Today's Thoughts 5/28/12 A Nutter Letter. Letters Do Work
By Jeff Head
Hello,
I am writing to you as a Commercial Truck driver holding a CDL license with concerns about points recently added to my CSA 2010 Score. As luck would have it, I was recently involved in a wreck that was of no fault of any of the three of us that remained at the scene. Not one of the three drivers involved found themselves issued a ticket and as you can see in the police report included, that the fault of the wreck was giving to a flying tire that no one has any clues as to its origin. My concern is that now just for the fact that I was present and involved in the wreck through no fault of my own, I now have points against my record.
This is of concern to me because as an owner operator in the trucking industry, my CSA 2010 score is used to determine my eligibility to find and obtain work. The higher the score, the less likely I am to be able to survive in the business. As the FMCSA has things set now, just because I was there, I get points. This I believe is very unfair and needs to be changed. I take very seriously my role in ruining safe and legal while transporting goods across our great nation. I have worked long and hard as an individual towards this end also. Let me explain.
As you can see by the report that I have included for you and also sent in to my company at the time of the wreck, my actions during the wrecked possibly saved the driver of the Hondas life. This was done by not slamming on my brakes and causing him to rear end me a second time. Being that the first impact removed the safety factor of my ICC bumper, which as you know is designed to keep people from losing their heads in a rear end collisions; a second impact very well might have caused this man's death. Years of professional driving and experience has taught me how to react calmly in such situations.
Now while I do not believe I am entitled to any great rewards for my actions, I certainly do not believe I should be punished for doing the right thing or just because I was there. Not one person that might read this letter can guarantee any better than I can that they will on any given day not find themselves in the same situation. No one should be punished for the actions of others or simple acts of God.
Now, as the author of the book, "Running Legal Blues" and also of multiple articles over the years, (included) I find myself seeing the most interesting changes with truckers concerning CSA 2010 and statements coming from the FMCSA to the effect that they are going to regulate truckers until there is not one wreck between cars and trucks. And that change being "Why try?"
The reason I wrote my book and continue to write articles is to help truckers find their way to running safe and legal. For years I have worked this and with much success, and as safe and legal truckers grew in numbers, the FMCSA continued to regulate without regard as to the difference between a safe and legal truck driver and that of a renegade. So much so that now, even for just being there and taking actions that save lives, safe and legal drivers find themselves with points against them that could ruin their career.
No one, not even God himself could navigate the minefields of over regulation that now exists in the trucking industry. Twenty years ago, I heard the fact that there was nineteen feet of shelf space on the federal level just for trucking, not to mention each state, county, city, and whatever regulatory entity you might wish to throw in here. Can you imagine how many rules and laws have been added since I first drove a truck back in nineteen eighty? All this having the effect that safe and legal truck drivers find themselves bankrupt trying to comply while the renegades just continue to ignore the regulations and truck on.
Why try for me means that I have no intention of continuing my trucking career if all it takes to end it is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why should I invest thousands in new and safer equipment when I know that a mis-place object out of nowhere can be the final straw that shuts me down? If you want safe and legal drivers to remain out here on the highway, then you must protect us from those that would do us harm. Even if that harm comes from an over eager but well meaning government.
One final request please, take the time to understand that there are thousands of us safe and legal truck drivers out here. We may not wear a badge are work for the FMCSA, but we care and have just as much interest in keeping our nation's highways safe as the ones that do.
Thank you for your time.
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Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Bumps
Today's Thoughts 5/24/12 Bumps
It is early this morning when I wake up, not quite six thirty yet. Too early to start looking for a load I am thinking and I have already been sitting here for two days now with nothing going anywhere I want to go that pays worth a darn. Today is the day I am thinking that I decide to search yet another day or just deadhead a thousand miles to better paying freight. It is even too early to make that decision so I decide on a shower then breakfast. I turn on Sammy's light and say good morning to her as she sits there winking at me and head in towards the big building to get things rolling.
After my shower, I head toward the restaurant and after looking but not finding that quite corner I usually head for, I decide to sit next to a couple of drivers that had been friends for years and had once again crossed paths. They were as most of us drivers do from time to time taking a little time to catch up with each other and talking over old times. I try not to eavesdrop but it is hard, as they are talking loud enough to be easily over heard by anyone close by. My mind tries to think of the things I have to do today, but what this one driver is saying is definitely yanking me out of my world and deeply onto his.
"It was about two in the morning" he is saying, " when I hear this knock on my door so I get up and roll down the window. There stood this little girl about eight years old. She was not even old enough to have bumps yet and she is asking me if I want some company." Well, as you can imagine, there is no me trying not to mind my own business any more at this point.
So the driver continues, "I tell her no and she ask me for a cigarette. I offer her one and she asked me to light it for her so I did." he goes on to say that after she left, he went back and laid in his bunk a long time thinking about what had become of our world before he was able to go back to sleep.
So now it is time for me to jump in, I ask if he had called the cops. He said no, it had not occurred to him at the time. So I ask if he knew about "Truckers Against Trafficking? I went on to say that, that little girl was probably one that we had heard about in the news somewhere that had been kidnapped and then forced into being a sex slave. He thought about it for a minute and replied that he had heard of TAT but he really knew nothing about them. So I spent the next twenty minutes of my life explaining all about the program. Even as I left I went up to the fuel desk, grabbed to brochures that are there in any TA truck stop and walked them back to the drivers in the restaurant. I asked him to look it over and to give them a call and let them know where and when all this happened, it might lead to the rescues of someone's child.
