A Letter To The NHTSA

To Whom It May Concern,

 

I am a veteran truck driver of over 20 years. I recently noticed the beer delivery run that OTTO performed and I have a number of concerns.  First off, how will this technology compare to the experienced driver that can (using years of experience) actively predict future events in traffic such as a vehicle with a tire that is about to blow out, debris that is going to fall from a vehicle, or a failing vehicle that is an clear threat to the roadway?

I have had numerous such incidents in the 20+ years I have operated an eighteen wheeler.  During such incidents, it was paramount that action be taken the instant the threat was made clear.  How is OTTO’s system going to perform this action?  How can a computer ever be able to predict the behavior of the surrounding traffic?

What will OTTO’s technology do better than a trained, experienced, proven driver on the long stretches of highway that they are planning to use their technology on?  There are lives at stake and to date, the only proven method for having a safe highway is to have well paid professional drivers who pay attention at all times and stay alert to potential hazards.

Radar, cameras, GPS, and environmental mapping cannot save lives as opposed to an experienced operator.  I'm interested to understand why this technology isn't being tested on nonpublic roadways in all of the various scenarios that arise in the real world.  There are dangerous loads being hauled on the highway on any given day.  In the event of a serious incident, OTTO’s system has no proven results that could prevent accidents or death in a potential chain reaction event where their truck is unable to react to a clear event that is unfolding in front of it.

While I am excited about this technology, I can't see where they are anywhere near a point where operating their equipment on a public roadway around families and fellow drivers of all types is possible.  While the video of the beer truck was interesting and exciting, if something that I have already described above had occurred, the driver who was in the sleeper berth, could not have reacted in time as an active person sitting behind the wheel could have.

In over 2 million miles of operating a semi-truck on just about every one of the nation's highways, I can say that there is very little training or experience needed to just keep the truck in between the lines and under the speed limit.  The training and experience comes in handy when unforeseen circumstances become hazards to a safe environment.  The technology cannot and will not be able to spot these active hazards in the split second time that is required to act. For this reason, I respectfully request that OTTO spend time testing this technology out of the public's eye until real data is collected on all of the various circumstances that can occur when people's lives are at stake.

Still Here

Well our clutch finally gave out after 830,000 miles.  It was the original clutch. Interesting thing is that there was another truck exactly like ours and made at the same time. This truck that I'm referring to had a clutch installed from the factory which failed before 100 miles. 

Ours lasted to 830,000 miles.  I was going for 1 million,  but 830,000 is good enough.

We are still using the original EGR cooler and EGR valve.  I wonder how long they will go.

Still aiming for a million.

Blogging And Me

Writing a blog is work.  Salena knows all about it.  She creates content every day.  It is work to write something interesting, take interesting pictures, and edit everything to create a post.  Salena has certainly put in the time and effort.  On her blog she mostly talks about anything she chooses.  I've thus far reserved this blog to strictly trucking related topics, but rest assured that I too have my own opinions about life and the people in it.  Writing about trucking is laborious in that there's repetitive topics discussed to no end.

Trucking publications have paid writers who will cover the same material week after week.  This information is important to the life of the magazine or newspaper.  To me, however, writing about trucking is just me writing what I consider to be common sense.  My post about being careful when driving around back alleys where wooden pallets are strewn about so as not to blow a tire on a nail for instance.  This is an example of what I consider to be common sense, yet many publications would routinely run this type of article over and over again, week after week.

I don't know who they are talking to with their repetitive articles except new people to trucking.  And there are a lot of new people that come into the trucking industry.  In fact the turnover rate did hover around 100% for many years.  These people most likely wouldn't know that the magazine about trucking they were reading had the same material in it from 2 months ago.  The fact is that trucking is simplistic in its end goals, yet complicated in its regulations for so many reasons.  Most of those reasons have to do with money.

