Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

of people in wheelchairs. I am a compassionate person. I believe in society making necessary “accommodations” for people that need it. I even, for a time, supported affirmative action.

For minimum wage, I taught retarded adults in a group home how to live better in “normal” situations. And for folks with physical disabilities, I believe it’s acceptable for them to be boarded first on aircraft so they can be seated and their “equipment” safely secured during flight.

Where there are steps into a commercial establishment, doctors office, government buildings or a home, a ramp is essential for wheelchair access. And public transportation - bus or rail- should be mechanically “adjusted” so that a wheelchair can get on and off as easily and quickly as possible.

But in my experience, especially lately, all this extra “assistance”  and “codling” for people “needing” wheelchairs has gone too far. I know it’s the holiday season, but bah-humbug, I’ve had enough.

I reached my limit having just returned from a vacation where I had the displeasure of interfacing with numerous wheelchair bound men and women and their “pushers”.  In several cases, the wheelchair was accompanied by a “posse” that included 5 or more family members and “friends” trailing the “disabled” individual. Just like baby chicks following the mother hen. The person in the wheelchair, the pusher and the “team” behind, deemed it acceptable to bypass everyone else in route to their final destination whether it be an entrance, exit or the front of the line at the buffet. 

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I saw a few snowflakes today. I am honestly surprised that I did not see a bunch of people running to the store to buy bread and milk! What is it with snow storms that makes everyone want to buy bread and milk anyway? What recipe calls for just bread and milk? Okay, sorry I went off on a little tangent there. But seriously, since I saw the snowflakes today I thought “Wow, how many people are going to be driving like idiots because they saw a snowflake?” What better time to discuss that! That I thought maybe we could share ideas and tips for staying safe during snow/ice/sleet.

I had the wonderful experience last year, as we rode in the big truck, of experiencing snow in Michigan. The roads completely covered to the point where you couldn’t see them at all. I was scared because it was the first time I had been in a situation like that, everyone else was chatting up storm like it was no big deal.

Somewhere near Coldwater, Michigan earlier this year!

Seeing the slide offs worried me but then I saw why big trucks were sliding off. When you have a road that is covered with snow and untreated, why do you want to drive like an amateur? Do you not realize that not taking some kind of precaution is going to end up in a very bad result?

So where does one start with winter driving? I did a search, again, and had to laugh at one article that addressed what to do if you started to skid in a big truck: “1.  Pray 2.  Scream.” Of course after that it says “Just kidding!” Very cute. 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 »

Now that fuel prices are below $3 everyone is driving, freight is moving, truckers are happy and we can live happily ever after. So everything’s good now, right? Diesel and gas are at their lowest levels in a long time. Good thing all of those fuel strikes happened! This is why any talk of striking for fuel prices drives me up a freakin’ wall, because even if truck strike for fuel prices actually did work, now what? There’s more than fuel prices involved here, always has been. The latest freight numbers from the ATA are from September and they’re still on a downward trend.

Now what? The election is over, things seem to be picking up a bit but not much. The government has big plans to fix the economy, the credit crunch and even the big auto makers. The government was one of the causes of this problem so you would think they would know how to fix it. But has the government fixed anything? Ever? Read the rest of this entry »

I know that most drivers do not have any spare time on their hands but if you do and you want to promote a positive image of what a driver’s life is like, I suggest becoming a Trucker Buddy!

Trucker Buddy is an organization that started in 1992 in an effort to not only educate children about truck drivers, but also to show how truck drivers have to use the things they learned in school as an every day part of their career.  Things like geographical skills, mathematical skills, social and historical skills, and of course even reading and writing.

My husband has been a part of the program for around five years now. He is not the only that gets enjoyment out of the seeing the letters that he receives either. Our family gets involved. We share a little bit about ourselves with the class and answer questions they may have about the trucking business and our family. One of the biggest questions we always seem to get is how things are dealt with at home while my husband is away.

We try to teach the kids interesting facts about the states we have visited and I always look for neat postcards for them to have. I really enjoy the classes very much and usually make handmade stockings for the class every year complete with goodies inside!

I highly recommend Trucker Buddy if you have a few spare minutes (some teacher’s do communicate via email!) and would like to promote a positive side to trucking!

Have you ever noticed how certain kinds of music reflect upon your driving skills? I have noticed myself how when I am listening to the alternative music my oldest likes, I tend to drive a bit faster. Outside of not being able to “head bang” down the road, I guess this is ok, but it makes me wonder, if I am driving a bit faster to this high tempo music - does it make other drivers aggressive in some way?

I have also noticed that when I listen to soft rock, classical, or Christian music, it is like a soothing calm that comes over me and I do not scream and yell at the idiot who has just cut me off.

Apparently, they have even performed studies about this very thing. “The current study explored the effects of music tempo on PC-controlled simulated driving. It was hypothesized that simulated driving while listening to fast-paced music would increase heart rate (HR), decrease simulated lap time, and increase virtual traffic violations. The study found that music tempo consistently affected both simulated driving speed and perceived speed estimates: as the tempo of background music increased, so too did simulated driving speed and speed estimate.”

