Happy Halloween!

Well, it's that time of year again. Did you remember to change your clocks? Spring ahead, fall forward. I hate waking up in the dark. I have a load of drywall from Duke OK to Destin FL. Flatbed freight is way down now.

Being Halloween, know that many of America's truck drivers will not have to change their appearance to go trick or treating. Their resemblance to serial killers, perverts, muggers, hell's angels and ex-cons is uncanny. Mature men dressing up as cowboys and soldiers. I haven't seen many indians. My particular "favorite" are truckers dressing in total "cammo", looking more like children playing "war" in their jammies. Do these "men" realize how completely stupid they look?

I recently wrote in my other blog about the driver who thinks he's Elvis. He's ready 24/7 to knock on doors. Then we have the "ex-servicemen" crowd. You've heard them sitting at counters in truckstops everywhere. The "special forces" guys. Unshaven and chain smoking, they claim to wear the hats and boots (and underwear?) issued to them in boot camp or a local army-navy surplus store. Sit next to them and you'll be subjected to the "long" version of how "they" took Hill 45 in the made-up war being waged in their heads. Some smell as strong as the 6 pack of Bud they consumed in the their truck. Everyone else avoids them. Trick or treat?

What about the rapper "I'm soooo cool" drivers. No need for a costume here. Totally white sneakers - unlaced. Jeans three sizes too large that come down just below the knee, red and white soxs that go above the knee, a XXXXL football jersey with a O sewn on the back and of course, something that resembles a black condom on their head. Add a few gold front teeth and chains for the "full effect". Wow. Trick or treat?

Then we have the farmer "Ed" crowd. Dirty smelly once-blue overalls right out of a "Hee Haw" episode. A button or two missing - a hole in the behind or on the knee. Most of these drivers resemble Vincent D' Onofrio's character in the movie "Men in Black." 350+ pounds is the norm for these beefy fellas. Some are bald, some hairy - some look like the ole railroad "bums" that came into town on the southbound freight train. All look out of place in "this" world.

Finally, we have the ladies. Some are drivers, others passengers. Many look like the mother of the driver, when in reality, they are the girlfriend or wife. 30 year old females with uncut grey hair, stained clothes and missing teeth. A few are "lot-lizards" moving from one locale to another, some were recently "guests" of the government and many are just regular working folk. But, I have to do a double take and remind myself this is 2006. Did you ever see the John Steinbeck movie "Grapes of Wrath", the 1940 flic about the Great Depression? Many of the women in this industry look like extras from that project. Many others seem to be in a contest to see how many layers of fat can surround a human skeleton.

What ever happened to "class?" What about pride? Professionalism? This is not funny anymore. Drivers are disgusting fatbodies. Many are scary looking. Things are getting worse, not better. "We" will never get what we deserve unless we clean up our act and stop celebrating Halloween all year long!

Congratulations, pinhead!

Yes folks, we have a new addition to our ever growing list of idiots. Take a sec and go to www.auburnpub.com and read the piece by Linda Ober. I hate politicians. I also don't like smelly garbage trucks and NY, NJ, CT and PA seems to have a awful lot of them. I wouldn't want "them" going through my town. But this guy is an idiot. He wants a "Truck Route Management and Community Impact Reduction Study" paid for with our tax dollars. He says big trucks are: "disrupting, distracting and dangerous." What a pinhead. Do you have any darts? I have the perfect solution - ban trucks completely from the Northeast. Every driver would celebrate. Everyone who lives "there" can come pick up their freight in, oh, I wonder where we can put - yeah - tear down everything in Carlisle (PA) and make it a big "combo" truckstop and freight yard. All the liberals over in NY, NJ, CT and MA can come over and pick up their shit in their SUV's. Schumer joins our idiot, pinhead list along with his fellow "Nu Yorka" 55 mph Hillary Clinton.

Pipe load for truck - big wampum - you give firewater - we pow wow - then do.

Pick-up in Rio Rancho NM. Old job site miles from town. Bad directions. Sand up to my ankles. "Things" crawling all over. Shipper didn't have enough dunnage. Difficult to get trailer level enough to load. Got stuck in sand twice. 5 hours of work. 12 pieces of 45 foot pipe headed to Oklahoma City.

