Support Our Truckers

Posted this with the permission of the Author - Frederick (SilverSurfer) Schaffner

All of us sit in our homes every day asking ourselves why. Many of us come onto forums, such as this, and express our opinions and how much we're pissed off with our government. I also know I'm not the only one talking to my TV (politicians BS) in disgust at how our government is not acting in the best interest of American citizens...destroying our Constitutional freedoms.

Truckers tried to fight the ignorant fools on the hill and get them to act according to the will of the American people...as well as redress of issues within the trucking industry. Time and again truckers attempted to get something done, but to no avail. There just wasn't enough of us to get this ignorant government of ours to act.

Matt (UnitedCDL) and myself (TheAmericanDriver) have committed to the pursuit of true unity. We have been evaluating and discussing a direction to succeed at achieving this goal. The 111th Congress will be convening this week and they will be continuing their detrimental actions effecting our country, and each of us. We must prepare ourselves for whatever may come this year. And for us to achieve any type of success will require the support of American citizens. The time has come for each and every one of us to commit our full support for our last line of peaceful defense...our truckers.

Countless Americans have been calling for the truckers to do something...bring this ignorant government of ours to their knees. We have tried. And we have seen the support from the citizens. But it's time to stop standing on the sidelines waving your fist in the air...it's time to make it known. It's time to show just how committed you are in supporting our efforts. Our founding fathers defeated the Crown against insurmountable odds because of the support from the citizens. Citizens committed to helping in any way they could in the battle for their freedom. This must occur now for us to ever truly succeed at taking our country back.

Follow this link and make the decision you've had enough of the oppressive nature of our government. Commit your support and make it known.

Support Our Truckers

This will be the topic on our next United Groups Conference Call this Sunday evening. Please join us.

Listen or join the chat: TalkShoe Community Call
Phone in:
(Phone#) 724-444-7444
(Call ID) 30513

Safe Trails and God Bless,
Frederick (SilverSurfer) Schaffner

Posted this from The Truckers Forum

Is your job secure in the trucking industry...or in any industry in America

Is your job secure in the trucking industry today? I have been reading a lot here lately (it must be slow if I am taking time to read) about company's closing their doors, or putting a freeze on hiring drivers, and or just laying drivers off.

I just read this Schneider National not hiring inexperienced drivers this is big news. They are pretty big in the industry, I wonder how long before the other big boys start this if they have not already.

I am sort of glad in a way to see this come though, as freight is short as it always is this time of year. Just seems this year is worse, than previous years I don't know why unless it is because of the way the economy is. I am just feeling it worse I guess as is everybody.

I am hoping, along with a lot of other truck drivers that this is not another ploy to get Mexican drivers in! Is Schneider in cahoots with the government? The US Government seems to want to give our jobs away to the immigrants. I kinda hated to show that link, but peoples eyes need to be opened to junk like this!

Now, I for one am not racist at all. BUT, I feel if you are going to want to move to the USA then at least do it legally. Pay your taxes, and learn the language!

You, know a few years ago I applied for a state job here in Kentucky working for the road department. I know I am lazy, so I figured that was a great way to have to not work really hard and have good benefits. I was denied any job. But go down the road during the summer and look and see who is wearing the hard hats now! I felt really offended by this! I have 14+ years working as a Truck Driver and also a heavy equipment operator. But they hire a immigrant just because they have too!

A year ago I drove for a small dump truck company out of Tiffin, OH. We were laying some black top for Shelly Materials Inc up in Toledo, OH and they made us leave the job because we did not have any immigrants working for us. They brought in another company to finish the job! We were not allowed to dump our loads as we were turned around and told to take it back to the plant and dump it on the ground! The state of Ohio wasted so much money on this it's no wonder they had to put a freeze on all the construction last year!

I now work for a fairly large bulk tanker company we have around 600 trucks. The work is pretty much seasonal, so I know this is why we are so slow. My shop/terminal in Kentucky has nothing to do, so we go to Michigan and work every week now.

Anyway, I hope all had a great Christmas, and I can only hope for a Better New Years!

Keep the shiny side up, and Truckim safe!

Truckers park rigs to protest gas prices

Gas prices have some truckers feeling helpless. In Screven, Georgia, a group of truckers are taking some drastic measures. It’s not a rest area or a campground, but along Highway 84 in Screven, you’ll find some truckers and their families. Ron White says, “I’m telling you, everything is getting so expensive.”

