Still No Activ Update!!

One of my drivers was told by the staff at Bremen based Activ Cars that they’d send soe photo’s to the blog soon………..nothing yet!

After a delivery not far from Activ Cars base in Bremen one of our drivers had 30 mins to spare so he called in at Activ HQ. After a lengthy conversation they decided that he’d be allowed to take some photo’s all the great blog cause, only for the decision to be overtuned by the boss as all the Mercedes trucks were all dirty and they would email over some new fleet photo’s once they had a few trucks back and they had been washed and brushed up. Now I suppose it could be true that at this time of year it can be difficult to get any fleet clean, so i’ll keep my fingers crossed for a Christmas holiday surprise! My driver did say there is an English man working in the office who seemed quite keen on the blog so hopefully one of these days he’ll make contact!!

For now i’ll just have to make do with the few photo’s they emailed a few years back, how hard done by am I!! If any of you have any contact with Activ Cars (they do come to all Airbus facilities in the UK each week) drivers or vehicles then email over your Activ Spots; ben@truckblog.co.uk

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The Trees Are Still Dying Out West

I am on one of those trips where I love the drive, I delivered in Salt Lake City Utah yesterday and headed up Interstate 84 to Rupert Idaho and reloaded potatoes. The valley in eastern Utah where Interstate 84 runs from I-80 to I-15 is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever driven. There are cattle and horse ranches surrounded by mountains all along that route making the view there nothing short of spectacular.  I didn’t notice a bunch of dead evergreen trees through there but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any there. Where I do notice them is all across Wyoming, it seems that lobby groups like the Sierra Club have kept the forest service from spraying the trees to kill the Japanese Bark Beetle. This insect has invaded our country seemingly starting on the west coast and has killed hundreds of thousands of evergreens all across the country. The highest concentration of infested trees are throughout Colorado and southern Wyoming where 4 million acres have been infested.

            The only interdiction of this pest that I can find is that the forest service and other management agencies are clearing infested trees hopefully allowing new growth to occur. This infestation has been booming out of control since 1996 and I think that it is time to start spraying these pests before we allow all of the evergreens across this country to die. If you run across I-80 in Wyoming you will see what I mean, Trees in the Medicine Bow National Forest just west of Cheyenne are dying by the thousands and we are just going to sit back and let it happen. This is not a natural occurrence in the forests of the United States, not at this magnitude. Normally the bark Beatle is found in the forest in small numbers, maybe in groups of five trees, but nothing like we are seeing now. This has gotten out of hand and needs to be stopped. You can watch the trees dying as you travel east throughout the country as these insects are hitching rides east on log trucks, oil well maintenance vehicles, campers and automobiles.

            The Sierra club among other groups claim that spraying for this infestation will kill the good insect that occur naturally in the countries forests. Can we not re introduce the normal insects after we kill the bad ones? Have bugs become more important than the trees? This infestation has moved into the black hills of South Dakota where 384,000 acres have been infested so far. All efforts that are being done are in the regeneration of the tree growth and not much is being done about the problem in general. There have been other problems that plagued trees in the U.S. and two of the most famous have been the advent of “Dutch Elm” disease and the American chestnut blight.  The forests of the eastern United States used to be highly populated by the American chestnut, a tree that grew upwards to a hundred feet tall and had massive trunks that were deeply furrowed earning them the nickname of the “Eastern Redwood”.  Natural chestnut trees along the street in front of the Bronx zoo in New York City were infected with a chestnut blight sometime around 1904. this disease was  apparently brought in on European imported chestnuts that were imported for landscape purposes. From there the disease spread throughout the country nearly killing the American chestnut to extinction.

            To this day we are still trying to rebuild the family of the American chestnut tree and the Dutch Elm trees that were lost to the disease carrying the same name. So if are still trying to rebuild those two tree families how long will we be trying to re-grow the evergreens in this country? We as human beings have caused these problems and it is we as humans that need to fix the problem we caused. We can start by contacting our U.S. Senators and Congressmen about the lobbying efforts of groups that just want to let this run it’s course. There is an underlying problem with all these dead trees; they are very dry and subject to burst into flames with the first lightning strike. The Sierra Club would just leave them there to burn not caring that people live near them and their families and property are at great risk if these forests start burning. As drives across this country go, Interstate 80 out west has always been one of my favorites. It still is, its just now dotted and blotted with dead trees.

Stay safe out there.

TW

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Is Trucking Still Fun?

Is trucking still fun to you? I have been doing this for more than 15 years now and for the most part it just seems like a job anymore. I have been reading some blogs written by some young new truckers and in reading these you can get a sense of the excitement that they are feeling as they start this new adventure. You know that feeling that you had when you went to trucking school for the first time, you had this great adventure ahead of you to look forward to. Getting paid to see the country while driving something that is known to be the largest vehicle on the highways of this country. I know that when I started I was in awe the first time that I stood in the trucker’s store and saw all the cool stuff that you could adorn your rig with. I was like a kid in a candy store looking at the C.B. radios, all the chrome, the tools and lights. I was in heaven thinking about all the stuff that I could buy to make my truck a cool place to work.

