Foodliner, DBA, Gless Bros, Blue Grass Ia.

woohooo... I finally got invited to another safety meeting... hi-vee donuts and coffee... yum...

that was this a.m. and not to bad...

talked about safe lane changes... not crashing the trucks...

guys getting ticks for 70 in a 55... another guy getting mailed his own photo... dot inspections that didn't go so well...

the importance of getting signatures prior to unloading into the wrong pipe as directed too... (not me)

how many customers don't have showers...

showed a pick of a trailer loaded with cut seals... 20lbs worth...

tim says... look at the back of this trailer... 2 of us corrected him... its the side of the eddyville aqua trailer... (center dump)

I think he thought we knew the garbage was in there...???? no I just recognize the ill fitting half beat flat pipe...

bob says somebody emptied the bucket in it was all....

another guy says better than throwing the stuff on the ground...

tim says... well yes but you need to clean it out when it comes home...

voice behind me says... thats bob the loaders job.... (nice distraction laying it off on your boss who is sitting in the same room)

bob says... maybe hydrite reloaded that one or he would have cleaned it out...

(tim is now distracted and we move on...)

fewer loads than we had this time last year because of customer slow downs... but we got new customers and more loads coming... bought lots of new trailers... you guys (waterloo) will not be seeing new trucks until 2010 if then...

?????????how about a raise?????????? (from the back of the room)

this is a photo of tims face.... lol

no, no raises coming real soon...

didn't think so... lol

company is strong... we're keeping the macks a little longer cause of the depressed used market... (owner ops going belly up left right and center??)

new trucks... will be nicer...

(I've heard this before...lol but whatever...??? frankly I honestly do not care... 50 more h.p. would be nice, What hood ornament it has doesn't mean squat to me... decent rubber and not broke on the side of the road and I'm happy...)

somebody somewhere ran over a hydrant on customer property... again???

(not me)

I'm the 4 foot tall bright yellow pole guy... d'oh

never trust a guy or guys to help you back up ever... trust me you are better off all by yourself!!!!

lesson learned... meeting adjourned..

 

it was a comment in general based on what I know/see... right now...

it for sure does not cover all o/o's in the least and my apologies if you feel snubbed there...

used trucks are stacked up all over and even with meager price droppings they aren't moving them because you need miles to go with that truck and those are hard to come by.

our company pays a good fsc and a good rate... $1.00 mt $1.25 LOADED

THAT SAID IT WOULD NOT PENCIL OUT FOR ME AND i REALLY WANT MY OWN TRUCK OOPPS cap lock... but as I said penciling it out hard core to the stupid max... it falls short for our company and really short for others.

I was very realistic in my costs including the forgotten 5% for free mileage, thanks to hhmg. and the other things...

1) I might only make 50-60k here, but I'm home almost every night and
2) my health insurance is 70 a week instead of 210 compareable.
3) I get paid vacation.
4) I get workmans comp
5) I get unemployment if everything tanks.
6) 401k contributions

when I added all this up apples to apples.. I'd be bringing home the same money... but with the truck I'd be assuming the risk for free.

the guys that I believe may be actually coming out ahead are the guys that go all the way and have their own customers and book their own freight at their own rates...

but those guys aren't home every night either...

for me personally I am at a point in life where I really want to be home and finish watching the kids grow-up while I can... one is basically gone and the other isn't far behind...

a few years when the nest is empty, I might get momma to play team and actually make more??? but that's a while off for me.

this is true and I don't condemn anyones whish to better themself.

I think things run in cycles and if you are tough about life... right now is a good time to start a business... I know that may be counter intuitive... but more millionaires are going to be made in the next 5 years than in any other time in america... downside, more poor will also be made...

but you'll never get ahead or really be your own guy leasing onto a company... you have to start your own company and go into competition for that... and I'm wussified right now... no heart for it...

kids are growing up and out... and I won't get this chance with them again ever...

O/O I can do any m-f non-holiday with a signature... so it depends where you are in life...

definately anything is better than sitting at home on unemployment and whining... lol been plenty of that on the radio eh??? lol

 

waterloo, took off down the road one hour early sat. morning... figuring it would be slow and our customer (cedar rapids) could get me in early. they did...

it takes 2 hours generally to unload at this place so bring your book...

bob called about 15 minutes before my appointment time. can you scurry back, drop your trailer and bob-tail to eddyville they need help.

answer: sure, but I won't be in eddyville until around 2:30... not done unloading plus drive time...

hmmmm.... (from bob) I'll call you back...

ring: ok just take off from cedar straight to ottumwa, drop and hook, unload in eddyville, back to ottumwa, drop and hook then back to waterloo...

whoa.... let me get a pen buddy...

got to ottumwa and the yard is littered with ottumwa trucks and guys off for the weekend??? why am I here??? this seems stupid 260 miles dead head for an 18 mile run...

oh well... more money in my back pocket... lol

as I get out of the truck... I realise these guys must be off for the weekend because of heat exhaustion...!!!

holy-cow... 95 degrees and 80% humidity... and I gotta wear the suit...

and this was their cool day for the week... lol

I been doing wisconsin... and I like it up there...

darrell needs more help on the weekend... he best have a pamper's dispenser installed... its good money but I ain't sweating like that for nobody...

and I forgot to bring my suit home last night... so now I get to smell myself all day monday... lol ohhh its a cruel world...

but still very glad to have my job.

