Of Two Minds

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 5/21/13 Of Two Minds

Safe and legal trucking without reprisal, is it possible?  It always seems to me that a driver with this mindset is always in someone's way.  No matter how hard we try, a shipper, receiver, broker or an agent seem to have better ideas then what we do on how to get the job done, according to them anyways.  Out on the open highway, we have to contend with other drivers in other vehicles.  This can be a very challenging experience indeed sometimes.  Folks that drive cars have their way of thinking while we truck drivers have ours.  Often though, the way one driver thinks or perceives a situation is often something different then the other drivers around them. 

 

If I do this right, this article will be accompanied by an uncut video so that you, the reader can watch and make up your own mind.  I can only give you my views and tell you from my vantage point how I seen things.  What the other drivers thought, well, I shall leave that up to you to determine.

 

I am traveling at the posted speed limit one lane out from the right.  I am in this lane because in just a minute, the right lane becomes an exit only lane.  Traffic passes me on the right looking to exit while up ahead, you can see traffic coming down the ramp looking to merge onto the highway just as myself and the traffic on my right will meet them.  Any professional trucker knows that now is the time to take action to avoid a potential bad situation.  One always looks ahead and plans an escape route.  For me, this would have been to move one lane to the left. 

 

As you continue to watch, instead of moving to the lane to my left, I have moved to the left side of my lane giving the traffic on my right as much room as possible to complete the merge.  The lane to the left of me as you will notice, blocked by a speeding over-sized load that has a clear left lane beside him. Instead of moving to the left, the driver of the speeding truck figures that blowing his horn and continuing to mash his gas and continuing to pass me is the correct action.

 

Like I said, of two minds in any situation.  The posted speed limit for regular traffic is sixty miles an hour.  For oversized trucks requiring permits to move their load in the state of Louisiana, fifty five miles an hour is the max.  Instead of noticing a ramp with merging traffic ahead of me and showing some professional courtesy by slowing down or perhaps moving to the lane to his left, the drivers choice was to lay down on his horn and force me into a potential dangerous situation.

 

I know I know, everybody that watches this video will have a different point of view.  Some will side with, "if you cannot run with the big dogs then go sit in the porch."  Others, like me, will say our number one job at on that highway is to protect the lives of the people we share it with." 

 

A safe and legal driver always looks ahead and moves to keep the highway safe.  We look for potential accidents and we do our best to avoid them.  One of our biggest problems in doing this is drivers that have no time to follow the speed limit.  No time to follow the rules of the road as set by the state we are traveling in.  They figure that because they are running faster than any one else, that they can force others into bad situations.  Then, when something does go wrong and someone ends up laying there dead in the middle of the highway.  They just speed off and never even look back.

 

We as truckers are the "Knights Of The Highway."  I believe with all of my heart that we have as much a responsibility as anyone wearing a badge to keep that highway safe.  If you are trucker and you simply refuse to slow down, at least try to look ahead and allow others to navigate safely.  I know that you are in a hurry and your load is worth more than the human life you are sharing the highway with each day.  The thing is, the rest of us do not feel that way and would really like it if our loved ones made it home to us once again.  

Drive safe folks, drive sane

God Bless America

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYtX2UrcMho

How Far Will They Go?

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 5/14/13 How Far Will They Go

Allen Smith as many of you know does an awesome Blog Talk Radio show on Thursday nights that in my opinion rates right up there at the top with the rest of the big names in the trucking radio show world.  A few days ago, a interview with Samuel Burlum about his three part series "The War On Trucking." Mr Burlum on his own account has many distinguishing aspects to his career and I highly recommend that one takes the time to not only listing to Allen's interview on this subject, but that you would also seek out and read all three articles in his three part series by Mr. Burlum himself.

 

Having listened to the show and then read all three articles myself.  I found this war on trucking something that I could relate to as I am living out every word of it in real life as we speak.  I wondered how I might find myself getting involved more deeply into this subject.  How can we as not only truckers but also Americans get involved and turn this thing around.  I have known for some time now and many may remember me saying, to save the trucking industry, one must first save our country from the dangerous path that we find ourselves taking. 

 

What I did not know was just how far our government is willing to go to achieve their goals in shutting down the things that the new politically correct atmosphere we find ourselves in no longer wishes us to have.  To find the answer to this question all I had to do is simply type the following into my search engine. Let me warn you, be prepared to be sickened by the results.  1:12-cv-1066

 

What you will find here is a law suit against the American  Environment Protection Agency, known as the EPA, under the Obama administration,  performing human experimentation in an attempt as I understand it to go after industry, including trucking as you might have guessed, over diesel exhaust emissions particulates known as PM2.5. 

 

A quick rundown of the allegations include how the experiment was set up and run.  A truck, placed outside of a building piping in its exhaust fumes mixed with additional air into a gas chamber inside.  Here a clear plastic pipe, secured to a live human test subject who then for two hours would breathe in PM2.5 at levels 21 times or more what the EPA itself says is a safe rate for humans.  The test subjects themselves according to the complaint were never properly told this fact.  The EPA reportedly has actual pictures of the gas chambers complete with humans inside.

 

Other allegations include the use of unhealthy test subjects.  Subjects included the elderly and people with asthma, high blood pressure, or such things as metabolic syndrome.  As you might have guessed, several subjects ended up in the hospital due to complications resulting from their poor health mixed with the outcome of the test. Breathing PM2.5 is known to dramatically reduce one's life span.  I could go on, but what would be the point? 

 

Anyone knowing history knows what happened to Jews by Hitler in WWII.  You can find the exact same method used at several of the death camps.  The people involved with that, hunted down.  Many then convicted of war crimes.  A horrible, horrible chapter in human history yet in today's world, to prove a point, to destroy not only the trucking industry, but also America itself, our own government under the Obama administration sinks to the level of the lowest point in recent human history.

