Vanishing LED's

  DATELINE: GLENDALE, KY         DATE: 4/9/2009            PLACE: PETRO TRUCK STOP
 Stopped at the Petro to spend the night on our way up up Louisville, KY. Went to the truck wash and afterwards backed in next to this dropped step deck trailer. As we were wiping down our equipment of water, I looked at the step deck and thought "this guy is missing a couple of lights in the front corner."  
 While walking down the side I noticed that the side turn signal was also missing. "This is not going to be good."
                                                     And as I rounded the back.......
   BAM!!!  Every light on this trailer was GONE!!!!  I figure that all the lights were LEDs and some low life saw an easy way to make a upgrade to their own equipment by stealing the lights off of this dropped trailer.  I estimate the loss at about $300-350.00.  lights missing are: 8- 4" round,  9- 2" round, and 2- oval side turn signals.  I called the owner of the trailer (phone # was on the inspection sticker) and gave them the bad news and they could forewarn the driver before he came back to pick-up the trailer.  Lowlifes like this give all truckers a bad name.......

no dumping???

 I took these photos at the Mid-Tenn truck stop in Cookeville, TN.  The same place that charges 

the $ to park or pay $100 if they block your vehicle in.  
This goofball will fine someone for not paying to park on the lot, but can't keep the place clean. Who wants to pay to park in an unsecured lot with no security and the outskirts littered with trash?  The pictures tell the tale better then I can.....

More "Sticking it to the trucker"

  Here is a little surprise to any one stopping at the Mid-Tenn truck stop at the junction of I-40 and hwy TN-111, exit 289, Cookeville, TN.  Based on the way the sign reads, there is no free time allowed

but after inquiring inside, pony up $5.00 upon arrival, if you stay less then 4 hours, come back in and get a refund.  NICE!
 Look how nice and busy this place is.  It is amazing how much traffic signs like this bring in...
 About 6-7 trucks on a lot that can hold 40-50 trucks. Maybe it will be busier when the sun goes down and people get tired and our willing to pay to park.
 Leave your truck on fuel island too long and the management will impose (or at least try) a $50.00 fine for parking. Asked about this too. "If the fuel nozzles are not in the tanks and fueling your truck, it is considered PARKING"  Walking around the store or grabbing something to eat is not allowed....
 If you are caught parking and did not purchase the required amount of fuel, store items, or shop services and display said permit in truck, the truck stop will place concrete blocks around the vehicle and will not remove them unless you pay $100.00!!!!   Talk about highway robbery!!
  This is the free area to park, the HUDDLE HOUSE truck lot. The owner here said the jerk from the truck stop has tried to coerce drivers parked here to pay up and once even placed concrete blocks over here to force trucks to park in the truck stop lot.  He was not happy about it....

   Times are tough for every body but tyring to rake truckers over the coals for parking and imposing outrageous fines and blocking a truck with concrete blocks and demanding $$$!! I would call this EXTORTION!!

 I would put $$ down that this truck stop will be out of business before the end of the year. word will get around and truckers will just start bypassing this place altogether, including me.

  

Enviromental Irony

This I thought was kinda funny, traveling the PA pike on the north side of Philly and this truck passed me.  Across the back of the truck the sign reads "EARTHCARE" and just below that it reads "McGovern Environmental."
 All the haze in the pictures is from the exhaust from the truck. Every time this guy hit a uphill grade the black smoke would just roll out of the exhaust like a smoke screen.  
                                  EARTHCARE!!!!!!  HA HA HA!!!!! Makes me laugh......

Unsecured load in KY

We were driving north bound on I-65 in Louisville when we came upon this.
I guess this is some kind of motorized wheel borrow for moving small batches of concrete.  We noticed that the equipment was bouncing around quite a bit. As we got closer we soon found out why....NO TIE DOWNS!!!  ZERO, ZIP, NADA,  not even a piece of rope. 
 As this fool went around the corners the equipment would vibrate for almost a foot in both directions and the tire would stop up against  the little 3" piece of steel sidewall.  Snapped the pictures and got away from this nutcase.  One good sharp corner or a quick stop and this thing is coming off the trailer.....
If anybody knows this company, feel free to pass these pictures on to them and show the owner the caliber of drivers they have.

TOLL ROADS and more

Last week I rented a car in Elkton, MD and drove to Norfolk,VA  for a Tiger Cruise (more on that later)

And drove south on the Delaware toll road (hwy 1) and the two toll booths were $1.00 each.  No big deal...