“I don’t know where I’m going from here,” says Eddie Hudson. For most of his life Hudson has been a contract log hauler. He says he remembers the good old days when fuel prices were reasonable. “You can spend from $400 to $600 of fuel to haul 18 to 20 loads.” SOURCE

News Reporters and their “Stories” about Truck drivers

This is a subject that really irritates me to no end. I come across “stories” written by news reporters, that in fact you can tell by reading them they made them upThey did not go out and talk to any real Truck Drivers to get the real “story”. Because they know nobody would read them except a real truck driver. The most recent article was in reference to truckers dodging the scales.

The reporter talked to one truck driver! Then to a guy from NORWAY! and of course to the Texas DPS officer and a person who I might add was completely wrong in who pays for the roads. Wow four people, and came to a conclusion that truckers were dodging the scales. You can view the video and see for your self.

KXAN news is just one of many news agencies I see that do this, they make the story sound worse than it really is. I have in the passed went around weigh stations just because it is very time consuming.

The website they reference to is a very good website, it is chucked full of very good information. Coops Are Open visit them and see!

Hazards on the highway

To local firefighters, every passing hour without an explosion somewhere on the region’s stretch of Interstate 81 is a lucky break.

An estimated 216,000 gallons of flammable liquid zooms north and south along Augusta County’s bit of interstate every 60 minutes. Added to that are an unknown amount of corrosives, deadly gases and even radioactive waste hauled by truck.

They want to put in a truck only lane...What about the trains that haul that much in a couple of tanker cars?

So far, the local stretch has been catastrophe free. But that could change, experts said.

Yes, it could but it has not. A truck only lane is not the answer, it is however just another way for VA to make more money off the trucks.

An alternative safety measure is the weigh station, where truck drivers, their vehicles and cargo are monitored. Troutville, just north of Roanoke, and Stephens City, just south of Winchester, are home to I-81’s only permanent weigh stations in Virginia.

“I-81 is a heavily traveled interstate. It would make a lot of sense to put a weigh station” in or near Augusta County, said national highway expert Dan McNichol.

Oh, yea exactly put in another weigh station that's the ticket...VA makes enough off trucks now with the 2 weigh station's it has.

Even with a truck only lane, the "problem" is still there. I am all for making these highway's safe. But putting all the trucks into 1 lane is not the answer..

The full story is here

Do police have right to, nor right for all motorists blood

For years, truckers have fought random requests for roadside urine tests. As it turns out, the government doesn’t want your urine.Big brother wants your blood.

read more | digg story

Trucker pulls unconscious motorist from wreckage

Police in a Cleveland suburb say a trucker pulled another driver out of his four-wheeler last weekend before the man’s wrecked pickup burst into flames.

According to Lt. Chris Viland, the pickup drover lost control and ran into a Carquest automotive parts store and was knocked unconscious at about 2 a.m. on Saturday, April 14 in Solon, OH.

John Krupka, 50, has driven a parts delivery truck for Carquest for four years, and was parked at the Solon Carquest – just one of his daily nine stops at stores in the area – when he witnessed the accident.

Krupka told Land Line he was about to close up the back of his truck when he saw headlights swerving and heard a boom that seemed right outside his truck. The boom was followed by what Krupka said sounded like a rocket whistling.

Krupka looked out his driver’s side window and saw a pickup truck crushed into the side of the retail store, with the gas main lit up “like a blow torch” in the truck’s engine compartment. He ran to the truck and saw a middle-aged man unconscious, his face buried in his pickup’s airbag.

“By the time I got to him the fire was up on the dashboard of his truck,” Krupka said. “The only thing I could think of was he was in trouble and to help him out.”

Well at least it sounds like there are still some candidates for Highway Angels out there. I am glad to see some of the truckers out there are still trying to bring the image around to folks that not all trucker's are bad people.

I congratulate John Krupka for going above and beyond.

Read all about it here; Trucker pulls unconscious motorist from wreckage

What makes a Truck Driver a Truck Driver?

I have asked this same question for most of my truck driving career. Because if anyone has had to ride for 11 hours in a tractor trailer, especially one that is governed below the posted speed limit then you know it seems like takes forever to get anywhere.

