Just about every company I ever worked for, I became friends with the owners or the dispatchers. Some places you work at, this is the only way to get ahead, and to continue to stay out in front.

I would do those little things nobody else would do, fudge my log book here, drop a load there, whatever it took to get things done. I don’t recommend anyone doing these things.

I normally only worked for small companies, you get treated as a person and not as a number. But, there are drawbacks to working for smaller fleets. For instance the last company I worked for, you could literally drive as many hours per day as you wanted, and haul as many loads as you wanted. There was always “something extra” to do as far as driving and hauling a load somewhere. But if you took an extra load, you still needed to be able to get back to do what was, scheduled for you the next day. My regular day consisted of 630 mile round trip, 11 hours of driving exactly, if something extra was thrown in, then it made for a long day and night.

I ran a loose leaf log book so “replacing days” was no problem. I knew it was illegal, and understood the consequences if I were caught. I had two dispatchers, and at any given moment I could be reached and asked to cover an extra load, it happened quite often. A friend of mine that also worked at this company, began doing what I was doing, to earn a little extra on the paycheck.

We hauled bulk pneumatic tankers, and hauled lime kiln dust plus concrete dust. At one particular rock quarry you could load 24 hours per day, he had loaded a load really early one morning to deliver before his early morning appointment for his regular day began. He left the plant, and another truck left at the same time he did, but the other truck was losing product. About 10AM that day the dispatcher called him to stop whatever he was doing, and to come to the terminal. They explained to him what he was accused of doing, and told him that he was under investigation and that they would make their decision the next day, and sent him back to what he was doing before.

He told me about this, and he added in that he was friends with all these people and that he had nothing to worry about. He was fired the next day, and he wasn’t even the one that was losing product to begin with. I guess the moral of this story is: No matter if the dispatcher or owner seems like they are your best friend, they’re not. Don’t expect them to back you up, even if you are doing them a “favor” and getting them out of a mess if something happens to you.

A driver has to look out for number one at all times. I love the fact that drivers have the technology to catch sneaky dispatchers up in all sorts of lies. When companies first started using Qualcomms to dispatch by, we drivers thought the days of running extra loads were gone. Just a few clicks on the computer can fix that. Diesel Lady on twitter gave me a great idea earlier, she told me she takes pictures of her Qualcomm messages, I had never heard or thought of that one. In case the message mysteriously disappeared, she still had a copy of it.

When we used to be dispatched by phone, we used pocket recorders to tape record conversations with dispatch, just to make sure he or she lived up to their end of the bargain. There is nothing more funnier than when a dispatcher or owner tries to back out, when they are on tape and confronted with it, they will do some squirming. Just remember, no matter how much they seem like they are your friend, don’t trust them. They are only going to look after themselves, they will not take up for you.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

Due to the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Daylight Saving Time has been four weeks longer since 2007. The Act extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, with the hope that it would save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours. Realistically, it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine so called “energy” savings from Daylight Saving Time. Based on a variety of factors, it is quite possible and the opinion of this writer, that little or no power, or fuel is saved by Daylight Saving Time.

It seems that Arizona (except some Indian Reservations), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa have chosen not to observe Daylight Saving Time. I am a huge champion of state’s rights but this just breeds confusion. Come on Arizona, you need to give this one up. I mean the nation of Kyrgyzstan is the only country that observes year-round Daylight Saving Time! Difference is, I don’t care about them because I don’t drive there.

If you are a professional driver, here is the part I want to stress. When clocks are set forward an hour in the spring, accidents go up according to a 1998 study of the effect of daylight savings time. Sleep deprivation is considered the most likely cause of a 17 percent increase in accidents on the Monday following the time change. The study also found no significant reduction in accidents in the fall when clocks are set back an hour.

So by all means make sure, that you take steps to get a normal, restful amount of sleep this weekend. I don’t want anyone, especially a truck driver to be involved in an accident on the Sunday or Monday that follow this change. If you take only one thing away after reading this, let it be,  plan ahead and exercise caution.

You may be thinking that I believe Daylight Savings Time is foolish hoax. If so, you are correct. But as my friend Jason here said to me today, “Yeah I know, but what can you do?”.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

Can the company make me haul a load that is overweight?