   I drove back north on Saturday morning and was surprised that the toll is now $2.00!  WHAT!!

 So I ask the toll collector what gives?  "there is less traffic on the weekends so the charge is higher from Friday night to early A.M. on Monday".

  This is so stupid!!  In Chicago everyone is charged more during peak traffic times (AKA: rush hour) and in Delaware they charge more during off peak times....Who are these brainiacs that think this makes sense, charge more when there is less traffic.....

  I have heard on different news programs about the NY subway system raising the rates because less people are using the system and the same with public transport buses. Less people are riding so the rates go up and becomes a bigger burden on the folks that are still riding.....

  What??  If you keep raising the rate to ride public transport that just drives more people away, not bring them back. Chances are that the ridership is down because the rates were getting too high to be within some ones budget.

 I suppose that public transport could always pull an "AMTRAK".  Amtrak runs at a loss year in and year out, and it seems that every 5-10 years they file for bankruptcy and get a huge government hand out to keep them up and running.......(must be nice to feed at the trough like that.....) AND lets not forget the airlines, if Delta or American, (or any others, just take your pick) even hint at going under, they get a nice fat check courtesy of the U.S. Gov.

 AND NOW the big 3 are getting big time $ for not running their business properly...UUUGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I wish all these CEO, CFO, Head honchos and big wigs would take a long walk off a short pier.....

  Jeez Louise, the big 3 charge 30-50k for a new vehicle and still need the taxpayers money to make ends meet?!   Is it just me or does common sense just scream "you are paying way to much for labor if you can not make a profit off a 30k car!"

 I have never purchased a brand new auto or pick-up truck and at these prices, probably never will.......

  Sorry about this blog, I just started writing and the thoughts just jumped around........

Underwear

 We were at the Pilot T/S in Brooks, KY 3-14-09 waiting to p/u a load on Monday.  I went inside to buy some drinks and while inside decided to use the facility's. This was about 0600 on Sunday.
 I attempt to get a toilet seat cover from the dispenser and "WHOA!!!" no paper covers, but some used and nasty underwear.....What a low life!!! I don't care if some one wants to throw their undies away, but come on!!! There is a trash can not 3' from the stall door!!
 So I made my own paper cover with T.P. and double layered it and did what I needed to do and left. When I was back at the truck and told my wife about it she said I should get a picture and blog about it. I thought "no, it will be gone by the time I get the camera and go back".  So, I just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the day.




 I went back into the Pilot T/S around 5-530 the same day to get a couple of sub's at Subway and took the camera just in case.  The undies were still there even almost 12 hours later.....Not only is the person that left the undies a pig, but the janitorial crew at this Pilot leaves a lot to be desired too.......

indiana toll road

 While driving across the Indiana toll road last week I saw several trucks and cars stopped by the Indiana state police and probably handing out tickets.  Here is the thought that went thru  my head, " If the Indiana toll road is leased (AKA: owned) by a Spanish/Australian finance group, are we technically driving on foreign soil while on this stretch of highway?  The toll workers are not state employees anymore, the state of Indiana does not take care of maintenance anymore,  so therefore, I do not think that the Indiana state police should be able to write tickets and collect fines on foreign soil........

 I know that this would not stand up in court, but it makes you think.......

escaping chicken leg

  On Wednesday morning at about 8 a.m., I stopped at the Travel Center of America (AKA: T/A) at Lake Station, Indiana to top off with fuel before heading east across Indiana and Ohio.   The place is needing some TLC and upkeep desperately, but I did not expect to see a RAW chicken leg trying to escape from the Popeye's chicken!!    This chicken leg was about 20' from the fuel/service desk door and maybe 50' from the side door to the Popeye's vendor. While fueling I must have watched 4 or 5 T/A employees walk past it while I was there.  
  This is just one of those things that is kinda bizarre in trucking. When I first saw the leg, I thought it may have dropped or fell out of someones lunch, but it was not even breaded or cooked!! So it is obviously escaping from Popeye's.........(talk about fast food....)