Americans (Native) loading the truck. These guys were good. Hard working, well spoken, professional and committed to safety. They treated me with respect. I treated them with respect. We worked as a team. We got the job done.

In reality, I'm the "foreigner" in their land. Maybe they should be calling me names like wetback, rag head, ni**er, jew or worse. Never happened. We have a job to do.

Bottom line is, I hate prejudice. I hate stereotypes. If you don't like to work with folks slightly different than yourself, man or woman, find yourself another line of work. I don't want you anywhere around me.

*** Nowhere on the web could I find a photo of a "professional" Native American in a "work" environment. This photo is Chief Chip-Pin (Always Riding) of the Uta Tribe.

Swift drivers...f-u-b-a-r!

I've really tried to give this company, and their drivers, some slack. In the spirit of professional cooperation, I've kept my mouth shut and given "these drivers" much of the little patience I have during a typical day. I now must say though, I've given up.

I was fueling at the Pilot on I40 west of Oklahoma City the other day. There are 17 fuel islands and every one of them was 3-4 trucks deep. I was number 3 at the island closest to the building.

In comes a Swift truck. It was dirty. All the Swift trucks in this truckstop are filthy. The truck stops next to me. The passenger door opens and out comes the most vile disgusting spit onto the ground. It made me sick. Then the driver gets out and goes into the McDonald's. By the way, the rear of the trailer is almost out in the street.

He is in there for about ten minutes. The truck in front of him has already moved up and is beginning to fuel. The driver comes back and then the passenger goes inside. He does not move the truck up. The driver then goes back inside to Subway. There are now two truck spaces between him and the fuel island. Because other trucks are in line on either side, another truck can't move in front of him.

The driver comes back out with a sandwich, gets into the truck and moves up to the fuel island. He is not fueling. He parks there, gets out and goes back inside the Pilot. Two other trucks are now waiting behind this Swift truck to fuel. I am now fueling.

No activity in the Swift truck. I'm done fueling. I only have to go inside because I need a cash advance. I see the Swift driver "shopping". He doesn 't look old enough to drive a car. The passenger is an old man. They both leave, get in the Swift truck, do not fuel and then drive through the island, and on their way.

Where does this company and I might add, Werner and JB Hunt "recruit" these selfish, mindless assholes? I rarely see any other companies, except some of those "foreign" California independents, do such stupid things.

Drivers who have been out there know exactly what I'm talking about. I could devote an entire blog to this topic. I would pull every Swift, Werner and JB driver into a training class and teach them what is the safe and appropriate way to handle themselves on the road, at customers, in weigh stations, and at rest areas and truck stops. Because, for damn sure, it ain't happening now. Shame on them.

Swift, Werner and JB Hunt drivers and disgusting fatbodies. Their equipment is dirty. I don't like them. If you know of one of these "drivers", please take a moment to educate them, because I've given up.

Land of enchantment?

No, land of stupidity. I40W. The idiots at the scale don't have Prepass turned on. They're about 50 trucks backed up to show some old hag your New Mexico permit. This really pisses me off. By the time I get up front, they don't give a shit and you keep on driving. We can drop a bomb within 3 inches of a target a thousand miles away, but NM can't update this "process". What a complete waste of my time. Maybe OOIDA will get their 25 (board of) directors together and draft a l-e-t-t-er.

Can someone please explain to me why this crap is allowed to continue? Keep the damn Prepass on and get NM to print up a decal for the bumper - like NY. Going to the NM DOT website is a waste of time. Did you ever try and find the clown who is the "boss" of the weigh stations? Lotsa luck, gringo.

What's the deal with those moronic "my daddy works here" signs around the road construction sites? Tell your "daddy" to get his fat ass off the barriers. You're giving me less than a "real" lane to drive through your never-ending construction, and your workers sit on the barriers b.s.'n for hours on end. No wonder nothing ever gets done in this state!

