Just trucking along

I went and had a thought last week and know I'm paying for it! I figured as long as I had a short week last week and I go on vacation starting on Wednesday, I would work through the weekend. Well I took a load down to Alabama that delivered yesterday. I was empty by 5PM and then found out my next load has 4 pickups and as of 6:15PM today I am sitting at stop #2 and only 260 miles on for the day!! This will teach me to try thinking!!
I don't know how this place gets anything done. They misplaced part of my load and now they are reworking the stuff. Somebody is dishing out a fair amount of money for a truck, trailer and driver sitting here of which I get very little. Which is nothing new.
2 more days and it's vacation time!!!!!!!

Category: General

Today has proved to be quite interesting. The litigation for the accident took place this morning in Chicago. The driver of the car I hit and his lawyer were quite a pair. I think the lawyer took some mail order classes and passed the wrong bar exam!! By the end of the meeting he was basically just babbling on and making no sense at all. The driver of the car couldn't keep his story straight even if his life depended on it. At the scene of the accident he told the police he was fine and then almost two weeks later goes into a doctor complaining of neck and back pain. Today he claims he had told me and the police that he was hurt. Today he claims that he had been in the right lane since getting onto the freeway but told the police that night that he had been in the center lane and had moved over to the right just before the accident!!
Like I said, this was a very interesting morning. He was driving a 93 Mazda that he only paid about $1000 for a couple of years ago and was seeking $1900 for repairs! When a little Mazda can be driven away after being rear-ended by a vehicle grossing about 78000#, they weren't hit too hard!! Our lawyer figures he will hear from the litigation board either this afternoon or sometime Monday. Our lawyer is guessing that the guy isn't going to get a plug nickel out of this and probably wouldn't be able to come up with the $200 to file an appeal. The guy doesn't work any more and when he did it was just odd jobs.

Category: General

I had a meeting with my therapist for my depression and we got on the subject of my weight loss. I told her it was going so-so and that my biggest problem is trying to keep from getting bored and wanting to eat. She asked the ultimate question " Have you thought about another line of work?" I just laughed and told her that I have too much diesel running through my veins to do anything else. I think I would be back into a truck within a couple of weeks.
So if anyone out there in la la land has any ideas on how to keep this one brain cell of mine busy while going down the road let me know. For now I am going to get some sort of audio books to learn another language. That way I will know if some foreigner from California is bad mouthing me!!
These last couple of weeks have been quite rough. I messed up on my meds and didn't take a couple for about 2 weeks. Talk about somebodies system being messed up!! After having things straightened out for about a week now, I'm still not 100% yet. A person finds out real quick as to how much some meds help. I was going from crying jags to complete rage to being mellow all in a matter of seconds. I was making the incredible hulk look like a pussy cat!! I'm surprised my wife didn't call the men with the funny white jacket to come and get me.
A week from today I get to sit at some lawyers office in Chicago for a litigation hearing concerning an accident I was in last fall. The other driver admitted fault to the cops, was given a ticket and was able to drive away. He is now suing us and claiming I was at fault! Declined any medical attention on the scene and waited a week before seeing a doctor! Somebody figures on making some money off a trucking company. They probably seen one of the billboards around Chicago that has an ad for a lawyer that specializes in truck related accidents and decided to go for it!! Only in America!!

Category: General

I was getting bored just sitting here. So I decided to see if I could possibly bore anybody else so that I wasn't the only one. I am sitting in Cincinnati waiting to get unloaded. My appointment time isn't for another half an hour. The lumper just showed up so hopefully they will get started soon.
So far I haven't had to mess with the DOT during this 72 hour blitz. I don't think all the states are doing 72 hour deal. It wouldn't matter to me if I get checked because it's $30 in my pocket for a clean inspection. Drivers always complain about getting pulled around at the scale and getting an inspection done. Yes it is time consuming, but what isn't. I've been pulled around many times over the years and only ran across one cop in Wyoming that had a real attitude. All the others I've had no problems with. In fact most are willing to joke around with me. No sense getting all worked up over it. I have seen other drivers come in all pissed off and the cops will know before the guy gets to the counter what they are going to do. They will get me done quick and then start on the one with the attitude. They will take their little old time and thoroughly go over everything,truck trailer and paperwork. The driver will be stuck there for a long time!
Now that I've bored anybody that read this, I just want to know something. I have to get over there from here and then go someplace else and plan to go this way and then that way. My question is what time will it be in China when I get where I'm going?