Driving blind

I remember when I first started riding with my father and watching him flash the headlights on-off when a truck had passed him on the highway to signal the "all clear". Something has gone wrong......
First, a little history about this concept......Back in the golden age of trucking before the mega truck stops and interstate highways, the trucks were equipped with a small round mirror on a straight stick mounted off the roof line. These were nick named "lollipop mirrors" because it resembled a child's lollipop. Now these mirrors were just about useless going down the road because they vibrated so bad there was no way to see what was behind you.
So, to combat this problem, the drivers came up with an unwritten code to help each other out when passing. During daylight switch the headlights on, then back off. At night, turn the headlights off for one second and then back on again. This did wonders because the passing driver could see a vague shape and might not have been able to see the truck being passed or the end of his trailer, but could see the flash off the lights on-off or off-on.
Who is the idiot that decided that flashing the high beams at a passing truck was O-K?  Is this being taught at truck driving schools? Company traing schools? (It seems like 99% of the time it is a company driver doing this).This is so dangerous that it is hard to belive it actually happens every night. When some moron does the high beam flash to a passing vehicle, the passing driver is now "DRIVING BLIND" because the driver being passed just blinded them with the high beams. Let me explain, when night driving the pupils in the eyes are widely opened to allow the most light in (like a cats eye), when a bright light hits the eye, it causes the pupil to constrict very rapidly and the brain has to play catch up before the vision comes back into focus. During this time the driver might travel 200', 500' or more completely blind!!! HELLO!!!! THIS IS A STUPID THING TO DO TO YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS!!!
IF a truck is equipped in such a way that the headlights can not be switched on-off, or off-on. PLEASE, DO NOTHING !!!!! I can see the end of my trailer and I can see your truck in my mirror. I do not need your help when passing your truck. I have come to the point that I no longer even flash my lights at other drivers and ignore them when I am the one doing the passing. AND to the idiots that keep flashing the lights at me if I do not switch lanes when they think I should, "I am driving my truck, I will decide when it is safe to come back into the lane in front of you. AND I am responsible for the safety of my truck, not you....."
This "High bean flashing" has got to STOP!!!! Even though you drivers think you are being helpful, your not. Some where down the line someone is going to die because of this practice......HMMMMMM, maybe I could get a grant to study this problem.

Mission Impossible

 This was the entrance to a pick-up in Ann Arbor , Michigan several years ago.  Nice concrete islands all over the place.  To gain entrance into this place there was not much of a choice. "drive over them"
  So, I did. The curb on the side was about 6" tall and the center islands were 3-4" tall.  Easy enogh to drive over but still was a pain..... I went as far in as possible before turning to the right and still had the trailer climb the curb to get in this place.

  Was it as hard to get out? NO. There is a back gate on the same side as the docks and no islands at all. 

advertising for drivers

 Where to start with this one............. I pick-up those little free books at the entrances of truckstops once in a while and flip thru them and read the articles to see if I might gleam a bit of knowledge about fuel savings, tire wear, taxes, ETC.  I also grab the issue of Roadstar or Truckers News, and Landline is delivered to the house.

  Here is my beef about advertising by trucking companies looking for drivers or owner/ops,  just because you put a picture of a pretty girl in your ad,  is that really going to bring drivers in? I will grant you, I stop and look at the pretty girl so on that part, I guess is does work. You pulled my attention to the ad.  ( I am sure there is a number cruncher somewhere that has a mathematical formula to prove it works).

After I read the ad (I said the pretty girl did get my notice) I think to myself "if you have to resort to the 'SEX SELLS' mentality, would I even consider working for your outfit?" NOT!!!!

 And another thing, fuzzy pictures of little kids and puppy's, Christmas trees,  Thanksgiving dinner, ETC.   The only things that drivers or o/o's want to know are three things:

   1. PAY - % or PER mile (leave out all the B.S., I.E. "our top driver earned 2 zillion dollars last year" OR " drive 20k miles in a month and earn an extra 2 cents per mile").  PLEASE, I want to know what the average guy made because that is where most drivers are going to fall.

   2. Hiring area and service area (all 48, canada, just regional, just south, ETC)

   3. And how often can I be HOME!!!!!

 

 I have two great examples of the home time being very important:

 1. I was a company driver for Schneider National in the early 1990's,  and they ran me around and kept me loaded pretty well BUT I had no time at home to speak of. They would keep me running out on the road 6-8-10 weeks at a shot and when I would finally manage to drop a load in the same state that I lived and run home empty, within 24 hours and sometimes less, dispatch would be on the phone wanting me to take off again. NOT EXACTLY QUALITY TIME AT HOME!!!!  I couldn't even keep a girlfriend, if I meet someone while I was home, by the time I returned again, she would be dating someone else, shacked up or 4 weeks pregnant (not by me, remember, I was gone for a minimum of 6-8 weeks every time).  This lasted about a year and a half and finally I said I can't do this anymore.  I bought my first truck so I could control the shots.