So now, I am mad. I have been that way all day long just thinking about what kind of sub human pig would take a child so young and prostitute her out for any reason let alone money. I know the driver I met this morning was caught off guard his and now having time to understand what he was faced with will know how to handle it better in the future. He was a good man for if he were not, that child would have been in his truck. Now let a young child like that knock on my door and that sub human piece of pig crap that forced them to knock on my door had better hope the police find them before I do. That young girl will go home before I let them go back to those that are, well, I am just too pissed to finish this.
Us truckers are out here on the front lines. Everybody looking to make a quick buck thinks that all truckers are out here away from home just looking for some trouble of our own to get into. I am here to tell them that if it is trouble that they think I am all about, let them try to sell me a young child. They will find out real quick just what a decent hard working person like this trucker likes to try to be will show them.
TAT, Truckers Against Trafficking. If you do not know who and what they are, learn. If someone you know does not know who and what they are, teach them. Let's get these sub human pigs off our streets and return some long lost children back home, where they belong.
By Jeff Head
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It is early this morning when I wake up, not quite six thirty yet. Too early to start looking for a load I am thinking and I have already been sitting here for two days now with nothing going anywhere I want to go that pays worth a darn. Today is the day I am thinking that I decide to search yet another day or just deadhead a thousand miles to better paying freight. It is even too early to make that decision so I decide on a shower then breakfast. I turn on Sammy's light and say good morning to her as she sits there winking at me and head in towards the big building to get things rolling.
After my shower, I head toward the restaurant and after looking but not finding that quite corner I usually head for, I decide to sit next to a couple of drivers that had been friends for years and had once again crossed paths. They were as most of us drivers do from time to time taking a little time to catch up with each other and talking over old times. I try not to eavesdrop but it is hard, as they are talking loud enough to be easily over heard by anyone close by. My mind tries to think of the things I have to do today, but what this one driver is saying is definitely yanking me out of my world and deeply onto his.
"It was about two in the morning" he is saying, " when I hear this knock on my door so I get up and roll down the window. There stood this little girl about eight years old. She was not even old enough to have bumps yet and she is asking me if I want some company." Well, as you can imagine, there is no me trying not to mind my own business any more at this point.
So the driver continues, "I tell her no and she ask me for a cigarette. I offer her one and she asked me to light it for her so I did." he goes on to say that after she left, he went back and laid in his bunk a long time thinking about what had become of our world before he was able to go back to sleep.
So now it is time for me to jump in, I ask if he had called the cops. He said no, it had not occurred to him at the time. So I ask if he knew about "Truckers Against Trafficking? I went on to say that, that little girl was probably one that we had heard about in the news somewhere that had been kidnapped and then forced into being a sex slave. He thought about it for a minute and replied that he had heard of TAT but he really knew nothing about them. So I spent the next twenty minutes of my life explaining all about the program. Even as I left I went up to the fuel desk, grabbed to brochures that are there in any TA truck stop and walked them back to the drivers in the restaurant. I asked him to look it over and to give them a call and let them know where and when all this happened, it might lead to the rescues of someone's child.
So now, I am mad. I have been that way all day long just thinking about what kind of sub human pig would take a child so young and prostitute her out for any reason let alone money. I know the driver I met this morning was caught off guard his and now having time to understand what he was faced with will know how to handle it better in the future. He was a good man for if he were not, that child would have been in his truck. Now let a young child like that knock on my door and that sub human piece of pig crap that forced them to knock on my door had better hope the police find them before I do. That young girl will go home before I let them go back to those that are, well, I am just too pissed to finish this.
Us truckers are out here on the front lines. Everybody looking to make a quick buck thinks that all truckers are out here away from home just looking for some trouble of our own to get into. I am here to tell them that if it is trouble that they think I am all about, let them try to sell me a young child. They will find out real quick just what a decent hard working person like this trucker likes to try to be will show them.
TAT, Truckers Against Trafficking. If you do not know who and what they are, learn. If someone you know does not know who and what they are, teach them. Let's get these sub human pigs off our streets and return some long lost children back home, where they belong.
By Jeff Head
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Friday, May 18, 2012
Six Points Worth Of Moral
Today's Thoughts 5/18/12 Six Points Worth Of Moral
By Jeff Head
I checked my CSA 2010 points yesterday. I was hoping that by now that I would have zero points showing. Not that I ever had any kind of big number, twelve being the highest it had ever been. No such luck though this time around. Remember that accident that I was involved in about a month ago. You know, the one where no one received any kind of a ticket because an object came out of nowhere, sailing through the air, taking out the windshield of a car. Once it hit the car and that driver knocked silly, lost control and in turn hit me in the rear and then another vehicle. You know the accident that the police report said that no one at the scene was at fault; no tickets issued. Well, just for the fact that I, an honest hard working person holding a CDL was there and while involved but not in any way at fault, I get six points added to my CSA record.
