Many people have written to me asking about how to get in the trucking industry so I am in the process of finishing up a book on the subject. It will be available on this site in the store as soon as proofreading is done and I am sure it will display properly on most devices. So, yesterday I am fueling up at the Love's (of course) and its late so its quiet there. Anyway, All the lanes were clear except one had a truck pulled through. I take the one next to that one. A minute later a truck pulls in to fuel in the lane with the truck pulled up in it. What the heck? There were 6 other empty lanes. Plus, the way this Love's is set up, there is no lane closer to the door than any other lane. Who does this? Is there some secret about this I don't know about?
Some things I just don't understand. See you on the road! Mark
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It has been told to me that Millis is no longer using the driver side of the camera. It no longer records the driver. They are only using it for a short time on new drivers, new hires and then they turn it off. If you get a ticket or accident, it is turned back on for 3 months. I believe this I am just attempting to verify it and then I will do a video update of the company.
We can change how companies operate. Just because there is a problem in the trucking industry, we don't quit the trucking industry. We can work and change it. It is the same with the cameras. We can get them turned off. Now, maybe you don't want to work at a place that has them and that's fair and I would tell them that so they know. But quitting at a place is a hassle. Get them to turn the camera off. Maybe send a message to the media in their home town. Tell them that the drivers are being recorded while they are sleeping and that its creepy. Someone might pick it up. See you on the road and live at 1! Should a company have to pay to send you home if you leave? It depends. It has recently been brought to my attention that companies are firing drivers and leaving them stranded wherever they are. First I want to say, you should always have access to a couple hundred dollars to get you home because you just never know. Here is what I think about the situation:
If you give notice, they should bring you back to the yard and everyone is nice about it. If you just up and quit on the road, it is on you to get yourself back to your house. If they simply fire you without notice on the road, it should be their responsibility to get you and all your belongings safely to your home at their expense. Unfortunately, that does not always happen. I'll do a video about this soon. See you on the road! Recently, a group calling itself Black Smoke Matters shut down 95 for a few minutes in protest of the ELD mandate and also from looking at some of them, regular showers. Folks, closing an interstate is not the solution. This stopped ambulances and emergency people as well. You could literally be killing someone because you don't want to take a 30 minute break. Is that OK? NO. There are better solutions. I wonder if they logged that shutdown properly?
Today at 2pm eastern I will be on Auto Transport Intel live. Jay there is starting a new show that will be a regular show as well on YouTube. We will be discussing transportation and other topics as they come up. He said it would not be more than an hour. I hope you will tune in and then give me your feedback. Tune in here and let me know what you thought here. See you on the road! Did you comment on the proposed changes to the HOS? Since today is the last day, by the time many of you read this the time will be over. We will see what happens and I will keep everyone informed of what the changes will be, if any.
Today is the Crap Company of the Week! It was suggested by many of you. l hope you enjoy it. Vote at the end of the Year and the winner will be getting a trophy! Trucking Answers has been growing wildly and I am getting many emails. Please keep them coming. I am putting off answering the video comments some, I take care of the emails first. Do not think I am ignoring anyone, I just only have so many hours in a day as I am a driver like many of you. I will get to your emails, I am running about 2 days on answers at the moment. I am working on a book for new drivers about many of the thing they should know before getting started in the industry. This will include a glossary of terms so you can know what a truck school recruiter is talking about when they are trying to get you to come there. It should be out soon and it will be under $10. It will also include a checklist to go through as you decide on which company you want to work for as you begin trucking. Announcement soon. Later this week a video will be out about 1099 versus W2. Most drivers on 1099 are misclassified and I show what the IRS says to determine if you are an employee or independent contractor. See you on the road! I always appreciate the things and information people send me. You can send all things here and I answer all emails. They are how this channel gets ideas and information.