 

ain't it the weirdest times??? we been the same way... its like the customers hold the orders just to scare us then fax them all in at once...

I need some steady evens... lol

 

even if it is your weekend to work...

never ever ever... be foolish enough to answer the phone...

the boss is not calling you to ask if you'd like to go grab a brewski...

especially on a sunday...

nuff said...

 

last week...

flying south down the i-380... as I entered cedar rapids... it started really pouring down rain...

the speed limit was 60 but I was only running about 55 in the slow lane...

came over the hill where it drops to 55mph so I backed off to 50 following a line of cars...

the rain eased off as I started thru the S-corners but the spray being thrown up was terrible... like an inch of standing water...???

anyways... I can see just a glimpse of tail light from a truck in the hammer lane that had passed me just seconds ago at maybe 65??? He was far enough out front I'd lost his silouette because of all the water spray...

then the four wheeeler lights go off like pop-corn...

I hit the brakes and started checking my mirrors... traffic was coming up fast behind me so I hit the emergencies and continued to slow...

as I pulled to a stop on the switch-back part of the s-turn the 4-wheelers had all the lanes blocked parked all scattered... and the people were jumping out... further up the trucker had started sliding and peened into the guard rail (hammer side) and knocked out a section ripping his duals off and flipping the tractor onto the driver's side but not the trailer????

chunks of cab and mirror all over heck... and the back of the fuel tank (driver's side) was on fire and burning and had a pretty good leak....

I started to get out but could see the traffic still barrelling up behind so I sat there watching things burn... looking at the driver who had been thrown out and was laying on pavement between the second and third lanes... folks running to him.

I thought he had hit another car and that it was somehow sandwiched in between the tractor and trailer because it didn't make sense what I was looking at...

A lady had a cell phone out up front so I put mine down... and checked the mirror again.

the traffic stopped behind me so I jumped out and grabbed the extinguisher... and started running (cautiously up past the trailer to the cab. I popped the pin and held the extinguisher by the bottle so I wouldn't accidently discharge it before I got up to the fire (another story).

some guy yelled be careful its gonna blow... which I didn't think it would but a little nervous any how and didn't think my 10 pounder would do much because the flames were surprizingly big for just thirty seconds or less of burn... knew the tanks had a leak because the fuel was running across the lanes on fire and flickering like a candle before running over the edge into the river below.

pointed the hose and blasted at the base walking up to the back of the tank... hosed that down then gave a couple of puffs at the lane...

fire was out but could still see black smoke from the opposit side... walked around and the wiring harness was on fire in the frame rail... juiced that... and that was the end of extinguishing anything... but it was just enough...

walked back to the driver who was laying on his back moaning...had his bell rung real good... covered in engine oil head to toes down his right side... short pants and no shoes or socks on... walked around to look at his other side which seemed ok...

somebody was holding his head and neck still... and I thought, welp this is all covered... and figured guy just got rung real good... everything was pointing in the right direction and he was moving his feet and legs...

jumped in and went and did my run... came back a few hours later... and the chasis was gone and the cab and sleeper was sitting there up-right but flat on the ground... (knocked the cab off) thats how it first looked on its side but the trailer still up right....

heard on the news later the driver was ok and had been cited for losing control...

don't know... but am thinking goober.... he was driving way to fast for existing conditions even if it were dry and clear...

wondered if he had a cell phone glued to his head and if he thought he was late before whats he thinking now????

btw... the company DOES *NOT* charge you for a new extinguisher for douching another yo-yo's problem...

not that I'm a totally pessimist... but the thought did run thru my head before i pulled the trigger... ######... no dinner out for momma... my luck I'll get charged for this puppy... lol

 

went to a customer... he went up top to pull a sample... said this is a mess...

I thought he meant they over flowed the product?

he stepped out on the platform and about fell off...

said it was full of oil...

I said we don't haul oil....

30 minutes later my belly valve goes closed... and I jack it back open... and check the trailer... yep its got a vapor recovery tube plumbed down the side... which means theres a vapor recovery valve up top (genius) so that's where the oil is coming from... my hand jack...

head to blue grass for a tank wash... and warn the guy... oil on top don't fall... go grab a mechanic and he scuttles up the ladder for a peak...

tell him also, be careful its oily you might fall...

no problem he steps across the dome to the opposite cat-walk... which isn't bolted to anything??? and almost comes off the top....

ok... oil on the dome... cat walk falling off... *yes I did a pretrip, I just didn't walk the catwalk... or step on the dome while getting my seal numbers*

tank washer cuts the hose tube open, *hose I didn't use* and its got three foot of crush where somebody drove over it then put it away...

take it over to the shop... and the mechanic wants to know why I drove over my hose??? lol

ohhhh noooo it was still sealed and not me buddy...

am thinking its time for another safety meeting...

true I didn't see the oil in the dark on top of the trailer... guilty,,, and no I don't walk the catwalks as a part of my pretrip... but there was 2 quarts of oil up there and you can't tell me nobody noticed anything in the daylight or while loading??? or that the knuckle-head that drove over the hose didn't notice the flat spot...

how flat was it?

it almost didn't want to go in the tube, this flat: _______

good job, good pay, about once every couple of weeks I think we need baby-sitters cuz can't anybody just fill out the form and mention stuff... so it gets fixed??? grrr...

it was a long day... i'd be grumpier... but I'm too tired... maybe later...