            I went to driving school in West Memphis Arkansas with Schneider and was housed in a motel near the truck stops so I had ample opportunity to walk over there at night and be amazed at all the stuff there. I couldn’t wait to get in my own truck and drive from the place that I had slept the night before to God knows where by the days end. Sleep in the sleeper and get up and do it all over again. In the beginning it was like being the captain of your own ship, I mean in all actuality we are just that, captains of our own ships. We are responsible for the safe operation; basic maintenance and reporting of deficiencies of said vehicle and the safe loading and transport of the cargo in our trailers. Some of us even have showers, toilets, kitchens and electrical generators to keep us self-sufficient. The only thing missing for those drivers is the water, the have the road instead with their ports of call being truck stops, shippers and receivers.

            So when did it become just a job? For me I guess it was so long ago that I cannot remember. I still see all that stuff in the trucker’s store but today I just realize that I never had the money to buy much of it along the way. I never really made the kind of money that I had dreamed of in the beginning, I think mostly because the stories of the miles that I would get, told to me by a myriad of dispatchers never came true. Back in the day you could turn on the C.B. radio at night and hear chatter on it all night long. If you could get past the foul mouths on it, which didn’t bother me at the time, you could get a lot done at night because you could stay awake much longer. If the conversation was good you could stay up all night and get to your destination early. Sleep came while you were in the dock. I remember running across the country on interstates 10, 20 and 40 to the west coast and back, you could hear drivers talking all the way across there at night. If you had a truck that could run at least 75 mph you could keep up and stay awake.

            I ran across there in the past six months and thought that maybe things hadn’t changed there like they have in other areas but I was sadly wrong. The C.B. was a dead zone. With fuel prices still out of site there were no longer the big packs running across there at speeds above 75 mph chatting it up all night. Hell you couldn’t even get a radio check if you wanted one. I think the new fad is to use the radio for shippers and receivers and the rest of the time it is like mine, turned off while the satellite radio and the cell phone are turned on.

            Every once in a while I get into an area of the country at just the right time to take me back to when trucking was fun. I recently read a book called “The Dirt Life”, it was about this woman from New York City who went to interview an organic farmer. Long story short, she fell in love, married him and they started a successful organic farm in upstate New York. It was fascinating to read about how sustainable they were becoming along with all the work, trials, and hardships they faced in their first year. Since I raise a large garden every year I found this fascinating. I would love nothing more than to be able to get out of this truck for good and run a small vegetable farm. They had 50 acres and that was a lot of work. I’d settle for 20 but I digress. I was recently on a load that had me picking furniture up from Ashley in Arcadia Wisconsin. Coming out of St. Paul I ran down 94 to WI. State route 93 south to Arcadia. What a beautiful drive that was, I found myself not in any kind of hurry, just driving and taking in the breathless scenery.  The heat wave was over and I had the windows down, it was like I had never been there before. The farms along that route were well maintained and looking inviting.

            I guess the moral of this story is that even after fifteen years of doing this job, being away from family and getting the hell beat out of you by these trucks, sometimes life on the road gives something back if only for a day.

            The next time you see a young new driver who may or may not be in your way, just remember that you were there once driving with the stars in your eyes blinding you from the lies of dispatch.

Stay safe out there and if you get a chance try to see the country again. Its still out there an d may surprise you.

TW

P.S. Remember that Peterbuilt that I wanted? I may finally be getting in one. I noticed that there had been new guys driving them lately and two just quit so I being the squeaky wheel hoping to get oiled. Wish me luck!

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Still time…

to take the kids, that is. On the road. Let them experience, first hand, what life on the road is truly all about. What do you do at night daddy? Do you really sleep in the truck? Where do you go potty? Are you afraid of the dark? Do you ever hear bats or see bears? What if you want a drink of water? What is a truck stop, really? Do you miss mommy? Why can’t you come to my soccer game? Who do you talk to when you’re not home? Do you get lonely, like we do? Why can’t you stay home longer? Do you think about us when you’re gone? What happens if I get sick, will you come home?

These are only some of the questions that kids ask. I actually heard one little girl ask her trucker father if he had any girlfriends on the road? One young boy asked if had another family he loves more when he is away. Another youngster asked when he will be old enough to go on the road with his father. Kids ask why they have to go to school and not live with mommy or daddy on the road. Daddy, where you do go all the time? How come I never see you pull anything behind your truck? What happens if you get sick? Why do you take Rover? Why can’t he stay with us? Is mommy going to leave us like you do?

