Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

In case you’ve been busy driving or away from the TV the The Corn Refiners Association has been busy trying to reverse the bad publicity High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has been getting. My opinion is their publicity campaign is going to backfire on them. If you never heard of HFCS before, you have now. Youtube is full of parodies of the commercials and websites and news organizations are now filled with information trying to defend or slam the Corn Refiners. Any search on Google, (try this one High Fructose Corn Syrup )

Arguments in Favor of HFCS

Sweetsurprise.com is the Corn Refiners whose arguments are that HFCS has the same number of calories as sugar, taste the same and is fine in moderation, it’s natural, the body treats it the same as sugar and it’s cheaper than sugar.

Arguments Against HFCS

The calorie count may be the same, but the kind of calories are different. HFCS has been shown to be treated differently than sugar and blocks the signal from your brain telling you’re full, cause you and kids to eat more and is linked to obesity, childhood obesity and diabates in children and all of the other diseases that are caused by being too fat.

It’s fine in moderation, the problem with that is no one knows what a moderate amount of HFCS is. Since HFCS is in almost anything we eat and drink it’s hard to take in any kind of moderation.
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This article comes from two vantage points: that of a trucker’s wife, Kathy Hagle and a trucker therapist, Buck Black. We both know there are many issues drivers simply do not discuss, such as high divorce rates, family problems, depression, low self worth, and the lack of public knowledge in regards to the life of a trucker and his/her family.

If you look at the research on mental health and truckers, you will find mostly Australian articles. Who would have thought the Aussies would be the only ones up on this (no offense to Australians). The sad truth is that America is largely behind in researching, supporting, and helping truckers. This makes no sense given we rely on truckers for just about every material thing we have. If you’ve got it, a trucker brought it…right?

It is important to point out that people in the military have the VA (Department of Veteran’s Affair), which provides support for troops for both physical and mental healthcare. There is even a program where troops can call a therapist and talk about depression, stress, and relationship problems for free (http://www.giveanhour.org). Isn’t it a shame the military has more support for the families involved in that career choice than trucking has even thought of?

If the mental health and family issues related to trucking gain more attention, we firmly believe the general public will have a much more positive image of drivers and their profession. As a result, there will be more support from the business and private communities for truck drivers and their families.

Truckers and their families deserve a very high level of support, which they simply do not receive. We urge every driver and their family to discuss the challenges of being in this profession so that the stigma of asking for some additional help with family life, depression, stress, or any other issue is something that can be openly discussed. The longer these issues are kept secret, the longer families and drivers will go unsupported.

Links to help with families of trucking, as well as truckers

L.O.A.D.S. Online support forum for the families of truckers.

Drivers WellnessProviding quality emotional, relational and spiritual aid to drivers and the trucking industry across the United States and Canada.

Dispatch Me Home was written so that we could revisit, recreate, and enhance the image of the American trucker who drives our highways and byways 24/7. We want to give him a renewed swagger in his step. If there was ever an American original, it was the American Truck driver

Life as a Trucker will entertain, educate, inform, motivate, and inspire.

There is a serious epidemic that is spreading across this land and it effects most everyone. Doesn’t consider job, health condition or economic background of the person affected. And this like it’s counterpart high blood pressure ( the silent killer), goes unnoticed for years at a time. It is diabetes, fact  every 20 seconds someone learns they are diabetic , also one in four people who are effected with diabetes do not know that they have it.  Here is a risk test that you can take to see if you need further follow up.. Diabetes Risk Test.

Between the lack of exercise, erratic sleep and eating schedules, and poor food choices this effects the truck driver in a big way.  So there is two schools of thought that I find with this, ether  ignore the issue until it shows up in your lab tests, or to say it will be someone else who is effected, “As I don’t have a weight problem so I don’t have to worry.”. Both of these thoughts are myths, and with knowledge of this chronic illness they can be explain with knowledge gained. As half the battle with diabetes is to control the illness, with control complications can be reduced if not eliminated. So here is a page which touches on the myths of diabetes.

