"Be As Shrewd As Snakes And As Innocent As Doves"

The title for this post is the New International Version's rendering of Jesus's words in Matthew 10:16.  Forgive me for taking that masterfully crafted phrase from scripture and applying it to truck driving, but a series of events took place on a recent load which somehow brought them to my mind.  More on that in a few minutes, first let me apologize to those few people who are following along in here.  I have been really busy, and I have neglected this poor blog.  I have much to share with you, but I'm hoping I don't overload you.

First off we had an eclipse last week, and you would have thought the world had nothing else going on at all with the way it was talked about everywhere and all the time!  I mean for a two minute event, it was covered 24/7 for about a week straight.  I was in Virginia headed North on I-81 during the event, but I came into a sudden thunderstorm just about the time the Sun and Moon aligned with each other, and so even though it got a little dark for a little while, it really only seemed to me as though the darkness came about from the heavy cloud cover that was associated with the sudden rain storm I was going through.  It all took place very anticlimactically for me.  Just to give you an idea of the hype that was going on over this event, I ate breakfast the morning of the fateful day at a Denny's restaurant down in Wytheville, Virginia and here is an advertisement I found displayed on my table...

I was asked to rescue a load that had been abandoned by another driver during the week of the eclipse.  It seems the other driver fell out of his truck, and was now sitting at home on workman's comp.  I think I have shared this in here before, but falling out of the truck is one of the most common injurious accidents that happens to truck drivers.  This driver has been a "problem child" according to my dispatcher, and even though he came over to our fleet as an experienced driver, my dispatcher told me that he has yet to deliver a load on time during the first three weeks of his tenure with us.  Just prior to this accident, my dispatcher had requested permission to fire the driver, but the terminal manager said to give the guy some more time to prove himself.  So now he is recovering at home, and getting paid for it while I am out here trying to straighten out the mess that he left me to deal with.

When you rescue a load, especially a flat-bed load, you need to check the cargo and make sure it is safe for travel.  This one was definitely not secured properly, and it had already shifted to the point where I couldn't even get the Conestoga cover open because the freight was pushing against the side of it so tightly that it wouldn't slide open.  I had to spend several hours prying the curtain open with my breaker bar that we use to tighten the winches with.  Once I got it open I found out why it had shifted.  The front section of freight bundles were 24 foot lengths, and there was two straps on them right out in the middle of the bundles.  That means that the driver had roughly about 10,000 pounds working load limit in the securement devices he was using on about two times that amount of weight!  He really should have had about five straps on that section of the load.  Here is what happened to his load - take a look at this bundle on the very bottom of the stack.  It has collapsed, and therefore shifted the whole load above it into a dangerous situation...

Here is another look at it from a slightly different angle which gives you an idea of how far out it has shifted.  If you look at the bundles behind that section, it should be lined up with those.  When it was first loaded they lined up properly, but as you can see it has shifted a good six to eight inches to the left...

I added three more straps to that section, and three more to the rest of the load just to get it safe, but I still have the problem in that front section of the bundle at the bottom that has already failed.  When I take the straps off of that front section it is likely to fall right off the truck, and possibly onto me!  One of the issues with these multi-stop flat-bed loads is that you have got to remove and replace the straps at the various stops along the way so that folks can unload their freight from the top, and then you re-secure what is underneath it.  This load really should have also had what we call some belly straps on it, but that should have been done while it was being loaded.  There is no way to do it now, and to be honest with you, the load is not technically legal the way it is done.  A "belly strap" is just a strap that you would put across the load once you have stacked it three pieces high.  That way the driver can take off the straps over the whole load, and the lower section will remain secure while the material off of the top is being removed.  I was able to sort of winch the load over a little bit with my straps and winches just enough so that I was able to open and close the Conestoga cover with only a small amount of pry bar work.

One more look at the opposite side of the load here and I think it will be obvious to you how it is leaning to the other side...

Here is what happened when I removed the straps at my first stop in Connecticut, a machine shop called "Reed and Stefanow."  I've always thought that name sounded more like a Law Firm than a machine shop, but I digress.  As you can see I had to make a run for my life when I loosened the final strap from that section of freight.  It immediately came crashing down!  Thankfully the fork lift operator helped me to get it re-stacked and I was able to keep it moving onto it's final destination where they didn't seem to be too concerned after I told them it had already fallen off the truck, but I put it back on so I could deliver it to them.  They didn't even put anything down on my paper work about it possibly being damaged!