I do not get it, why would they want to do this to a person. Do they not know that we safe and legal truck drivers take great pride in keeping a perfect record? Do they not understand that they might just as well have keyed my brand new car and have received the same reaction to my moral, my pride? Why should I or anyone else give one flying flip about even trying to run legal if no matter how safe and legal we drive, they are going to ding us anyway. I did everything right that day including maneuvering my truck to save further damage and lives and they whack me with points against my record.
Now, for the umpteenth time, they are trying to force each truck on the road into using Electronic On Board Recorders again. So all they do with them as far as I can see is use the information to make even more safe and legal drivers into renegades. Maybe it is just me but the authorities have done a very poor job of enforcing needed regulations on the folks that continue to break the rules. All they are doing is creating an environment in which if you even so much as sneeze, you are in some way breaking some trucking rule and therefore should be treated as a killer trucker. I have news for them, I will run safe and save lives long before I run legal and kill someone. If that puts me out then so be it.
As things are now no one, not even God himself can maneuver through the minefields of this over regulated yet poorly enforced trucking hell that our government has created. They have slipped deep into a scorched earth policymaking mentality that they in some way hope will catch enough bad actors and remove them from the industry. Instead, all they are doing is destroying the moral of hard working safe and legal drivers like me. The renegades continue on ignoring the rules, nothing changes.
Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am a little off my rocker in this, but do you not think instead of dinging a driver for doing nothing wrong it might be an idea to maybe say, "Hey driver, great job handling you rig in a safe and professional way the other day." Heck, I would have been happy if no one said or done anything at all. That would at least have kept my perfect record intact and my moral as a driver on the up and up. People work hard to achieve these sorts of goals and to have that destroyed really kind of sucks. It will take three years to clear those points and at this point, I no longer really care. Why should I? If all it takes is for someone else to involve you to destroy your perfect record, then you have no control whatsoever. You cannot win; they will take you out regardless of how hard you try.
So I would like to thank the FMCSA and all their great work tonight for their efforts and their moral destroying regulations. I am quite sure that if they continue on this present path, that it will not be long at all before any reasonable person that wishes to stay within the law will realize that a trucking career will only destroy that goal. That no matter how hard one might try, that you will be dinged for following the rules even faster than if you just ignore them.
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By Jeff Head
I checked my CSA 2010 points yesterday. I was hoping that by now that I would have zero points showing. Not that I ever had any kind of big number, twelve being the highest it had ever been. No such luck though this time around. Remember that accident that I was involved in about a month ago. You know, the one where no one received any kind of a ticket because an object came out of nowhere, sailing through the air, taking out the windshield of a car. Once it hit the car and that driver knocked silly, lost control and in turn hit me in the rear and then another vehicle. You know the accident that the police report said that no one at the scene was at fault; no tickets issued. Well, just for the fact that I, an honest hard working person holding a CDL was there and while involved but not in any way at fault, I get six points added to my CSA record.
I do not get it, why would they want to do this to a person. Do they not know that we safe and legal truck drivers take great pride in keeping a perfect record? Do they not understand that they might just as well have keyed my brand new car and have received the same reaction to my moral, my pride? Why should I or anyone else give one flying flip about even trying to run legal if no matter how safe and legal we drive, they are going to ding us anyway. I did everything right that day including maneuvering my truck to save further damage and lives and they whack me with points against my record.
Now, for the umpteenth time, they are trying to force each truck on the road into using Electronic On Board Recorders again. So all they do with them as far as I can see is use the information to make even more safe and legal drivers into renegades. Maybe it is just me but the authorities have done a very poor job of enforcing needed regulations on the folks that continue to break the rules. All they are doing is creating an environment in which if you even so much as sneeze, you are in some way breaking some trucking rule and therefore should be treated as a killer trucker. I have news for them, I will run safe and save lives long before I run legal and kill someone. If that puts me out then so be it.
As things are now no one, not even God himself can maneuver through the minefields of this over regulated yet poorly enforced trucking hell that our government has created. They have slipped deep into a scorched earth policymaking mentality that they in some way hope will catch enough bad actors and remove them from the industry. Instead, all they are doing is destroying the moral of hard working safe and legal drivers like me. The renegades continue on ignoring the rules, nothing changes.
Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am a little off my rocker in this, but do you not think instead of dinging a driver for doing nothing wrong it might be an idea to maybe say, "Hey driver, great job handling you rig in a safe and professional way the other day." Heck, I would have been happy if no one said or done anything at all. That would at least have kept my perfect record intact and my moral as a driver on the up and up. People work hard to achieve these sorts of goals and to have that destroyed really kind of sucks. It will take three years to clear those points and at this point, I no longer really care. Why should I? If all it takes is for someone else to involve you to destroy your perfect record, then you have no control whatsoever. You cannot win; they will take you out regardless of how hard you try.
So I would like to thank the FMCSA and all their great work tonight for their efforts and their moral destroying regulations. I am quite sure that if they continue on this present path, that it will not be long at all before any reasonable person that wishes to stay within the law will realize that a trucking career will only destroy that goal. That no matter how hard one might try, that you will be dinged for following the rules even faster than if you just ignore them.
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Skinny Police and Motorcycles
Today's Thoughts 5/14/12 Skinny Police and Motorcycles
By Jeff Head
I do like a respectable debate on any good subject. Trucking of course because I am a trucker and politics is always at the top of the list for me. Mix the two and I am in Heaven. Health care in today's world has become one of the top subjects for us truckers because if we do not meet the ever-tightening regulations that seem to come faster and faster every day, we find ourselves sitting at the house on our tail end. Dealing with such things as bankruptcy, divorce and should we or should we not throw a rope over the closet door because we just find no other way out of our government force situation.