Each November is Diabetes awareness month, and as one who has had this chronic illness I would like to be able to prevent others from getting it or having complications because of a lack of knowledge of the disease. As if it wasn’t for the fact that I do have diabetes now, and also am on insulin therapy I would now be out with my husband teaming. So this brings to light the next question truckers ask when facing this illness. Can I drive a semi with diabetes, and what happens if they place me on insulin? We all know or I do hope we do of the regulations of the FMCSA has when it comes to your health. But there is a gray area I have seen and that is what are the regulations are when it comes to insulin. So here is another link (I know lots of information ) that explains it easily on the grandfather waiver for insulin.

Bottom line, diabetes isn’t a death sentence, it can be controlled, and with proper care you can even go to the point of being only diet controlled. So I highly recommend that you keep tabs of your health, know the facts of diabetes and what you can do to prevent it. There is so many myths, and misinformation on this illness. So most all of the information I have posted comes from the American Diabetes Association, this is a non profit cause that I have supported for years now. Go there and learn more about this chronic illness, as knowledge is half the battle, correct information is the best way to handle this chronic illness.

Resources:

American Diabetic Association

The talk of Iraq being another Vietnam has certainly died down as we finally draw down our forces. An estimated 125,000 soldiers are still operating there. But what about Afghanistan? According to the more senior drivers at the T/A in Limon CO last night, this Afghan “conflict” does have the makings of another Vietnam.

While the President and his “war council” of not quite sure what to do over there – military officers – including the whiny “I must talk with Obama” – Afghan theatre commander – Gen. McChrystal – all “debate” what to do – this weekend eight of our soldiers were killed. And for what? According to The New York Times: “The attack, a four-hour firefight in which 48 American soldiers and 24 Afghan soldiers were outnumbered nearly three to one, has been described as the “Black Hawk Down” of Afghanistan, a debacle whose lessons the military says it has already incorporated in its new doctrine for the war.”

“McChrystal is pressing for a change in strategy that would shift troops to heavily populated centers to protect civilians and focus less on battling the insurgents in the hinterlands.”  But what about the eight men killed and the loss of the families while the Administration argues among themselves. The consensus of the drivers at the T/A was either get out now and forget the place or use air power to flatten the country. Does it sound a lot like Vietnam to you?  I won’t even bring up the Bin Laden issue right now.

Ok, let’s move away from that mess to another mess that was discussed by drivers in Limon. No not David Letterman, or Brett Favre playing against the Packers tonight or the sad fact that my Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-4. It’s health care – again. Now, if you’ve read my past stuff you know I have bad arthritis in both knees. I went to the doctor. He took x-rays, prescribed Naproxen – a non-additive painkiller and anti-inflammatory. He also gave me a cortisone shot. He also told me to give up trucking, buy a brace or two, lose weight and live happily ever after.

Well, the shot didn’t do a bit of good, the Naproxen is not as good as plain old Advil, some knee brace salesman in MN keeps hounding my wife about when are we going to order the $1750 glorified Ace bandage and I can’t find another job right now. I wake up in the middle of the night in agony. As far as the weight loss thing, well, lap band surgery – the best option right now – is not covered by my Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. The cost would be $15,000 here in the US – $7500 over the border in Mexico, but I’m not taking a second mortgage on my house to get it, and I can’t afford air fare to Mexico City. The saleswomen – sorry – nurse – for the surgeon tells me “well, a bank might give you a loan.” My company can’t get a loan for business equipment and some bank is going to give me a check to rubber band my stomach? She’s loony and just like all doctors and their staff – are completely out of touch with reality. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you ready for the winter? Now is the time to get ready for what to me, is the most God awful time of the year. Trucks are not made to run in ice and snow, but inclement weather is a fact of the life of being on the road. If it was up to me, just like a bear, I would much prefer to hibernate in some nice warm hole somewhere in the forest. I’d enjoy eating my face off storing energy and then sleep until the Springtime.