Okay, before I move onto the next adventure which gave me reason to title this post as I did, let me share just a couple of other things with you.  Life on the road is a visual menagerie of many things, and I try to document some of it for the folks who read this silly stuff I write down.  While I was on this trip, I stopped at "Uncle Pete's" truck stop cafe, a place that I've only visited once before, many years ago.  It is near Lebanon, Tennessee and it has a collection of coffee cups lining the walls.  I asked the waitress if she knew how many coffee cups there were on the wall, and she declared emphatically that there were 6,500 of them, as if she once had to dust them all off one time!  Take a look at what I could see from my table...

Here at "Uncle Pete's" truck stop they also sell some Barbecue sauce that I have been a little afraid to try.  If they hadn't given it such an incriminating name, I might have been tempted to make a purchase.  I do love barbecuing, and I have been known to experiment with sauces I find along my journeys, but the name on this one was just a little too daunting for me to part with my money and give it a try...

Okay, I have seriously squandered your time in here, so let's get down to the meat and potatoes of this post...

The back haul load I had after running this wonky jonked load up into Connecticut was interesting and educational for the folks who want to learn the secrets of success out here on the road.

The back haul loads for this dedicated account are not set up by my regular dispatcher. There is a group of folks (planners) in the corporate office in Phoenix that are dedicated to finding us back haul loads. These planners don't really take into consideration some of the many things that can go wrong out here, and they have typically already set my appointments long before I even have gotten the load info. That can be a good thing, because they don't really allow you much wiggle room, and that way you are constantly turning the big miles. You really don't want to let them down, or else you start sitting longer and waiting for loads. That is not their fault, they only have your track record to go by when assigning loads to drivers.

So here's how this one played out. My first stop is in Cressona, PA, where I am supposed to have a pre-loaded trailer waiting on me. Surprise! It wasn't ready. I got a ten hour break in while waiting here at this stop, and by the time they did get my load ready to go I needed to run the five hundred and twenty five miles to my fuel stop location and then take my next ten hour break there before proceeding to the customer for unloading. This fuel stop location is 30 to 40 minutes away from my next stop, which is a customer that I have visited before, so I know that they don't allow over night parking on the premises. It is 2200 (10:00 p.m.) when I am able to put my logs onto the sleeper berth line at my fuel stop. My appointment in the morning is at 0900. After running the 525 miles and stopping at my fuel stop for my break I am 45 minutes away from the customer, so I am going to sleep here and then roll out in the morning. There are several real problems with all this. My second stop for the day is 115 miles away and my appointment there is at 1100 and they stop receiving at noon. That is a problem. I can just barely make the 0900 appointment if I spend ten hours in the sleeper, and even though I can do that, there will be a minimum of an hour before they are done unloading me with those slow overhead cranes they use at this particular location. It is going to be impossible to make the second appointment! So... what are you to do?

The beauty of running these dedicated accounts is that I am familiar with these customers, and often times they are familiar with me. One thing often times misunderstood by professional drivers is the importance of being friendly and helpful, all while putting the icing on the cake with a perfect service record. Remember, your record of performance is critical to your success out here. You can be the friendliest nicest person in the world, but if you don't couple that with a competitive performance record you still don't have any advantages. I have often had customers do things for me that would be very much out of the ordinary, just because they not only know me, but because they appreciate they way that I sometimes go out of my way to serve their needs. I have that track record established not only with my dispatcher , but also with my customers. I know that sometimes this customer will receive you at 0700 if you are there at the gate and ready to go. They start setting their appointments at 0800, but if you are the type who is a "go getter" and you are set up and ready when they show up, they will get you in the gate and get started on you. That is my plan as I start this day, but wait... if I spend ten hours in the sleeper that means that I can't even get started until 0800! This is why you want to...

Learn The Log Book Rules

I have got to get unloaded early at that first stop for the day if I even have a prayer of making it to the second stop in time to get unloaded on the same day. I have been three years on this account without one service failure, and I am not about to get one now just because one of my stops was late in having my pre-loaded trailer ready to go.