Today, some of you might have heard my comment sent in over Face Book to one to the radio talk shows as the host read it; here it is in case you missed it. "A quick note to the Skinny Police ... I like being fat, get out of my face, get out of my life and get out of my Freedom. Have a Great day. "As you can guess, the subject was once again on fat people in America and the cost of the government dealing with the epidemic. The show's host of course had a response in which I found very respectful and factually correct as it goes. I thought the way they handled my comment was very cool as they always do a great show and I expected nothing less.
But I did if you will forgive me want to expand a little on what I think their point of view was as opposed to mine. That view being that the bad habits of fat people cost everyone in America when it comes to health care. This is indeed very true and very true of smoker's, drinkers and people that ride motor cycles. Smokers of course wind up with lung cancer and drinkers can count on problems with their liver. Motorcycle drivers although they do purchase insurance policies to protect themselves, you will find that most policies have a limit and when that limit runs out, the rider in most cases ends up riding the government doles. Therefore, the question is, do we end all activity like riding motorcycles that may end up costing the taxpayer in the end even though that taxpayer has never smoked a cigarette, drank a beer, or rode a motorcycle?
I say no. If we did then we would have to end Mountain climbing, sail boating and even just breathing in all those noxious fumes caused by all those great charity rides you can find motorcyclist doing every summer. The plain fact is that if you were born, you are going to die. No rule made by the government can prevent that. Our country is now fifteen TRILLION dollars in debt and if we are ever going to get out of it we need to stop depending on the government spending more and more money saving us from ourselves and start taking on a little bit of personal responsibility of our own.
If I decide to smoke my lungs out, drink my liver into oblivion or scatter my flesh over the open road riding that motorcycle, no one else should be forced to pay for my mistakes. It is simply impossible for the government to pay for each mistake of over three hundred million Americans. As I said earlier, we are fifteen trillion in the hole as we speak.
That being said, bad things do happen to good people. We are a caring nation and of course, we should help and take care of those that through no fault of their own stupidity, find themselves in need. There is a line in there somewhere that needs to be located and adhered to. I pray we find it soon before we lose our freedoms that our forefathers fought and died for.
BTW .. Great show today, I tried to call in but at last, stupid cell phone ….
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By Jeff Head
I do like a respectable debate on any good subject. Trucking of course because I am a trucker and politics is always at the top of the list for me. Mix the two and I am in Heaven. Health care in today's world has become one of the top subjects for us truckers because if we do not meet the ever-tightening regulations that seem to come faster and faster every day, we find ourselves sitting at the house on our tail end. Dealing with such things as bankruptcy, divorce and should we or should we not throw a rope over the closet door because we just find no other way out of our government force situation.
Today, some of you might have heard my comment sent in over Face Book to one to the radio talk shows as the host read it; here it is in case you missed it. "A quick note to the Skinny Police ... I like being fat, get out of my face, get out of my life and get out of my Freedom. Have a Great day. "As you can guess, the subject was once again on fat people in America and the cost of the government dealing with the epidemic. The show's host of course had a response in which I found very respectful and factually correct as it goes. I thought the way they handled my comment was very cool as they always do a great show and I expected nothing less.
But I did if you will forgive me want to expand a little on what I think their point of view was as opposed to mine. That view being that the bad habits of fat people cost everyone in America when it comes to health care. This is indeed very true and very true of smoker's, drinkers and people that ride motor cycles. Smokers of course wind up with lung cancer and drinkers can count on problems with their liver. Motorcycle drivers although they do purchase insurance policies to protect themselves, you will find that most policies have a limit and when that limit runs out, the rider in most cases ends up riding the government doles. Therefore, the question is, do we end all activity like riding motorcycles that may end up costing the taxpayer in the end even though that taxpayer has never smoked a cigarette, drank a beer, or rode a motorcycle?
I say no. If we did then we would have to end Mountain climbing, sail boating and even just breathing in all those noxious fumes caused by all those great charity rides you can find motorcyclist doing every summer. The plain fact is that if you were born, you are going to die. No rule made by the government can prevent that. Our country is now fifteen TRILLION dollars in debt and if we are ever going to get out of it we need to stop depending on the government spending more and more money saving us from ourselves and start taking on a little bit of personal responsibility of our own.
If I decide to smoke my lungs out, drink my liver into oblivion or scatter my flesh over the open road riding that motorcycle, no one else should be forced to pay for my mistakes. It is simply impossible for the government to pay for each mistake of over three hundred million Americans. As I said earlier, we are fifteen trillion in the hole as we speak.
That being said, bad things do happen to good people. We are a caring nation and of course, we should help and take care of those that through no fault of their own stupidity, find themselves in need. There is a line in there somewhere that needs to be located and adhered to. I pray we find it soon before we lose our freedoms that our forefathers fought and died for.
BTW .. Great show today, I tried to call in but at last, stupid cell phone ….