 2. The company I was leased to in the 1990's (my tractor, their trailer) had forced dispatch.  I had all the responsibilities of an o/o, but was treated like a company driver.  So I quit, bought a flatbed trailer and tried joining TMC.  There was another o/o that lived about 40-50 miles from me that was also leased to TMC and was home every other weekend.  Before signing on I asked how the dispatchers were able to get this other truck home and I was told that they had a load every week going into northern Mich.  On the odd weeks, they would get me on that load so I could get home on a regular basis.... sounded good to me!! NEVER HAPPENED!!!!! After two months of running all over the country, I was near Gary, In. and dispatch wanted me to pick-up a coil weighing 50k (my truck was 32k empty, 50+32=82k which would have put me over gross).  I told dispatch "I can't scale that." They said "run around the scales." I said "no." They said "you have to." I said "goodbye, I DO NOT HAVE TO ANYTHING" and hung up the phone. Then drove north to the house, pulled their signs and permits off my truck and mailed them back.....

 Just be honest about the pay and hometime.  Don't ask us to push the limits of what is safe and legal.  I think drivers and o/o's would be a lot happier in the long run. 

HAZARD MARKERS

Can anyone guess what is wrong in this photo? No fair looking at the header...........could it be that there is a trailer on the shoulder of the road? No, this happens once in a while, all things mechanical do tend to break down. Could it be that this trailer is near what looks to be a broadcast tower? NOPE, (BZZZZZZZZZ) wrong answer, thanks for playing.........

  If you look really close at the deck at the rear of the trailer you will see the WARNING TRIANGLES on the deck and not on the ground where they are supposed to be.

It seems to me that according to the instruction  manuals and tests I have taken over the last 20 years to qualify to drive a tractor trailer,  ( started in 1989, shhhhhh don't tell anybody) that when a break down happens, the triangles are to be placed on the ground and spaced (1) 10'  BEHIND the stopped vehicle, (2nd triangle) at 100' BEHIND the stopped vehicle and (3rd triangle, which is missing) at another 100' behind the vehicle........

Not only does this driver not have the correct # of warning devices with them, (somebody didn't do the pre-trip inspection)  they can't follow simple placement on the ground. I remember this being on the test for the CDL so there is no excuse for this kind of laziness. And just to fend off any naysayers in the crowd, look up 392.22 sub-chapter B, part v, in the little green book from J J KELLER, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.  The placement does not have to be EXACT, but even putting these reflectors on the ground and spaced out a little bit would have made more sense. 

  And where did I see this wonder of the highways,  Maryland hwy 152 crosses I-95 at exit #74 and heading southeast  from I-95 near Joppatowne, Maryland.

urination nation

This is to all the PIGS out there that have yet to learn common curtesy and manners.
IF YOU MUST pee in and old Gatorade bottle or 2 liter soda bottle, how damn hard is it to walk it over to a trash can or place it in a dumpster? I see trash cans and dumpsters at every truck stop I have ever been to. BUT NO, you road scholars leave them on the ground in the parking lot for some one else to pick-up, drive over and explode or toss them into the grass so the poor schmuck that is mowing the lawn gets a nice pee shower........



And those of you that just pee on the ground next to your truck are no better, you have already climbed out of the truck, how hard would it be to walk another 50-100 feet to use a rest room? (there is no cover fee, just walk thru the door). I have seen this with my own eyes, a driver parked in the front row and 30-50 feet from the door get out and piss next to the truck, zip up, turn and walk inside the building!! UN-FREAKIN-BELIVABLE!!! I have seen this numerous times. If your bladder is that weak, maybe you should move a little faster and get in the building quicker or invest in some depends undergarments. (I hear that Depends are quite stylish with the 50 and older crowd and just think of how many extra miles you could run if you did not need to stop and pee!!!!) I would like to see a way to report these dumb asses to the management, but with out extra witnesses or photographic proof, what can be done about this? (suggestions anybody?)
Those of us that do our own maintenance on the vehicles (adjusting brakes, checking air pressure in the tires, ETC.) do not want to be kneeling or laying in your piss just because you are a lazy pig. GROW UP already!!! Is it any wonder that the parking lots smell like a giant urinal in the heat of the summer. Or that Walmart and other places (Ie, shopping malls, grocery stores, ETC.) do not want us parking in their lots? I do not blame them at all for running the truckers off, but it really hurts us (TRUCKERS) as a whole, because a bunch of pigs can not clean up after themselves, and have made the best shopping and parking places off limits for everybody.
This is real simple, if you need to pee go in the building and do your thing in the rest room. if you are traveling the highways and no rest areas in sight, pee in the grass on the shoulder or on-off ramp, AND DUMP your pee jug, do not just leave it full on the ground. (now you can re use the jug again, AKA recycling!!!)
BUT WAIT, THERES MORE!!!!!! Even those of you that actually use the toilets in the rest room, some of you are still MAJOR PIGS! Those of you that are scared to use a urinal and must use the toilet to pee in, would it really hurt you to lift the seat before you start? If you do not want to touch the seat with your fingers, wad up some TP and lift, OR use your foot to lift the seat (you already walked through a bunch of piss in the parking lot already, your shoes can not get much dirtier.....)
And then there is going to be that special place in hell for the wizards that do not know how to aim when reliving themselves and I think that they do this on purpose just to screw with the next guy that then needs to make a choice, "do I wipe this up or try a different stall?" NOBODY, I MEAN NOBODY wants to wipe up someone else's piss off a toilet seat so they can sit and poop.
I can not put 100% of the blame on the truckers for this because all the rest rooms are available to the public, but I would bet that they are better than 90% to blame.
Come on people, use your brain for some thing more than holding your ears apart!!