Can the dispatcher make me drive in bad weather?

Can the company make me pull an unsafe trailer or drive a truck that is not safe?

The driver has the last say in what he or she “has” to do. If the company “dispatcher” tells you that you MUST pull that trailer that is unsafe, DON’T DO IT. The driver is responsible, you will take the fall, not the dispatcher or the company. Same thing goes for weather, exhaustion and fatigue, etc. it is you the driver that makes that decision. Not the dispatcher, owner or anybody else.

If I worked for a company and the dispatcher told me to haul a load that was overweight, and there was no way to get it legal, I would laugh in his/her face and tell them HELL NO! If a company is too stupid to figure out how much weight they can haul…and bids on a contract for too much weight for each load…they should not be bidding on contracts.

A friend of mine today posted a picture of a weight ticket from a CAT scale, it showed the load over 80께 pounds.

If there was no way to slide the tandems to get it legal, and the shipper would not unload it and reload it, then somebody else would be pulling that load. Pulling an overloaded trailer is not only dangerous, but it is illegal. Plus there is so much risk involved in doing it. What would have happened if a car would have made a mistake and hit the truck overloaded?

It would be the driver of the tractor trailers fault automatically because of the overweight load. What would have happened if the truck was pulled over routinely? The driver would probably receive whatever ticket for the reason they were pulled over for plus an overweight ticket. What would have happened if something had broken on the trailer, or the truck? The company could use it to fire you, or make you pay for the broken part. There is too much risk involved with hauling an overweight load, when you are NOT PERMITTED to do so. Even if a dispatcher were too “suggest” to the driver to go a different route to avoid the scales DON’T DO IT.

A truck driver cannot legally be fired for refusing to haul a non-permitted overweight load, or to drive an unsafe truck or trailer. If there truly is nothing you can do to either fix the overweight or make the equipment safe. Even if the company says you MUST DO IT! If the driver does do it, the driver is held responsible for anything that happens. If a driver is fired and has the proof to show that the load was overweight and or the equipment was unsafe to drive or pull. Then, the first phone call I would make, would be to a lawyer for a wrongful termination suit.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

The report indicates that fatalities are still on a downward trend.

This is good news obviously, but still it is too many according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The statement LaHood put on his blog this morning says: “But, I am also disturbed that we are still talking about nearly 34,000 preventable deaths a year.” Preventable being the keyword here. According to the NHTSA report there were 33,963 deaths on the highways in 2009. How can they all be preventable?

An accident is just that; an accident. They had accidents back when horse and buggy was all that was used for transportation. Hell, even people walking fall so to say the accidents were preventable is ludicrous to say the least. I’m not sure what LaHood thinks is preventable, but it must be anything that happens that causes an accident.

Definition of an accident: an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance. Don’t get me wrong any accident is bad, and even one death is one too many. But we are going to have accidents happen no matter what the DOT does. The only way to prevent any accident from happening is to take away the transportation. But like I said even people fall down while walking.

Anyway here are the numbers for 2009

• A decline in highway deaths of  8.9% from 2008 to 2ዉ
• The lowest fatality rate–1.16 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled–on record
• The lowest overall number of deaths–33,963–since 1954
• 15 straight quarters of decline in the number of overall roadway deaths

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

The current record of 416 was set in November 2004 by an “all woman’s” truck convoy in Dronten, Netherlands. At this time, there are 241 professional women drivers registered for the celebration to be held on Saturday, March twenty-seven, 2010, at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY. Doors open at noon.

These women will arrive from forty states, three provinces and the Virgin Islands. They represent a total of 2, 415 years experience as professional drivers. Many of these women hold safe driving awards from their carriers and will be honored with a gift certificate to be presented to them by Anne Ferro, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The “Salute to Women Behind the Wheel” will include a speech by Ferro and an awards ceremony followed by a photo of the group wearing their complimentary red t-shirts. They will be treated to gifts from sponsors, entertainment, refreshments and the Women In Trucking’s signature chocolate fountain. These are all provided through the generosity of the sponsors.

All female professional drivers and their immediate family members are invited and are not required to be a member of Women In Trucking. Members of Women In Trucking are also invited to participate. There is still time to register for the event by visiting www.Salute2Women.com or calling 888-464-9482. Registrations will also be accepted at the Women In Trucking booth (4065) at the show until noon Saturday.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

It was loaded with Maleic Anhydryde a chemical that is used to make resins, fiberglass, auto-body filler, etc.