Anyway, let’s start with a shovel. I will never spend another winter without a shovel for the snow. If I had the room and the money, I would buy an electric snow blower and take it with me. T/A’s – especially in the Northeast – not only have giant potholes on their lots, they NEVER adequately remove the snow. They could have their road service vehicles equipped with plows ready to get rid of the snow as it’s falling, but, well, that just seems impossible for them to do. So, drivers, I’ll forewarn you, go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and buy a shovel and be prepared to dig. While you’re there pick up a couple bags of sand or kitty litter to put down on the ice.

Next, buy a medium sized cardboard box. Inside you will put two candles, a lighter, matches, 3 bottles of water, 3 cans of spaghetti and meatballs, a box of unsalted crackers, Advil or aspirin, a roll of paper towels, a cheap AM/FM radio with a pack of spare batteries, a cheap pair of warm gloves, a woolly hat, a pair of sox and a pocket knife that has a pullout spoon and fork. Throw in some candy bars and a small bags of nuts. Tape it up and label it “emergency.” Put it somewhere and don’t open it unless you absolutely positively have to – as I did a few years ago when the world froze over for 2 days in Little Rock AR and there was no power and nothing was open. You might also want to buy an inexpensive cell phone, ie: a Trac Phone with a bunch of pre-paid minutes and a set of extra batteries.

Do you have blankets? No? You say your truck heater is fine. Your APU keeps you nice and toasty? It doesn’t take long when a truck breaks down or your fuel tank freezes for the inside temperature in your bunk to match the frigid conditions of the icy tundra wasteland around you. I always use a sleeping bag, have a electric heat blanket on standby and in my winter closet – have 3 large warm blankets – just in case. Making sure you have a set of professional – industrial heavy duty jumper cables. You may need them or could possibly help out the guy next to you. With the T/A road service truck plowing their parking lot, they’re not going to have time to jump your truck.

I don’t know one engine additive from another and I’m not advocating Howe’s, but I used it last winter and it seemed to work fine for me. And it was cold, very cold. This year, now that I have my APU, I have to check with our maintenance people whether to leave my engine running and add Howe’s when the temperature drops below freezing. I do know that last winter a lot of our trucks engines gel’d up as drivers shut down their engines trying to earn their fuel bonus. One driver told me it got so cold inside his truck that he put his dentures in water and the next morning they were frozen solid.

So please, share with our readers what you do to prepare for the winter. I’ve always wanted heated windshield wipers, but I just don’t have the money right now to purchase and install them. Do you use them? I’d like to hear from the drivers that have been out there a while and can teach the rest of us what is best to do to survive this next winter. THX.

I’m on home time – the other side of life on – “off” – the road. I got home about 5 PM Thursday night. 8 AM Friday morning, I received an E-mail from my dispatcher saying “sorry to bother you, but we need your 53 ft trailer.” Uh – ok. Half asleep I asked back how, when and where. She said the driver is 4 hours away. Uh – ok. So is this what being home is all about – working? I said, hey, jokingly, you’re gonna have to pay for this – I’m adding another week on to my home time. No response.

Cut to the chase. I drove my tractor to the towing place where I secure the trailer, gave my “friend” there five bucks and said someone from my company is coming by to the exchange trailers. Here’s the keys for the locks. Unlike we drivers – slaves – there are people who expect to get paid for what they do. That was about 5 hours after the original phone call after I heard nothing and took it upon myself to do a follow-up. When I got the tractor back home, I then got another E-mail – this time from the VP-Safety to give her a call. Jez, what now. I answered her back, I’m AT HOME, is there a problem? No, I need you to try a new logbook software program out and.hey, when does my home time really begin – tomorrow?