I also have a word to say about the law enforcement in New Mexico. They're idiots. I didn't see one state trooper from the Texas line to the US84 cutoff to Las Vegas. California "independent" trucks with those (temporary) mailbox letters and numbers pasted on the side, are flying past me at 85 mph - tankers included. The drivers all look "foreign." You know what I mean. Go North on US84 and they're speed traps all the way to I25. All these "officers" doing nothing, sitting on the side of road jerking off. The "locals" are worse. They just don't think. Disgusting useless fatbodies. They must have all been trained in Orlando.

While I'm ranting, why is New Mexico so damn filthy. Garbage on the road everywhere. Can't they get some prisoners out there to clean this shit pile of a state up? What a disgrace! Land of Enchantment - I don't think so!

Veelcom to da cazbar!

Exit 140, I40, west of Oklahoma City. T/A, FJ, Pilot and Love's. If it ain't nailed down, it's for sale here. And, yup, this includes pornography, sex and drugs. This is what it must have been like when Moses went up and down that mountain.

So I'm driving this "soccer" mom edition of the '07 KW T600. My Galaxy 959 is useless because of a ridiculous design flaw in the truck. I have a Cobra 1500 watt inverter that I can't use, a scanner, etc. Time to do a little horse trading. Brand new Rand-McNally laminated motor carrier's atlas went in about ten minutes for $20 each. I don't need one. Fast forward, I got a new Galaxy 929 jacked up to a billion watts with a Road King mic. I traded in the 959. Earlier in the day, I picked up a new 900 watt Emerson microwave, Magnavox DVD player and bunch of other "stuff." I love it, I never use the damn CB and the brilliant KW designers made no provision in the bunk for all these "life support" accessories.

I'm on the way from Meade, KS through Oklahoma City to Santa Fe, NM with a trailer full of railroad ties. I was loaded at a job site next to a busy BNSF rail line. In the hour I was there, well over a hundred JB Hunt, Yellow and US Xpress (loaded) trailers flew by on rail cars. They're in the process of building another line next to the existing one because of the increased traffic. More about that and a whole bunch of other stuff, in a few days.

Welcome to Laredo...

I'm so damn bored! I'm stuck here in Laredo. It's 105 degrees. There are 25 trucks in front of me waiting for dispatch. I'm spending money, but not making any. I can't pay the mortgage with layover pay. I went to Target - I'm boycotting Wal-Mart - to buy a microwave to replace the one I broke. I was leaving a truck stop somewhere and down it came and smashed on the floor. Target has a 900 watt turntable unit - all black - for $49.99. At the register it rang up at $59.99. I told the cashier she overcharged me. The manager came over and said she was right. No way I said. He sent me over to customer service. Three phone calls. I received a $10 credit. Gotta open your mouth. Still trying to get the new truck organized. Got a haircut from two hot latina females. They still wash your hair here. I can't get a decent haircut where I live - I've gotta come all the way to Laredo. The photo is of Anna Cara Cim, who washed my hair. Yeah right.

Back again...

Ok you "schulbs" get out of the way - my "brandi" new KWT600 is comin' down the road! I'll get to that in a minute. But first -

Item #1 - The New York Times, Wed. Oct. 11th 2006, photo below the fold, of the homeless eating lunch at a soup kitchen in Trinidad, Colo. - or - is it a photo of "typical" truckers eating at a truck stop? I bet you can't tell the difference "drivers" and therein lies the problem of i-m-a-g-e. It's long overdue for all you disgusting fatbodies to clean up your act! I'd like to see uniforms come back. The Wal-Mart kind, white or blue company shirts with jeans. No long hair or Santa Claus beards! Real men do not have pony tails or wear earrings. That's for girls. I have requested permission to use the photo from The New York Times - we'll see if we get it.

Item #2 - also, The New York Times, Wed. Sept. 27th 2006 in the business section above the fold. The piece is by David Leonhardt: "The average cost of a family insurance plan that Americans get through their jobs has risen another 7.7 percent this year to $11,500, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In only seven years, the cost has doubled, while incomes and company revenue, which pay for health insurance, haven't risen nearly as much." Leonhardt continues: "Many executives have decided that they cannot afford to keep insuring their workers, and the portion of Americans without coverage has jumped 23 percent since 1987."