Category: General

I've been sitting here thinking for the last 2 or 3 minutes and wore myself out and gave myself a splitting headache!! Boy I hate when that happens. One of these days I will learn not to do that. Maybe I should give up thinking for my New Years resolution. It shouldn't be too hard to do.
I don't even have anything to get on my soap box about. I might come up with something before the snow flies again. Fuel prices just makes my blood pressure go up when I think about that and Bush--well we won't go there!!
Just over a month until VACATION. A whole week of not having to do a thing!!! Taking the camping gear and the boat and heading to northern Wisconsin. About 150 miles from home and work!!!! I may even force myself to have a drink or 2 or 10!! Will get out of this truck on July 3rd and not get back in it until the 14th. Who knows, maybe I'll win the lottery while on vacation and won't have to get back into a truck!! One can always dream.

Category: General

For anybody looking to get into trucking and wondering who to go with, you need to ask yourself some questions. Do you mind just being a name and number on a computer screen? When you walk into the terminal, will it bother you that nobody will know who you are? When it comes to choosing between your personal life and a customer, will it bother you if the company doesn't care about your personal life? Just get in the truck and get this load delivered and don't be late!! Will you be wanting to get home or out of the truck on a regular basis and will the company leave you alone when off duty?
All these questions I had to put up with over the years. It didn't matter how often I would call my driver manager(as they are called now!)the first question out of their mouth would be " What is your truck number or employee number?" There have been numerous times that I no more than walked in the door from being out for 3 or 4 weeks and have the phone ringing and it is work calling to tell me I need to get back into the truck because they need me to take a load out.
As I have said in many of my other blogs, it is generally a very safe bet that you will want to quit and go to work for some other company within months of starting. The first year is the hardest to get through. But if you stick it out with the company you will probably have very few problems by the time that first year is done. You will look back at that first year and all the troubles you had and be saying"What was so hard about that??" You will be doing many things without having to put much thought into it. It will be like walking and riding a bike. You just do it.
Once you have that first year in then you can decide if a big company is for you or a smaller company fit your lifestyle better.

Category: General

Just had to see if I can write something thats not truck related so VM has something to get on his soap box about!
OK I couldn't do it. That involves thinking and I don't want to get caught doing that while in the truck. The boss gets mad if we do our own thinking while in his trucks! He's afraid he may need to pay us more than just bread and water. Last time he took the bread away for the week!
Well I have been diagnosed with ADHD!! I'm starting to get concerned about going to see a doctor. I may end up in a rubber room with one of those funny white jackets on. You know the one with the extra long sleeves that tie in the back. So I am on yet another med. But this has made a world of difference in how I feel. Now I just hope it's not a short term thing. I don't remember the last time I felt this good. I actually had the drive to do work around the house and not have to have my wife hounding me to do it. I also find I'm not wanting to stop and just sit in the truck watching the world go by. That and my mind isn't wandering all over the place. I can actually keep my concentration on what I'm doing.

Category: General

Get ready to read what I really think.
First off I think ----------------------------------------------------------- and -----------------------------------------------------------------. But -------------------------------------------------------------- I think ------------------------------------------------- !! I also think --------------------------------------------and I think--------------------?
I hope I didn't hurt anybodies feelings with what I think, but it did feel good to let it out!!

