No One Should Live In A Truck

The trucking business began when someone needed a large amount of products delivered.  It actually started in the farms and fields out of a necessity.  The farmers needed to get their produce from the field to the market.  These old trucks had barely any comforts.  Many of them were equipped with a milk crate for a seat.  These were not the kinds of trucks that people wanted to spend much time in.  If the driver wanted to take a break and catch some shut-eye, he (hardly any women were doing this work at this time) would carry a hammock and string it under the trailer or the bed of the truck.


Fast forward to 2015.  Today's trucks are equipped with air suspension, Bose-Ride seats that absorb practically all vibrations from the road, air conditioning, televisions, refrigerators, power steering, automatic transmissions, and soon: auto-pilot for those long boring stretches of highway.  The progress that has been made in transporting freight is very remarkable.

That said, although these trucker comforts are nice, they're no replacement for a home.  As nice as these trucks are, they are still trucks.  Truck manufacturers are consistently behind the times as compared to the 4-wheel vehicle market.  The main focus in truck manufacturing is to make a reliable vehicle that will simply make deliveries possible, every time, without failure.  Driver comfort has never been a priority.  As time passes, finding a driver for that seat has become more difficult to satisfy.

In the nineties, truck manufacturers started focusing on driver comfort as a way to bring more drivers into the industry and to help minimize fatigue.  Driver comfort also became important to the drivers themselves because the available labor pool was mostly older people who were retired from various industries, who just wanted to see the country and make a little money in the process.

As the price of freight dropped, the trucking business was having trouble finding people to do the work for what they were willing to pay.  The industry is actually its own worst enemy in this respect because as each freight carrier undercuts the other, the rates drop.  This is simple capitalist market competition.  When the price drops too low, there's barely enough money to be made for a person to run a business.

These are only a few factors that have contributed to the design of the modern semi-truck.  Truck comfort has replaced a paycheck.  Company controlled drivers are now looking at having a new truck with all the amenities as though it were some kind of compensation for their time.  If you provide a comfortable environment for the driver, he or she will not need as much money to be happy.  I disagree with this completely.  I do appreciate a comfortable environment, but it doesn't mean I will take less money.  I'd rather drive a 1950s truck with a milk crate for a seat, no air conditioning, and no power steering, while making top dollar, than deal with a shiny new truck and make a mediocre salary.

The best situation is to have all the comforts AND make top dollar for your time.  This is usually only an option for the owner/operator.  It seems as if one of the by-products of truck manufacturers producing trucks to satisfy the lacking company driver supply problem is that now, owner/operators are driving those very same comfortable trucks.

The goal of any truck driver should be to make as much money in one week of work to satisfy one month of expenses.  Regardless of how many La-Z-Boys a truck manufacturer tries to cram into the sleeper of a truck, it's not your home.  It's still a truck and the goal is to make a living so you can go back to your actual home and enjoy it.  So if you are looking to work at a trucking company, try to see past all the amenities the truck offers and look at how much money you are keeping when the day is done.

If you aren't making enough money to walk away from the truck and live your life, in my opinion, you are not only screwing yourself, but everyone in the trucking business.  Therefore, you are the problem with trucking, and you alone.  Unfortunately, the entire industry is so big that it sort of takes on a life of its own.  And with drivers who won't organize to turn this industry in the direction that it could and should be going, things will just stay the same.   

No one should be living in a truck.  It is bordering on inhumane, regardless of how nice the truck is.  Typically all trucks do not have bathrooms, sinks, showers, or a water supply.  They are not living environments.  They are simply a more comfortable way to exist in a parking lot until the freight is delivered.  It's not a safe environment, and offers very little protection from outside forces such as vehicle accidents, theft, bodily harm, and even death.

It seems as if the trucking industry doesn't want people to focus on the making-a-living part when they're trying to woo more people to sit behind the wheel.  They want you to be so dazzled by the truck you're getting that you forget they're not paying you enough to make a living.  The reality is, if you're driving one of these 80,000 lb. plus vehicles at 65 MPH within inches of other traffic on the nation's highways, it really doesn't matter if you're in the most brilliant truck that ever came off the assembly line, you are still in a truck. 

Make sure your time is being valued.  If it isn't, walk away.  Do it for yourself and everyone else in the business today, and in the future.  Do it for the truckers. 

Honesty Is The Only Policy

I haven't gotten to where I am in life with lies and deceit.  When you are keeping a record of your duty status as a truck driver, you have to be as close to accurate as possible, yet mistakes do happen.  If you write a log entry incorrectly, you can correct it still be legal so long as you are honest about your entry.  Where people run into problems is with openly fraudulent entries on the log. 