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Thursday, May 10, 2012
Challenge
Today's Thoughts 5/10/12 Challenge
By Jeff Head
Ok,Ok, I get it. The FMCSA has a job and that job is to save as many lives as it can out on the road from accidents with big trucks. I get it. Heck, you get it. Everybody gets it. I do not believe that there is one living soul on this planet that does not get it. But, and this is a big but, there is one thing I do not get. Why Does the FMCSA put more value on one life over the other? Face it, if you are a trucker, your life means diddlysquat to our government.
Let me see if I can explain this so that everyone can understand just what it is that I am talking about today. The FMCSA makes a rule for the expressed purpose of ensuring that only the safest of truck drivers remain on the road. For each rule that it makes, a certain number of drivers are no longer qualified to drive a truck. Therefore, the FMCSA figures that for each rule it makes, a certain number of lives saved out on the highway can and should be expected. But, what happens to the drivers that find themselves sitting at the house without a job? Does the FMCSA have any idea what happens to this person as they suddenly find themselves without a paycheck, financially ruined. I bet they do not even have a clue if they even care.
So, what happens to a driver that suddenly finds themselves in this situation. Well, the stock market crash back in Nineteen Twenty Nine had people jumping out of the windows committing suicide when they found out that their lives hit such a wall. I wonder if the FMCSA has ever done any studies to follow up on this. To see how many drivers or should I say ex-drivers have chosen this way out to cope with the life saving regulations of the FMCSA.
Financial instability is also one of the number one causes of divorce in this country. Couples finding that they are suddenly unable to pay their bills ripping what used to be a happy home apart. Spouses and children forced onto the government doles with any hopes of a college education for the kids smashed.
Retirement funds used up trying to hold what used to be a happy house together. Sure, a company driver may be able to retrain and unemployment benefits might be available. An owner operator if they are lucky could sell their trucks and find some cash to go on for a bit. However, the stress of being torn out of a life style and being thrown to the wolves for no reason other than you might, repeat, might get into an accident, is a lot for any individual to handle. I can just about bet that the FMCSA has not taken any of this and a lot more if you think about it into account when they add up the lives they claim to save.
Moving on, they count saving the life of one person driving a car out on the road. A driver that statistics show causes the wreck eighty percent of the time in exchange for sending some trucker home that has probably saved more lives with their expert ability to miss these clowns and no one even cares if the driver is found hanging off his closet door next week. Why is my life as a trucker any less valuable then the life of any other driver out on that highway? Why is the damage that I might do to them any more valuable than the damage the government might do to me? I have done nothing but worked to save lives and I certainly bust my butt to stay within the law.
I get it, studies show all kinds of things and if we follow what they say, we can make the highways safer. Cool beans as my sister in law would say. The laws of probability say that if you do something long enough, something bad will happen. So, I want to challenge the folks up there at the FMCSA to stand behind how they regulate for us truckers. I know that if I drive this truck long enough, I will eventually be involved in a fatal wreck at some point in time. Now being that they believe that I should be pulled off the road to prevent this, I challenge the folks at the FMCSA to guarantee that they will never be involved in a fatality wreck in their personal vehicle, or turn in their own driver's license and car before they themselves kill someone. It seems to me that if they are interested in saving lives, they themselves should be the first to stand up and take a stand for safer highways and their own form of keeping them that way.
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By Jeff Head
Ok,Ok, I get it. The FMCSA has a job and that job is to save as many lives as it can out on the road from accidents with big trucks. I get it. Heck, you get it. Everybody gets it. I do not believe that there is one living soul on this planet that does not get it. But, and this is a big but, there is one thing I do not get. Why Does the FMCSA put more value on one life over the other? Face it, if you are a trucker, your life means diddlysquat to our government.
Let me see if I can explain this so that everyone can understand just what it is that I am talking about today. The FMCSA makes a rule for the expressed purpose of ensuring that only the safest of truck drivers remain on the road. For each rule that it makes, a certain number of drivers are no longer qualified to drive a truck. Therefore, the FMCSA figures that for each rule it makes, a certain number of lives saved out on the highway can and should be expected. But, what happens to the drivers that find themselves sitting at the house without a job? Does the FMCSA have any idea what happens to this person as they suddenly find themselves without a paycheck, financially ruined. I bet they do not even have a clue if they even care.
So, what happens to a driver that suddenly finds themselves in this situation. Well, the stock market crash back in Nineteen Twenty Nine had people jumping out of the windows committing suicide when they found out that their lives hit such a wall. I wonder if the FMCSA has ever done any studies to follow up on this. To see how many drivers or should I say ex-drivers have chosen this way out to cope with the life saving regulations of the FMCSA.
Financial instability is also one of the number one causes of divorce in this country. Couples finding that they are suddenly unable to pay their bills ripping what used to be a happy home apart. Spouses and children forced onto the government doles with any hopes of a college education for the kids smashed.
Retirement funds used up trying to hold what used to be a happy house together. Sure, a company driver may be able to retrain and unemployment benefits might be available. An owner operator if they are lucky could sell their trucks and find some cash to go on for a bit. However, the stress of being torn out of a life style and being thrown to the wolves for no reason other than you might, repeat, might get into an accident, is a lot for any individual to handle. I can just about bet that the FMCSA has not taken any of this and a lot more if you think about it into account when they add up the lives they claim to save.