Category: General

I've been hearing and reading a lot about trucks planning to shut down. About the only thing that is going to do is give us an even bigger black eye. These pea brains think it will make a difference. Guess again. How long can you afford to shut down before you are out of money and still have bills coming in? Not long enough to make a difference. Try running legal. What a concept!!!! If the pea brains in this industry would put their little brains in gear before engaging their jaws they would see that in the long run, running legal would put a major hurt on a vast majority of companies. These places just stock up enough to out last any shutdown and have no major problem. Now these drivers are way behind on bills and have to run even harder to try to get caught up. Who got hurt here?? You guessed it. The pea brains!!
Yes TT, My soap box finally arrived and I'm making up for lost time! It feels good to be standing on it again. It would be interesting to hear what John Q and Jane Q Public thinks about this stupidity. I'm sure these so called safety advocates will be sitting back and laughing at these clowns and then wait for what happens afterwards. Get those pea brains back out on the road and have to run like crazy to try and get bills paid. Start having accidents, speeding tickets,shutdown for logbook violations and see what kind of field day CRASH and PATT and these other groups will have in the courts then.
I'm not against a person trying to earn a decent wage. I'm against how they want to do it. Thirty years ago shutting down might have helped. Not these days. You don't see these so called safety advocates out on the streets with signs trying to stop us from doing our jobs. They take advantage of the mighty powerful media and the courts. If drivers and even non drivers want to make a difference, join a union or better yet join OOIDA. You don't need to be a driver, owner operator or an Independent to join. They have many non driving members and it's only about $40 a year. They will keep you posted on what's happening in this industry and what to do when something important comes up. Anything you want to know about trucking can be found out through them.
No this is not an ad for OOIDA because they won't pay me for the space!! But they are becoming a very strong voice for the drivers. They have had luck with court cases for drivers and are being listened to more and more by capital hill. As far as I'm concerned it is a whole lot better than running around looking and sounding like an idiot. We're supposed to be professionals out here. Why not try to act like one. How many companies do you hear threatening to shut down because they are being screwed over in some way. Not a one. Even the unions are doing everything possible now to avoid a strike. Better to be working for a little less money than not working at all because your job moved to Mexico or some other country. Our jobs won't be moved to another country. They just bring the people from other countries over here to drive for less money and won't be crying about how much they are making because it will be more than they could ever make where they came from.
I for one will not be shutting down. I know there are all kinds of ways to get the word out and make people take notice without having to park the truck. If your not making a go of it as a owner or independent than you need to find out what your doing wrong. Don't be bending over and taking up the a-- and say I have no choice. Yes you do have a choice but are to much of a coward to refuse the load. Enough say no to the freight the rate will have to come up if they expect to get the freight moved. What's the difference if you say no to loads and have to sit or haul something at a loss. Either way your not making any money. Haul for a loss and the rates will never go up because these companies and brokers know there are idiots out there that will take the cheap freight. Like the anti drug ads used to say,"Just Say No" to cheap freight.

Category: General

I generally avoid this subject whenever possible but I just couldn't do it for this. I recently recieved an e-mail that had a rather disturbing picture on it. I don't remember why they were on that stage but it had Obama, Clinton, and one or two others and an American flag hanging behind them.They were saying the pledge of allegiance. That is all but Obama! The others had thier hand over thier heart and were proudly reciting the Pledge. Is there some reason he can't? If he doesn't like the under God part then don't say that part. But he just stood there with his hands clasped together and not saying a word. I personally think that the under God part doesn't need to be in there, but I won't let that stop me from putting my hand over my heart and reciting the Pledge. I for one wouldn't want someone like that in office. It has nothing to do with his religous believes or the color of his skin or his feelings on any other subject. But when he just stood there on that stage to me makes me wonder what else he is against in this great country of ours.
The man has some very good ideas, but I lost all respect for the man when I saw that picture. The picture may have been altered by someone and if that is the case I apoligize for slamming him. But until I hear differently my opinion of him stands. I don't want someone like that running this country. It's bad enough that we had to put up with Bush.
He is a whole different subject that I don't want to get started on this morning.

Category: General