It is used in some candies, and is a filler for dynamite.

The news sites that reported this accident “God Bless them” tried to explain the situation, but failed miserably in my opinion.

They were reporting that a tanker had overturned and was hauling Maleic Acid.

Technically this is not true, as the only product that the company that had the accident hauls out of that plant is Maleic Anhydryde. How do I know? Well, I used to work for this company and have hauled literally thousands of those loads from that same plant.

Maleic Anhydryde is a chemical that is loaded into tankers of course as a liquid. It is loaded at a temperature of at least one-hundred and fifty degrees and must be maintained at that temperature or close to it, while in transit. Anything less than one-hundred and fifty degrees must be heated up with steam at a nearby tank-wash or the use of the in-transit heat system on the trailer. Maleic Anhydryde will turn to pure acid if a temperature of two-hundred degrees is reached. Maleic Anhydryde is a corrosive chemical which will irritate the eyes, nose, mouth, lungs, and can be absorbed through the skin in liquid form it can also cause severe burns from the product temperature.

When it is in the dry form, the crystals it forms can be irritant as well. But when it is in a solid form and cold a person can reach down and pick it up without harming oneself. Water will turn it from a solid to a liquid and it will cause irritation again. While loading and unloading this chemical a person needs to wear a respirator, chemical/heat resistant rubber gloves, full face shield and a chemical resistant rain suite. Most places don’t require all this, but it is good practice.

It is a colorless liquid that is very heavy and has a very slow reaction time for movement or “slosh in the tank”. It will jump you into an intersection if you must stop quick. The force is incredible as the slosh moves through the tank. It is hauled in a stainless steel smooth bore tank that does not have baffles in it. The product will “freeze” up anything that is not in the liquid itself. Dome lids, clean out caps, “christmas trees” and the internal valve inside the tank are the main freezing points in the tank. A “christmas tree” is what is used to hook up a nitrogen line or airline used to unload some products. It usually fits in the dome area and is attached with a “chicago fitting”.

Chemical tankers have to valves one is internal, and one is external to reduce the chances of spills. The internal is opened by a small hand pump located at the rear of the tank hydraulic fluid forced through a line opens the internal valve. On the inside of a tank it resembles a drain stop in a bathroom sink. It pops up to be open and is sucked back-down to be closed, and has a rubber seal around it. The external valve is left open while the loading process goes on, in order to see if the internal valve is leaking. Depending on how much leakage occurs determines whether or not the loader operator will continue to load the tank.

While looking at the video and pictures and knowing the area and having experience pulling the same product for the same company. In my opinion, the corner was taken to fast causing the tanker to overturn. Like I wrote before, the product is very heavy and has a slow slosh reaction. The reason I think the corner was taken to fast is, when you make the corner it is the start of a very steep grade (Hill) and a driver needs to have some speed built up in order to pull this hill. I will say I am in no way an expert accident re-creator, but I do have a lot of experience with that corner and that product.

It was good to hear there were no injuries, and that the tanker was the only vehicle involved.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

Several people in Washington seem to think so. Do you want Mexican trucks to take your American freight?

That will be the case, when the Obama administration allows the Mexican trucks back into the U.S. on Mexico’s terms.

Mexico has not only indicated they will continue with the tariff’s, but will make them higher, if the new cross-border plan is not to their liking. We not only are dealing with Mexico’s illegal strong-arm tactics, but plus we are going to allow them to raise the bar more?

Mexico still has not shown proof of fixing their enormous list of safety and security issues. It’s hard to show proof when you don’t have it. And U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk wants to just give in to Mexico’s strong-arm tactics. Kirk has also publicly stated that the easiest way to put an end to the tariff’s is to start yet another cross-border trucking program.

The easiest way to end this ridiculous argument, is to BUY AMERICAN. Cut Mexico off where it counts. If Americans would stop buying anything that came from Mexico, there would be no reason to have this issue. If Mexico still wanted to import items from the U.S., then they can come to the border and pick it up. I’m not sure of the percentage of American drivers who would haul into Mexico, but I’m sure it is a slim number.