Here is where my knowledge of the Log Book Rules saved my bacon on this load. I can finesse a split sleeper berth maneuver into this scenario and make everything look like it was a piece of cake! Here's how it worked. I logged myself on duty after eight hours in the sleeper and I had almost two hours on my eleven hour clock and just a little more on my 14 hour clock. Bingo, I can roll over to my customer after logging my fifteen minute pre-trip inspection and I get there at 0645. Hey, wait just a minute! There are two other flat-bed trucks ahead of me. There's a Montgomery driver sitting at the gate, and a Melton driver right behind him. I am third in line - Oh Boy, not what I was planning on.

Seven o'clock gets here and they open the gate. The Montgomery driver rolls in, and I go ahead and get out of my truck to walk in and check in with them. The fellow inside tells me I will have to wait for the other two guys ahead of me, and I say, "I understand that, but is it okay for me to go ahead and pull in the gate and start getting my straps loose and my Conestoga ready?" "Yes sir, by all means," is his reply. As I'm walking back to my truck I can see that the Melton driver hasn't budged yet, so I go over to his door to let him know that he can go ahead and roll on in. The truth is that I am trying to move every thing along so that I can get myself unloaded quicker. What I find upon getting to his door is that he has his curtains drawn shut and he is oblivious to what is going on out here.  This business is very competitive, but you don't have to wake up your competition, fix them a nice breakfast and tell them it's time to pull on your boots and get to work. No sir, out here if you snooze you lose! I rolled right on around that guy and got myself inside the gate, and parked behind the Montgomery driver.

I had my Conestoga cover loosened up and ready to open, and all my straps loose before the Montgomery driver had even finished getting the bungees off his tarps. So, in order to keep things moving along, I went right over and started helping him get his tarps off and folded. Once we had his tarps folded, I headed back to my truck as he profusely thanked me for my help and I sat down to wait my turn. About ten minutes later the Montgomery driver comes over to my door, dragging a strap that he is rolling up, and asks me, "Sir are you waiting on me to get inside the building?" "Yes sir, I am," I reply. To which he says, "Well you go on ahead of me, I sure do appreciate you helping me, and I still have forty five minutes worth of work to do before I will be ready to go inside.  It looks like you and that fancy roller system of yours are ready to go." It is at this point that I start thinking about that phrase in the Bible that I titled this with.  I shrewdly used the rules to get in here early, then I had to be a little shrewd to get past old "Sleepyhead" at the gate, and I was innocently helpful with the Montgomery driver, who kindly allowed me to go on in and get started on the unloading process. After I got inside the building and they were almost finished unloading me, the Melton driver came to consciousness and looked bewildered that I, the third driver in line, was the first one out of that place!

When they got done with me and I had everything put away and ready to roll, I had been on the sleeper berth (Waiting to be unloaded) for one hour and fifty nine minutes! One more minute and my two hours was up, and Bingo - I now have 10.5 hours on my clock. I made it to my next appointment ten minutes ahead of schedule, and then had plenty of drive time to keep running after they finished me up.

I share these stories of success with you in the hopes that for those of you who are aspiring truck drivers, a light bulb will go off as you read them. I was recently both humbled and happy to see where one of the Moderators at TruckingTruth.com, Rainy D, gave me the credit for much of her success, and attributed her ability to manage her time efficiently by reading and learning from the things that I share.

Communicating Effectively With Dispatchers

I spend a lot of time in the forum at TruckingTruth.com trying to help newcomers to the industry cleanse their brains of the garbage they have learned from their online research into the trucking career. Unfortunately there is a voluminous cache of seemingly irrefutable misinformation out there on how to succeed at trucking, and it is disheartening how much of it comes from truckers themselves. Seemingly everyday we have some new person in the forum talking about how they want to start with "such and such" a company because they have got lots of miles, or they would never recommend "such and such" a company because they just don't have the miles. Here's an example... Just yesterday we had a person who was in training at C.R. England talking about how the company just doesn't care about their drivers, are using them as cheap labor, and then starving them out once they become solo drivers so that they can just keep on extorting productivity from the next gullible batch of students coming in on the next bus, or some such familiar line of garbage that you could hear on any given day in any driver's lounge. I mean, these are truck drivers themselves who say such nonsense, and vocally agree with it each time they hear this junk vomited out again and again. Then you have the reality of this whole career, willfully ignored by the truck driving masses, where the guys who understand how this all works are out there reaching Million Mile Status at the same companies who are slandered all over the internet from the very misguided, non-productive, willfully ignorant truck driving crowd.

