Let me first say that I have just received three more “packets” from the Social Security Administration, which overseas the SSDI/disability program. I’m not complaining about their responsiveness, which is actually quite impressive for a huge government agency, but I could wallpaper and carpet Tim’s new truck with all the forms I need to fill out.
Just a FYI, if your trucking company is based out of anywhere in Oklahoma – Arrow, for example, was – then if you get injured on the job or have to leave your job due to a disability, you’re in for a fight. These folks in OK State government are not just myopic – shortsighted – they’re more ignorant. I swear they don’t care if your starving, sick or dead. It is a clear case of my preferring to deal with the Federal government.
So, myopic. I don’t know why that word came to mind. I was thinking about driver managers knowing, but not knowing, that there is a potentially dangerous weather “event” headed toward Florida, GA, the Carolina’s, possibly up into the mid-Atlantic – Northeast, by the end of the week. This is a great time to look back on some our past Life On The Road posts, about places to take your truck, and tell your dispatcher to route you there.
My company didn’t do preplanning well. Sitting in operations once, I understand why. There are just too many variables that a large fleet experiences to “preplan” trucks out more than a trip or two. Actually, knowing where you’re going beyond where you’re presently going is a rarity with the big trucking companies. Yes, some of you are dedicated and there are a few who, perhaps under their own authority, can plan to be parked at Nordstrom’s in Dallas, after a stop in Little Rock to put a deposit on your next “dream” vacation, all the time being loaded with top dollar freight. The rest of us go where we’re sent.
But, the end of this week and on into the weekend is not the time to be driving along the East Coast. I spent a lot of time at NUCOR steel in Huger, SC – not a place you want to be this weekend. You know where your customers are, you look at the map every time you fuel at a travel plaza and go inside to use the rest room. Like many truck drivers, I hated the Northeast, even in the best of weather. We all know 4-wheelers can’t drive around semi’s with the sun out, let alone in inclement weather.
If you have a load that delivers Friday on the East coast, determine if you can deliver, legally, on Thursday. That night or Friday morning, get the heck out of dodge. The better dispatchers are proactive and will begin now planning your work week. The other DM’s, we know, are useless and fly by the seat of their pants. You’re just going to have to say on top of them and hope for the best – the best being a load into the Midwest or out West.
As a flatbed driver, I hated weather, not because I had to drive though it, but because I had to work in it. Parked in bad weather, with the rain pounding down and the truck rocking back and forth, I always slept better. Yeah, just like a big baby. But that was after having to change my underwear and clothes, sometimes twice. A rain coat or that yellow storm suit get-up, was useless. Wearing a hood while you’re crawling on top of a 12 foot load, trying to tarp it and secure it, is stupid. You’re going to get wet no matter what you have on. Better to ditch the hood so you can see what you’re doing.
Listen, drive smart, plan your loads accordingly and most importantly, be safe and legal. Don’t be myopic.
(AP/NYT) “Forecasters say the hurricane could grow to a monstrous Category 4 storm with winds of more than 131 mph before it’s predicted to come ashore this weekend on the U.S. mainland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami expected Irene to reach Category 3 strength on Tuesday, said spokesman Dennis Feltgen.
Current government models have the storm’s outer bands sweeping Florida late this week before it takes aim at the Carolinas this weekend, though forecasters caution that predictions made days in advance can be off by hundreds of miles. Georgia is also likely to be affected.
Emergency officials from Florida to the Carolinas were closely watching Irene Tuesday as the first hurricane to seriously threaten the U.S. in three years churned over energizing tropical waters. The storm has already cut a destructive path through the Caribbean.
An updated forecast released Tuesday morning also showed that Irene could move into the Chesapeake Bay by Sunday at hurricane strength. That latest model showed Irene making landfall along the North Carolina coast. However, because the storm is still days away from the U.S., some models also show Irene remaining offshore along the East Coast.”
If you liked that post, then try these...
No comments:
Post a Comment