I've yet to meet an owner operator that has his own health insurance. "Oh, my wife has it at her job." Many drivers can't afford even basic coverage. I once drove for an owner/operator - his Blue Cross/Blue Shield (second rate) coverage would have cost me $650 a month. That was about four years ago.

I have in my hands a lease operator expense estimator from a major carrier. The projected expense for occupational/accidential insurance is (annual) $2,017.08 or 0.016 cpm. That is not health insurance. The drivers estimated take home is *$46,734.30. No health insurance. If we give him/her coverage for the family, based on what the Kaiser Foundation says is the cost - $11.500 - his annual income goes down to $35,234.30! So much for all those promises of "big bucks" in trucking company advertisements.

Item #3 - The Trucker, Oct. 15-31 2006, Barb Kampbell (front page) writes that: "OOIDA is in the process of drafting a (letter) in opposition to the petition (re: 9 motor carriers and Road Safe America to require speed governors set at not more than 68 mph)." Campbell goes on: "the group (OOIDA) has not determined who to send it to besides FMCSA Administrator John Hill." Wow! You go OOIDA! Why are you wasting time with letters! Move that damn ugly headquarters of yours, with no truck parking, to Washington, DC and press the flesh! Does it take 22 of you to figure out how to do what's right?

Look at that photo of Rick Craig of OOIDA on page 22 of The Trucker - darn does he look a buck caught in your headlights or what? And Bill Graves of the ATA, is a Republican and former two term governor of Kansas. He is not one of us. He is a bureacrat and even worse - he is a p-o-l-i-t-i-c-i-a-n. When the chairman of JB Hunt, Schneider or Covenant scratches his ass, there are traces of Bill Graves on his hand. Need I say more? You're damn right I'm angry.

Drivers, can you communicate? Can you write your own letter or e-mail? Can you pick up the phone? You can't all be that lazy. Well, you better get off your fat asses and grab a hold of your elected representatives. Ever hear the expression - "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!" OOIDA, the ATA, Road Safe America, Schneider, JB Hunt, Covenant, Dart, US Express - I never heard of H.O. Wolding, ATS Intermodal, or Jet Express - DO NOT REPRESENT YOU!

Item #4 - I want you to go to the Road Safe America's web site www.roadsafeamerica.org and see what a few people can do to influence how thousands of others do their job. Don't ever tell me that a few can't make a difference. God forbid, if I lost a loved one because of a speeding truck, I'd be pissed too. What are "they" gonna say when some poor soul gets killed by a truck going 55 mph? Should be slow everyone down to 35 mph? You can legislate all you want, accidents, unfortunately, will happen, no matter what the circumstances are.

Item #5 - After suffering a few days with a severe pinched nerve in my right thumb, I managed to take delivery of my new KW T600. I've had it for 3 days - the truck, not the pinched nerve - and I'm still trying to get settled in. The truck must have been designed by one of those "soccer" moms. The interior reminds me of a Jeep Cherokee. I feel like putting a "my son beat up your honor student" bumper sticker on the door. KW reminds me of a of things in trucking these days, they're all are out of touch with what drivers really need and want.

Gone from inside is just about everything you knew and probably loved about a truck. Forget about going to that chrome shop to "juice-up" the dash - nothing will work. The only thing traditional inside are the red and yellow brake knobs.

Your CB radio goes above the windshield in a "drawer" that slides in and out. When the "drawer" is closed, the CB looks like it's built in. I have a Galaxy DX959 . The mike screws in on the left side. KW never thought about that. I can't use the mic unless I drill a hole in the "drawer" and if I do that the mic cord will still be "squashed" on the left side and the radio will be lopsided. I'm not buying a new radio. Only because of those shippers stuck in the 60's, who insist on talking to drivers using the CB, do I ever turn the damn thing on.

Open either window for ventilation and you get that famous KW annoying whistle. I still miss the old side vent windows. Good luck trying to install a Wilson cell, scanner or satellite radio antenna. There never has been provision made for this type of extra equipment on the 600. Every driver I know has improvised some very creative solutions to getting around this.

