Fox News – A Slow News Day!

I have been watching the news and fuel prices over the past few weeks like every other concerned trucker in this country. I have noticed fuel prices in my state have risen .30-.40 cents per gallon over the past month. The reason for the price increase seems to be the formulation of summer fuel blends. Does this include diesel?

Anyway, I was watching Fox News this morning and watched for several hours while they were covering “Breaking News” out of a Dallas Suburb. The “news” was an apparent gas line break from a pipeline construction area. Because of the apparent lack of real news today, Neil Cavuto described the events as a “giant disruption” in our natural gas supply! He went on to say that this could “contribute to higher gas prices”, but fortunately, the “markets” were closed at the time. Just what we need to give the oil and gas companies a reason to hike up our fuel prices again!

Here is an email I sent to Mr. Cavuto this afternoon:

“Neil,

Are you kidding me? You are calling the gas-line rupture in Texas a refinery fire? Obviously it seems the tractor was doing some trenching work and it struck a natural gas line!

I am a former firefighter and know that these types of fires occur on almost a daily basis somewhere in the country. It seems as if Fox News want’s to sensationalize on the pictures coming from the fire scene. When you have that kind of pressure behind a natural gas line, it is going to send flames several dozen, if not hundreds of feet into the air.

Did I miss something? Is this sweeps week? Quit speculating that this “might” spike gas prices! A “great disruption”! Please, stop Neil! It is just giving the oil barons a reason to stick it to us again!

James B.”

One reason I usually watch Fox News is because they don’t usually sensationalize on speculative news. Come on Fox, give us all a break and stick to what is really important and what is actually factual!

Tiss the Season………….. For Freight that is!

Tiss the season? You might think by that headline that I was writing this article in early December. Actually it is March and it is the season for freight! February saw the inventory blues, when retailers of all kinds figure out how much inventory they actually have after the holiday season. Freight usually slows to a crawl just after the new year, but two months later, the shelves need to be stocked for the spring season. By the way, did you notice your fuel prices climb about .50 cents per gallon over the past three weeks?

It is time to move everything from lawn mowers, rakes, potting soil, lumber, tools and everything in between. If you work for a company that tells you that freight is slow right now, you need to go to work for a company that can’t get you home because freight is so hot! In my years as an OTR and regional truck driver, I have had dozens of conversations with managers and shippers of companies who move a lot of freight. Instead of just being the usual truck driver, I try to start up conversations with those people in charge and try to get the pulse of how shipping forecasts look for the coming months. The reason I do this is because I have had several dispatchers who are either too busy or don’t have a clue to what they are supposed to do as a dispatcher. I remember a dispatcher who didn’t have a load for me, so I decided to call the traffic manager of a company I knew was near my location. He told me he had more freight than he knew what to do with and said he needed trucks asap. I called my dispatcher back and told him of the company who had a load and I was sent to that location within a couple hours to pick up a load! Sometimes drivers can be an asset to their companies.

Right now, in the greater northwest, companies are searching high and low for companies to move their freight. I know of at least seven shippers within 200 miles of my location who have loads to all points of the nation! They are competing for trucks because they have to get their products out for spring planting and home remodeling seasons. Good products that are moving out of the northwest right now that are also paying good rates include: Wood Chips, Bark, Potting Soil, Lumber, Tile, Brick, Roofing Material, Paint, Fertilizer and other items that the big box stores need to stock their garden center shelves. Shippers are looking for flatbeds, drop decks, dry vans, refers and any other piece of equipment they can load 24 pallets into or onto.

If you are sitting in a truck stop right now waiting for your dispatcher to get a load for you, after reading this article, get online and look at the load boards. If you are in western Montana or the Portland, Oregon area right now, there are loads ready to be shipped. Also, the northwest is famous for it’s paper mills and saw mills. Paper is always a great mover and dry vans can load plywood out of Medford! Don’t let your dispatcher or broker let you sit! If you can’t get a load out of the northwest right now, fire your dispatcher or broker and hire someone who knows where the loads are moving.

The Trucking Blog

** BREAKING NEWS **

I just pulled this off an email I got from CNN! Way to go trucker!

From the CNN News Room:

– Truck driver from Georgia claims half of a record-breaking $390 million jackpot and says he’s “going fishing. “

For more news, go to CNN.com.

Enjoying the time off!

I am not sure if I would call the last two weeks a vacation, I have been working hard but on projects unrelated to trucking. My boss called me and said the 1.4 million mile truck I have been using had to go into the shop. He couldn’t understand why the transmission needed to be rebuilt, the head gaskets were shot and the brake air tanks were bad and had to be replaced. To make a very long story short, the total cost for the repairs were in the neighborhood of $3,000 – $4,000 dollars! The owner of the company, who I might add doesn’t have a clue about anything to do with trucking, couldn’t understand why it cost so much to keep this truck running. I’ll give you a clue, Mr. “Boss”, THE TRUCK HAS ALMOST 1 1/2 MILLION MILES ON IT’S ODOMETER!

About three weeks ago, I pulled into a Washington state DOT inspection facility and “volunteered” for a #1 inspection! In the career of the DOT inspector, he has only had a couple of drivers, including me, to volunteer for a #1 inspection. I felt unsafe in this truck, I wanted to make sure from the standpoint of a DOT officer that this truck met the minimum standards to stay on the road. For instance, the seatbelt latch was held together with duct tape! I didn’t show that problem to the officer, for I know I would have been placed out of service until the latch was replaced. I knew that the new part was sitting in Seattle and it would be repaired that weekend.

What does it take to get unsafe trucks off the road? Why don’t the owners of these fly-by-night companies understand that trying to fix an old horse doesn’t necessarily make good business sense? Penske truck leasing offered our company brand new trucks at a cost of $1,500 per month, per unit! The company is paying at least that on monthly repairs per truck, averaged over a years time. Just does not make sense to me.

So I sit here at home wondering what my next move will be. Do I look for another job? Do I become a dispatcher or freight agent? I will keep you posted on new developments in this weird world of trucking!

Truck Safety Coalition

I was doing a google on trucking safety and ran across this website, the Truck Safety Coalition. The stories are real and most of the accidents involved commercial trucks. I am strongly beginning to become an advocate for sites such as this.

My past posts have dealt with unsafe drivers, speeding and unsafe trucks. Read a couple of the stories on this site, go to a couple of the memorial websites dedicated to people who were lost in accidents involving trucks. Maybe it will change your thoughts about unsafe driving.