Here's a small example from my current week that makes a great example of how the top tier guys and gals take the high road to make all this stuff come together, while others are willingly content to sit and complain. I started the week with a tough assignment. Without boring you with all the details, I had a load that really had about two extra days worth of time on it. Basically it was a 1,500 mile run with five days to get it done. The reasons for the extra days were because it had six stops on it and they were spread apart at just the right distances to make it real tricky due to the unusual receiving hours at the different customers. By making contact with each customer, and successfully getting two of them to receive me considerably past their normal receiving hours, I got it done in three days! Hoo-Ray, sounds great doesn't it? Not so fast. My effective communications helped me get that one done early, but they also created a new problem for me. My next load which was pre-planned already as a pre-loaded trailer at the SAPA plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania, was not scheduled to be loaded for almost 30 hours after I arrived there. I don't want or need a 34 hour re-set, I want to keep up this good momentum.

I have sat and listened to drivers just giving their dispatchers grief over this type of stuff repeatedly. I still remember my trainer just yelling and screaming at our dispatcher about delays like this and threatening him that he (the driver) was going to fire him (the dispatcher), as if he (the driver) were the boss in this working relationship! That is not the way to success out here. A great driver will get things accomplished by quietly getting things done because he understands the subtleties of the problems that dispatchers and planners deal with. Logistics is not a clear cut science. Load planners and dispatchers are trying to keep a lot of plates in the air all at the same time. Sometimes the driver feels the effect of that juggling act in the way he is dispatched. So, here's is what I did as soon as I got to Cressona, PA. I sent in my arrival call, and then I sent in my "detention is likely" call. That way I will get paid detention for my time of waiting - even if I am off duty for 34 hours. That is good effective communication, but it is not the way to make the top money out here. I do not like to settle for detention pay. Productivity is the way to success out here.

So, my next step is to send the following "free form" message to my dispatcher on the Quallcomm: "Hey, I am here at Cressona, but my load isn't scheduled to be ready for another 30 hours. I am not in need of a re-set, and I am willing to do something else during the wait here. Could you please check with the planners and see if maybe there is a little short haul out of here that we could do while we are waiting, or maybe some shuttle work of some sort? I'd much rather be getting something accomplished over taking a long nap!" His immediate response is, "10-4, I'm shooting them an e-mail right now - I'll let you know something as soon as they respond." Here is the magical part of this whole scenario: I'm not stressed, or upset about anything. I know how to get things done, and I have taken all the right steps here. I am in total control here. It is either going to work out or not, but I have effectively covered my bases for success.

I promise you it wasn't ten minutes that went by when I get a message that says, "Hey, how do you feel about shuttling a damaged trailer from that customer over to a repair facility in Ohio? It is an 850 mile round trip, and you can bob-tail back to the customer after dropping the trailer." Bingo! I just effectively turned what was going to be about 125 bucks of detention pay into 425 dollars of real truck driving pay! It is going to be another great week after all. It was easy, it was stress free, it was extremely effective.

Here is a look at the damaged trailer that I hauled over to Perrysburg, Ohio (Just outside of Toledo) Some of this equipment gets pretty beat up out here.  Rookie drivers are famous for making mistakes and tearing stuff up, but this was actually done by the "Yard Dog" at the SAPA plant in Cressona, PA. "Yard Dog" is a term that is commonly used for the small tractor used at a plant where trailers need to be moved around for loading purposes.  The name is also used for the person who drives such a tractor.  He apparently got tangled up with something and tore the fabric on this Conestoga cover.  It definitely needed to be repaired...

Always keep your dispatcher informed of your ETA's (estimated time of arrival) and your PTA's (projected time of availability). These are really effective tools at your disposal - they help your dispatcher keep you busy. All these major carriers have what it takes to keep you busy, their is no lack of freight. What their does seem to be is a disparity of communication when you compare the steps taken by successful drivers and average knuckle-heads out here who are constantly griping about how they are treated by this industry.