Friday. I’ve been home – ummm – about 35 hours. It’s time to go to the orthpedic surgeon. I haven’t dwelled on this, but I COULD HARDLY WALK the past five weeks on the road. My knees, especially the left one, apparently decided on its own to not work. X-rays. Buzz, Buzz. Mr. Gruskin? Yes, doctor? Mr. Gruskin, you need to find another line of work – soon. Really doctor, why is that? You have advanced arthritis in both your knees and hands. And this is happening 10 years before it should. You’re a young man. Your time of doing physical labor is over, my friend. You will do permanent damage if you continue to clutch. Knee replacement surgery is not really an option, but I’m going to give you 500 mg. of Naproxen so you can walk, we’ll schedule you for a knee brace fitting – and – it would be “advisable” for you to lose 100 pounds with the help of your “primary care” physician. I’ve now been home about 38 hours.

Home time. What a trip. I think I’ll go get a haircut – talk things over mano a mano with my long time barber. I felt 10 degrees cooler after I got all the white and grey off. I think to myself – how in the hell am I going to deal with all this? We’re in the a serious de-cession and I supposed to find a desk job? Right. Lose 100 pounds. Right. I’m already taking pills for anxiety and depression. I think tonight I’ll double the dose along with my new knee pills, my BP meds and the largest pill known to man a glucosamine-chrondroitin supplement. All these pills by the way need to be taken with FOOD! I have 1/2 of a turkey, roast beef, pastrami with cold slaw and Swiss sandwich left over in the fridge with some low fat chocolate milk. That’ll do the trick.

So if I evaluate what all three of my doctors say – my take a pill for everything never check my heart primary care physician, my doc-in-the-box best doctor who doesn’t handle patients on a private basis but manages to get me through a DOT physical and my newest best friend orthopedic surgeon you’re finished as a truck driver lose 100 pound with an ugly knee brace on – well, my option is to do nothing, eat everything I want, live with the pain – keep on the path of a slow suicide and soon it will all be over. I’m already in hell, so maybe I can make into heaven.

And, yes LOTR readers, NONE of this would be possible without my MEDICAL INSURANCE! $20 co-pay. I can’t imagine what these doc are charging, but the one doctor is a member of AOPA – that the association for folks who own and fly their own airplanes. One doc was telling me how nice it is in Tahiti. The supplements are $45 for 120 caplets – not covered by insurance. If the doctor prescribed Celebrex that is NOT covered. The knee brace – $750 – is covered. Lap-band surgery or any procedures to assist in the weight loss – forget it. And don’t tell me to eat less and exercise. I’m hungry and soon I’ll only be able to get the buffet with a walker. Now I should get a handicap tag for my truck so I can park closer.

I’m tired of crappy fast food or I’ve discovered the worst hamburger in the world. I’m also hot – very hot. It was 105 degrees in the blazing sun today. Here’s a suggestion – stay out of Florida in August and September. Come back in November when it’s cooler. I’ve put in my 14 hours, made three deliveries today and have two more left tomorrow morning before this slave, I mean driver, can head home. I’m on the Florida Turnpike and after eating next to nothing all day – it’s been water, water and more Dasani – right now I’m hungry. But I don’t want to talk about what I’m going to eat now – Italian probably – but I do want to touch briefly on all the crappy food I’ve eaten the last five weeks on the road.

Ok, what are our choices? We have Arby’s, BK or Burger King, Wendy’s, Waffle House – what’s left of them – Huddle House which is a Waffle House that takes credit, Popeye’s, White Castle, Krystal, Church’s, Whataburger, Dairy Queen, Hardees, etc. Forget the buffet’s right now. We all know they are what they are. Oh, let me not forget Subway (gives me indigestion) and for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the chicken place in Love’s, but their stuff is darn good. By the way, have you heard the commercials for the new Hardees fried baloney biscuit? I caught it when I was in North Carolina two weeks ago. I wanted to try it, but couldn’t find a Hardees to pull into. That darn 53 ft trailer again. There are many other places like Sonic, Checkers and so many others, mostly chains, all over the country and they’re all pretty much terrible.