I've brought up the log and the legal hours of service (HOS) before, but what people need to understand is that the system was created by bureaucrats in response to a supposed desire by society to control the people who operate large machinery in public.

In many cases this is a reasonable concern, however the foundation for why these drivers need to be controlled is shifting and has shifted over time.  In the past truckers might drive when fatigued because of pressure from the customer or their company dispatcher.  The trucker might drive tired because of the opportunity to make more money.  The trucker was completely free to do as he or she pleased until the log book and hours of service was created.

Even then, the penalties for log book violations were weak.  The log book became known as the comic book.  The issue became that drivers were able to safely drive their trucks for 20 hours a day, but now the law was restricting them to 10 hours and then an 8 hour sleeper break.  Since there's 24 hours in a day, they could drive 16 hours in a 24 hour period.

The real problems are that companies have too much control over the industry forcing people to work while tired, and that the drivers who are coming into trucking have little to no understanding of how the trucking industry actually works.  These people go to trucking school and are able to gain entry with relatively no barriers.

Since trucking companies are self insured and can be their own trucking school, they get all the new drivers that come into trucking.  As such they have a controlling function and a deciding force in who is behind the wheel of that 40 ton vehicle riding next to you and your family on your way to work and school.

There should be a better process and more oversight over who is allowed to come into trucking.  Because trucking companies have negotiated ownership over trucking students and new hires in the trucking field, they have done what most companies do: thresh out a better bottom line.  This has been accomplished by removing any and all opposition to the company itself and forcing anyone who works for the company to comply with all company policy or be faced with unemployment.

That would be fine except these drivers are having their pay cut to pad the pockets of the company's CEO and affiliated officers which is removing any incentive for someone who actually wants to behave professionally and safely to want to fill the driver's seat.  There are many people like myself who have dealt with these companies and come out on top, so far, but it hasn't been easy. 

The point here is that while you may come into trucking and honestly be a proficient capable safe operator, your first barrier to success is the trucking company that trained and hired you.  They want you to get from point A to point B for as little money as you're willing to work for and they won't take no for an answer.

You've got to maintain your honest character and proceed to work your way up and out of that company to become an owner if that's your goal.  Regardless of your goal, staying honest is the only way to go.   Without honesty, trust erodes and nobody likes a liar. 

You want to be the person that people like, trust, and depend on to get the job done.  It's harder than it sounds, but it's vital to running a trucking business.

Off The Beaten Path

The turnover rate at the major trucking companies has been holding steady at +/- 100% and with new students making it through pathetic 2-week training schools and hitting the highway with little-to-no real real life experience, we have a lot of people out here doing the obvious when it comes to taking breaks.  And this new 30-minute break (not new to veterans, as we've always been taking 30-minutes, just not logging it!) is causing many people to flock to truck stops that they know and trust.

Flying J, Pilot, Travel Centers Of America, Petro, and Love's are the usual hangouts for most truckers.  And they're packed.  But there are many truck stops and parking lots that allow truckers to stay overnight and for several days if need be, you just have to know where they are.  Since they're not major chains, the new drivers don't know to go there, but these places are all over the country.  

It's interesting to see how an old fuel stop with no recognized brand name will be bought by one of the major truck stops and then fill with drivers working for one of the major trucking companies as if they sprung out of the ground brand new.  Every veteran driver knows of a stop off the beaten path with plenty of parking (or a few spots that are never used), good food, and easy access to major highways.

Perhaps the new guys don't know about the other options because they lack good training.  Perhaps the trainers didn't want to give up their secrets.  I know my own experience with numerous trainers turned out to be a huge disappointment.  I didn't really learn until I got out here on my own. 

Our system is set up to control drivers and keep them under the thumb of a company, not to encourage, train, and help them succeed on their own.  Even the insurance companies require several years of experience before they will let a driver buy a truck and go out on their own.  In order to achieve this level of experience, there's basically one route to take:  go to a trucking school and then drive for a carrier who is self-insured for your first two or three years.  This is the only way to get the experience you need in order to obtain your own insurance.  

It's one way to beat the system.  The large, self-insured carriers like to have a steady flow of cheap new-hires flowing through their doors.  It keeps their turnover rate high so drivers can't plan on working at the carrier until retirement, and it ensures that a driver isn't trained well enough to become empowered to go out on their own.

There is a constant stream of misinformation about how large carriers will prevail and the owner-operators will all suffer and die out.  You hear it on the trucking radio shows, read it in the corporate sponsored trucking magazines, and see it on the fuel islands and docks. Despite this negative false rhetoric, owner-operators make up 80% of the trucking industry.  Company drivers, only 20%.  