To move to the topic of money, this blog doesn't make any money.  It exists for two purposes.  One is that it may educate people who are considering coming into the industry or are already in the industry.  The other reason is simply entertainment for myself.  Some people see that Salena and I drive for a carrier.  The idea that I write this blog to advertise for the carrier is false.  I have driven for several companies and I am simply not working with them at this time.  Had there been blogs around when I was working for those companies, I would have had one.

This is a post about me to some extent and it really has little to do with trucking.  I could easily make it about trucking.  I could go into a rant about the lack of professionalism that exists in the industry today.  I don't see the point in that though.  I don't see the industry ever changing to favor those who have the highest of ideals.  It will continue to spiral downward in regards to the quality of the training of truckers.  The numbers of experienced operators will continue to decline thanks to electronic on board recorders and oppressive regulations.

But thanks for reading my blog!  Keep on coming back. I'm not going anywhere. 

The Maintenance Game

Keeping an older truck on the road is vital to a small business with few trucks in its fleet.  To do this, you need to know what is failing on the truck as soon as it fails or before.  Sometimes this is impossible, but most of the time it's as simple as keeping good records and following a maintenance schedule.

All trucks have a maintenance manual.  In this manual is a schedule of what is to be repaired and when.  Usually this is based on how many miles are on the truck or by how much time the truck has been in use.

Just about all of the parts on the truck wear out in unison, but there are some parts that wear out faster than others.  Because most of the truck's components rely on each other to work properly, when one used part is replaced with a new one, this action may cause the related parts to fail soon afterwards if they are not replaced at the same time as the failed part. 

So, for example, if a hood has two hinges and one of them fails, it's best to replace both of the hinges.  The components of the truck that rely on each other and work together should be replaced together.  The truck as a whole has its own lifespan.  This lifespan is dictated by the life of each of the truck's components.  This is more plainly stated as the truck's "life". 

The truck's life is spelled out in the manufacturer's warranty.  Usually the warranty periods for each component can give you an indication of just how long that truck will "live".  For example, if the transmission has a 750,000 mile warranty, at about the time the transmission reaches 750,000 miles, you should be even more vigilant about the maintenance because the warranty implies the end of  that component's life.  Once the component's life is near the end, it's time to start thinking about rebuilding or replacing the component. 

This is when the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" becomes relevant.  It's important to stick to the maintenance schedule and monitor all of the truck's components for any signs of early failure. The earlier the failing component is spotted, the better.

The inside of the engine is especially difficult to monitor for failure.  One way to try to catch internal failures in the engine early, is through sampling the oil and sending it to a lab for analysis.  Sampling the oil is useful, but not always perfect.  The lab will look for contaminants in the oil which indicate which internal component is failing based on the level of the contaminant.  There are bypass oil systems that utilize extra filtration which filter contaminants out of the oil beyond what the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) designed but it is still a good idea to change the oil a couple of times a year in my opinion, because when oil degrades, this causes failure. 

Internal engine component failure is systemic as it causes multiple components to fail. Once the internal parts start to wear out, it's near impossible to catch them before they fail completely. You can tear down your engine regularly but that's really unheard of by most truckers as the practice is cost prohibitive.

Historically, oil changes occur every 15,000 miles.  At that time the oil filters and fuel filters are also changed, in addition to the chassis being greased.  Normally at this time, in addition to the anti-freeze, the quality of the fluids in the transmission and both differentials are checked for quality as well. 

Modern day engines with better oils and filtration are scheduled for this typical service every 50,000 miles.  And many of the components that require grease, have become greaseless utilizing new technology. 

Even if you are driving older technology, you can install automatic greasing systems and bypass oil filtration to stretch out service intervals.  However, regardless of which type of truck you have, you must be proactive in catching failures early.  I cannot stress this enough.

The bottom line here is, when the truck is nearing the end of its lifespan, its important to stay on top of maintenance.  This practice can allow the return on investment to grow as opposed to having to buy a new truck.  It's important to put in the time to know the truck's lifespan and focus on maintenance as a daily practice. 

So if you have an older truck, keep it new, and it will last for years and years without payments or a substantial repair bill.