C.A.R.B.

More on CARB (California air resources board), In January, CARB got the EPA waiver to enforce the new anti reefer laws, (not running near a school, not running while waiting to load/offload, no pre-cooling the trailer, unit must be a 2001 or newer model [phased out every year up to 2008 standards,'01 replaced in 2010, '02 replaced in 2011, etc]. anybody running anything older than 2001 unit has a choice, pony up 22-25k for a new unit or do not cross the CAL state line (I now call this the DMZ, demilitarized zone.)

They are also enforcing anti idle laws on all commercial vehicles, if a trucker idles their truck for more than 5 minutes, and a carb official sees it, the CARB official along with a CHP officer ( because you know if the CARB person tried to do this on their own they would get bitch slapped and pounded into the ground by the trucker)  the driver gets a nice citation with a $300.00 fine attached for the first offense. the fines go up for each infraction there after.  There are a couple of exemptions to go along with this. (in a traffic jam, rush hour, waiting in line to access a port, waiting in traffic at a signal, ETC.) This all sounds good on the surface,(clean air for little kids to breathe, not putting extra pollutants into the sky,) but what about the drivers health? Does CARB and EPA not understand that there is a human being inside of the truck? A person with family and friends, feelings, health issues just like the rest of America. Why should the drivers health take a back seat to anyone else's health?

Drivers like to stay cool during the heat of the day and stay warm at night just like all people, but because the drivers chose to live a nomadic life style, they are considered less human than the citizens of California. HEY, California is pretty much a desert, it gets hot during the day and cold at night. If the daytime outside temp is around 90-100 degrees, you can bet it is around 110-120 inside of a truck. Not exactly perfect conditions for resting while trying to comply with the HOURS OF SERVICE rules set down by the feds.

BUT WAIT, THERES MORE!!!! Why don't the drivers get a little APU? (auxillery power unit). I am sure every driver would love to have one, but company drivers are not going to drop 8-10 thousand dollars to place one on a vehicle that they don't own,and the company's that trade trucks every 2-3 years consider it a unjustifiable expense. The company's(not all but quite a few) do not care if the drivers freezes or get heat stroke while in Ca. The drivers are just a cog in the machine, as soon as one quits, another one will climb in the truck and replace them. ( any company with turnover rates over 50% does not give a crap about the drivers, if they did, APU's would be on every truck rolling down the road) I know, I know, it is an extra expense to add an APU to a truck that will get traded in 2-3 years. (driver would be happy, company gets a fuel savings, less wear on the main engine, and OMG!, it can be UNBOLTED and moved to another truck) THESE are great reasons not to add an APU to a truck.

What about owner operators you might ask? A lot of O/O's do have APU's or gensets to cut out idling and provide power for creature comforts. Those that have them are sitting pretty, those that do not are not looking so good. Again, in this rotten economy, who has a stack of cash laying around to purchase one? Get a loan? With the number of repossessions of trucks climbing, would you write a loan to add a 8k piece of equipment to a truck that might wind up back on your doorstep in 2-3 month's?

My advice is just stay out of California, there are 47 other states to truck in and out of. I am sure that they will survive with out the truckers of America crossing the border to their state. Look at East Germany, they were walled off from the rest of Europe and they survived. All we need is to add a red arm band with a SS insignia to the enforcement officials uniforms (CARB, EPA, CHP) for easy identification when the jack booted thugs are coming for you.......