going to college after high school? Who would care? Apparently, at the age of 38, I start caring about silly things like that!

Getting a “B” means that my GPA dropped ever so slightly. Which means I do not feel good about myself. Which means now I am going to have to work even harder to get closer to that “A” I want when I complete my graduate degree!

Hey you know what? I should be studying right now instead of writing shouldn’t I? My highlighter, books, and papers look pretty lonely right now. Sitting there under the lamp. My head’s telling me “You know what you need to do!” when my mind is wandering thinking “You better get a good grade this time young lady or else!”
Why do I care so much about my grades now? Because it is a representation of who I am as an adult. It is a representation to my two boys, one of which will be in college next year, of what they need to do when they attend college. Try your best, do your best, and feel your best even as an adult. You have a lot of people looking up to you whether you realize it or not.

Well, back to the books!

Setting: Fountain Square, downtown Cincinnati, Ohio on a warm Saturday in December, so warm the ice in outdoor ice skating rink next to the fountain is melting

Characters: Father, Mother, Daughter, Son, hundreds of downtown visitors and one mysterious stranger

Scene: Father has taken Daughter, Son and their submarine sandwiches outside to eat on the fountain wall. Mother is still inside the restaurant, paying for the lunch. Unbeknownst to Mother, a mysterious stranger has approached the two children and handed them each a package wrapped in Christmas paper. When Mother approaches them, the children cry out in joy and show their newest Christmas presents to her. When Mother asks the children where they got the packages, they point to a man in a blue jacket and navy ski hat who is walking away from the fountain and heading toward the street. Mother sits down slowly next to children and verifies that the man who gave them the nice Christmas packages is the man wearing a blue jacket and navy ski hat. Mother then pastes a smile on her face, takes one of the packages and… Read the rest of this entry »

I was bored so I started surfing the Internet and found out Indiana is not the only state that is ticketing aggressive drivers.  I found out the Oregon is doing this as well. Their program is called “TACT” – Ticket Aggressive Cars and Trucks. Then I found out, the FMSCA has a link dedicated to TACT along with a lot of information on the program! Who would have known?

According to the website the “official” states participating are: Washington, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Those that have locally funded/supported programs are: South Dakota, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The rest of the states are technically listed as “MCSAP non-commercial motor vehicle traffic enforcement.”

The FMSCA link has several things you can visit to learn about TACT including: FAQs, Action Planning, states that are a part of TACT, a forum, safety partners, resources, funding, and news just to name a few. Read the rest of this entry »

I watched a fair amount of Olympic coverage with my children this summer.  We watched quite a few medal ceremonies, and heard a lot of national anthems.  But I saw very few athletes singing the lyrics of their own country’s anthems, the United States included.

Did I miss something?  Was there an international agreement to have the athletes NOT sing their own national anthems?

Lacking that, what could it be?  Are these nationalistic songs just not ‘cool’ enough to sing?  Is there an informal, unspoken agreement among the athletes that if your lips mouth the lyrics during the medal ceremony you are just not cool?
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