Be respectful to your dispatcher, he really does want to keep you busy. Communicate effectively with him so that he has the tools to work with for your benefit. Most of them get paid production bonuses, and that is why they love the types of drivers who do the things I just laid out for you in this scenario. He was thrilled that I not only wanted to do more, but was capable of taking the steps that enable him to give me more to do. Drivers and dispatchers are a working team, we are not "Us against Them."

Here's an additional and amusing bit of information on this same subject. The guy who was complaining about C.R. England got some responses from someone who used to be a driver for Knight Transportation. That driver kept on referring to how he couldn't get the needed miles at Knight, so now he was with a "much better" company. It is a typical example of what I am trying to illustrate here. We need to focus on ourselves, and how we manage the maze of what it takes to succeed out here. I am with Knight, and if I could possibly run more than my average of about 3,200 - 3,400 miles per week they would be doing what they could to help me get there!

She's Gone

"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes - it is in the every day things around us that the beauty of life lies."

                                                                        -Laura Ingalls Wilder


Let me apologize to those of you who were looking for an update on my travels with my wife and our dog "Trixie."  They got off my truck today, and I am already missing them both.  It was very different having passengers along with me, but very enjoyable.  I was saddened when they left.  I am back to my regular old routine of being alone, but that is just part of the job of being an over the road truck driver.  The separation from your family only makes you appreciate them that much more.  A fine time was had by us all.

We had originally planned for her to stay with me for one week, but we ended up doing two, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves through it all.  Having my family with me has always been a treat.  All three of my girls have ridden with me, and now I can add that my wife has ridden with me too.  I must admit that I was preoccupied with having her along, and I just never took the time to write anything about it here.  Let me first share with you where we went together.  Our first trip started at the SAPA plant in Delhi, Louisiana and we went to Connecticut, a fairly typical load for me.  Here are the customers, and their locations, that we made deliveries to on that first leg of our journey together...

✔ Yarde Metals in Southington, Connecticut

✔ Porcelen in Hamden, Connecticut

✔ Stanley Access Technologies in Farmington, Connecticut

Kim was happy to get to go up into the New England area and enjoyed the scenery along the way.

We had one little mishap where she fell out of the tractor while trying to climb out at a truck stop.  She got a few bruises but was not hurt badly.  By the way, did you know that falling from the tractor is the most common injury that happens to over the road truck drivers?  That is a true fact, and an interesting little piece of trucking trivia for those of you who may be interested.  I felt bad because I had neglected to go over with her about how important it is to maintain three points of contact at all times when climbing down from the tractor.  After that I probably got on her nerves reminding her, each time we stopped, to use three points of contact.

Our back haul load picked up from the SAPA plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania and had two stops on it.  I took her to breakfast at Jean's place while we were in Cressona, and she got to meet my friend Jean.  I've posted in here a couple of times about this very small little restaurant, and we had a typical visit there with Jean spending some time with us at our table conversing about my life and travels as an over the road truck driver.  It was a pleasant experience for us all.

We made both our deliveries in Tennessee to the following customers...

✔ Great Dane Trailer Manufacturing in Huntsville, Tennessee

✔ IMC Aluminum Fabrication in Unicoi, Tennessee

Then we ran empty back to Delhi thinking that my wife would go home from there.  On our way back I got a message from my dispatcher informing us that our next load would take us on a good long trip with multiple stops that would final up in Fairfax, Vermont.  Well, that was just too much for her to bear, since she had already told me that she would really like to see Vermont some time.  Just as she made up her mind to stay with me another week, I got a call from my dispatcher letting me know that our much anticipated trip into Vermont was getting cancelled!

He went over a list of available loads that we could choose from, and one particular one caught my attention.  It had it's final stop up in Farmington, Minnesota, but it also had two things about it that I knew would interest my wife, so I told him to put me on that one.  Allow me to insert a tip here for any future truck drivers following along in here.  This is how you can be treated when you have proven yourself to your company as the type of driver who always gets things done.  I get preferential treatment all the time.  Getting to pick and choose my loads is a common occurrence for me.  I'm not trying to boast or sound proud here, I just want to show the pleasant realities of a career that is much maligned by the naysayers who slander their employers and talk badly about being "force dispatched" by Nazi dispatchers.  The drivers who are recognized as movers and shakers in this business are highly respected and often times treated like royalty.