 

I will say it again folks, to save our industries, our lively hoods, we must first save not only America, but also all of our countries.  It is time to take our world back.  Get involved.

 

God Bless America

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Of Kittens And Lizards

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 5/14/13 Of Kittens and Lizards

 "Oh how cute" I was thinking to myself as I watched a video sent to me by a friend on Face Book. I find myself watching as a little kitten about six weeks old exploring for its first time a couple of Bearded Dragons out for a walk around the house. One of the two Beardies moves ahead and the kitten follows close behind forgetting all about the second dragon that is now behind the kitten. You know what happens next, the dragon left behind decides to catch up to the off guard kitten and the kitten freaks. I laugh my butt off as the kitten jumps up in the air, lands on its feet and proceeds to do a spin out on the slick hard wood floor to get away from the dragon that scared it. In the background, you can hear the kids just giggling up a storm at all the action. A real feel good video for sure that is fun to watch and sure to leave a smile on your face.

 

 Smile I did as I shared the video out amongst my friends in the Bearded Dragon world.  It took about two seconds for that smile to come off my face as I was informed what a beast I was for posting such a video.  Did I not realize the dangers of letting a cat and a Bearded Dragon near each other?  Did I not realize the consequences of such a meeting?  Why was I promoting such activities as this?  Children all over the world would copy what they had seen.  Bearded Dragons disfigured or killed by the thousands.  All due as you can guess by my posting a funny video.  Me, loved moments before, then what a crud I had become in the time span of about two seconds.

 

 I see several things form all of what happened today.  First is the fact that Bearded Dragon lovers come in second to no other group when it comes to loving and caring for their Beardies.  Not only do they watch out for their own pets, but they also watch out for Beardies all over the world as if they were their own.  This speaks highly of them for sure.  The thing I guess that gets me about that is in their over zealousness to protect Beardies, they sometimes forget the best way to get the wanted results is by using a little bit of honey.  I guess this goes for many other groups also. My point being is instead of alienating someone; take a moment to try to educate them in a respectful manner.  This way you have a better chance of the Beardie in question actually getting the help it needs instead of finding yourself in a battle with a person who no longer has any respect for you or your well-informed information.

 

 As for the funny video itself, pet owners worldwide often keep more than one type of animal on the same premises, a practice that is not soon to stop any time soon.  I myself let my Beardie Sammy run loose in a room with my two cats Peanut and Stinker allowed full access to the room.  Just like our children though, we as parents need to be responsible parents and not only teach our children properly, but we must also responsibly look over them to make sure they are behaving as they are supposed to behave with each other at all times.

 

 The way I do this is by letting them know each other.  I supervise as they grow up together and learn what each other is all about.  I do this because I believe that for a child or an animal, if you teach them about things they are curious about in your presence, then in your absence, they are not so apt to do the wrong thing while you are gone.  Others I am sure will have their own views on this.  After all, how many billions of humans are in this world?  Thinking one or two of us have different opinions on any giving subject.

 

 Point is, sure you can look at a funny pet video and find it funny.  However, as a pet owner, it is your responsibility to watch over your pet and care for it just as it was your own child.  This means that not only do you closely supervise them when they are together, but you also ensure without a doubt that when you are away, that they are contained in such a manner that they cannot possibly encounter each other and remain safe until your return.

 

 Ok, Ok, end of rant LOL.  We all love our pets especially us truckers who spend thousands upon thousands of empty hours and miles on the open road living with them in the small confined space know as the cab of a truck.  So for me I will ask that before you cut off a truck not caring for the driver, at least think about our pets, mine being my Bearded Dragon Sammy.  I might not be worth a darn to you but for me, Sammy means the world.  Let us all try to keep not only her, but also the rest of us safe out on that highway.

 

God Bless America

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Thirty Six Hundred

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 5/12/13 Thirty Six Hundred

I think today, something from an old time trucker to help the new people to the trucking industry.  We all had to start somewhere, it takes time to understand all the little bits, and the pieces that make the big picture work. Therefore, I think from now on I will entertain some questions from the newbie's of the trucking industry and maybe with a little help from my friends, we can help answer some questions and make life on the road a little easier and safer for all of us.  So if you have a question, feel free to jump in and ask.

 

Today the question of speed came up for me, just how fast are you really doing as you travel down the road.  As our trucks age in daily operations, wear and tear on the equipment changes the dynamics of the truck to the point that the speedometer no longer registers correctly.  New tires with deep tread become old and worn out.  Changed tires sizes as well as rear ends and transmission all have their effects.  My truck with well over a million miles on it, worn to the point that the original set up has just become loose and out of adjustment.  All these things are normal wear and tear for a truck.  So how do you really know your exact speed so that you stay away from those unwanted speeding tickets?

 

The answer is just plain old simple math using the base number of thirty-six hundred.  First, always make sure you are not in traffic and have lots of room between you and other drivers when you do this.  Remember, even if you think you are the best driver in the world, the person next to you might just be the worst.  We do not want any mishaps while we figure this out.

 

OK, so here is how it works.  Using a safe method to count seconds like a fixed timepiece on your dash, you count the seconds it takes to travel from one mile post to the next.  Then you simply divide the number thirty six hundred by the number of seconds it took you to travel that mile.  So for an example, sixty seconds of travel time divided into thirty six hundred gives you a speed of sixty miles an hour. Fifty-one seconds comes out to seventy miles an hour.

 

After you get your accurate speed, just compare it to your speedometer and you will know exactly how far off your equipment is.  By knowing this, you can now keep your speed where it needs to be so you will be both safe and legal and hopefully you will not be getting any more of those nasty speeding tickets.

