Trucker TJ's Rants & Ramblings

[color=darkred][/color][size=18][/size]Greetings to one and all who may or may not decide to peer into these pages! I have had an interesting year to say the least. Of course EVERY year is interesting and even more interesting than the last. Given that, I guess you could say this has been THE most INTERESTING YEAR EVER!!!&$^%#$&^!
I have spent the larger part of this year hauling cars but have had to move on even from that. My truck was ALWAYS breaking down and the last two times cost me two weeks apiece. I have gotten spoiled with all this hometime and made up my mind the next job wanst going to BE over the road. I found a good one and am excited to see if yet another company can keep up with me lol.
Ill be hauling SKATE parks, the latest craze for cities and provinces to cling to. Used to be if there were places skateboarders found to ride in they put big fences around them and banned them from every possible use... many a good empty swimming pool was filled in "in the interest of safety" and skaters had to stoop to attempting a skate on staircases and cars, much safer indeed...
Now many communities have pulled a full reversal, and after realizing that if theyre going to get sued, its gonna happen no matter what, they are embracing these parks as an excellent addition to their towns and cities. See guys? maybe there's hope they'll embrace truckers too and install adequate parking and thru lanes...
Happy new year, Bless God and be of good cheer cuz bad cheer is worse than bad beer!
TJ

Category: Un-Trucking stuff

[color=darkblue][/color][size=18][/size]News Flash....Jasper County, Near Carterville MO...
Local company here hauls Hopper-bottom freight and has a combination of company trucks and owner operators. We were leased to this company, BRB, or Ben R Brown, and it didnt take long to see that the trucks doing virtually ALL of the "major Deadhead" loads were the owner-operator trucks. Seems the dispatcher looks GOOD to ol' benny if HIS trucks don't burn up all that high-dollar fuel, and when I would even CASUALLY as about the rate, he would make a fuss -that is was too time-consuming, and the like, and then say "It pays good, I know that much". In reality, I would deadhead 250 miles to pick up a load that delivered 250 miles away, and while it paid $450 (WHICH IS GOOD, FOR 350 MILES) we would only clear $396 before fuel... including the deadhead, Fuel cost makes that come out to $121 TO THE TRUCK. the driver gets about a hundred, and between deadheading 250 miles of two-lane mountain roads, 4 hhours loading and another 4 delivering and 2 waiting to unload, this truck netted $21 to pay for payments, taxes, insurance,etc...
Another time I deadheaded 186 miles to pick up a load of certified seed beans (Soy) that delivered 256 miles away... now that was 442 miles for a load that paid 440. might not have been too bad, but then he wanted me to deadhead back after another load! that would have been 512 miles for 440, plus would have left me with a 200 mile deadhead home. But even without that, the two trips would have meant driving 954 miles for $880. less 12% company fee ($106), fuel (about 440) driver pay (195) it left me with 139 for two day's running of the truck. What got me really angry was that I needed to get the truck HOME immediately after that first load, and raised holy hell about it... without batting an eye, he pops up with a soyhull load not 70 miles from where the truck was sitting and sends it after that... Only later did it dink in what he was trying to do there... I had my mind more on getting it home...
needless to say, I've left there, lol...
Good luck, hopper haulers!

Category: General