Or maybe it is when you have drove 11 hours and you and 10,000 other trucks have to park, and you pull into 20 truckstops to find a parking place only not to find one and have to continue on until you do find a place to park.

I know what it is. It is because we get to park in a truckstop and go inside and sometimes pay to take a shower! Or better yet is when we have to pay to park! But we go inside and pay to take a shower, and have to take a shower in everybody else's filth! I have actually taken showers before and felt cleaner before showering then afterwards.

Then there is always the fine luxury of having too eat in the same truckstop. Because we have already driven over the 11 hour driving limit because we could not find a place at one of the nicer truckstops, so we had to settle for Joe Blows truck stop! If you are lucky you won't catch something from showering, and you won't get food poisoning from eating the half cooked meal that you have to settle for.

Then we have to pay for it! Almost double the price of what you could eat at a decent diner, only because this was the only place left to park!

Then we get too sleep, if you can without being bothered by a lot lizard who keeps banging on the side of your truck wanting to know if you need some company.
After which we have already spent over "our" budget for the day because we had to park here at Joe Blows truck stop.

Then 10 hours later (sometimes sooner) we get to get up and take off driving for a company who has a 90 mile and hour dispatcher.
Or drive for a good paying company who has these dispatchers who only find 350 mile runs, but to horrible receivers who are only open certain hours of the day. Who gets twice as many trucks as they can unload, and then tell you there is no parking on their lot, that you need to come back the next day.

Then we get to go through the same horrible episode from the day before because you have spent almost all your hours at the said receiver.

I have been driving for 10+ years and still do not know why I wanted to be a truck driver for. I know what I said before I went to Driving school, but this was not true in the real world.

Trucker comes forward after last week’s fatality caused by thrown tire

A truck driver has come forward after apparently unknowingly losing a tire last week that resulted in a fatality.

Lt. Mike Thomas of the Florida Highway Patrol told Land Line last week that a truck hauling a white “box-type” trailer lost a tire as it headed south on Interstate 75 at about 12:35 a.m. on Monday, April 2.

One of the tractor’s tires came off and crossed the median before hitting the windshield of a northbound Saturn SUV, killing Valeria Herrera, a passenger in the SUV, Thomas said.

Kenneth Browning, 50, of Seymour, IN, came forward Friday after hearing about the crash, according to the Ocala Star-Banner.

Florida Highway Patrol Cpl. Wallace Dill told Land Line on Saturday that Browning “was very upset and was unaware one of his tires caused the accident.”

Publix Super Markets Inc. contacted Browning’s broker after hearing about the fatality, Dill said.

Highway Patrol detectives spent several days last week piecing together details to close the case and conducting news interviews about the fatality.

Source continues

Truck toll rates increase on Indiana Toll Road

Truckers predicted that tolls would increase after the lease of the Indiana Toll Road to private investors in 2006.

Tolls did increase this week by 25 percent for heavy trucks, but that increase was approved by state lawmakers before the road was leased to a consortium of infrastructure investors comprised of Cintra of Spain and Macquarie of Australia

The increase for heavy trucks took effect Sunday, April 1. Tolls for five-axle trucks running the entire 157-mile route increased from $18 to $22.50.

A spokesman for the ITR Concession Co. told Land Line Magazine the additional revenue will pay for a third driving lane on each side of the median in Lake County and complete the installation of electronic toll lanes at all access points along the entire length of the road.

“Revenue from the toll increase will go right back into the toll road,” said spokesman Matt Pierce. “It’s not going into someone’s pocket.”

Pierce said ITR Concession Co. officials plan to evaluate toll rates each year to determine the need for future increases. But, legislation already in place has the truck tolls set to increase to $27.25, in 2008 and $32 in 2009.

Electronic toll lanes will be installed by the fall of this year, he said. That will give motorists and truck drivers the option of using cash lanes to pay tolls, or opening a pre-paid account and using an electronic transponder to pass through the toll area at highway speed.

Pierce said the company has received several calls from truckers who didn’t know the rates were going up.

“A concern of the truckers is that this only affects semis,” Pierce said.

He said tolls are frozen for passenger vehicles until the electronic toll lanes are installed. That was written into the private lease of the toll road.