An astute viewer sent in a tip about a trucking company and asked me to check it out. I don't think it makes a crap company but it is interesting to see what they do make. I look at many things for a company, one of which is the SAFER WEB system of the FMCSA. You should as well. It can give an interesting insight into a company, like if they have insurance and if their operating authority has been revoked. You can search by name and then click on licensing and insurance. Click on report and you can view it. It can be very interesting information. I also recommend you check out a company's FB page if they have one. Most probably do. Again, this company has mostly (except 1) positive comments. Is that strange? I think so. There are always disgruntled drivers to write on your page. I mention that drivers should get paid for all their time and I get many thumbs down so I have to think one negative comment is not true. The page owner can delete comments, keep this in mind. Its just one of the ways you should be checking out a company before you work there. Kind of behind the scenes sleuth work. See you on the road! There is snow on the radar in some areas of the country now. Are you ready? What should you have with you? Well, get those chains off the truck and check them. Lay them out and look for broken links, get them fixed. Are your tires up to snuff? 3mm may be legal but that is not going to cut it. Have your company put on some new drives. If they won't, they are very cheap and you can tell them I said so.
You should have some food in the truck. Get 2 of the 32 ounce peanut butters and some graham crackers. A box of silverware and two gallons of water as well. I also like to have some beef a roni or other canned stuff. Things that will keep and don't need refrigeration or heating to eat. You never know when you will be stranded somewhere with no place to feed your pie hole. See you on the road! The time is nearly over to comment on the proposed changes to the hours of service rules for us truck drivers. Here is a video about it and how you can make your voice heard. We only have until Oct 10. You can comment more than once, in fact as many times as you like. I encourage everyone to carefully consider this. Please, be professional in your comments. Some of the comments are profanity laced and all caps, this doesn't do anyone any good. They will just be ignored.
Some drivers have said they would like their clock to stop for 3 hours off duty each day for traffic or to rest. I am not a fan of this, I don't want the day made longer without being paid. Don't strive to work more, strive to make more. See you on the road! Each week when I am looking into the Crap Company to see who is going to win the companies get worse and worse. It is incredible to me some of the lengths companies will go to treat drivers poorly. The May Company, by charging drivers for fuel in a company truck, is the worst I have seen so far. It is really something. I hope you will spread the word about this place so no drivers ever goes there. They prey on new drivers that don't know any better. I watched several videos of new drivers talking about how great May was and the fuel thing is just how it is in the industry. CRAP. I have been driving since 1988 and I have never been charged for fuel or asked to pay for fuel for any reason. Its ridiculous. May will get its own page on the site soon. You can check out other pages as well.
See you on the road! I recently received an email from a viewer of the YouTube Channel and he wanted my thoughts on companies only giving you 34 hours at home for a weekend. This makes for a tired Sunday and then you are right back to work. After a long week you really need more time off than that. I could not agree more. Truck drivers already work way more hours than most other jobs and this does not help. I think the old way of OTR general freight has got to go. It should pay at least $100,000 a year and then I would still only recommend it for a few years. The good thing about this industry is there are plenty of other things to do. Have you every considered changing within your company to some type of dedicated run? This is where working for a large carrier is very helpful. They have many things to do. You get a regular schedule and know what your off time is. How about a logistics company like Black Horse or Penske Logisitics or Hogan? You would drive usually for one company and are on a regular run and home weekends or sometimes other days but way more than an OTR driver and make the same or more because you aren't living in the truck. Moving into something like that can take the stress off of your life. Ok, so you aren't gone 6 weeks at a time making $90000, you may make $65000-$70000 and home daily. If you have a family, how is this not better? I never have understood drivers leaving their kids at home for weeks when there are local jobs. It just doesn't seem right. If you like the road, stay there. This driver was tired of being gone and needs a change. That was my suggestion. What is yours? See you on the road! |
AuthorHi! Welcome. I'm Mark and I've been a professional truck driver for over 33 years, the last 19 years at the same company. It is time that drivers got paid for every minute that we work and we are treated like the licensed professionals we are. Archives
February 2022
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