I want to gear this post to the drivers who are NOT home this weekend, but are on the road, either heading to their consignee, sitting MT somewhere or have already arrived at or near their final destination for delivery on Tuesday. If you’ve delivered today or will tomorrow and possibly have a preload that will keep you moving, all the better.
Let me also do a follow-up to the issue of ATM’s (and their use) on the road by truck drivers. There are always two sides to everything, right? Of course. Bottom line is, experienced drivers and business savvy O/O’s, avoid using any ATM’s at all costs.
One driver contacting me on the “backchannel” on Facebook last night described his horror story. He used one of those, “independent”, called ISO’s, ATM machines in Dallas to withdraw cash for the weekend. He was hit with a $3 surcharge for the privilege of accessing his own money. All was good at the time.
About two weeks later, he was in Biloxi and tried to use one of the “flashy” ATM’s at a casino. Rejected! No cash available, zero balance, ding, ding, ding – no dinero for you driver, no mucho or otherwise. Angry, confused, frustrated with a seat at the poker table empty, he was screwed. He called his bank and waited about an hour for a real person – probably somewhere in India or Vietnam – to get the bad news.
It seems his card number, when he used that “independent” ISO ATM, magically was also used by someone, somewhere in the Caribbean (later found to be Belize) to purchase about 300 gallons of diesel from a local gas (petrol) station there. And they did it twice and tried for a third time, before they went through his overdraft reserve. He was out about $1500.
The bank had “frozen” everything. It took him about a week to get it straightened out. He got the money back and the fraud division was notified of the crime, but the culprits were never caught. They were probably busy sucking another drivers account dry from one of the 400,000 other ATM’s around the nation. He had to close his account, rip up his card, locate and go into a branch to redo everything. It was a total pain in the butt. He vowed never to use another ATM again.
I recommend you follow his advice. Most of the time on the road, I never carried cash. There was no need. Why would you pay cash for something? It’s makes it difficult to return anything and after being audited by the IRS, they don’t like cash, they like credit or debit card receipts – for everything. You can’t stop at a “real” bank in your truck to use an ATM, so you have to use those “cheesy” ones at a gas station or in a travel plaza. Don’t trust any of them.
Never use ATM’s at bars, strip clubs or casino’s. Not only are you opening yourself up for fraud, the fees are ridiculous. You’re better to fuel up at one of the big four truck stops, and if you really need cash money, cash a Comcheck and avoid ANY fee. Unless your doing an intra-bank transaction or using your local bank at home, count on getting hit with a minimum of $1.25 per withdrawal.
And that is cheap. The operator of that ATM is making about $300 a month off of drivers, based on a few hundred transactions a month. For those of us who studied Alexander Hamilton, he was of Scottish ancestry. In other words, he was damn cheap. If he were alive today, he would never use an ATM. He would be very displeased to know that these ISO – “independent” – ATM’s – representing 60% of the US market – can hit the user with as much as a $6 fee!
Smart drivers limit their “exposure” and “liability” by using their debit and credit cards responsibly. Never use an ATM to do any money or account transfers. Check your balance on line using a secure site. Never carry more than $25 in your wallet. In case of emergency, I “hid” six $20's – $100 – in the truck. I never let my cash advance account go below $50. When I drove my own truck, my maintenance/repair balance was always robust. As I said, I don’t recall ever having the need to pay a stranger $2.50 so I could get a $20 to buy something. It made no sense to me.
Drivers, be smart out there. Remember my suggestions last post to go to Target or Wal-Mart this weekend – plenty of good cheap stuff to buy. Walk past the ATM. You need to stay positive this holiday weekend, if you’re not home, well, even if you are home – LOL. Get in that shower. Take care of yourself. I know that when I go shopping today for food or whatever, that, thanks to you, it got there fresh and ready for purchase. You are the (not paid or recognized enough) backbone of this country. Labor day is to celebrate your efforts. Give yourself a pat on the back!
Let me give you a resource to check out – 5 Places With the Highest ATM Fees – to avoid.
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