One of the best decisions my wife and I made was to let my son go on the road with me. We considered my taking him full-time. I was seriously thinking about home schooling him. I always felt he learned more with me than at any time during his public school education. More important than algebra and science, he learned social skills that have made him the outgoing highly personable young man he is today. You don’t learn essential life skills in school – how to do manage money, write a check, interface with other people in stressful situations, how to problem solve and read a map. Book learning is one thing, it can get you into college, but a kid being with his mom or dad on the road in the truck – that experience – cannot be taught in any classroom.

My son was my navigator. He fueled the truck. I taught him how to handle money and credit. He learned to to tip a waitress. He helped with deal with customers and assisted in securing loads. I hauled cars, trucks and van for a time – he assisted me drive ‘em on and off the trailer. I taught him how to handle paperwork and bills of lading. We drove from coast to coast, from Texas to Canada, from Key West to Seattle – in all kinds of weather. 

And boy oh boy, did we rough it. We broke down, had flats and slept in a bunk way too small for the both of us. The dog we now have at home, was a rescue that my son and I “schwooped” up one morning, having breakfast at a small Shell gas station/truck stop in Hattiesburg, MS. We had many great meals together in restaurants, diners and “little” places right off the highway together. We always had plenty to talk about. The waitresses always treated us special and made sure we got the best deal for the limited resources we had. My son learned how to treat everyone, despite their background, culture or religion with respect. That was not the case with the other kids back home, where drugs and prejudice was common in schools.

I can write a book about these experiences. One of the saddest days is when I pulled away from home and he wasn’t with me. I’d see other drivers with their sons or daughters and I just had to look the other way. Talking on the phone just wasn’t the same. My job was harder because my #1 assistant wasn’t there. My son also taught ME a lot of things. I missed his creativity, his sense of humor and my knowing he was always safe in the bunk sleeping. Those were great times.

It’s August and school is starting up soon. There still is time to take your son or daughter with you for a few weeks. You will never regret or forget it.

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Still don’t get it and never will…

Driver shortage? Based on the feedback I’m getting on Facebook, many drivers feel there is no such thing. I had posed the question – why, with unemployment so high, with so many people looking for “good” jobs is there a drivers shortage? The answer has to be that there really isn’t a shortage or there actually is, but people are not willing to leave their families for 3-6 weeks or more at a time working for minimum wage despite the “great” benefits offered by the trucking companies. I’m not sure which it is, probably somewhere in the middle.

I do know for a fact that the carrier I used to work for needs drivers – especially ones with a Hazmat endorsement, can operate in Canada, has a TWIC card and doesn’t have a problem going to New York City. Other than the typical $75 extra borough – Canada pay, maybe an additional $.02 per mile additional for Hazmat, the pay is the same for any other new driver without all those bells and whistles – about $.38 per mile. If you acquire a million miles, let’s say being employed with them for 11 years, you will receive about $.43 per mile and that’s it. Same health insurance, basically the same truck, a week more vacation – your “seniority” means nothing. If you compare that to, let’s say, an entry level job with the CSX railroad, you will be making about 50% more (that’s with overtime) with far greater benefits/perks with CSX or, for that matter, any railroad company, than any trucking company. The same holds true with a job in healthcare or technology.

There was talk many years ago about America going to a 4-day work week. Yeah right. The “powers” that be were never going to let that happen. In 2011, truck drivers should be starting at $.50 a mile, not $.32. Recall what I said yesterday about APU’s? Well, trucking companies can’t even equip their trucks with a decent refrigerator – freezer for their drivers health. I love seeing a brand new KW or International just being delivered, then two hours later a new driver pulls it off the yard with a $10 Styrofoam cooler strapped to the front seat with ice sloshing around in it. They don’t want drivers idling to keep them comfortable or being able to safety keep healthy food in their truck. I say we take the refrigerators out of the trucking company owners homes and let them try living without it for a few weeks.

Whether there is or isn’t a drivers shortage, turnover remains high – extremely high. I wonder why? Gee, what a mystery. Oh yeah, the lifestyle isn’t for everyone. What hogwash. OTR should have been replaced by regional home every week or two weeks a long time ago, just like the $.50 per mile starting pay. Why can Netflix raise their rates up from about $9 to $16 and get away with it? Trucking sales executives say they operate on slim margins and fierce competition. Nonsense. Are the trucking company owners buying smaller boats, or corporate aircraft or less mansions? Of course not.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – it is not about safety, it is not about the driver, it is not about the drivers family, it is not about home time, it is not about respect, it not about the best truck – it has everything to do with shareholders and management compensation. I’ve had more than one trucking company president tell me they not running a welfare state. The goal is profit. The goal is to keep the company solvent so “they” can pass it along to “the” son. Werner is the prime example of this.

It is amazing however, that a company like CSX and United Parcel Service and to some extend Federal Express can still profit, while providing their workers with a better than average wage, great benefits and a few good reasons for their employees to hang around. Trucking companies still don’t get and I don’t think they ever will.

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