And it's these 20% of drivers who clog the truck stops during break times and overnight stops.  If you're one of the mass groups of drivers who've eked their way through a 2-week trucking school to be called a "professional" truck driver, only to be stuck relying on your GPS which will guide you under low bridges and through non-trucking approved routes, and you can only park at the major truck stops because you weren't taught any better, then you owe it to yourself to become educated and stop listening anyone who will tell you that learning about trucking is a waste of time.

Sadly, I don't see this changing anytime soon.  Because it doesn't benefit the powers that be who are disseminating the information.  I don't agree with it, but everything's about money and if it doesn't make someone money, it just isn't worth doing.  Even if it means that lives are lost in the process.  What trucking needs is real training, and for the operators of these large trucks to be considered professionals who have a skill.  But you see, if this happens it will cost the people who rely on trucks billions of dollars.  The major carriers have figured all of this out.  And that's why they don't provide adequate training.

Until they do, truck stops will be full of trucks, accidents will continue to occur, and the HOS will be designed and crafted by the corporations and the government, instead of the drivers. 

It takes years of trial and error, common sense, and the ability to maneuver a 40-ton vehicle around this nation's dilapidated infrastructure and among the growing population of our nation, to successfully operate a semi truck.  

And training from a 2-week school trucking school just isn't enough to achieve it.

CSA 2010

Compliance, Safety, and Accountability

It doesn't work.  End of post.

Seriously though, CSA is possible today because of the advent of the internet, computers, and modern technology.  This is why it is new, untested, and unproven.  CSA has hit us truckers square in the face and lately it has been shown to actually hurt the safest carriers in the industry by classifying them as unsafe.

It's the government's attempt to regulate driver's behavior.  In other words, it's like a computer telling you how to act more human.  Legally. 

The CSA was designed to:

1. Enable companies to hire safer drivers.
2. Enable drivers to work for safer carriers.
3. Enable law enforcement to target unsafe drivers and carriers more easily.
4. Create a higher demand for safe drivers.

The CSA program is for any carrier with a USDOT number.  That's pretty much everybody in any form of trucking.  I could write an entire website devoted to the CSA, but that has already been done.

The bottom line is that your equipment must be in good working order, logbook must be accurate, freight must be properly secured, and you must be fully capable of operating the vehicle both mentally and physically.

At first glance the DOT looks for:
A.  Truck and trailer
    1. License plates
    2. Inspection stickers
    3. Cleanliness of the vehicle (Dashboard free of clutter and truck recently washed)
    4. Overall condition of the vehicle such as missing mudflaps, damaged tires, and
        faulty lights (A nice paint job can really help you here)
B.  Condition of the load
    1.  How the load is situated on the trailer (positioned correctly and legally)
    2.  The condition of the securement devices (undamaged straps,chains, and binders)
    3.  The correct number and type of securement devices
    4.  The weight of the entire truck and trailer
    5.  The weight of each axle
C.    The condition of the driver
    1.  Driver's ability to answer all questions about your load, equipment, and operation accurately
    2.  Driver's environment (clean cab free of garbage)
    3.  Driver's appearance (clearly awake and alert, clean and decently dressed)

If the operator does all of this, drives a nice looking truck that's in compliance, and knows what the heck they're talking about in regards to the rules, regulations, and load information, then they'll do well during an inspection. 

Reading this from the perspective of someone who is not in the industry, or as a newcomer, you might be discouraged from embarking on a career in trucking as it would appear that the DOT is being a little too hard on truckers.  Worst case scenario, you should be prepared to lose everything at the whim of a DOT officer at a roadside checkpoint because they have the power to ban you from trucking with a series of failed inspections.

This is a boon for large trucking companies and the FMCSA as it legally removes all power from the trucker and puts it in the hands of the government.  No longer can a truck driver keep working in the business legally after they operate unsafely.  No one wants unsafe operators.  I know I don't want them.  Unfortunately though, with each law that's put in place, qualified operators are singled out and penalized unjustly.  This is the ultimate drawback of government oversight. 

The main problem in the industry is still not being addressed:  It's a general defunding of the working class.  In the trucking industry though, it means the roads are less safe, the drivers aren't as professional as they could be, the equipment is in worse shape, and the general environment is catering to the large trucking companies over the start-ups (destruction of the small business trucking companies).

An example of a large trucking company which owns no equipment, yet operates as a middleman between truckers and customers is CH Robinson.  CH Robinson nets billions of dollars as a middleman.  This is a company that takes money from the customer, decides how much money the trucker will do the load for, then sells it the trucker.  The customer and the trucker both lose money in this transaction.

This matters to CSA why?

Simply put, the time has come for customers and truckers to communicate directly with each other and completely cut out all brokers/middlemen.  Sorry brokers, it's nothing personal.  The technology that's available now eradicates their business model.   Every truck today has a laptop in it and every driver has access to load boards.  Given the reality that customers and truckers will become more tech savvy, trucking companies and brokers are worried that the small business trucker will gain the upper hand.  This is a direct threat to the major trucking companies. 