ITR Concession Co. leased the toll road in June 2006, paying the state of Indiana $3.85 billion up front to operate the road and keep the tolls for 75 years.

A complete list of tolls is available online at indianatollroad.org.

Source

New Site Layout

I have changed templates as this one looks much more professional. I want this site to do really well, so it needed to be as professional as all the truck drivers out there.

I hope you all have enjoyed your Easter with loved ones, and if you did not make it home for Easter I hope you were making lots of money to compensate you for being out on a holiday!

Anyway you guys and gals be safe out there and keep the shiny side up!

Wooot Wooot Truckem up!

Truckers Unhappy With Plan For Mexican Trucks in U.S.

The President's trucking pilot program to allow Mexican trucks to drive on U.S. highways is getting poor reviews amongst local truck drivers in Southern Colorado.

The plan would allow one hundred Mexican trucking companies to deliver goods throughout the United States. The plan is meant to improve trade between the two countries. Previously, Mexican truck drivers could only deliver goods within a 20-mile radius of U.S. borders.

But for truck drivers in Southern Colorado, the plan is a bad idea, as area drivers believe Mexican trucks are unsafe.

"What's happening is a lot of big truck companies in the states are replacing their fleet, so what's happening is Mexicans are buying all this old junk," truck driver Rob Scott Says.

Scott, and other truck drivers parked at a Fountain truck stop, say they've driven by Mexican trucks near the border and believe those trucks are poorly maintained.

"They'll have a leak in the break lines, so instead of fixing the line, they'll just block the line off so it doesn't leak."

Scott also believes unsafe trucks could cause more accidents in the United States.

The plan calls for U.S. inspectors to perform safety checks on any Mexican truck entering the Untied States to ensure it meets U.S. safety standards. Still, Scott says that's not good enough, and is concerned unsafe trucks will get through U.S. borders regardless.

Source

Independent log truck drivers striking in Grays Harbor County

ABERDEEN, WASH. -- Nearly 140 log trucks are still parked in the Grays Harbor County as a strike of independent log truck drivers continues.

The strike began last week, and 30 drivers and loggers meet yesterday in Aberdeen to discuss increases for the drivers.

The general manager for the Washington Contract Loggers Association, Bill Pickell, says fuel surcharges and compensation for operating expenses have not increased for almost two decades. He says the log truck drivers are just not making any money.

Pickell says several companies have now made offers.

Source

Police Warn Drivers About Truck Stop Scam

WHITELAND, Ind. - Before you get in your car this holiday weekend, police have a warning for you. It's a bizarre scam they say is happening at truck stops throughout the Midwest.

If you stop at a truck stop, get out of your car, and you're approached by a group of men who give you the chance to win money in some kind of "too good to be true" gambling game, beware. Three times in the last two months, a group of thieves has scammed drivers out of money at truck stops off the I-65 Whiteland exit.

"They just get the people to produce the money, and once they see it, they just grab it from the individuals and they take off," said Major Steve Byerly with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department.

He says the scam starts with the victim being lured into some type of gambling or easy numbers game in the back of the truck stop where the trucks are parked.

Source continues

Truckers left without pay as Trucker’s Express brokerage shuts down

Micki Ball contracted with Trucker’s Express Inc.’s brokerage service to haul a load from Aurora, IL, to Jacksonville, FL, for $2,200 in early December.

One week later, Ball got a phone call from her factoring agent – the service had downgraded Trucker’s Express and removed them from its no-load list after finding out the company had tens of thousands of dollars in outstanding load payments to other carriers.

Ball, who co-owns Ball Carriers LLC with her husband, Wade, did some digging and found that the Department of Transportation had yanked Trucker’s Express’ operating authority three times in the previous three years.

“If I’d seen that I wouldn’t have taken that load,” Ball said.

The Missoula, MT-based company officially closed its doors Feb. 26, leaving many carriers without payment for loads hauled during the past several months.

The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association has taken reports from more than a dozen drivers who reported they haven’t been paid by Trucker’s Express, Inc.

Source

Welcome Truck drivers

Hello and Welcome,

I have set this blog up as a informative blog. You will find information on Truck Driving, and the industry here including any changes.
I will also try to post up weather related post, and accident information.

I hope that all who read this blog will find it informative and helpful.

Happy Easter everyone!

Your Friend in Trucking!

Radioman