Okay, as I am sure you are wondering by now, I will share with you what the two things were about this load that I knew would interest my dear wife.  First off, it had two stops in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the delivery appointments would allow us to spend a little down time there.  Secondly, it had a stop in De Smet, South Dakota.

Well, that would allow us to spend some time with our long time close friends in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jim and Virginia Rogers.  We've known them both since before we were married, and we've been married 35 years!  They both turn 88 years old this year, and I try to see them as often as I get the chance.  This was a special treat for Kim.  Jim outdid himself by cooking us a delicious meal of smoked chicken with baked potatoes and homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Here's a shot of Kim and Virginia enjoying seeing each other on the couch in their living room...

For you to understand our connection with De Smet I need to give you just a little family history, or background.  During the years that we were raising our three little girls we spent a lot of time reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to them.  We have always had a wonderful family life together, but one thing that was always special for us was reading together in the evenings.  We purposely never owned a television, and that one unusual action alone made our family life very different from most folks.  Each of us has fond memories of snuggling up in the bed together, or maybe sitting around a nice fire in the fire-place on a chilly winter night, cozily reading together of those adventurous pioneer experiences of the Ingall's family.  So, while in De Smet, I took a little extra time and we looked around at some of the things that the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society there has to offer to the tourist who happen to travel through the area.

We toured the home that "Pa" built in town, and even learned some things that we didn't know about the Ingalls family from our many readings of the books.  The tour started at this lovely little home where the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society spearheads their tours...

The tour included the original Surveyors cabin, and a replicated building like the one room school house along with a restored covered wagon from the time period.  Here is a shot of Kim and Trixie standing on the small porch of the house that Pa built in town.  The house was originally much smaller, but they added on to it as time and money allowed.  It stands today with much of the original materials still preserved for the many fascinated onlookers who show up to see it...

I got a kick out of the restrooms that we came across at a De Smet city park while we were out walking our dog.  The whole town here has embraced the legacy of having such a famous author spend some of their lifetime here.  Instead of having a sign that indicates which restroom is for the men or the women, they just used those familiar and affectionate words of Laura's for her parents, to indicate which gender belonged in which side of the building.

We did have one slight problem on this little trip, and that was the struggle for who was supposed to get to ride in the passenger seat.  It seems that Trixie thought we had made this trip just for her, and therefore she thought the passenger seat was her right and privilege.  On the other hand Kim seemed to think we had taken this adventure for her pleasure, and so the struggle for dominance ensued and endured throughout the trip.  Sometimes I would look over there in the passenger seat and see something like this...

Other times I might look over there and see a negotiated compromise going on which usually looked something like this..

While Trixie seemed to prefer that seat all to herself, she was willing to share it, as long as she could come and go as she pleased.  That dog took her duties seriously on this trip, and she was determined that we had brought her along for extra security.  She was fierce when anyone got too close to our truck!  Who knows what goes on in a dog's head?  I only know that she was determined that we had brought her along for a reason, and she was intent on taking care of her important business.

We made our way back to Delhi with some return materials that we had picked up while in Tulsa, which made for a nice leisurely back haul trip for us.

We had a great time together.  Both of us enjoyed this trip very much.  I am hoping we get to do it again sometime soon.  We got to see some of the country together, and we took the time to see some old friends along the way, and enjoy our little connection with De Smet while there.  Overall, I'd say that was a great trip together!  This is a demanding career, but you don't have to be a slave to it, nor tyrannized by it's demands.  You can enjoy yourself out here, and it is important that you do.  I certainly do, and it makes it all worth while when you can enjoy what you do, and make a great living at it too.

She's gone, but not forgotten.  I think of her constantly, and speak with her daily.  She's as much a part of me as I am of her.  Our separation is momentary, but our love and affection is forever ongoing.  It is a difficulty that the Over The Road driver endures, but he bears up under it knowing that he is doing a job that helps to keep our economy humming along.  I love my wife, and I love my job.  Keeping those two things in balance is a rewarding challenge that many fail to do.  I hope I can look back at the end of my days and know that I did just that.