But friends, I have discovered theee worst hamburger in the US. Before I tell you about it, did I tell you the other day I went into a Wendy’s – good Chili – and ordered a root beer float. The counter person handed it to me. I took a sip. No root beer. It was Coke. I said I wanted a root beef float. She said I gave you a root beer float with Coke. A root beer float is made with root beer my dear. Well, they didn’t tell me that in training! Reminds me of the time I ordered a chicken club. The clerk said what kind of chicken do you want? I put my fists in my arm pits and started flapping and said the kind that goes cluck cluck. Jez, life shouldn’t be so complicated.

When is the last time ya’ll were in Paris? No, not Paris,Texas – Paris, France – as in wine, cheese and rude people walking around the Eiffel Tower? Order breakfast there and you get a hot milky cafe-au-lait and two light flakey warm buttery croissants. That’s a qua-saunt – not a damn kra-sandwich! They taste fine all by their lonesome. Only Americans could screw up such a beautiful creation as a croissant and make it taste like oily cardboard with prepackaged salty government cheese, powdered eggs and a fatty slice of tasteless meat that resembles ham. And don’t ever insult me by calling those round rubber things at McDonalds bagels or that brown icy bilge water they pass off as coffee. Why is that they don’t lightly toast their (English) “muffins” – they serve them raw! OMG! And the Magic Dragon “Chinese” food at FJ should really be called overcooked soggy Dragon road kill – it’s disgusting. Nothing “magic” about it.

Ok, the worst hamburger in the world, by far, is the new McDonalds 1/3 lbs. “Angus” burger. To be fair, I’ve tried all three versions and they’re all equally putrid. Their tasteless, rubbery and vile. The mayo they use is really horrible. One time I asked them not to smear it on and to their credit they followed the instruction. I couldn’t believe it but the burger – in this case the mushroom and Swiss version – tasted even worse. It’s basically the same small fake burger thing they’ve pushed on the public as real beef – but on steroids.

Whoever made this possible at McDonalds should be shot. Order it as an overpriced meal – with McDonalds fries – once the greatest – now made with no salt – skewered in supposedly some healthy industrial chemical which makes them as bad as Wendy fries – along with a flat icy Coke and you have once of the worst fast food meals on the road. And did you know that if you keep that icy flat Coke in the McDonald’s funny tasting paper cup for more than 30 minutes all the liquid will fall through? While I’m home I’m going to the store buy my own meat, taters and veggies and get the ‘ole frying pan out and cook some real food. Ya’ll welcome over, any time.

PS/Want something tasty? Try Burger Kings – not sold in their restaurants – I get ‘em in T/A – ketchup and fries potato chip things – they’re awesome. Serve ‘em with tuna or chicken salad sandwiches or burgers instead of real French fries. Great alternative to the real thing. A million calories, but who cares? You want taste or you wanna be Twiggy? .

Most drivers don’t even get the courtesy call. I did. It softened the blow. My dispatcher said: “What do you want me to do? There is no freight to Florida. There is nothing I can repower right now. I see nothing at all.” This is worst Southbound freight has been in a very long time.

At the time of the call, I was in North Carolina parked next to 1100 acres of feed corn, lots of miles from the nearest interstate. It was as close to Florida, where I live, as I’ve been in a month. I was as close as I was going to get. At this gas station with a large dirt lot, there were plenty of two week old pre-packaged sandwiches and flat fountain Pepsi for sale to let me wait a day or two for a load home. But I could tell from the e-mail that I was getting from my dispatcher that getting home this holiday just wasn’t in the cards. So much for the best laid plans of men and mice.

“Well, then find me a decent run that delivers Friday so I can get something else for the long weekend. No tarp and no extra stops”, I said. It was only a few seconds later that I got a trip to transfer aluminum shapes – no tarp – from nowhere NC to somewhere else in the middle of who knows where in Michigan. The 3 day weekend I had planned for my wife and I, the shopping, the haircut, the movie, the preparing the response to the IRS and the visit to the knee doctor – all out the window. It would just all have to wait, like all the the times before. Such is the life on the road.