CSA 2010 was created to help EOBR's become a reality.  EOBR's will allow every single truck to be tracked by Qualcomm, Peoplenet, Skybitz, and ultimately the government, which acts in concert with the major corporations who fund the lobbyists to push their agenda.  At its core, it's the oldest game in the book:  Wipe out the competition.

Even more insidious is the way in which this is being justified.  The people who are pushing these laws are using images and stories of people killed in truck accidents to mandate their policies, yet there are no studies to date which show that CSA 2010 or EOBR's do anything to promote safety.  In fact, so far the evidence is to the contrary.  There is a rush to get this done, but rest assured it has nothing to do with safety.  It's all about stopping the small businesses from taking complete control of this industry. 

The mega-carriers and giant corporations have a war chest full of cash to throw at this, thanks to the hard working men and women out here who perform work for them.  I don't see this changing anytime soon, so all that can be done is to stay on top of the changes and understand who the major players are.

Forward thinking

I have decided to take this blog in a new direction. Forward.

Today in trucking we are faced with some real decisions. Many of which are a result of the change in our world. By "Our World" I mean the whole world. I am talking about the internet. This thing that is and will be a part of everyone's life for the unforseeable future. Today you can find loads, book loads, confer with other drivers about loads and so much more. If you are reading this, chances are that you have seen most of these available services already. In case you haven't, then leave the cave because this is 2010 and we are here ........in the future.

I don't talk about politics here because I am not paid by any political party. I do have beliefs and values and those will be displayed here and they will most likely display and leanings that I may have, but since no political party pays me, I don't pitch for them. Otherwise, there has never been any politician that I believe in or follow and there most likely never will be.

The days of old for truck drivers involved adding oil, greasing the truck, changing your own tires, finding pay phones, visiting customers, hauling small loads with a small engine and being very careful going down the mountain passes. The average driver only had a map and whatever directions that the customer provided and maybe a cb with someone who would actually have helpful advice. Air conditioners that were mediocre at best and poor spring ride trucks and trailers that would beat your back to a pulp by the time you were 50. The trucks of old were poluting soot makers and would foul your lungs in a few years poisoning the driver and passenger with sulfer filled fumes. The trucks would idle endlessly over night and all day because fuel was cheaper than a buck a gallon.

Those days are gone for good. Today we have NO privacy as cameras are everywhere and cell phones relay our location to anyone who is interested. This is not cause for paranoia though as there are so many of us using these phones, our location and behavior is most likely never going to be of any interest to anyone unless we are involved in illicit behavior either voluntarily or involuntarily. GPS aids us in finding shippers and recievers. Electronic log books automatically keep out logs up to date. Greaseless tractors require less maintenance and single wide tires are only changed by people with the proper tools. Digital video recorders are cheap and plentiful so that we can record all that happens around our trucks 24 hours a day and easily broadcast it onto the internet. Air ride is on 99 percent of the tractors and air conditioning is mandatory on all tractors. Most trucks have APU's which keep the trucks from idling and sulfer has been decreased in the oil and fuel keeping the air around the engine and exhaust cleaner than ever before.

Welcome to the NEW Trucking industry! Lead, Follow, or get out of the way!

TRUCKING, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING

The oldest truck is called the Thornycroft Steamer and was built in 1896. That was the same year that Utah became a state and we had the 45 star US flag made. William McKinley won the Presidential Election as the Republican in the race. Bicycles were the thing to have to get around town. There were over 150 bicycle factories in the US that made over 1000 kinds of bicycles. This was the year of the world's first hot air balloon race between Professor Deering and Miss Hazel Keyes of Sioux City, IA. Wilhelm Rontgen discovered x-rays.

Fanny Farmer published her first cookbook. The Tootsie Roll was invented. Detroit had its first automobile called the "Horseless Carriage". Gold was found in the Yukon. Modern Olympics began in Greece. Premier of motion pictures occurs. First movie theater opens. First car accident occurs where a motorist hit a bicycle. The first US marathon. Yosemite becomes a National Park. Sherlock Holmes is written. Football huddle created. "Stars and Stripes Forever" is written by John Philip Sousa.

Here we are in 2008 approaching 2009 and our trucks have over 600 hp, full computer systems that can record everything we do and satellites hovering overhead that keep us all connected. Who knows where we will be in 2096 only two hundred short years after the invention of the first truck. We are already developing trucks that run on water and that are operated by robots. This is a new horizon for trucking and even though gas prices are causing turmoil in the price wars that are going on now, stability too is on the horizon.