 

 

God Bless America

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Not One Of Us

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 5/6/13 Not One Of Us

There are groups and sometimes just a person out there that demand you think as they think, do as they say, and spout what they tell you to spout.  In addition, if you decide as a free American to walk a different path, one of your own choosing; then you are no longer one of them.  How racist, bigoted or downright uneducated can folks that think like this be in today's world?  Yet, today, I look at a news article and find just that, another story of proclaiming that a person cannot be one of us if that is their view on the subject.  A view that the powers that be have decided should be their view.  Each time I hear this, not always does it seem to be coming from the liberal side of the political house, but it makes me sick to my stomach as well.

 

I have lived this myself many times over in my quest for truckers to be able to run safe and legal without reprisal.  Many viewed my actions as against the trucking industry as a whole when in fact I was working for the betterment of the industry itself.  Called everything but a truck driver many times over and to mention the fact that I spoke with a cop or a government official about trucking issues on my own, well that would send some plum into orbit.  Still, to this day, I will find from time to time a person that will look at me with complete disgust.  Nonetheless, I am and always will be a proud truck driver no matter what people may say that I am.  

 

To sum this all up and attempt to keep this short, this is America.  For those that do not understand our Constitution, let me try to explain it to you.  We absolutely have a right to our own opinions without reprisal from you.  Also and let us be clear on this point, it is our civic duty to educate ourselves on the issues, look you in the face, and explain to you what a moron you are for telling me that I either think like you tell me to think on the issue or I no longer belong to the group.

 

I do not care the word put in front of the word American; it makes no difference to me.  What I do care about is that we are all Americans and that we all have the right to our own political views without being told we are not of you.  The last group I will ever be part of is one that makes me a slave to their mentality. 

 

Go forth people and be free.  Never let anyone tell you who are what you are.  Stand proud in your quest to be your own person, to find your own path, to be a free American. Should you find yourself outside of a group that no longer wishes your presence, just turn around.  Behind you stands the land known as America.  Somewhere there you will find the freedom to be your own person that you so richly deserve to. Look a little deeper and soon you will find many others walking the same path as you. Trust me, you are not alone in your quest.

God Bless America

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Are You The Perfect Trucker?

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/25/13 Are You the Perfect Trucker?

The perfect truck driver, does one exist? For some they believe that they do, that maybe even they are themselves a perfect truck driver.  For others it will never happen that no one could possibly run completely safe and legal one hundred percent of the time.  I know I have been in many conversations where I say I run safe and legal only to find myself being scoffed and ridiculed just for making such a statement. 

 

What is the true definition of a safe and legal truck driver?  Does anyone really know?  I am always saying that about twenty years ago there was nineteen feet of shelf space just on all the regulations to drive a truck on the federal level.  Of course, each state, county, and city has its own thoughts on the matter.  Toss in the EPA with their opinion on the matter then adding each individual's interpretation of those rules and regulations and the true definition of a safe and legal driver becomes something that not even a God could accomplish.

 

Defining a safe and legal driver under such scrutiny is near impossible to do, but it can be done with consideration.  First, we have to realize that we do not live in a perfect world.  Cookie cutter regulations may look great on paper, but out in the real world a driver often finds himself or herself choosing between playing it safe and saving a life, or following the rules and taking a life. Depending on the person looking in and their interpretation of the event, this driver could be called a renegade just as quick as they would be called a hero.  Often I find myself doing the "safe" thing, yet breaking a rule to keep someone alive.  This is because I have chosen life for those I share the highway with over worrying about a ticket.  Does this make me a safe driver?  Perhaps I am the renegade, the answer depends on your interpretation?

 

No driver will ever be one hundred percent considered safe and legal by everyone as long as this world is not perfect.  We will always find ourselves facing situations that make it impossible to do the exact right thing that will please everybody at the same time. In my opinion to consider yourself safe and legal one has to exercise a thought process, let us say a mentality or a life style that leads us up the path of being as safe and legal as we possibly can.  We do this even though we understand the world is not perfect and that we are but human. Then when we find ourselves falling or being forced from this path because life has left us no other choice we know what to do.  We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, and we go right back to being that safe and legal truck driver as we humanly can be depending as I said before, how the person looking at us at this moment sees it.  

 

In our hearts though, we know one thing that is very important to ourselves.  We know that our every waken moment spent behind that wheel is spent being as safe and running as legal as we can.  Because quite simply, we are who we are, safe and legal truckers and no one should ever be able to take that away from us.  Why would they even try?

 

God Bless America

Drive Safe Drive Sane

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Snitch

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/21/13 Snitch

Is that what I am, a snitch that is? Some might call me that I guess as I was called this today by a trucker as he caught me snapping pictures of him two feet of the tail of a car at highway speeds. After that he went on to call me all sorts of nice things. What amazed me most here is the fact that at those speeds and that close to a car full of people, why was he looking out his passenger window at me instead of keeping an eye on the only part of the car in front of him that he could see, the top of it.

 

As usual when I see this going on, I ask the driver to please back off before he kills someone. Some do and others like today take it to a third grade level.  His choice I think to myself as he tells me his company will not fire him and actually rants off his truck and company phone number for all to hear over the CB radio. Then actually dares me to make the call and laughs as he tells me that I will just get laughed at. Then of course the usual next, I am to mind my own business and to drive my own truck.