Moving on, they count saving the life of one person driving a car out on the road. A driver that statistics show causes the wreck eighty percent of the time in exchange for sending some trucker home that has probably saved more lives with their expert ability to miss these clowns and no one even cares if the driver is found hanging off his closet door next week. Why is my life as a trucker any less valuable then the life of any other driver out on that highway? Why is the damage that I might do to them any more valuable than the damage the government might do to me? I have done nothing but worked to save lives and I certainly bust my butt to stay within the law.
I get it, studies show all kinds of things and if we follow what they say, we can make the highways safer. Cool beans as my sister in law would say. The laws of probability say that if you do something long enough, something bad will happen. So, I want to challenge the folks up there at the FMCSA to stand behind how they regulate for us truckers. I know that if I drive this truck long enough, I will eventually be involved in a fatal wreck at some point in time. Now being that they believe that I should be pulled off the road to prevent this, I challenge the folks at the FMCSA to guarantee that they will never be involved in a fatality wreck in their personal vehicle, or turn in their own driver's license and car before they themselves kill someone. It seems to me that if they are interested in saving lives, they themselves should be the first to stand up and take a stand for safer highways and their own form of keeping them that way.
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Monday, May 7, 2012
Sammy
Today's Thoughts 5/7/12 Sammy
By Jeff Head
Sammy spent the first day in the truck today, over five hundred miles and not one complaint did I hear. Sammy is my new truck pet that I picked up while I was at the house last weekend. Over the years I have had several cats and I considered another one but with the truck getting older and all the anti idling laws, things getting hotter, I decided against getting another cat. That is too bad though because I found taking care of a cat in a truck not only to be easy, but lots of fun too. Nope, this time I wanted something that would stand up to the desert like conditions that truckers find themselves forced to deal with. Something that I knew could take the heat in the summer, but also easy to keep warm in the winter. What I decided on was a Bearded Dragon. They love it when the temperature sits around one hundred and ten degrees. Perfect for how a trucker is supposed to get their rest in today's world.
For those that do not know, A Bearded Dragon is a lizard that can grow to over two feet long. Sammy right now is just a baby measuring just a little longer then my finger from head to tip of tail. I feel like Godzilla trying to pet a baby chick every time I go to do something with Sammy. I picked Sammy for a name because it will be several months before anyone can tell if Sammy is a boy or a girl. I figured this name would work either way. Also, when Sammy grows up, Sammy will be able to have the run of the truck just like a cat or dog would and develop a personality all of its own just like any other pet. Sammy acted like a Sammy, so there you go.
Learning how to take care of Sammy has been a bit confusing. Everyone seems to know the correct way of doing so but it is kind of like finding a good CB shop. The one you are at always knows better than the one you just left. So, while one will tell me not to feed carrots for instance, the next guy will say feed all you want. One says no preservatives while I know someone that feeds hers oatmeal cookies. I think I am going to look at it like this, If Sammy will eat it and I know for sure it will not hurt Sammy, then that is what will work. So far, mealworms and blueberries seem to be the favorite meal. However, I am told that they will get tired of the same food all the time so to be ready to change up the menu. I also keep a mix of salad stuff in with Sammy so food is always ready and available.
I made Sammy a little home complete with swimming pool, hideaway and of course a UVB light/heat lamp for those cloudy days. It will do for now I think but as Sammy grows; I will have to continuously changing the housing thing up. Of course later on, while I am driving, I expect that the dash will be the prominent place to find Sammy catching a few rays as I drive down the road. Funny, that is where all my cats used to love to ride. I have gotten some weird looks from drivers as the notice a fur ball with four legs sticking straight up. Copy Cat was good for that one. I cannot wait to see the reaction of a lizard sitting up there.
Of course Sammy will need a bath daily and will learn to sit on my shoulder as I walk around in the sunshine that all lizards need to survive, I am told at least thirty minutes a day. That should help get me out of the truck more often and get me some exercise. Of course having a pet in the truck is supposed to do that for you. It is also good to have something to worry about other than just all trucking all the time. A person needs a break from the everyday drudge so that they can better tend to themselves both physically and mentally. I guess that is why I have always enjoyed my truck pets. They do way more for me then I could ever do for them. I am looking forward to sharing time with Sammy.
Well, I guess that is about it for now. I am sure that with my ability to screw things up, (being a man and all) that I will have some narrow escapes with Sammy. It is all well and good though, you can count on Sammy having a great home and being well taking care of and just you know, Sammy will be quit spoiled before too long. Just as quick as I can learn how to spoil a lizard. Did I just say that, man I need a life .
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By Jeff Head
Sammy spent the first day in the truck today, over five hundred miles and not one complaint did I hear. Sammy is my new truck pet that I picked up while I was at the house last weekend. Over the years I have had several cats and I considered another one but with the truck getting older and all the anti idling laws, things getting hotter, I decided against getting another cat. That is too bad though because I found taking care of a cat in a truck not only to be easy, but lots of fun too. Nope, this time I wanted something that would stand up to the desert like conditions that truckers find themselves forced to deal with. Something that I knew could take the heat in the summer, but also easy to keep warm in the winter. What I decided on was a Bearded Dragon. They love it when the temperature sits around one hundred and ten degrees. Perfect for how a trucker is supposed to get their rest in today's world.