The study goes on to talk about how people received more traffic violations as a result of listening to fast paced music because simply, they were not paying attention to what they were doing. Realistically, if someone is listening to fast paced music it is probably cranked up (the volume) pretty high as well, so how are they going to hear any sort of emergency vehicle or perhaps even someone honking to get their attention because of a road hazard?

So the next time you feel like being a little aggressive, remember to pop in a soothing CD of your choice, and see if you notice a difference in your driving behavior. Just make sure it is not something that will put you to sleep!

Dan Goodwill has a series of posts about The Art and Science of Freight Carrier Selection. It’s about how a shipper should choose a carrier to haul their freight. How about how a driver chooses a company to drive for? There are thousands of posts and forum discussions about how good or bad a company is. You can find good and bad stories about the same company. You can talk to a hundred drivers from a company and get a hundred different responses to the same question.

The secret to your success with a particular company? You.

That’s not the entire secret, otherwise this would be a really short post, but it is the answer. It’s also about your personal relationship with your dispatcher and the people you have daily contact with. You’re not going to know you’re at the perfect company for you, until you’ve worked there for awhile. Which is part of the problem with driver turnover. A lot of drivers don’t give their company enough of a chance and start looking for something else as soon as they get to a new company.

When you’re looking for a new company to drive for, it’s all about you. Is this the kind of freight you like hauling? Usually the same kind of freight will have the same type of customers, if not the exact same customers. Are you looking for home time, more money, respect, better equipment? Don’t say more miles! Because if you haven’t learned that it’s not how much you drive, it’s how much you make, read more Life on the Road! Even company drivers or leased operators being paid by the mile there are still things that affect your pay.

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An independent review panel’s report on the Mexican Cross Border Demonstration Program was released today and appears to affirm, confirm and validate, my opinions on the issue over the past year and a half.

The panel, commissioned by Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, in the waning days of this administration, proves, without a shadow of a doubt, the safety and ability of these carriers to operate within the rules and regulations, the same as we do.

The 119 page report can be downloaded HERE.

More importantly, at least to me, it verifies a very unscientific study I did on my own in the tenth month of the program.

For the first time, the review panel included the forgotten and ignored fleet of Mexican carriers grandfathered in under the 1982 Moratorium which gives us a more complete picture of their compliance.

Highlights of the Report

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Listen ladies, first of all spare me the nasty e-mails, I really need your help. I’m reaching out to all of you. You need to know, right off, that I appreciate all your hard work. I can’t imagine how tough it is being a female trucker. I’ve said many times, in many postings, on this and other blogs that men are jerks. I know that you are very capable, perhaps more so than most men, to do everything that is necessary to operate your rig in a safe, reliable and efficient fashion.

So, with that said, here’s my problem. I’m was in Senatobia, MS at the Kangaroo truck stop right off I-55. About 4pm, I was sitting in the front seat, with my headset on making a call, while typing online. I had the engine running. Both front windows were closed. You could say that I was really into what I was doing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a women with a plastic bag approaching me. Wrong or right, my first thought was - lot lizard. Just like you ladies, I just wanted to be left alone.

She comes right up to the door. I wave her off. She moves her head right to left and back to indicate that she’s saying “no.” She bangs on the door. Persistent - I used the “b” word. Sorry. I was “ticked.” I rolled down the window half way and just looked at her. She said something. I said, “listen, times are tough for all of us, but [please] go away, I’m not interested. ” I started rolling the window up when she motioned her head again saying no. I took my headset off. She asked about my load. I didn’t quite understand the question. She said, “If I go over there now, could I get loaded?” I said “what?” She said “I drive for (our company) and I was wondering?” Read the rest of this entry »

My husband was grousing at me the other day because, when he brought home some unfamiliar canned dog food for my precious Jack Russells, I promptly looked the brands up on a recall list-he said I was a “Conspiracy Theorist”. Nope-just very aware of the kind of things we’re allowing to be imported without any checks and balances these days.

Dog food is only one of my worries: I figure I’m lucky to be alive after as many Chinese Take-Out meals as I’ve eaten in the last twenty years. My local lunch diner didn’t know me as “The Three Egg-roll Lady” for nothing. I never even got sick-maybe that says more for my Mid-Western constitution than from any food safety standards that have ever been in place. And, apparently, the FDA DOES attempt to keep track of some of it. On today’s recall list, I found two items of great interest: “Goldensmell (no, that’s what its called) brand Dried Fungus” and “Grove Grow Notes Dried Bamboo Fungus Veiled Lady”. I don’t know what either of these things are but you can be sure I’m not going to be picking any of these up at my local grocery to add to the stir-fry in the near future.. Of course, the same FDA recall list had a recall for some kind of hemorrhoid suppositories for excess mold and fungus-was it Goldensmell Fungus? Who knows? Is there an ‘acceptable level’ of fungus in hemorrhoid suppositories?

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