Be Careful Where You Drive

Although there aren't nearly enough truck stops and parking lots, there are many places a semi-truck can park, but you have to be careful where you drive.  Often you'll find yourself waiting on a load in a nearby parking lot, or sitting at a customer's facility awaiting further instruction. 

The most common high traffic areas for trucks are where they load and unload.  It's also where you'll find pallets stored or garbage dumpsters. For that reason, these areas are often prone to loose nails, shards of metal, debris, and other things which can damage tires.  

If you pull a flatbed trailer, you will most likely go to construction yards and places where building materials are kept.  These places have more nails and screws in their parking lots and driveways than the normal roadway.  But just because there may be nails and screws in the lot, doesn’t mean it’s off limits. 

Once you’ve pulled into one of these places and scoped out the area for objects that can punch holes in tires, stop the truck out of the way of traffic.  Put your flashers on, get out, and walk around the lot looking for anything that might damage your tires. 

The most disappointing areas I find these tire destroyers in are customer parking lots where machinery is assembled and staged for loading.  What I usually do in this situation is tell the customer they need to clean their lot or find a more suitable place to load trucks.  I then tell whoever I got the load from that they might be liable for damages to my truck if their customer doesn’t fix the problem. 

Having tire-damaging debris in parking lots is a real problem.  Tires are expensive.  A small hole from a nail can be hard to spot.   I have tire pressure monitors which catch these air leaks quickly, but there have been times when I’ve picked up a nail that has been pushed into the tire where it couldn't be seen. 

Getting out of the truck and picking up metal in the parking lot is good for you and everyone else that comes into the lot.  Awareness is important.  And whoever is managing the parking lot should also be made aware that there is a problem, and why it's a problem. 

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. 

Fuel Planning

Before you ever turn the key and hit the road, you need to know where you will be going to buy fuel along your route.  There are a couple of websites out there that simplify this process:

Promiles

Fuel Advice

These are the two I've used so far.  Promiles is the more expensive one, yet more meaty and more decked out with all the bells and whistles.  FuelAdvice is simpler, less expensive, and a bit flawed, but it yields similar results to Promiles if not identical when it comes to where to stop to get fuel.

There are a few factors when buying fuel such as fuel tax, fuel price, amount of fuel purchased, and what fuel stops lie ahead.  The best way to do this is to run the fuel route every day because prices change.  You need to know your fuel tank capacity, fuel mileage, and your projected fuel mileage which is different from your standard fuel mileage.  I'm saying projected fuel mileage, but there are a few factors that will change your actual mileage.  Are you driving empty or loaded?  Will you be going through mountains or flat lands?  Will you be going uphill into the wind or downhill with the wind?  Will there be a side wind the entire trip?  Will your load be oversized therefor allowing less stops to maximize driving time during daylight?

Will you have enough time for multiple stops or do you need to stop once and top off the tank so as not to be wasting time at truck stops? 

Your fuel tank capacity is written on the fuel tank, however even though I have 2-140 gallon tanks, I can never get more than 240 gallons, because of how the tank holds the fuel.  I've never had a truck that could fill the amount of fuel that the tank's rated capacity said it could.

Fuel tax and fuel prices are compared in real time on these websites and they have access to the last purchase made with one of the major fuel card companies out there.  So when I swipe my Comdata card in the fuel pump, that price is sent to Comdata and from there it is made available to everyone.  You can do this yourself through Comdata here:
www.Gocomchek.com

It wont tell you that I personally bought fuel somewhere, but it will record that someone using a Comdata card bought fuel and for what price they bought it for.

There are a few strategies to fuel planning that I use commonly.  Since Salena and I are a team operation, we have loads that require less stopping because of time constraints.  Typically I will have a topped off fuel tank on arrival, but that can depend on the weight of the load.  If it is a very light load, I will top off the tank at the cheapest place I can find along the route, but if I think that I might be near my maximum load weight, which is about 40,000 lbs., I will only show up to the shipper with about 1/4 of a tank of fuel just in case the load puts too much weight on my drive axles and causes me to have less fuel carrying ability.