For those that do not know, A Bearded Dragon is a lizard that can grow to over two feet long. Sammy right now is just a baby measuring just a little longer then my finger from head to tip of tail. I feel like Godzilla trying to pet a baby chick every time I go to do something with Sammy. I picked Sammy for a name because it will be several months before anyone can tell if Sammy is a boy or a girl. I figured this name would work either way. Also, when Sammy grows up, Sammy will be able to have the run of the truck just like a cat or dog would and develop a personality all of its own just like any other pet. Sammy acted like a Sammy, so there you go.
Learning how to take care of Sammy has been a bit confusing. Everyone seems to know the correct way of doing so but it is kind of like finding a good CB shop. The one you are at always knows better than the one you just left. So, while one will tell me not to feed carrots for instance, the next guy will say feed all you want. One says no preservatives while I know someone that feeds hers oatmeal cookies. I think I am going to look at it like this, If Sammy will eat it and I know for sure it will not hurt Sammy, then that is what will work. So far, mealworms and blueberries seem to be the favorite meal. However, I am told that they will get tired of the same food all the time so to be ready to change up the menu. I also keep a mix of salad stuff in with Sammy so food is always ready and available.
I made Sammy a little home complete with swimming pool, hideaway and of course a UVB light/heat lamp for those cloudy days. It will do for now I think but as Sammy grows; I will have to continuously changing the housing thing up. Of course later on, while I am driving, I expect that the dash will be the prominent place to find Sammy catching a few rays as I drive down the road. Funny, that is where all my cats used to love to ride. I have gotten some weird looks from drivers as the notice a fur ball with four legs sticking straight up. Copy Cat was good for that one. I cannot wait to see the reaction of a lizard sitting up there.
Of course Sammy will need a bath daily and will learn to sit on my shoulder as I walk around in the sunshine that all lizards need to survive, I am told at least thirty minutes a day. That should help get me out of the truck more often and get me some exercise. Of course having a pet in the truck is supposed to do that for you. It is also good to have something to worry about other than just all trucking all the time. A person needs a break from the everyday drudge so that they can better tend to themselves both physically and mentally. I guess that is why I have always enjoyed my truck pets. They do way more for me then I could ever do for them. I am looking forward to sharing time with Sammy.
Well, I guess that is about it for now. I am sure that with my ability to screw things up, (being a man and all) that I will have some narrow escapes with Sammy. It is all well and good though, you can count on Sammy having a great home and being well taking care of and just you know, Sammy will be quit spoiled before too long. Just as quick as I can learn how to spoil a lizard. Did I just say that, man I need a life .
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Saturday, May 5, 2012
Bad Day
Today's Thoughts 5/5/12 Bad Day
By Jeff Head
Knock knock knock, I pick up my watch and press the light button, one forty five in the morning. Knock knock knock, "I have only been asleep about three hours," I say to myself as I slowly rise up from my bunk without making a sound. I part my sleeper berth curtains just a bit to see what I expect to be a girl standing just outside of my truck only to find some guy standing there. "What the heck does he want? Not me I am hoping, probably just money or something like that. I am sure he has some hard luck story that he feels that it is ok to go around truck stops waking up truckers for in the middle of the night asking for a handout. I sit motionless watching him until he finally gives up and walks away.
It is now four in the morning and I still have not been able to get back to sleep. I am tired of just laying here looking at this stupid ceiling, my mind racing with thoughts and wondering if that guy is not hanging around stealing something off of my truck. My logbook says I can run, but I'm hungry so I figure I would take a chance and walk inside to the restaurant and grab a early morning breakfast before I start out. The waitress is young and snotty and very quickly informs me that breakfast will not be served until after six. I am at a truck stop and cannot get breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. This sucks big time I am thinking. Nevertheless, I deal with it. I order a hamburger and fries and figure I would stay away from the caffeine for now so I just get water to drink.
A few minutes later and I am half way through my hamburger and all the way through my water. The waitress is over in the corner bad mouthing truck drivers to a person that turns out to be a cop. He is just chuckling, going along with whatever she says until he finally decides to get up and pay his bill. I am thinking more so just to get away from this complaining waitress then it is time to get back to work. As he walks out the front door, the waitress walks to the kitchen and I sit there dying of thirst. I finish my food and wait for her at the cash register. She asks if I would like a water to go but I am done with her. Good luck with tips working here, not liking truck drivers I think as I walk out the door; I left her a quarter.
Finally out on the interstate just me and one other car. I cannot shake them, they insist on riding just off the rear of my trailer one lane to the left, their headlights glaring in my mirror. I speed up, I slow down; nothing. They are just going to hang there. So I find a exit and jump off letting them go on by, then I continue north for about an hour until I find a rest area and a place to take a nap.
I sleep for about an hour when the driver next to me needs to beat on his truck in an attempt to fix something. He slams his hood down and leaves, but I am awake again so I am off to. I ride along for a while and I figure I need to pick up some fuel. I have about five miles to go and I come across this U-Haul truck doing about fifty-five. I start to change lanes to pass him when a flat bed load of lumber come flying by getting right up on the tail of another car that was already passing the U-Haul. The flat bed finally slows down just about two feet before hitting the car and now he is stuck in perpetual drag and fly mode on the hills. He never is able to pick up his speed again so I spend the next ten minutes stuck behind that slow U-haul blocked in by the drag and fly flat bed.