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reporting from North Bay, Ontario – and what a mess it is. The way things are going I’m going to have to drive this damn truck until I die. Hopefully it won’t be at the Flying J in Houston or somewhere equally horrible. The state of America can pretty much be summed up by a commercial that Pizza Hut is now running on television. It’s for their pasta product. They take a family, supposedly out to dinner, to some eye-talian restaurant somewhere to enjoy the pasta. They’re blindfolded. Oooo – this pasta is sooo good. Oooo – it’s sooo nice to be at a real eye-talian restaurant. NO YOU MORONS – TAKE OFF YOUR BLINDFOLDS – YOU’RE AT HOME!!! Ha, ha, ha – we fooled ya! You didn’t fool them – they’re idiots. How dumb can you be? Just like the rest of America.

Mr. Presidente Obama is making a classic dumb mistake. He has joined the ranks of the smart-stupid. Harvard, Yale, Princeton – whatever – MBA, law degree, Ph.D. in Economics???? Doesn’t matter. You got the education and the contacts, but you’re still dumb as a stick – no common sense. And while we’re at it, let’s throw in all the Senate and House members on both sides of the isle – that’s the Congress if you don’t know it yet – if we can tear them away from those absurd town hall meetings – - and of course, the pasta is soo good at this eye-talian restaurant crowd – that’s about 85% of Americans – and from what I can hear – 99% of our fellow truck drivers. A whole lotsa no smarts.

And the cherry on top is the Obama administration with their 1000 page – let’s keep it really complicated and confusing – “health care reform” fiasco. Mr. President – you big dummy! – with all due respect – what are you doing? Are you nuts? KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! KISS baby!! A, B, C – 1,2,3 – bla, bla, bla. How about 25 pages! How about 5! How about 1!!!  Health care reform – we will do #1 this, health care reform – we will do that #2 and so forth and so on. Remember me? Because if I lose my job I HAVE NO HEALTH CARE! And the mandatory participation thing? Why? If some dumb ooo I love this eye-talian pasta doesn’t want health care, that’s one less idiot we have to worry about. Worry about me who pays taxes! What ever happened to everyone having the same health care plan as the members of Congress?

So, Mr. President, you big dummy – again with all due respect – Iraq is still a mess and you have not gotten us out. Afghanistan is, well, Afghanistan. Who cares? If one of your daughters was of age, would you send her over “there” to be blown up by the Taliban – excuse me – Ta-lee-ban? No, of course you wouldn’t! What happened to getting Osama Bin Laden? Do you need 1000 pages to figure out how to get that slimy SOB?. And what about Mexico, Iran, Israel, North Korea, China and every other freak’n place we Americans don’t care about, but you seem to want us involved with. I say kick ‘em to the curb. American all the way baby!

Mr. President – it’s time to punt. Take a time-out. Run the commercial. You and you alone are blowing this health care “thang” big time. Regroup. Deep six the 1000 pages. You’re scaring the bee-jesus out of just about everyone. Slow down. Fix what needs to be fixed first. Do health care next summer. People need jobs. I need freight. I have health care now – I can stay in my dumb job another year more until you get it right. You hear me Mr. President? I sure hope so. Change course because the ship is in stormy dark waters and that majority you now enjoy ain’t gonna be there after the next election.

So, I’ve been gone for a bit. Life has a way of sneaking up on you from behind and felling you with a 2×4. First, the economy, yeah yeah, I know, old rant and not just mine, but this has been going on for longer than many realize and certainly longer than the gubberment admits to. The trucking industry is always a good indicator of the health of the economy. We may notice before anyone else does.

THEN, of all things, medical care. Cost me a house in a good neighborhood. Still, I would leave things the way they are, before I would ever support the crazy ideas they are trying to shove down our throats. The problem with gubberment run health care is : it’s run by the gubberment… Really, how much more would you need to know?

The crashing (spiraling down the toilet) economy in 2007 didn’t help a lot of course. Ended a great local job pulling end dumps and put me back out on the road full time. Read the rest of this entry »