 

 You see though, this is my business and yours to as a safe and legal trucker like most of us are in today's world. When things go wrong in this type of situation, the ramifications fall to every trucker in the nation. First, another killer truck story hits the newsstands and then politicians climb up on their stumps and what comes out of all that is the drivers and decent companies left out on the road now have to deal with the new regulations designed to stop killer truckers. Then of course we also have to deal with the loss of respect from those that we share the highway with. Our jobs as safe and legal truckers is to protect the traveling public as we share the highway with them, not shove them down the road for whatever reason. So you see, when one acts in an unprofessional manner, we all pay. Even if it is just at a company level, we all pay.

 

As for me being that snitch, sure, why not. And let's not forget all the threats of kicking my butt and the occasional death threats I receive from time to time. The thing is that I remember a time when I said nothing one day. I watched as an eighteen wheeler pushed a car through a construction zone. To this day I can remember the sights and sounds as the world went wrong and that truck ended up shoving not one, but two cars down that highway. To this day I can see clearly in my mind the smoke and debris and the bodies. And to this day I wake up at night and can still hear the scream of that little girl as she turned and seen what was left of her mother laying there half way under what used to be a minivan now nothing more than a twisted pile of metal residing under the front end of a truck. A driver by the way that now calls prison home.

 

I made a promise that day to that little girl and myself and a promise I plan to keep. That promise being to do just one more thing to help stop the needless deaths out on the highway. Each and every day I spend behind the wheel of my truck I try my best to keep that promise. If that makes me a snitch or something worse, so be it.

 

As for today's episode, well, off the pictures go with a letter to the company. Of course, copies will go to the proper authorities. One to the state the event took place in and a second to the state the trucking company resides in. Sure the company might laugh at me. But thinking about the proper authorities, well, we will see if they do any laughing as they knock on the door and ask what has become of this so called trucker they hired that likes to shove people down the road with a big truck with their name on the side of it. Judging from past experience, any laughing comes to a very quick stop right about here.

 

God Bless America 

 Drive Safe, Drive Sane

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Doing It

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/11/13 Doing It

For two days I sat in Cheyenne, WY as winter storm Walda passed over us. I was lucky in a way I guess because just before it struck, my truck needed to go into the shop and I had to get a hotel room.  The Kenworth dealership was nice enough to let my pet bearded dragon Sammy stay in the truck in the shop so that she stayed nice and warm from the freezing blizzard outside. So a really big thank you goes out to them.

 

Yesterday all the restrictions were lifted going west bound so off I go up and over Sherman mountain and out past Laramie, WY. The roads are  still icy and the winds are kicking just a bit but life is manageable. As I get about twenty miles from Rawlings, WY A car passes me on the ice and pulls back in front of me in the right lane and slows down. Many of us truckers knows what is about to happen here, I step out into the left lane to keep my speed up and not have to use my brakes on the ice and the car speeds up not letting me pass. So being a safe and professional trucker, I back out of it so they can go on but the car slows down even more.

 

As luck would have it, the roads dried up about then and I pick up my speed to pass, seventy five miles an hour in this state. Nope, the car is not going to let that happen so I drop my down to forty five and still this car is forcing me to ride two feet off its bumper. Now as a truck driver, it is not my job to know or understand why people do this. Forcing a fully loaded eighteen wheel to stay behind you is crazy especially on a solid sheet of ice. But people will do this and my job at this point is to pull off the highway and let them go about their way.

 

Unfortunately for me, I pull off into a truck stop and right into a two foot snow drift that Walda had left behind. You see out on the road a driver like that will force you to keep your concentration completely on them so that you do not run over them. You end up losing what everyone else is doing and that makes for dangerous driving. When I pulled into that truck stop still muttering under my breath because of this forced unwanted delay, my mind was still on the highway instead of what was going on in that parking lot. People, if you are going  to pass, then pass. Keep moving ahead and do not force the truck you just passed to ride two feet off your bumper. Safe and legal drivers like myself work hard to keep you alive out there and a little help from you would be appreciated. Ok, end of rant but it needed to be said.

 

Anyway, three hours of digging my truck out of the snow drift with help from a flat bedder from Alaska, I was free at last to travel on. I returned the snow shovel to the truck stop that I had borrowed it from and as the driver that had help me refused payment and I was ready for a break anyway, we sat down and I bought him a meal. I figured that was the least I could do.

 

Truckers in today's world are becoming more in tune with safe and legal trucking. We go far out of our way to insure that those highways stay safe for those we share them with. That dedication comes at a price though. Often you hear stories of drivers being fired for refusing to run in an unsafe or illegal fashion. Sometimes the courts will back the driver but all too often they do not. Drivers take a big chance putting their livelihood on the line each and every time they say no when no is the right answer. Yesterday the price to me was three hours of digging my truck out of a snow drift and the aching back that came with it. At least though I can rest easy knowing that my decision to pull off the highway instead of playing stupid head games at seventy five probably saved a life.

 

I wonder sometimes, do people know what us truckers go through sometimes to keep them alive out there? Do they even care? I guess that is not really important though. Recognition is not why we do it. What is important is that we do it and we keep doing it. And personally just from me, a big thank you to all those truckers that believe as I do  and take that extra step every day to keep those highways safe. I know the cost involved in it sometimes can be high. Making that decision though is what keeps people alive and for doing the right thing you deserve to be appreciated for a job well done.  

 

God Bless America

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Going Nuts

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/9/13  Going Nuts

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a house hold word these last few years as our veterans return from decades of wars with terrorist. Growing up I watched General Patton slap a soldier suffering from it in a World War Two movie, but we called it battle fatigue back then. Whatever the name, it is defiantly a real thing in many people's lives. We find all too often our police officers and other first responders have dealt with it. Others too like myself a truck driver, after being on the scene of a horrific wreck; found myself with the symptoms of PSTD.