I make it finally to the fuel-island, fuel then park and go inside for a shower. I throw my baseball cap up on the sink next to the faucet and then I put my phone and watch and all the contents of my pockets in it so I do not forget to take them with me when I leave. I brush my teeth, shower and dress.
As I fill my pockets back with all of the contents of my baseball cap, I noticed that they are soaked. My phone and watch being on the bottom were sitting there in a pool of water that had soaked through my cap from the faucet that had leaked out the back all over the counter while I was brushing my teeth. I wonder how much this was going to cost me. I shake the water out of my hat the best I can and now I am wearing a soaking wet hat.
Back outside I notice it is starting to rain. Figures because the night before I had washed my truck and you know that it had to happen this way. Just another hour and a half to the house and with any luck at all, I would make it with no one cutting me off or forcing me to slam on the brakes. My luck was starting to change by now I guess. Just a bit of a back up going through Atlanta and I was home. My wife sitting there waiting for me with a hug, a kiss, and a big welcome home smile. Bad day? May have started that way but now I am home where people love me and care for me. The rest of this day is going to be great.
As for the rest of the world, they are going to have to wait until next week before they get another crack at me. I cannot wait to see what they have planned for me. Whatever it is, I will be ready for them. The world is going to have to try a whole lot harder though if they are going to get me down and keep me there.
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By Jeff Head
Knock knock knock, I pick up my watch and press the light button, one forty five in the morning. Knock knock knock, "I have only been asleep about three hours," I say to myself as I slowly rise up from my bunk without making a sound. I part my sleeper berth curtains just a bit to see what I expect to be a girl standing just outside of my truck only to find some guy standing there. "What the heck does he want? Not me I am hoping, probably just money or something like that. I am sure he has some hard luck story that he feels that it is ok to go around truck stops waking up truckers for in the middle of the night asking for a handout. I sit motionless watching him until he finally gives up and walks away.
It is now four in the morning and I still have not been able to get back to sleep. I am tired of just laying here looking at this stupid ceiling, my mind racing with thoughts and wondering if that guy is not hanging around stealing something off of my truck. My logbook says I can run, but I'm hungry so I figure I would take a chance and walk inside to the restaurant and grab a early morning breakfast before I start out. The waitress is young and snotty and very quickly informs me that breakfast will not be served until after six. I am at a truck stop and cannot get breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. This sucks big time I am thinking. Nevertheless, I deal with it. I order a hamburger and fries and figure I would stay away from the caffeine for now so I just get water to drink.
A few minutes later and I am half way through my hamburger and all the way through my water. The waitress is over in the corner bad mouthing truck drivers to a person that turns out to be a cop. He is just chuckling, going along with whatever she says until he finally decides to get up and pay his bill. I am thinking more so just to get away from this complaining waitress then it is time to get back to work. As he walks out the front door, the waitress walks to the kitchen and I sit there dying of thirst. I finish my food and wait for her at the cash register. She asks if I would like a water to go but I am done with her. Good luck with tips working here, not liking truck drivers I think as I walk out the door; I left her a quarter.
Finally out on the interstate just me and one other car. I cannot shake them, they insist on riding just off the rear of my trailer one lane to the left, their headlights glaring in my mirror. I speed up, I slow down; nothing. They are just going to hang there. So I find a exit and jump off letting them go on by, then I continue north for about an hour until I find a rest area and a place to take a nap.
I sleep for about an hour when the driver next to me needs to beat on his truck in an attempt to fix something. He slams his hood down and leaves, but I am awake again so I am off to. I ride along for a while and I figure I need to pick up some fuel. I have about five miles to go and I come across this U-Haul truck doing about fifty-five. I start to change lanes to pass him when a flat bed load of lumber come flying by getting right up on the tail of another car that was already passing the U-Haul. The flat bed finally slows down just about two feet before hitting the car and now he is stuck in perpetual drag and fly mode on the hills. He never is able to pick up his speed again so I spend the next ten minutes stuck behind that slow U-haul blocked in by the drag and fly flat bed.
I make it finally to the fuel-island, fuel then park and go inside for a shower. I throw my baseball cap up on the sink next to the faucet and then I put my phone and watch and all the contents of my pockets in it so I do not forget to take them with me when I leave. I brush my teeth, shower and dress.
As I fill my pockets back with all of the contents of my baseball cap, I noticed that they are soaked. My phone and watch being on the bottom were sitting there in a pool of water that had soaked through my cap from the faucet that had leaked out the back all over the counter while I was brushing my teeth. I wonder how much this was going to cost me. I shake the water out of my hat the best I can and now I am wearing a soaking wet hat.
Back outside I notice it is starting to rain. Figures because the night before I had washed my truck and you know that it had to happen this way. Just another hour and a half to the house and with any luck at all, I would make it with no one cutting me off or forcing me to slam on the brakes. My luck was starting to change by now I guess. Just a bit of a back up going through Atlanta and I was home. My wife sitting there waiting for me with a hug, a kiss, and a big welcome home smile. Bad day? May have started that way but now I am home where people love me and care for me. The rest of this day is going to be great.
As for the rest of the world, they are going to have to wait until next week before they get another crack at me. I cannot wait to see what they have planned for me. Whatever it is, I will be ready for them. The world is going to have to try a whole lot harder though if they are going to get me down and keep me there.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
Copy and share as much as you want (-:
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