The passenger seat has a right side arm rest. When you pull it down it brushes against the door handle. You can't raise the seat when its down. The leather already a small rip in the seam of the arm rest because of this design flaw. The truck has 76 hours on it.

When you figure out how to turn on the interior "courtesy" lights, you will think you're at a night game at Yankee stadium. You can be seen for miles with these lights on. What idiot dreamed this up? I have to change the bulbs as soon as I can find the right ones. The back bunk is typical T600. Our "soccer" mom decided to add two drawers next to the bed. I feel like buying a Gideon Bible to put in the top drawer. Would make it feel just like a cheap Motel 6. KW should of thought of that, too.

Now I caution you. This is not the truck for you big buffet type disgusting fat bodies. You and your equally super-sized "partner" will not be able to get through the two front seats to the bunk. You will have to remove the two front seat armrests in case one of you gets stuck back there. Folks, this is truly a one person truck. Teams order something else.

My carrier ordered a Bostrum extra wide leather drivers seat. I can lower both arm rests over my "love" handles. And despite my large rear, there is about an 1/2 inch of free space on either side of the seat. $955.63 was the price. The passenger seat is standard KW upgraded to grey leather.

Now the positive side of things. The truck shifts very smoothly. 1100 rpm. No clutch. Super 13 Eaton. CAT 15 engine with that new CERT technology. I'm pulling a 45,000 load of pipe from Shawnee, OK to Laredo. A few hills on I35S and I only had to go down a gear once or twice. I was getting about 5.5 mpg in my old T600. I have not activated the Sensortracs system yet - we'll see what kind of mpg this new unit gets.

The truck came with a factory installed Delphi radio (CD/MP3) system that seems ok. One of the 4 speakers on the passenger side has a short in it and needs to be replaced. The radio is pre-installed with XM, but I'm a Sirius subscriber. I still don't understand what MP3's are. I thought the Panasonic cassette player in my old truck with 2 larger speakers sounded better.

Switching trucks is a pain in ass. Sitting in the new unit next to the older one, I was angry at myself for how dirty my former "environment" was. I should have replaced the mattress at 200,000 miles. I have to come up with a whole new way of organizing all my "stuff." A lot of it will just have to be thrown away.

I promise myself I will take better care of this unit . CAT has made it a leasier to check and add oil and made the power steering fluid container - clear plastic. Despite the "better" drivers seat, my butt still hurt after 300 miles. I've gotta take more breaks. I've got to take better care of myself and my new truck! Be safe out there drivers, don't tailgate and (please) give the other guy a break.

For more info on the above material: www.thetrucker.com and www.nytimes.com

* Projected annual revenue of $155,607.40 or $1.234 cpm (cents per mile)

Oklahoma City - Tulsa

Great - now we have two assholes to deal with!

Woke up this morning to heavy rain and 55 degrees. Oklahoma City is a truly boring place. The roads are terrible and the local drivers stupid. I can’t understand why anybody would want to live here, and for that matter Tulsa. I delivered a load of mulch to a landscape business just outside of Oklahoma City in Edmond. I pulled into this "establishment" and was ignored. Everyone who works there was comatose. It’s always amazing that I can move material 1000 miles without a problem, then some fork lift operator can’t move it ten feet without dropping a pallet and smashing the material. There was no cover on top of the lift and the guy got soaking wet. Good luck when it starts to snow.

My dispatcher is out dealing with an emergency with her mother. When she is not there, I avoid dealing with my company like the plague. The right hand has no idea what the left is doing. I could have picked up a load down the road from where I emptied out. I sat there for about three hours and got a message over the qualcom to deadhead to Tulsa. As I'm driving eastbound on the turnpike I'm feeling horrible - I feel like I'm getting a cold. I'm still suffering from two days of lost sleep last week. Before I drop this trailer at the terminal, I'm headed for the Tulsa FJ for a (hot) shower and buffet. I was not happy to see that Pilot or Love's didn't buy the (out of business) I-44 X238 truckstop. It will soon be a Shell. A Shell? Another 7-11 with a CAT scale and large parking lot.

I've been here about twenty minutes and I've already been approached by a "begger": "excuse me, sir, but could you possibly help me and wife out?" Yeah, get a job! There is a really cute little dog in the truck next to me that I would steal in a minute. No I wouldn't. There are the usual three reefers just coming off the scale blocking everyone - trying to move their trailer axles. That's why I love my 10 foot spreads. Are we having fun yet? By the way, for all you (truly annoying) drivers who whine about getting home every three days, I've been on the road for three weeks now and have no plans to head home anytime soon.

New truck!

(1) Headed to Tulsa to pick up my new tractor. My '03 KW T600 has 464,267 miles on it. While the CAT will probably last well over a million miles, there are other problems that are interfering with my running decent miles. The AC/heater has always been a problem - the vents close for no reason and the defroster does not blow hot air. It was a lousy winter. Kenworth has never been able to find the problem. Their mechanics are useless. I've had many ignition, alignment and driver comfort issues. The driver's seat broke and was moved to the passenger position. Although my seat works, it was designed for someone who weighs much less than me. I have been fighting with seats for years now. I just cannot find one that is comfortable. I would have switched out the unit at 425,000 miles if KW had a unit available. I wanted a double bunk unit, but it "ain't" gonna happen.

(2) I've got a lot on my mind. The last thing I care about is whether or not N. Korea tested a nuke. As far as I'm concerned China, Japan and all the rest of the folks in the Pacific Rim can worry about it. It is not, as Fox News put it, a "crisis." With all the problems this country has, I'm real tired of us being the world's policemen.

(3) I was at the Pilot in Theodore, AL last Thursday night. I was exhausted. I didn't sleep well the night before. I shut down early. At about 10:30pm, I was in a deep sleep. A lot lizard didn't knock on the door, she banged so damn hard on both sides of my truck, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I couldn't go back to sleep until about 4am. I got about 90 minutes of sleep. She was not a local - she was traveling in a (reefer) truck which left early in the morning. I never focused long enough to see which company it was.

(4) Every once in a full moon, I have the displeasure of meeting a real jerk. Such was the case while the T/A in Marianna, FL was repairing an electrical problem on my truck. This guy comes in with a blown tire. He works for one of those 100% owner operator flatbed companies. He wore a cammo Marines cap. Tall and about 50, he needed a shave and a shower. He is abusive to the woman behind the counter. There is a 5 hour wait time for even the smallest of repairs. This clown is a "super-trucker" who feels his problem deserves immediate attention. I won't waste anymore of your time other to say that him and I had words. I asked why he was so angry? He said: "cause I don't like people like you." It's long overdue for this idiot to get off the road and find a job mowing lawns for the state. He is a disgrace to himself, our industry and (if he ever was one) the men and women who are service members.

(5) No, the picture at the top is not me or anyone else you know. He is John Barger. Google him to get learn the details.

(6) What am I paying for fuel? Petro Shreveport LA 10/9 $2.379 per gallon. Pilot Shepardsville KY 10/4 $2.369 per gallon.

What's coming soon...

We're on the way from Madison IN to Gulfport MS then onto Navarre FL. This is what we are working on for you.
#1 - Why truckers are the worst drivers.
#2- The Leper Colony - what is it?
#3 - OOIDA does not represent me!
#4 - Our tech site should be up soon.
#5 - T/A, Flying J and Ambest reviewed.
Recommendation - if and when you stop at a Pilot, please pick up the latest Challenge magazine - it is filled with coupons for stuff. I regularly save $.35 off Nesquick strawberry milk. I drink that at the end of the day to settle my stomach. Talk at ya'll later folks. Do your pre-trips and please stay off the other drivers tail.

Apology needed...

- Nickle Mines, PA - While the fine folks of this small community are grieving over the murder of 3 people this morning by a 34-year old truck driver, the two clowns on a show called Freewheelin' on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 147, were making jokes about the Amish. These two amateur DJ's - Meredith and Chris T. - must be living in a vaccum, having no idea what is happening in the news around them. One has to wonder why someone didn't tell them what was going on during the broadcast. You two need to apologize, and I suggest you keep in touch with breaking news while you're broadcasting. For additional details on this tragedy go to http://www.nytimes.com or http://www.foxnews.com