There are many strategies used to save fuel.  From taking the shortest routes through small towns with local police and stoplights everywhere, to running slow on the interstate and minimizing shifting while revving the engine.  You have to run the numbers and see what works for you.  Sometimes saving fuel isn't worth the hassle.  And sometimes it is.

Being A Landstar Leased Owner Operator

Landstar is a company whose main purpose is to connect shippers and receivers to anyone that can help them move their freight.  For almost 13 years, I've been working with Landstar to make my business successful.  There are benefits to being leased to a carrier like Landstar.  They allow you to work on your schedule.  If you want to take time off, you do so at your leisure.  Landstar will manage your weekly fees, such as worker's compensation, bobtail insurance, license plate fees, and permits.  For a 2 person operation like I have, that is usually about 80 bucks a week in fees.  Those fees are pulled out of the check whether you are working or not.  If you are just one person, you will pay around $50/week. 

If you are taking an extended amount of time off, you just pay Landstar those fees and make sure that your logbook is current, and you can come and go as you please.  Landstar does prefer that you make some money every year because it is a business they are running.  Although there are retirees who are leased onto Landstar who only work during the summer and keep their payments to Landstar current.  To put equipment on with Landstar, the tractor does not need to be any particular make, model, color, or year, as long as it is capable of functioning with an EOBR.

To lease onto Landstar you must:

• Must be at least 23 years of age, possessing a Class A CDL with HazMat (H) or combination (X) endorsement.
• No more than two at-fault accidents and two motor vehicle violations within the previous 36 months, or no more than one at-fault accident and three motor vehicle violations during the previous 36 months.
• No involvement in a preventable DOT recordable accident in the past 12 months.
• Operators must have one year (six months for Expedited) of verifiable over-the-road driving (including snow and ice) within the past three years or three years verifiable experience in the last 10 years, of which six months must be within the previous 48 months, with a Class A (or Class B for Expedited) CDL using the type of equipment similar to what you will be operating at Landstar. No felony convictions within the past 7 years. All other felony and misdemeanor charges are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
• No positive drug or alcohol test including refusals and pre-employment results.
• No suspensions of more than 30 days for moving violations in the last 36 months.
• No more than one serious violation as defined on Table 2 of section 383.51 of the FMCSR handbook within the previous 36 months prior to qualification.
• No railroad-highway grade crossing offenses as defined on Table 3 of section 383.51 of the FMCSR handbook within the previous 36 months prior to qualification.
• No citations or convictions for Reckless Driving or Careless Endangerment during the 36 month period prior to the order date of the MVR.
• No DUI charges during the 60 month period prior to the order date of the MVR in a personal or non-commercial vehicle and never in a commercial vehicle.
• Proficient enough in English to understand highway traffic signs and signals, respond to official inquiries, make entries on reports and records, and converse with the public.

In order to stay at Landstar, you must:

• Be safe
• Do what you say you will do in regards to the loads you are hauling
• Have a low CSA score
• Maintain a legal log book (All Landstar new hires must install an EOBR/ELD/AOBR) 
• Have equipment that is current on inspections which are required every 4 months.

As a truck owner/operator, you can work for yourself on your own without a lease to a carrier, but being on board with a lease carrier like Landstar is a good way to get your feet wet in the owner/operator world and understand how to succeed.  It's also a good way to get to know other people in the business and see what you can offer to help them accomplish their goals. 

Landstar offers it's leased drivers numerous different paths.  You can drive your truck, hire people to drive your truck or trucks, become an agent who sells Landstar's capabilities to customers, or even work in a corporate capacity in one of Landstar's offices, meeting the needs of the global marketplace and potentially one day becoming the CEO. 

I will say that luck can play a part in your trucking career, but having the right people behind you in sticky situations can make all the difference.  Landstar has been there for me over the past 12 and a half years with work, freight, and opportunities.  And for that, I'm appreciative.