 

Many that come to know PSTD have systems within their work environment to help them deal with the effects. Others like myself as a truck driver find that they are left to deal with it on their own. Understanding this I decided to venture into finding out just what might be available to find help for those that need it. What happen though is I found out what is happening to those that have already received the help they needed.

 

Going on right now the state of New York is revoking gun permits based on the fact that a person is now or in the past used  anti-anxiety medications. Our veterans in other states are having their Constitutional right to carry a fire arm taken away based on the fact that they were in combat and may have problems resulting from that experience. In short, this latest attempt to disarm law abiding Americans of their Constitutional rights has many people running for cover.

 

So what do these two important subjects, our Second Amendment and PSTD have in common, let me try to explain it for you. For years certain profession have needed to get medically qualified to be able to do their jobs. truck drivers for one but also police, pilots and a host of others. Fail to meet the requirements and you no longer have a job. You are left standing their trying to figure out how to feed your family and pay your bills on your own. The outcome of this has been the fact that one does not tell the doctor anything that will get them disqualified. In short, medical conditions go not only undocumented, but untreated as well.

 

With this new reviewing of medical records with the intent of removing firearms from perfectly safe law abiding citizens, why one might ask would anyone seek help not only for PSTD or any other condition for that matter. I have heard about letters to veterans revoking their rights because they lost an arm or a leg in battle and now the government feels that the stress caused by that leaves a person too mentally unstable to be trusted with a fire arm. These people fought for those rights.

 

As we move forward, understanding how the government is now thinking, why would anyone want to admit that they need to talk to someone about anything. Even if what you are dealing with now will not get your rights as a gun owner taken away, a quick swipe of a pen five years from now could place you on that list.

 

So if you need help, you need help. I am not in any way suggesting that you do not seek it out. What I am saying is that the overzealous actions of a government out of control is forcing people to choose between seeking that help at the risk of losing their rights. Already far too many will not tell their doctors their true medical situation. What is going on now will only increase that number tenfold.

 

I would love to see the need for help come available for truckers like myself. We are out there thousands of miles  and weeks away from home behind the wheel of a large truck. The events of a few days ago need an outlet sometimes and there is nothing available to us at this point in time that I am aware of. Keeping our highways safe is our number one job. I wonder though, how many truckers would seek out that help if it became available if they knew that their rights as an American would be stripped away. I know that I would never myself take that chance. I can only write this because my story is already out there in print. Would I have done that knowing what I know today? I am not so sure.

 

Saving lives on our highways has become a top priority for the truckers of today. We demand more and more to run legal and we walk away from companies that would have us do otherwise. And as important as that is, choosing between keeping our highways safe and keep our Country free, the most important of all things, has just been made into one heck of a conundrum for not only truckers, but anyone that might need a little help.

 

Politically correct thinking will be the downfall of this nation. We need to get over it and back to common sense.

 

 

 

God Bless America

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Jason's Law Truck Parking Survey

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/5/13  Jason's Law Truck Parking Survey

How many drivers are found dead around Dallas, TX? I am not sure because when I looked into it I kept finding story after story of a driver once again found not so alive as they used to be. I think two were beating and robed and another died of unknown causes just last month alone. One thing is for sure, these drivers were forced by the nature of our business to park in areas that were not safe and secure.

 

Over the years I cannot tell you the number of drivers I have personally met or heard about that were robbed because of where they ended up parking for the night. The number of cars that I have seen crammed up underneath a trailer on some ramp next to a over full truck stop. Usually because there was just not enough parking in the area to hold all the truckers that by Federal law had to shut down and take a mandated rest break where there was no place to safely park. It is time that we as an industry stand up and do something about this. It is time that you get involved and here is how you can do it.

 

To  be part of the Jason's Law truck Parking Survey 2013 please email hope.rivenburg@gmail.com and do your part. Hope is once again stepping up to the plate after her great work in getting Jason's Law passed. She as you could expect is not waiting around for the government to get things started. Hope is putting together a survey that will point out to the powers that be just where and when there is a severe lack of safe parking for truckers. Already she has government officials contacting her asking for the outcome of this most important survey. All she needs is truckers like you to take part. What is needed is real world in real time information to make this study as accurate as possible instead of some government dude showing up at a truck stop at three in the afternoon looking at a half empty truck stop wondering what the problem is.

 

Now is the time for all truckers to come to the aid of their industry. Now is the time that you can make a difference. Email Hope at hope.rivenburg@gmail.com and lets us truckers once again lead the way to a safe and legal trucking industry. Let us once again let the world see that we are taking the lead when it comes to keeping our highways safe for all that we share them with. And a special thanks to Hope Rivenburg for given us the opportunity to do so.

hope.rivenburg@gmail.com

 

God Bless America

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"YIKES"

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 3/28/13 "Yikes"

I was happy to have passed my DOT physical again the other day. Just barley though as my doctor was a little concerned about my Diabetes being just a bit high. She increased my medication to help bring it under control. Of course as you might expect, more medication takes time for the body to get used to. Something they forget to tell you about and something you find out about at the most inopportune time. That was me today as I just get myself comfortable for a early afternoon nap back in a quiet corner of the truck stop.

 

As the rumbling starts, I know it is time to make that mad dash inside to the rest room. On goes the pants, then the shirt and the hat; then out the door I go. Half way there I start wondering why I did not just move the truck closer but it is too late to go back now. The rumbling is getting worse as I close the distance to the truck stop door that seems to be getting further away with every step I take. More rumbling and the urgency becomes critical as I finally reach the door and I find myself inside. Across the store, around the corner and into the opening in the wall without a door restroom I go. I find the first stall, enter it, spin around lock the door and safe, I made it just in a nick of time. "WHEW"

 

Easy enough you would think. At least I did until I started wondering what that extra box was for on the left wall. "It is not an ashtray" I think to myself. The answer came soon enough as someone with pretty painted toe nails entered the stall to my right. The last time this happened to me three little old ladies made the mistake. That was scary enough as I just pulled my hat down over my eyes and prayed no one figured out what was going on. But today, yes today, I am the one making the mistake. All I could think of is how am I going to get out of this one without getting caught.

