STRESSFUL DAY

I'm gonna have to take a deep breath and chill for a moment. I hope you don't mind. It's been a long, rough day. Again. It's not that anything horrible happened, but it was definitely stressful. I've been up since 5:30 a.m. and drove 630 miles in about 10 hours. I only stopped twice on the whole trip.

Now, most of my days seem to involve the long hours but don't produce as many miles. Usually, that's because of shippers and receivers or going through areas where traffic is nice and thick, with stop lights, stop signs, traffic jams, and so many other wonderful things to slow a hardworking truck driver down. You've all been through towns and cities during rush hour or every block has a stop light. I don't need to describe it.

Shippers and receivers are the customers that we pick up and deliver the loads to. Sometimes, it's quick. In and out in about 20 minutes to a half hour. Other times, it's like being inside molasses and nobody but you seems in a hurry. Live loading and unloading is a pain in the butt when your bread and butter depends on the miles you travel in a restricted amount of time. But, sometimes, that drop n' hook that usually goes so smooth turns into your day from hell.

You pull into the customer with your empty trailer, talk to the insecurity guard with the chip on his or her shoulder, and put that trailer where they tell you to. Depending on the customer, you might just drop that, pick up your loaded trailer, and grab your bills of lading from the guard on the way back out. Or... you might have to go inside and talk to a shipping/receiving clerk and do more dancing around in order to get your loaded trailer and bills and be on your way. Of course, that guard needs to earn his paycheck on the way out too, so you gotta stop and see him.

The day from hell usually begins when you have to wait in a line of a dozen trucks all needing to do the same thing you are doing. Then you go through the guard, who provides clear and precise instruction through the maze of buildings. (This is highly exaggerated. Most of the time, I swear these guys are speaking ancient Greek.) Then you have to wait for the dozen trucks ahead of you to decipher and complete their instructions. Then you have to meet said drivers waiting in line for the clerk to give you more Greek.

When you finally get to the trailer you're taking out with you, you realize the landing gear crank is stiff or stuck. You get that fixed by spraying WD-40 and whacking it with a hammer. Then your reefer has an alarm code. What? The refrigerated trailer has a temperature setting and tells you when something is wrong. Thus, alarm codes. You figure out the fuel gauge is faulty and send in a breakdown report stating that it needs replaced. You finish that and go back to checking out the trailer.

This pre-trip inspection on trailers is essential. You don't know if it's been damaged or it was dropped off without it's marker lights working, tires in good shape, or mudflaps missing. You don't know if someone hit the fuel tank with a fork lift or even if it has fuel. You have to check it out and report the problems so they can get fixed. They send you to the repair shop and there goes half your day. That's money down the drain people! My potential income for the day stuck in a garage.

If those weren't enough to deal with, you also have to make sure that if your trailer is good to go, that the load is secure, sealed, and weighted properly across the axles. If the guy loading the trailer pushes everything to the front, you might be overweight on the drive axle of the truck. (Those double sets of tires at the back of the truck.) If the guy loading the trailer puts everything on the back, you might be overweight on the tandems. (Those double sets of tires at the back of the trailer.) There are adjustments the driver can make to even it all out, but if you pushed and pulled the equipment as far as it can go and you're still over somewhere, then you have to take the whole kit n' caboodle back to the shipper and have them rework the load. Bye bye paycheck for the day.

A non-Class A Driver's License (CDL) holder might say, what's the big deal? The big deal is that the regulations on transporting goods around the country on the nation's roads are so strict that we get special consideration by law enforcement in every state. They consider us a source of revenue. That revenue is brought in by giving truck drivers tickets, violations, out-of-service orders, and anything else they can think of. There are plenty of stories about officers making up stuff when they couldn't find anything real. Hand to God.

The condition of our paperwork, equipment, and ourselves is inspected with a fine-tooth comb. Everything. They have the right to inspect the inside of our trucks. Do cops get to go inside your house without a warrant? No? The truck is my living and working space, but I do not have any expectation of privacy. Companies are even talking about putting INWARD-facing cameras in the trucks to observe drivers. Any company or government agency who would require such a thing is asking for a lawsuit. Just sayin'.

So back to my day. My load was ready. It was easy to get to. It scaled out legally. Everything went smooth and all equipment was hunky dory. So why did I have a stressful day? One word. Traffic.

I swear people get dumber and dumber on Interstate 80 going through Iowa. I-80 is a very up-and-down highway through some lovely and some boring country in Iowa. Most trucks are governed well below the speed limit. Add that and the natural tendency to slow down pulling 80,000 pounds up a hill and you get a lot of people stuck behind slower moving vehicles. Drivers get impatient and do some really stupid and dangerous things.

I see the problem as being the terrain more than anything. Each truck travels as fast as it can, but it's below the speed limit going uphill. Downhill, they try to make up time. But downhill can mean coasting, which most drivers do. The problem with that is the trailer becomes the control of the truck. (That's dangerous in so many ways it'd take me forever to explain them all.) The difference in the truck speeds, up, and then down, and the different power levels of each truck really causes a mess. Add in a couple of fairly good sized cities to go through with all the car traffic and it takes a bad situation and makes it so much worse.

Cars zipping up and realizing that two trucks are stuck in a slow speed race to see who can get to the top of the hill first. Trucks with faster and more powerful engines pulling up and straining for that opening to get around the slowpokes. Pretty soon, you've got packs. Packs of vehicles all vying for the chance to get into a clear space and get on their way. Pack driving is dangerous, stressful, and makes me want to pull out my hair, puke, or piss my pants. All of which are painful and no fun.

The thing is, every truck on the road is working. That driver is trying to make the miles to bring in the paycheck. Car drivers forget that. We aren't out here to mess up their commute or be an obstacle to them in some way. We're not out here playing around trying to be assholes. We are doing our job. Every car driver that decides we're purposely causing delays in his day and does something stupid and/or dangerous in order to get around or get back at us is literally doing the equivalent of walking into a stranger's workplace, waving a weapon, and screaming at the employees.  

Are those drivers being educated on why trucks are doing what they're doing? Are those drivers being taught how to treat a semi truck on the road? Are those drivers even showing the minimum of respect to the guy literally bringing everything he owns or wants? Nope. Not even a little bit.

To the drivers of the cars that do allow us in when we need to shift lanes... To the drivers of the cars who don't hang out next to the trailer at 70 mph or in a curve... To the drivers of the cars with the kids who want us to blow the air horn....

THANK YOU!

To the rest of the drivers who get dumber and dumber.... I pray you live through it.

Thanks guys for reading and understanding,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I'm a mother. I had a crappy day. It's not that the day itself was bad, but things seem to happen around Mother's Day.

When I was 14-years old, my present to my mother was a broken toilet. I was taking a shower and when I finished, opened the bathroom door. Within seconds I was passed out on the floor. I woke to the bathroom flooding, the tank busted, and a towel rack twisted like a candy cane. I don't remember anything after opening the door, but no one else was there so I had to have done the damage.

I kept turning the shutoff valve and it seemed to not be working. I panicked and started yelling for someone to come help me. No one was in the house. I called my grandfather, who lived next door. He came out of his house yelling for my mother. She was in the alley, weeding. I didn't know that.

My grandfather was running, well hobbling, as fast as he could and my mom just zipped past him like he was standing still. I watched it all from the bedroom window, still crying into the phone.

Mom came in like a whirlwind, twisted the handle on the shut-off valve and viola! No more water. Well, there was water. Lots of it. The bathroom flood on that floor leaked into the downstairs and flooded the basement bathroom too. It took all the towels and most of the blankets in the house to mop up the water and start the process of drying out the house.

She had to get a new tank for the toilet. Try doing that in a small town on a holiday Sunday! She did get one and I watched and helped her put it in. Then, she handed my brother a sledgehammer and we both watched as he demolished the old tank. It was his idea. She let him. She said it would be easier to throw away in small pieces, so why not?

I wouldn't denigrate Mother's Day as being a bad day if that had been the only incident. My mother-in-law passed away a couple of days after Mother's Day. I've had numerous accidents, injuries, and just bad news and crappy luck on the holiday. Yesterday, not an exception to the crappy Mother's Day rule.

I was running a load to Illinois from Kansas. A nice run, pleasant weather, and no real issues. I pick up a load assignment from the Illinois destination and move to the next one. That's the life of a truck driver. Moving from assignment to assignment is the whole job.

I picked up the new load and headed for the Iowa destination a little over 100 miles away. Rather than interstate travel, I had to take some state highways and go through some towns. I prefer interstates because the speed limit is higher and people are generally given more room to get around slower moving trucks.

The highway traffic was impatient. I was going the speed limit, but it seemed like everyone was in a hurry. I had at least 3 cars up my ass the whole time. After hanging out behind me for a little while, they'd start zooming past me like they were late for a hot date. What? No one can tell time or set an alarm so they're not running late? It's not like Mom won't forgive you for running behind. She might be more upset about the phone call from the hospital or the police saying you wouldn't be making it to any dinners in the future because you were stupid.

It's sad how many people risk their lives and the future holidays with their families because they don't leave on time, or early. It's stupid and I feel sorry for all the families who lose loved ones during holidays. Allowing yourself to risk your family and friends to always associate holidays with something so life-altering is just selfish.

Enough of my after-school special.

I get to my destination and call for a manager to meet me at the receiving office. It's hot, the doors are locked, I can't get out of the heat, and they're taking their sweet time. I call back again and then again. Finally, they get to the door and sign my bills so I can break the seal and back into the dock. Yay! I can feel the air conditioning in my near future!

I pull the truck forward to make room for the doors to open and that's when my stressful day goes to hell. The stack of pallets at the back of the trailer starts falling. I jump back as fast as I can, but the product still hit my hand, wrist, and arm.

I have to go to the office and track the guy back down so he can take care of the pallets that are laying upside down on the ground behind the trailer. My neck and back are starting to hurt, my head is pounding from the heat headache, and I'm still not done with this place. Getting into my truck is a no-go because I have to watch them clean up the mess so I can dock.

The cause of the collapse? Pickles. The pickle jars lost their lids at some point. The pickle juice soaked the cardboard, collapsing it. When I opened the doors, the unstable load on top of the pickles had nothing to hold them in place. The shipper regularly sends loads sealed and without any kind of restraints.

Me, as the driver breaking the seal and opening the doors, is the one at risk of injury. I escaped major injury this time, but I had another load of wood that fell. That one cut me a little as it fell. Again, another close call. It's just as easy to be blamed for the collapse and breakage and have that fall back on the company or the driver themselves. I didn't load or secure it. I just transported it to the customer.

The end result is wasted time and my back hurts. Jumping around trying not to get crushed is not a good activity for someone who has arthritis from old injuries. Oh well. It's not the first time, it won't be the last. If I get crushed under a falling load who gets to sue?

On a happier note, my kids sent me Happy Mother's Day texts. My aunt sent me a note and one of my friends sent me a note. I wasn't forgotten this year! Yay!

Thanks for reading about my Mother's Day,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

SHARE THE ROAD - YOU BUTTNUGGET!

My last post was sort of a split between a rant about the lack of respect the industry as a whole has, and the lack of respect for trucks and drivers, and the fact that a man doing his job, made a mistake and killed a woman just trying to get home after her job.

Sorry for the inconsistency, but that's what happens when you have to pause in the middle of writing and try to come back to it. Your train of thought is interrupted and the words don't exactly flow together.

As driver's we are held to a higher standard than the rest of the motoring public, but we are also regulated and targeted by law enforcement and government entities who ensure that same public safety. I'm sorry, but aren't I also part of the motoring public?

Drivers are singled out, but the statistics are that less than 7% of all accidents actually involve trucks. The trucks that are involved in accidents are often blamed because the damage when 80,000 pounds goes wrong is devastating and dramatic. Lives are lost more often in a truck-involved crash and usually, it's the 4-wheeler who gets the bad end of that stick.

The prevalence of dash-mounted cameras are also providing some even more disturbing statistics. Drivers of 4-wheelers are often the cause of a truck-related crash. They zoom across a lane for an exit or stomp their brakes in front of a semi, and run off down the road. Most of the time these drivers are unaware of the havoc they just created for the entire highway behind them.

The dash-mounted cameras are being used as evidence that something happened in front of the truck that caused the driver to react, sometimes with disastrous consequences, and other times with just a close call. But the fact remains, when something goes wrong, that truck is going to cause a much larger impact than a car. The difference is that cars just don't win that game of chicken. Lives are lost and the trucker's career is over.

I will not say that drivers of big rigs are perfect. Far from it. We're human beings. No one is perfect. I've experienced days when I can't park straight, much less actually stay between the lines. Fatigue is a huge aspect of the job. Working 14 + hours and then trying to park a 73' vehicle that bends and twists in the middle is not fun. I will often bypass difficult spaces when I'm tired because I'm worried that I will hit something. I'm just that tired.

I experienced recently an incident where the lane I was in was going to go straight but the exit I needed opened into 2 lanes going into the exit. I hit the blinker as soon as the opening for the exit branched off. This was about 1/2 mile before I lost my lane completely. The cars were behind me. They started branching into the next lane but refused to move to the far lane to let me in. Then they began edging into my trailer space.

I have my blinker on, I'm losing my lane, and they have an extra lane to allow exiting traffic to go into. But no, they have to hold the lane and encroach on my trailer knowing that I'm trying to get over there. I don't want the whole road. I just want to do my job. My job is to put on my blinker and give you in the car the opportunity to do the right thing.

I began nudging the line to indicate that I really needed that lane, and in my mirror I see the closest driver pull out a cell phone and point the camera at my truck. Really? Hey, Buttnugget! You just completely ignored the legally mandated blinker, the road splitting, and the empty right lane next to you and now you decide I'm being unruly? Inconsiderate asswipe.

Inconsideration on the road is becoming my biggest pet peeve. Follow the law, pay attention to the traffic around you, allow space for your fellow drivers to maneuver, and for the love of Pete put your cell phone away.

I try, every single day, to allow other drivers to maneuver around me. I brake to allow someone signaling to enter my lane. I brake to allow a faster vehicle to pass more quickly. I brake to keep distance between myself and the drivers who aren't paying attention. I move out of your way as much as I am allowed. And still, you have to be all that.

Well, you're not all that. You are one of the millions of cars and trucks on the road. Share it!

Thanks

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

RESPECT THE JOB

It's a nice feeling, knowing that your work has an impact on the world around you. As a driver, I deliver to grocery stores, meat processing plants, dockyards, pet stores, packaging companies, mailing companies, beverage companies, and so many other places. I've hauled everything from apples to carpet to cardboard to broccoli.

I was thinking about all the different things that I've hauled across the country and then I listened to a podcast called TalkCDL The Trucker Show. One of the things they talked about was a 62-year old driver who hit a bicyclist and caused her death. He was sentenced to prison by a judge who stated the man was a professional driver and had to be more aware than the average motoring public.

I felt bad for the woman. Her story was that she had just recently begun working at a place and didn't have transportation except the bicycle and she had just finished working for the day when she was killed. I also felt bad for the driver of the truck that hit her. It takes only one thing going wrong for disastrous consequences. I'm not sure of the time of day, but she was dressed in black and had just finished her work for the day, so I'm going to assume it was either near dark or dark when the accident happened.

We're told that dawn and dusk are the worst times for being able to see the road and the surroundings. Wearing dark colors at these times of day, just makes it that much harder to see. This man had multiple things going against him and now has the ending of another person's life on his hands, the end of his career, and the end of his freedom. It's sad.

The judge said he was a professional and threw the book at him. I understand the label of professional. How much training and regulation effect the truck driver, pounds the responsibilities of the work into a driver's bones. My point is this, if I'm a professional who is responsible for the economy of the world, why am I paid the same as a burger flipper?

I work 7 days a week and regularly work 11-14 hours a day. To be honest, even that isn't enough to get the job done. I regularly feel like I've only done half the job. Considering that I'm a result-oriented person, this drives me insane on a regular basis.

I know that I'm a professional driver. I work my ass off every single day. I make burger flipper wages for twice or three times the hours and I never see a penny in overtime. It's sad because driver's deserve better than that. We're the black sheep, the eyesore, the obstacle that other's have to work around.


Just imagine a world without us. No clothes showing up on the hangers, changing with the seasons. No holiday shopping for presents or decorations. The turkeys and hams for holiday dinners won't be in the freezer cases. The lumber for building new houses and furniture won't be available for the construction workers. The rocks, boulders, gravel, and cement won't be hauled in to fix the roads. The granite and marble won't be available for that dream kitchen counter.

The list of things a truck driver hauls FOR YOU is literally endless. Respect the truck. Respect the industry. Respect the work. Respect the driver.

Without us, you literally are back in the stone age. Even the electronics you use to read this come on trucks. Without us, you literally would starve to death.

Think about that the next time you go shopping and see a truck on the road. Thank him (or her) for their work. Even if they don't hear you, at least you know you THOUGHT about what he's doing and acknowledged that without him, you'd be less.

Thank you for hearing me out

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

LETTER TO TODD MCCANN @ TRUCKERDUMP.COM

I’m going to just jump into this because it’s been on my mind quite a bit.

I’ve been thinking about the podcast I recently heard on trucker nation. Misty Noel hosts and enjoys talking about health issues for drivers. I haven’t gotten very far into it because she also talks about tax crap all the time. I can only hear so much of that before I hit overload.

She stated that truckers, on average, live 15 years less than non-drivers. I have no idea if this is an accurate statistic, but it kind of bothers me. Why? If this is accurate, then why? Diet, exercise, rest, work conditions, stress, access to medical care?

I’ve been out here since July, 2015. Nope, that’s not very long, but I’ve noticed several things. The general public has no clue and don’t care; and the companies that COULD help us in being healthier, turn us away.

How many Walmarts have you tried to park in that says no trucks. How many grocery stores have access? How many truck stops are actually close enough to shop at a store? I parked at a truckstop recently and had access to a Walmart. After slogging through a flooded field, the thought of hauling 40 lbs of groceries back to the truck was ridiculous.

How many companies have restrictive off-duty driving policies? How many places allow you to drop a trailer for a limited amount of time so you can run a few errands bobtail? How are truckers supposed to be healthier if we don’t have the routine access that other people do?

It wasn’t just the statistic of 15 years less to live that prompted my thinking, but also an article sent to me from a long-time family friend in Colorado Springs.

The TOPS organization is a group that has been working in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area to promote trails, parks, and preserves. Admirable and, from the article, they’ve done great work over the years.

My thoughts while looking at the article were, what kind of access is provided for people like us? What do we get out of it? We bring in the products and provide the materials that keep the economies of the world running. But, it’s like we’re a forgotten minority.

Sometimes, we are the problem. Why should they care about a bunch of guys who don’t bathe, throw trash on the ground, and clog up THEIR commutes? Other than warning other drivers about hazards, most of the CB chatter is trash too. We can’t even behave well to each other? Why?

I was one of the people who didn’t give trucks a second thought until I became a trucker. I love this life. It’s the most money I’ve ever made (which I am fully aware is pathetic), but it just fits me. I’m just disappointed in the country, the industry, and people who think truckers don’t matter.

Anyway, I just thought you might have some thoughts about some of these things and could help me understand.

Thanks for listening,

Renae

Trucker Dump

TOPS article

BE THE NOODLE

 BINGO

This is Bingo. He's a Parson's Russell Terrier (Think Jack Russell Terrier) and he's an old fart.

He's a rescue dog from the Omaha, Nebraska Humane Society. He's been an amazing companion for me during my travels around the Midwest. At 9-years old, I thought being in the truck might be rough on him, but other than the usual learning curve where missteps are often made, he's been a great dog.

The first misstep came when I left the windows cracked about 8 inches when I went into Walmart for a little shopping. I'd just reached the Deli counter when my phone started ringing. The woman on the phone asked if I had a dog named Bingo. I said yes and she proceeded to tell me she found him wandering the parking lot and called the number on his collar.

OMG! Trucks are 13'6" tall! The windows were up about the 10-foot mark. What the hell?!

I ran outside and met up with the woman who had kindly rescued my rescue dog. He had a cut on his inner thigh, but otherwise seemed okay. I let out a sigh of relief and took him back to the truck. Rolling up the windows a few inches prevented a repeat. Either that or he was being cautious.

The second misstep came when the little booger jumped out the window a second time and I found out by the jingling of the tags on his collar. Ugh! The little beast was going to give me a heart attack!

The third misstep came when I was at a shipper. I went to the rear of the trailer to reset the tandems (drivers call it sliding the tandems) and just turned to walk to the front when I saw a Mighty Dog commercial in real life. Leaping from the driver's window like he was going to land in a lake off a dock, he looked beautiful. Strong and amazing.

In slow motion, I watched as he landed and kind of fell/rolled. He immediately stood back up. My heart died a little when he raised his hind leg and just stood there for a minute. I rushed to him, picked him up, and scolded him.

"You're an old man! Are you TRYING to break a hip?"

He appeared ashamed and chastened as I searched for broken bones. After a couple of hours, he was walking mostly normally, but he wasn't thrilled with me when I would move his leg around.

Needless to say, this was the last of the little guy's flying attempts. I think it hurt just a little too much to risk again.

I've had a few hard-braking events when he was in the passenger seat. Lying or sitting on a blanket doesn't prevent a fast slide to the floorboards. Poor guy. He started spending more time in the sleeper bunk after that.

I swear he's got a bladder of steel! That dog holds his pee like nothing I've ever seen. There's many days when we're running around and literally can't stop or we'll be late to the customer. He comes up and looks at me, I apologize, and he goes back to the sleeper.

Only twice has he had bathroom accidents and that was my fault. As bad as it is, a lot of times he gets the same food I get. Unfortunately, his tolerance for truckstop food is less than mine. I learned my lesson and moderated his quantities. I don't know if it's okay for dogs, but a couple episodes of diarrhea on a speed run and I broke out the anti-diarrheal meds. One pill and a trip to the grass and he's ready to go back to bed.

He did get an episode of vomiting due to some bad food he found and ate before I could stop him, but I just cleaned up the mess and cuddled him a little extra. Nobody likes being scolded for something they can't control.

From the very beginning, I knew I could trust this dog. I picked him up and he just melted. He flopped onto his back like a cooked noodle and let me love on him. No matter how I held him, he just trusted in me to keep him from falling over on his head. I thought this was pretty amazing...until I watched him sleep. Somehow he always ends up on his back, neck stretched out, little legs flopped out like a understuffed doll. At least he's fixed and I don't have to look at his balls.

He's been friendly or willing to be friendly to any person who meets him, but dogs? Not so much. He thinks he's bigger and badder than everybody else. If he wasn't trying to pick a fight, I'd think it was cute. We stay away from other people walking their dogs.

I just wanted to introduce the little guy. He keeps me company, entertained, and helps me get some walking in. Unfortunately, that's in ANY WEATHER.

Thanks for being here,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

MOUNTAIN DRIVING SUCKS IN A GUTLESS WONDER

I've been running a strange little trip the last couple of days. Well, strange for me. It's a intermodal run. Basically, that means a container that goes on ships, trains, or a chassis with wheels. We've all seen them, so I'm not going to go on a major boring description.

The problem I'm running into is a little weird. I haven't been driving mountains or major hills in this truck before. I don't really know how any truck handles certain terrain until I'm there. Then, I don't know how to get the most out of it until I experiment a bit.

It's like trying to push a gazillion tons of bricks up a mountain with a bicycle. Mixed metaphors, but it gets the point across. As soon as it looks at an incline the damn thing starts slowing down. Then, it keeps slowing down until I'm crawling. The bitch of it is that I'm not even hauling a heavy load.

I've tried everything I can think of to maintain a decent climbing speed; changing the transmission from automatic to manual, setting the cruise, not setting the cruise, praying, ...

A run that should have taken a couple days is going to run into 3 days. Fortunately, I can make the deadline for delivery, but it's frustrating the heck out of me. Mountain driving in a gutless wonder sucks!

Thanks for being here,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

THE CLUTTER ISSUE

I've always been a disorganized person. This isn't my desk, but it's really not that far from what it looked like when I did have one, which I don't anymore. I have cubby holes, storage cabinets, and drawers. I'm the gal who doesn't have a junk drawer, I have several. Please don't get me started on how many times a year I do "Spring Cleaning."

Throwing away things I bought is HARD! That's $5. This is $10. That's got sentimental value. That's...nope that's going to come in handy some day. Well, that day never comes and I'm stuck with a gizmo whatchamacallit I've only used once.

Being disorganized in a truck is disaster! Rather than everything having a place, its place is wherever I just threw it. I will not say I don't throw anything away. Garbage is garbage. It's gone. But, the toothpaste I bought a month ago is half full but I can't find it, so I go and buy another one. Pretty soon the first one shows up and now there's 2 I can't throw out because they're still only half used.

It's also pretty pathetic that my bathroom products grow pretty quickly. How many shampoos and conditioners can one girl use? Lotion? Several. Perfume? A couple. Medicines of all kinds end up multiplying all by themselves.

I bought a bin thinking I would just put it all in one place and that way I wouldn't have a bunch of bottles and packets stashed away everywhere. It became the junk drawer from hell. I call myself an idiot on a regular basis just because of that stupid idea.

Well, I figured out something. I'm a hoarder. I'm a binge and impulse buyer. I'm a slob. How did this happen? What can I do to fix it?

I told you I purchased the Dave Ramsey books The Money Makeover and The Complete Guide to Money. I also began my first budget. It's not the first budget I've EVER started, but it's the first budget I haven't been terrified of.

The point I'm making here is this, I'm going to have to clean up my act. From the clutter and disorganization in my environment to the clutter and disorganization in my finances, I need to change.

With the decision comes the first step, which is the budget. I won't tell you details, but it's a mess. There's room for improvement. Wiggle room to tweak it until it gives me what I need. This isn't what I want. It's what I need.

He pointed me to a free budget making app called Everydollar. It's easy to use and does the math for you. That's pretty good for me. Math is not one of my favorite things.

While the budget is something I can't expect instant success with, the clutter issue can be. A little time off, a bottle of 5-hour energy, and I am attacking the clutter in my life.

Might be a few days from now, but I'll let you know how it's going.

Thanks for being here,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

THE GIFT I GAVE MYSELF

 Today I gave myself knowledge

I put on my reading glasses and purchased a book to teach myself about money. I've been listening to "The Dave Ramsey Show" on A.M. radio for years, but have felt completely blocked in the ability to do anything with the information he was teaching.

Finally, I feel like I can do something about my financial situation. I've always tried to work, and when that wasn't possible, I tried to learn. Usually, a health issue like my back problems, depression, and a few cysts in my uterus and on my ovaries caused me to stop what I was working on. Income dries up and I'm back to square one.

While I've always had some kind of financial support, i.e. Social Security Disability or a state issued welfare, I've tried to reduce my own feelings of guilt by working or learning. Some of this was due to boredom, but mostly I just have too much inner drive to settle for this lifestyle. When those support systems were taken from me, I was mad. Leave me destitute and on the verge of homelessness and I get mad. But, I wasn't just mad about the eradication of one of the financial legs I was standing on. I was mad that I let myself be one of the people who needed it, who depended on it, who counted on it always being there.

I started my working life when I graduated high school and continued to find low-paying employment of one kind or another throughout my adult life. Circumstances and allowing myself to be mired in other people's money problems always kept me barely able to feed myself, much less the families needs. The cycle repeated for years until I find myself suddenly 46-years old with no savings, no retirement, no clue.

It's time I concentrate and learn about the thing that scares me most... Money.

TRUCKER PAY - IT'S WORTH IT...AND IT'S NOT

Beware! All who enter...

The industry sources are saying that truck drivers average 42,000 per year. My own income is ballparking that after a year and a half as a driver.

The problem is that as a company driver, I'm not in control of my schedule. An owner operator or lease purchase driver either contracts to a company or scrambles after their own loads through brokers.

Either way, a driver's schedule is controlled in varying degrees by others. The company sends me a load assignment. I accept the load assignment. I wait for my legal running time. I prep for the trip and arrive to pickup my load as scheduled. Anywhere from an hour to OMG! later, I get to run the load toward it's destination.

I have to stop when I'm told to stop, rest/sleep when I'm told to, and run only when I'm allowed to.

Any American driver will tell you we run a 70-hour work week. That's amazing, right? You work 40? 30? 20? I grant that a 70-hour work week sounded pretty outrageous when I started this career. But, here's the problem with deciding to set an hour limitation on the work week, and driving day. WE GET PAID BY THE MILE!

Some owner/op or lease purchase drivers get more control. They can choose to be paid by a percentage of what the company gets for the load or by mileage. I'm not an owner/op or lease purchase driver, so I cannot say what is better. However, these drivers pay fuel, tolls, taxes, maintenance costs, licensing, etc. They are owners of their own businesses. Everything that needs to be paid for to run the business, they have to cover. If you're a bad business person, you go broke. If you're not, you build until you're happy with the business you made. But, I'm discussing company drivers, not the other guys.

Okay, so you only are allowed 11 hours of driving time per day. You might take a day off, but most drivers keep running for 2 or 3 weeks. But, for the sake of argument you take a day off. 6X11=66. That's under 70 hours so you're legal.

Also for the sake of argument, you actually get to drive all of the 66 hours. You have a truck that averages 60 mph. 60X66=3,960. That means in 6 days, 11 hours a day, at 60 mph you could get a whopping 3,960 miles behind you.

Wow! Almost 4,000 miles per week? That's an awesome accomplishment! You do this every week?

The math adds up, the SCHEDULE does not. As I said, we're regulated by the hour, paid by the mile, and other people tell us where to go and determine how long we have to be there.

Say it takes 3 hours of my drive time to get 30 miles through Atlanta? Say it takes 4 hours to do 50 miles because of construction detours? Say it takes 7 hours to load? Where does my clock go?

Every single day is a fight to get as much pavement under tires as possible. We push the speed limit to reach destinations as quickly as possible so we can move on to the next load as quickly as possible. The more loads we move, the better the miles, the more the paycheck.

The catch-22 here is that we don't control anything except the driving. The other catch-22 is that we don't get paid for every mile the truck moves. Since October 2016, I've put 85,000 + miles on my truck. (I say my but it's owned by the company I work for.) I guarantee that I have not been paid for every mile that truck has moved.

Each load is given an empty miles value and a loaded miles value. My company pays less for empty miles than for loaded miles, but every company has different pay rates. Some get "all truck miles," and some get all loaded miles same as empty. For our purposes we'll just say all miles are the same and call it good. The math is easier.

The miles are determined usually by zip code to zip code, NOT address to address. Do I stop as soon as I reach the zip code? Of course not. I deliver to a specific address. The mileage from the start of the zip code to the address varies, a lot. It might be 2 miles or 15. Those miles take up the clock AND are considered freebies.

The time in a fuel island, at a shipper or receiver, even the time taking a pee break will be counted against the 14-hours of on duty time per day. Driving hours are part of that. So 3 hours of your whole work day is available for things other than driving like fueling, inspections, checking in and out of customers, dropping and hooking up trailers. We even have to use that on-duty time when we break down out on the road and are waiting for a repair truck to come help us.

Enough waiting around at a shipper and your 11-hours of driving time disappears. Waiting in traffic? Huge drain on driving hours and you don't rack up the miles.

Consider this, we are paid pennies per mile. Anywhere from $.26 to a high of $.65 (there are others that pay lower and higher but I haven't personally seen or heard.) This is just the average range. If you're day is spent at traffic lights or in a traffic jam, you still get only the miles of the load. It doesn't matter how much of the next day's potential gets wasted.

Two other points. One is that I've never made this much in my entire life. The other is that earnings in 2017 are the same as earning in 1990. In other words, there's no pay increase that has kept up with inflation or cost of living. If you earned 32,000 in 1990, it would be the same as 64,000 today.

That puts the millions of men and women who work out here away from their families for weeks and months at a time firmly in the category of the working poor. We are literally paid less than a burger flipper. We just work more hours so it doesn't seem like it.

Thanks for watching,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

DRIVING DAY - THE STANDARD EDITION CONTINUES

        God shows his hand in my life every day.

Fueling can be a pain in the tush or an easy way to take a potty break. Team drivers might have to fuel every day. Solo drivers might only fuel every couple of days. It all depends on how far they're going and what they have to do after they get there.

There are usually 2 fuel tanks, one on each side of the truck and they hold 99 gallons per tank. It takes a bit of time to fill up one of these puppies. But wait, you're not done.

There's also DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) and the reefer with it's 50 gallon tank. DEF isn't an every time you fuel issue, but it is necessary on a lot of trucks. If it's not above a certain level, it regulates your truck to 55 mph until you satisfy it's needs. (DEF is an additive to the fuel system that burns off the nasty stuff that used to present itself as black smoke rising out of the exhaust pipes. You remember those, right?)

Reefer (refrigerated) trailers run on diesel fuel too. They are filled up because that's how the trailers regulate the temperature the customer needs his product shipped at. You do NOT want a load of ice cream in a trailer that runs out of fuel. Anyone who has ever worked fast food can tell you the food must maintain a certain temperature in order to avoid making people sick. The trailers can be set for any temperature necessary. I even carried live fish to pet stores and maintained 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

The problems at the fuel islands come from overcrowding and inconsideration. A lot of truck stops have restaurants, showers, convenience store shopping, etc. If there are 5 fuel bays, 5 trucks can fuel. Say, there are 5 fuel bays, 5 trucks fueling, 5 trucks who have already fueled and the drivers are in shopping, and there are 15 trucks waiting to fuel. