In a recent article in The Trucker, they are talking about the proposed law basically making AB5 a nationwide law.  The bill has passed the house and is awaiting action in the Senate.  OK, there is a line where they suggest AB5 "severely restricts self employment".  That is not true at all.  You can be self employed all day.  People are confusing self employment with driving someone else's truck and they don't withhold any taxes.  That is not being self employed.  Self employed people buy their own truck, put their company name on it and haul freight that way.  See the difference?  When you do work for someone else, you are an employee.  When you drive someone else's truck and they dispatch you and pay the fuel, you are an employee.  Self employed people are just that, self employed.  They don't work for someone else, employees do that.  The trucking industry has for too long tolerated these employee misclassifications as the right thing to do.  Some drivers like it but in fact they are not being classified properly.  If you want to be self employed, start your own business.  That is what self employed people do.  They don't work for someone else. You can't drive someone else's truck and say with a straight face that you are somehow a self employed independent contractor.

​See you on the road!

Black Horse Carriers for those that don't know is a large logistics provider in the United States.  They have terminals and operations all around the country.  A terminal in Pewaukee, WI is closing.  In fact, they gave the drivers 3 days notice.  Isn't that wonderful?  Of course, there is the WARN Act but apparently if a company says it is because of "unforeseen business issues" they don't need to give proper notice as required by law.  There are approximately 61 drivers at that location.  

This is a good lesson for anyone.  No matter where you work, your job is not secure.  A job is not security.  Always, always keep your record clean and get your endorsements.  If a situation like this were to come up at your company you would be ready to move on.  Have an idea of where you would go if you had to leave or the place closes.  In Indiana, every resident can upload and store a copy of their resume to the Department of Workforce Development free of charge.  See if that is available in your state.  You can then send it immediately if you needed to do so.

I also recommend people sign up to drive for Uber.  The sign up process is easy.  In Indiana you need a 15 year old car/minivan/truck or newer, insurance and it needs to be in good condition with no dents or stickers.  There is no minimum requirement on taking passengers so get signed up and you could just turn it on in the parking lot and continue to make money while you look for another job.  Depending on what you were doing you may find it pays as much or more than you were making.  Another YouTuber did a test with Lyft.  He ran just like he had a log for 3 days.  He only drove 11 hours and even took a 30 minute break.  Funny.  What is funnier is that he took home over $660 in 3 days.  That is roughly the equivalent of $300/day gross or about $75000 a year driving a truck.  No matter what, don't think it can't happen to you.

See you on the road!

Maybe you have never been there or maybe you have been a dozen times.  Either way, you only have a few days to get free tickets to the show this year.  After February 25, they won't be free.  They will be $10.  That's right.  Why pay when you can go for free?  It is simply the best show in trucking shows.  Food, concerts, trucking companies galore, products, antique trucks and a truck show.  All that and more!  Will I see you at the Mid-America Truck Show?  I hope so!  Click the pic to get your tickets!
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I'll be walking around the show on Friday so please come up and say hello.  I don't know what you all look like!  

​See you on the road!

There is going to be a major closure on I-70 from Feb 21-24 2020 and long delays are expected.  Drivers should be aware of this and plan ahead.  Always check your route before you leave and have a traffic app running the entire time you are driving even if you run the same route over and over.  This closure is for I-70 in the Kansas City area and details can be found HERE.  Officials are telling drivers to take I-470 as a detour but several ramps are also closing.  If you are headed through the area please look at the article for a map of the closure and details of the detour so you are not stuck in long backups.  If you have a delivery in the area call ahead and ask your customer what they recommend to get in and out.  That ELD clock always runs no matter the road construction.  Don't let this delay you and run out your clock.  

Use a good dash cam to make sure you can prove what happened when something does happen.  Check out this good dash cam HERE.

​See you on the road!

Today there are two articles posted about trucking.  One cites the "Trucking Bloodbath" because 132 drivers are being laid off and the other is about how "hiring is up" in the trucking industry.  Well, which is it?  The thing is, it is whatever the trucking publication will get more eyes to view it.  The real truth is that there are well over 300,000,000 people just in the United States and they all need to buy things, to eat and to travel.  Good drivers are always in need in the industry.  Sure, 132 drivers got laid off.  That does not exactly constitute a bloodbath in an industry of over 1,000,000 drivers.  Keep a clean driving record, get your endorsements and learn as many different trailers as you can so you are ready to change what you are doing if you need to do so.

While it is true that trucking is low pay for the hours you put in and it is basically a thankless job, it is none the less a job and a steady paycheck.  Even if the company you work for closes suddenly, another truck driving job is right around the corner for those with a good record and experience.  It can give you a check for your life.  Mostly there is no barrier to those that get older unlike some careers.  Heck, there are people that write to me in their 60s just getting into trucking.  "Trucking Bloodbath" is just hype to get ad money.  Nothing more.

The dash cam you don't have can't protect your license and show the police exactly who went through that red light.  Get one HERE and protect your career.

​See you on the road!

Celadon has filed suit against a vehicle recovery company for holding its equipment hostage!  Can you imagine that?  Some company taking advantage of this situation?  I am shocked.  Anyway, the company, Triangle Recovery Services, was running ads and offering a cash reward for the location of abandoned Celadon equipment.  Celadon says they were representing themselves as a legitimate way for people to turn in equipment when in fact they were just gathering equipment to hold and demand a recovery fee from Celadon.  They are accused of doing what drivers were saying they were going to do which is hold on to the truck and demand that Celadon pay storage.  The problem is, it doesn't work that way.  You, and this place, have no agreement with Celadon to have them pay you storage.  You can't make up some fee after the fact.  This place is going to have to give up the equipment they have stored to the bankruptcy court and get nothing for it.  You can't just do that and think it is ok.  It isn't.  If your company closes and you are on the road you must give them their equipment back.  You don't get to park it in your yard and demand a storage fee.  Not going to happen.

Do you have a dash cam yet?  Why not?  Your truck and your cars should have one.  With so many scams and bad drivers you need to protect yourself.  I use THIS one and I recommend it.

​See you on the road!

I just read an article about a pileup on I-70 in Missouri.  You can read it and see all the pictures HERE. 

Is it really necessary to follow that close no matter what the weather?  I see this all the time as I am sure you all do as well.  As professionals we don't want all this nanny stuff in the truck like cameras, forward radars and brakes that work by themselves.  Then I see this.  Everyone of those vehicles should have been able to come to a controlled stop.  If not, they were following too close.  Period.  I think it is time we take a look in the mirror, as Michael Jackson said, and make that change.  At what point are we our own problem?  Companies would not install these cameras if they are a waste of money.  If no driver at a company was having these rear end accidents and being distracted, they would not need them and would not get them.  Following too closely is one of the biggest safety problems I personally see.  I see it dozens of times a day.  Can we all just leave a little more space?

Protect yourself with a dashcam.

See you on the road!