 

So I waited just a second. I listened for any signs that anyone else was in there beside the lady next to me. Nothing, so up come the pants and out the door I go right into a lady walking in with her two little girls. Crap!! "Oh no she says, we are walking into the men's room."  I squeeze by her as fast as I can and say, " Nope, I am the one messing up and I am out of here." I thought she might scream or something but she just laughed at my noticeable embarrassment and out into the hall I went. Right into a bunch of drivers staring at me as they listened to my conversation with the nice lady.  Of course come all the jokes and laughter.

 

Finally, I did make it to the right restroom. For twenty minutes longer then I needed I sat there. I wanted to make sure that anyone witnessing my screw up was long gone when I walked out. As I waited I wondered. Is the universe through screwing with me? Just how many times am I going to find myself taking a dump next to a women in a public restroom in my life? Oh well. I can tell you this much about it though. It is a lot scarier when I am the one messing up then when the lady is at fault. And if you ask me, restrooms should be painted either blue or pink respectively. That way, hurried up folks like me can tell the difference when there just is no time to look.

 

 

God Bless America

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Commie Obamie

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 3/16/13 Commie Obamie

 

If you want to know who anyone is, just look at who they hang around with and what kind of activities they are involved in. This is especially true with this thing we call our leader at the moment. After years of him running America into the ground and watching him and his associates and their activities, in my opinion proves them most likely Socialist at the least, Communist at the worst. I do not think there is anyone left in this country that does not know what the rest of the world already knows and that is the fact that America is being destroyed from an enemy within.

 

Rest assured though that we will survive this crud. And when we do, they will fall back into the shadows as they have done in the past, reorganize, rename and in a few decades resurface to try to destroy the American way of life from within once again. Yes, this has been tried and defeated many times in our history. As long as there are power hungry people that will use the weaknesses of the perceived oppressed it will happen again and again and again.

 

So we must stand strong against Obamie and his commies. Let them know that true American Patriots will never bow to their attempts to weaken us. We must not be afraid to look them square in the eye and tell them that we know who they are and what they are attempting to do to our country. We must let them know that we are willing to fight them tooth and nail to the end if necessary to overcome their dastardly deeds. We must make them understand that true American Patriots will not surrender under any circumstances.

 

So Stand tall American Patriots. Look the Devil in the eye and tell him to kiss you arse. Do so with pride and respect and keep it as clean and legal as possible. Do not fall prey to the notion that this war has been lost. We as Patriots have just begun to fight and we will not do so on their terms. We will use any means necessary within our rights as Americans and within our Constitution as laid out by our fore fathers. But win we will. Yes, know and understand this one fact if nothing else, we will return our nation to its former freedom and once again stand tall as the greatest free nation on earth.

 

God Bless America

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New Horizons

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 3/8/13 New Horizons

Time for a change I think but not all at once though because as we all know, it takes time to plan these things out. It seems like a life time ago since I drove my first truck and after thirty years behind the wheel, I think maybe that it is time to work at being behind the desk for a while. So my lovely bride and I have decided to try our hand at being freight agents.  Not all at once though, no, you're not going to get me off the road that quick. But sooner or later this getting older by the minute truck driver will have to say good bye to the open road that has been my home for so many years.

 

To start with, Janet has been getting things up and running. She already has a good lead on things spending most of the day on the phone chasing down perspective customers. We have found a good broker to work for and with any luck, I should be a millionaire sometime next week. Well, maybe not next week but at least we as a team, we have a good reputation at making a go at the things we have partnered to do over the years. That one fact alone has me confident that we will once again succeed at this business venture too. I can think of no better person then your best friend and also your wife to work with. We always have fun at what we do.

 

It will be slow at first and I will stay on the road for a while longer just yet. But I believe our experience in the trucking industry will be a huge help to us as we work between shippers, receivers and the truckers. One thing I never liked as a driver is talking to a agent that did not have a clue as to what a trucker actually had to do to get the load there on time. Then on the other side of things was a trucker that did not know a whole lot about the freight that they were hauling. By putting us in the middle as your agent, with thirty years experience dealing with all kinds of different situations just about every day, we should be able to smooth out the bumps that will occasionally rise up and help everyone involved to get the load delivered on time.

 

I look forward to this new life, a new career. More than that though, after thirty years of trucking and being married to the same woman, I look forward to spending more time with my wife, Janet. As I said earlier, we have always worked well together and even though we love the trucking life, those long lonely weeks on end away from each other do get a little old after thirty years. So it is time for us to bring the old ways to an end and to begin our new life together.

 

So, Hi, this is Jeff with GRD Freight and I would like to help you with your logistical needs. Just give us a call.

 

 

 

God Bless America

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Road Blocks

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 3/7/13 Road Blocks

Just over five thousand dollars the lady says to me on the phone yesterday as I make inquiries into what I will need to do before I can officially become a candidate for Congress. She thinks anyway because she is not quite sure just how the math works. "Let's see," she says as she goes on to explain that the fee is calculated at three percent of the previous years salary of the position I want to run for. But of course, she is not sure if her numbers are just right.

 

Then we go on to talk about what happens after I jump the five grand road block. When it is that I can actually officially throw my name into the hat. She pulls up the proper codes and starts to explain those rules. "The last Monday and before the last Friday that follows the last Monday of, of." "Let me see, "she goes on. "What month was that now?" Finally she just gives up and we figure that it is best for me to look up the rules myself.  I find myself writing down about six different codes and when I go look them up, I figure out why she was so wishy washy about telling me what the rules are. As I look them over, I find myself thinking that a second grader must have written them. With a little effort though, I think I understand them.