I'm Glad I Chose To Be A Truck Driver

Being a modern day truck driver and truck owner has its satisfactions.  The trucks are mechanically easy to operate because of technology in transmissions, engines, power steering, and cab climate options.  You're able to choose where you want to live, work, and socialize.  The scenery is always changing so boredom isn't so much of a problem.  When new things happen around the US and Canada, you can get a load going there and see it firsthand.

You're your own boss and control your work schedule.  You get to be involved in your industry's future by voicing your opinions with the legislators and driver's organizations.  In recent days the opportunity to make a lot of money, even more so than a doctor, lawyer, or engineer has become a reality.  You control who works on your equipment, who you do business with, and where you patronize local businesses to expand your operation.

It's not too difficult to buy multiple trucks and hire drivers for them.  If your desire is to become a fleet owner, it happens every day!  Fleet owners can own as many trucks as they can afford to operate.  Another recent trend is the broker services.  Many freight brokers have popped up to service all types of freight.

Trucking has been a good choice for me.  I enjoy the challenge of navigating the many roads and around the many different drivers.  I appreciate the fact that truckers are the backbone of this country.  Without us truckers, the country would seize up in a matter of a few days. Think about that for a minute.  Do you have a job where if no one showed up to do it, the entire country would collapse?  I've had the pleasure of seeing faces light up when I arrive because the people are excited to receive what they ordered.  In many cases it's the first time they have seen whatever it is in person.

It's not all roses and butterflies, but there's a place for just about everybody in the trucking field.  From driving, dispatching, load planning, trailer loading and unloading, to maintenance, security, facility management, and on and on, regardless of what the future holds, freight will need to be moved from the farms and factories to the stores.

One of the things that makes trucking a unique and rewarding profession is the general opinion that people have about truck drivers.  Truckers are not only the backbone of this country, but the world. Most people have tended to put the truck driving job itself into a class unto itself.  Truckers are only one component of the shipping process albeit an important one. 

Early on in life I weighed out all of the options and becoming a trucker was an option that I will never regret.  Having almost spent 20 years in trucking, it's been a great ride.

No Truck Parking In The Land Of The Free

A Lighter Ed

It’s very easy to pack on the pounds while at the wheel of a semi-truck.  Amazingly though, there's a way to lose the weight almost as fast as you put it on.  It depends on your bodily make-up, but for me it works.  In the past I’d lose weight with exercise.  I’d put on a few pounds and then start my running routine.  In a couple of weeks, the weight would fall off.  
 

As I grow older, it seems this approach doesn’t work for a couple of reasons:  First, the more you exercise, the hungrier you are and the more you eat.  Second, the added food doesn’t burn off as it did when you were in your teens, 20’s and early 30’s.  

Salena has been barking in my ear for a few years now that exercise isn’t necessary to lose weight.  She has said repeatedly that simply counting calories will do the trick.  She is right about that, but I’ve found that if I count calories, I’m hungry!  Her approach is tried and true.  No matter what you eat, it’s ok, so long as you keep the calories down.  

Recently there was a campaign started to pinpoint the foods we eat that cause obesity.  For me, this was an epiphany.  I can eat all that I want and lose weight without counting calories.  I have combined my past experience, the new science that exists, and Salena’s recommendations to pattern a new lifestyle that so far has involved zero exercise.  Since May 15^th,2014 I’ve lost 17 pounds.  My heart rate and pulse is normal, and my energy levels are through the roof.  

The recent campaign called “FedUp” gave me the idea to stop eating bread and sugar.  So I cut them out completely.  Mainly my source of bread and sugar has been fast food.  It seems as if they are putting sugar in everything!  If you go to McDonalds and order a BigMac with cheese and fries with a Diet Coke, you are eating a LOT of bread, sugar, and crap!  Sure it’s delicious, but you WILL pay the price for that meal.

I cut out red meat, pasta, and all fried foods.  If I eat at McDonalds, I have the salad, or if they are out of salad, I get the grilled chicken wrap and if they are out of the wraps, I get the grilled chicken sandwich and throw the bun away.  I might even eat 2 grilled chicken sandwiches without the bun.  I don’t eat fries, but the apple pieces are good as a side.  I’ve found that if I’m not hungry, I don’t crave anything so my goal is to not be hungry.  

If you are carrying a 40 quart cooler around with you in your truck, you can go to the grocery store and load up on green leaf lettuce, radishes, pickles, jalapenos, olives, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, cherries, bananas, oranges, peaches, apples, carrots, celery, instant oatmeal (only original, no flavors) blueberries, strawberries, chick peas, hardboiled eggs, deli turkey, snap peas, green beans, bell peppers, and whatever else you can fit into your cooler and truck’s cabinet. 

You can chop the vegetables up and store them in a ziplock in the cooler so that you can mix up a fresh salad for lunch.  Eat all that you want of the vegetables!  There is a low calorie organic salad dressing that you can get and all you need is a couple of table spoons of that to lightly coat your salad.  The salads at Wendy’s are great also.  If I am extra hungry and eat a salad at Wendy’s, I get the plain baked potato.  I go ahead and put butter, sour cream, and chives on it.  I’ve become very aware of all the garbage that is for sale on the shelves at truck stops and in convenience stores.  If I need a snack, I eat some carrots and some pistachios, but I don’t have more than about a ¼ cup of pistachios.  I don't count calories except when I am eating pecans, walnuts, pistachios, and peanuts.

For breakfast, I’ll have an egg omelet with ham and cheese or oatmeal with strawberries and blueberries with chopped pecans and for a drink a cup of coffee.

For lunch a huge salad with everything I can pile on with a glass of iced tea or water.  (no sugary drinks or sugar substitutes such as Splenda) 

For dinner, I’ll have either baked fish, scallops, or grilled chicken with a small salad and fresh steamed vegetables with a glass of iced tea or water (no sugary drinks of any kind and this includes Splenda)

For dessert, it’s a chopped fruit salad such as bananas, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, and apples all mixed together and for a drink, a cup of coffee.

Basically I eat whole fresh foods as much as possible.  No artificial ingredients, no fried foods, no bread, no red meat, and no sugar.  

I don’t skimp on the amount of food, though.  I eat until I’m full so I eat a HUGE bowl of salad or for dinner, I eat a couple of chicken breasts and a bowl of vegetables with a large salad.  

I will eat a cheeseburger or some steak tips or even pizza and a piece of cheesecake, but only once a week and only small portions.  As soon as my weight is exactly where I want it, I can tailor what and how much I eat to how much I want to weigh.  

Not exercising is helping to stave off food cravings.  The more I exercise, the hungrier I am.  Keeping food cravings down has been great way to eat less and stay full after a meal.  The main thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to be hungry and when you are, you should know what not to eat to keep the weight off. 

When I started driving a truck at the ripe old age of 21, I could not put weight on regardless of what I ate, but at the age of 39, I’ve found that it’s getting harder to keep the pounds off.  As of June, 2014, I’ve driven a truck approximately 2.6 million miles and I’ve lived through stressful situations and all of the lifestyle choices that cause weight gain.  Since getting behind the wheel, I’ve put on about 60 pounds of unwanted weight.  

I know how hard it is to lose weight and I know how easy it is to put on the pounds.  I’ve lived it.  The fact is that being heavy will shorten your life and cause problems.  Incorporating diet and exercise doesn’t have to be a miserable campaign.  You can lose weight, strengthen muscles and have fun without being hungry.  You just have to keep trying until you find what your body responds to.  We are all different and what works for me, may not work for you, and vice versa.  

If you love trucking, then you need to care for your body.  When the day comes that you park the truck and go on a vacation, or quit trucking altogether, your body shouldn’t have suffered the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.

You want to park the truck and enjoy your time seeing the sights and walking anywhere you want to go.  Take care of yourself and have a great life!