I listened to KTRH news radio and they said that they have been told that Mexican Trucks were in better shape safety-wise than American trucks. OOIDA Executive Vice-President Todd Spencer, set them straight on that issue. It is ludicrous to even think that Mexican Trucks are Safer than American Trucks. There is no comparison to how Mexico inspects trucks and drivers compared to how America inspects trucks and drivers.

There is not hardly a week that goes by that a tractor trailer gets pulled over at the border or on the highway where illegal drugs are found and the load originated from Mexico. Its ironic, that the borders are supposed to be closed to Mexican trucks but many still operate here in the U.S. today.

It’s past the time for America to start looking out for Americans. The American citizen could easily control this decision by simply not buying anything from Mexico. What comes out of Mexico that we MUST have? I’m sure we can produce it here if it were needed. Like I previously have written if Mexico still wants to import from the U.S. then allow U.S. trucks to haul it to the borders and let Mexico come and pick it up.

When did it become the policy of the United States to just give in to the demands made when they are illegal or not? We as U.S. citizens have the right and need to voice our concerns about these real issues to our Senators and Representatives who WORK for us. Contact your Senator and Representative today and let your voice be heard.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

I see you still can’t take a hint can you? I told you several months ago that I was only going to let you make one comment, and that was just to show your ignorance.

Now after several months have gone by, you think I have changed my mind?

See one good thing about owning this site is, I can write you a letter and post it, but I don’t have to see your reply. Unless of course I go into the spam comment section to nose around a bit because that is where your comments will always go. I tried to ban you, but as a typical spammer that you are, you use a masked IP so typical means of banning the IP cannot be used. So I just set all your comments to go directly to spam.

It doesn’t matter how hard you try, you will never get a comment to show up on this blog. There is nothing you have to say worth reading anyway. Also, you think this gives me more work to do having to go in and delete your comments? Well, you are sadly mistaken as like I said before all your comments go to spam, and after a certain amount of spam comments or a certain number of days they are automatically deleted.

So, quit wasting your time by trying to post a comment here, as it will NEVER happen.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

The United States District Court for the Central District of California on Saturday ordered the owner of Tierra Santa Inc, the illegal bus company involved in a March 5 fatal crash near Phoenix, Arizona, to immediately cease all interstate and international passenger service.

The carrier ceased operation on the evening of Friday, March 5 at the demand of FMCSA. Saturday’s order makes that shutdown enforceable by the Court.

FMCSA’s complaint states that the owner of the bus company, Cayetano Martinez of Los Angeles, had previously been shut down by FMCSA, only to attempt to “reincarnate himself as a new carrier” and unsuccessfully attempted to gain U.S. Department of Transportation operating authority under a new name.

“Martinez has shown a persistency and determination to continue operating under new entities and business,” the complaint states.

The consent decree also prohibits Martinez, or any affiliated company, “from contracting with or arranging for additional transportation of passengers unless the contracted motor carrier possesses valid operating authority registration from FMCSA.”

The consent decree does not absolve Martinez from possible future civil penalties by FMCSA for violations of federal motor carrier safety regulations.

“It is absolutely essential that unsafe carriers like this one be taken off the road,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Safety is our number one priority at the Department of Transportation and we will not rest until this accident has been fully investigated.”

“FMCSA investigators are working tirelessly so that we can prevent such a senseless loss of life from happening again,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “We thank the United States Attorney’s Office for their outstanding partnership in bringing this emergency action forward so quickly.”

Click here to view the consent decree signed by Cayetano Martinez.

Click here to view the order signed by Judge George King.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.

An announcement on the website says that thanks to valued customers, fleets and professional drivers a new group is working to restart the service.

This is good news, with all the idle restrictions around.

Hopefully they will come back stronger than ever. IdleAire operated 131 locations in 34 states, providing the means to heat and cool truck cabs without idling the engines.

IdleAire claims to have contributed to saving over 50 Million gallons of diesel fuel and prevented over 1.1 billion pounds of diesel idling emissions from entering the air. I’m sure what they claim is probably true. The website says to stay tuned to www.IdleAire.com for updates. We will also keep you updated when we hear some news.

© 2010, Truck Drivers News. All rights reserved.