 

In short, to run for the office of Senator in the mid terms elections, I have to show up at the Secretary of State's office on a certain week about six months prior to the election with just over five grand in my pocket. Showing up should be easy enough to do. Coming up with the five grand, not so much. Of course they have that covered to. The paupers part of the regulations. All I have to do to qualify for that is to prove I am dead broke and own nothing. After meeting that requirement, I have to get signed petitions from at least one forth of previous elections voters. Easy enough I guess, if you had the money to do all of that to start with.

 

Always something, always a road block in front of anything that you want to do it seems. If I was a government dependent, I could get in for free. If I was a rich man with five grand pocket change, no problem. But I am a working stiff, you know, the guy being used up by both of these classes. I am the one most needed up there on the hill to represent the middle class that is being destroyed in this country. For me, they make it nearly impossible on my own to even enter the race.

 

Road blocked once again. But as I see it a road block is nothing but another challenge to overcome and I am here to tell you, I love a good challenge. As I have fought the world for truckers to be able to run safe and legal, I over came many challenges and survived to tell the stories. We need men and women in our government that will stand up to the powers that be if we are to return our county to its former greatness. I believe that my work in the trucking industry shows that I can and will do this. That I will not bend to the pressures of those that try and scam the system for their own profit.

 

Well, it's off to see the Wizard as I often say. To take on the world and its road blocks. I am sure I will be finding my way through all of this soon enough. Looking for good people to start building a team seems to be a good start. Seeking out and understanding campaign financing laws I think at this point is a must.

 

God Bless America

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Chain Reaction

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 3/4/13 Chain Reaction

That is the way to do it. You are kicked back at your computer or perhaps reading one of the trucking rags over you lunch down at the truck stop restaurant. As you read along you come across a story  that hits close to home. The subject matter could enrage you are it could fill your heart with joy. Either way, something in you just has to get into action and you find yourself getting involved. That my dear friends is what I call a chain reaction.

 

This is a good thing, or at least I think so. It happened to me today as I tuned in to one of my favorite radio shows and I found myself listening to a story that I had been following. I had not quite made up my mind just yet as to how to get involved. But there they were, another trucking advocate speaking out about a industry problem when poof, it just popped into my head what I needed to do. A few phone calls later and my good intentions were set into motion. So once again today, I have struck another blow towards truckers to be able to run safe and legal. Am I not just so awesome? Well, maybe not so much awesome as I am just a normal every day citizen doing their civic duty. That for me is awesome enough no matter who jumps in to get involved.

 

So this chain reaction thing I am talking about, the advocate on the radio was in some way sparked to do their thing. Their thing sparked me to do mine. With any luck, you my friend may be so inclined to do your thing and the chains builds both in length and in strength. Before long we have thousands of links all joined together working toward our common goal. In today's case, our goal is to help keep parking open so that tired truckers can find a safe place to park. But what about tomorrow. What chain will come our way so that we can add to the previous chain reactions that have already been working toward the next best thing. No one really knows so all we can do is keep an open mind so as that chain comes our way, we can see the opportunity and add our own link to the chain.

 

Get involved folks. No matter what the battle, we have not lost it until we have walked away from it. Safe and legal truck drivers, just too important to not wrap our chains around and win this battle.

 

God Bless America

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Busted

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 2/28/13 Busted

BUSTED. Yup, that is what I got today as I was in the process of busting the driver about four spots away from me. He was emptying that all too famous yellow jug of his out of his passenger side window all over the parking lot for the rest of us to have to walk through. Of course the restrooms not five hundred feet away. Well, at least this time he was not parked right next to me and the contents dumped right on my battery box like some smuck did a few years back. As I tell my story today, what I want folks to understand here that there are a lot of hard working decent family minded truckers out here. And as such, we work hard to clean up our image. We work hard to run safe and legal. But just like the rest of humanity, we all have a few, well, let's say less then desirable characters in our mist.

 

It went down like this. I was sitting in my truck just finishing up my log book and about to put it in gear, when I hear the unmistakable sound of liquid hitting the ground just off to my left. I look over and see the emptying of the contents in the process. From where we were parked, anyone on the property could watch, even from the fuel pumps for the cars. So I reach over and grab my nifty smart phone and start snapping pictures. Then I pick up pad and pen and start writing the trucking company name, DOT number and tag number. Right about here is where I got busted as the driver noticed me making a record of all of this and taking pictures.

 

So he yells out his window, "Driver, do you have a problem?" And I yell back, "Yes sir I do, I do not want to have to walk through all your filth every time I visit a truck stop." I pull forward a bit to get the final bit of information that I could not see from where I was parked, then proceed to leave the truck stop. I noticed in my mirror as I was leaving that he had finally gotten his boots on and was chasing me across the parking lot taking pictures of the rear of my trailer with his smart phone. I think to myself, what is he going to do, turn me in for leaving a clean parking spot behind?

 

Now I know as most drivers with any time behind them, that one carries with them in the truck everything they need to take care of their basic human needs. All too often we are held for ridiculously long times at docks with no access to food, water, or even allowed to use the restroom facilities. No effort what so ever is made for us by the place we are conducting business at to provide us as truckers, the basic human niceties that one might provide for the common stray dog. But hey, I wear big boy pants and I choose of my own free will to put up with this kind of crap. Rest assured though, I never return to these docks.Let them find another dog to deal with them.

 

That being said though, at a truck stop with a trash can, a dumpster and a rest room not five hundred feet away and you have to dump your mess out for the rest of us to have to walk through. For us to have to crawl under our trucks to work on. For the general public to watch and have yet another trashy trucker story to tell. I do not think so. It is folks like this that have towns making laws disallowing trucks to park in them. That stores no longer allows us truckers in so that we can do some every day shopping. And shippers and receivers stop letting us park on their property over night so that we can get a decent nights rest without having to jump up and run through rush hour traffic hoping that we get there on time.

 

Sooner or later, if you drive a truck for a living, you will find yourself with the very real need to go in a predicament that there is no place to go. That is part of being a trucker. Just understand though, it is not us truckers that make the rules that put us in these situations. When this happens, there are simple ways to deal with the outcome. For starters, add some disinfectant to the bottle to keep it sanitary. Do not use bleach because as the product breaks down it makes ammonia and as we all know, mixing bleach and ammonia will cause toxic fumes.

 

Wrap your product up so that as you dispose of it in a proper waste container or preferably a dumpster, those that empty these containers do not have to deal with a unsanitary package. I have know some drivers to discreetly carry into the showers and dispose of the waist in the commode found there. Even walking to the to the bushes on the out skirts of the truck stop is preferable to just dumping it out your window for all to walk through. This act here is nothing but pure disrespect for your fellow drivers.

 

The point is this my friends, most truckers are clean respectable people. When you see one that acts like this, understand that that example is not the norm for our industry. We work hard not only to keep our highways safe, but to keep our image as truckers impeccably clean. As safe and legal truckers, these things are important to us. The information I gained from this morning will be forwarded on to the company in question in a letter. The letter will be requesting that this driver be informed that this type of  behavior is no longer acceptable in the trucking industry. That forever on, those that witnessed this event will have a clear image of yellow liquid being poured from the window of a truck with their company name displayed promptly behind it. And I sir, have the pictures to prove it.

 

Hey, I did pretty good. Not once in there did I use the words urine or pee. Awesome

 

God Bless America

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Nighty Night

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 2/17/13 Nighty Night
Let us see here, they took about fifty three people a week if I understand this right. From January Twenty Ten, spending who knows how many millions of our tax dollars; all the way until May of Twenty Eleven and watched them sleep. During this time, they let them sleep in several different shifts each containing ten hours a day. The shifts were from ten pm at night to eight am in the morning. Then there was a split sleep shift from three am to eight am with a three pm to eight pm time period so as to finish up that shift. Then a final sleep shift of ten am to eight pm. To sum up, an all day sleeping period, a split the same time everyday sleeping period and finally an all night sleeping period.

The participants of this great study were all between twenty two and forty years old. All with a body mass index of less than thirty in order to reduce random factors affecting the data. The study was done by a Doctor Greg Belenky and all of this, is according to an article in The Trucker that I read the other day. The results of said study were used to determine FMCSAs hours of service criteria for truck drivers. What I am trying to figure out about this study is what if anything, any of this has to do with the normal everyday operations of a real world truck driver.

For starters, the sleeping times only work if you just happen to be a local driver home each day. As for the rest of us over the road types, our start and stopping times do not even get close to being regulated or started on time each day. We are forced by the nature of the business to be ready within minutes to go from a deep sleep to wide open within seconds. I guess you could look at us working more like a swing shift type of situation.

Also sleeping in a nice cozy sleep lab is nothing even close to being forced to spend eighteen hours in the hot desert sun unable to idle keeping us in cool environment. No food or even access to a rest room is something that none of these participants were subjected to as truckers often find themselves dealing with. Now, let us crank down the windows so that we do not suffocate in the heat as we try to sleep as we worry about what is going to crawl in with us. Not to be found in this study.
As for the age of the participants, I am sure twenty two to forty years of age is a awesome time of your life to kick back in some sleep study and get paid for it, but out here in the real world I regularly kick back and enjoy a meal down at the restaurant with a driver well past seventy. Half of the time we talk about how over regulation is keeping us up at night. As for the body mass index part of the study, under thirty, are you kidding me? Perfectly healthy specimens without a care in the world instead of beat to death road warriors that have more on their minds then what the good Doctor Belenky, a fine person I am sure; has planned for their next meal.

Could this study have been done any further from the reality of real life trucking? Does the FMCSA really believe that some skinny twenty two year old kid probably never worked a job in their life can be used to show them what this fifty year old, thirty year veteran truck driver can do. A driver that takes as much pride in running a safe and legal trucking operation as that kid takes in playing their video games. Lets get real here. This study was done in such a way that it has absolutely nothing to do with trucking. And from this study, they now are forcing truckers into yet again, another set of new hours of service rules starting just around the corner.

Putting people up in a nice cozy sleep labs has nothing to do with the real life aspects of trucking. From the perfect sleep schedule to the unrealistic supposed to be truck drivers all the way to comparing the different conditions of a nice cozy sleep lab as compared to the cab of a truck, the FMCSA really missed the boat on this one. And now Anne Ferro is wanting some trucking company to do a pilot test program so as to prove what the study shows. More grant money handed out chasing the trillions of dollars that this country is already in debt.

Here is a clue for the clueless that regulate the trucking industry. Get off our backs. Give us our eleven hours driving time in any giving twenty four hour period and let me, you know the one actually sitting behind the wheel, decided when it is I am sleepy and need to take a break. Stop trying to be a God and guessing from your desk thousands of miles away and who knows how many years ago when it is that I am sleepy today, right here, with what I am dealing with at this moment.

I know, it will never happen. The folks up there on the hill are complete control freaks. But it is our jobs as safe and legal truckers to continue to try and hammer the true facts into them so that maybe, just maybe, once in a while they might just get something right.

Be safe peeps. God Bless America
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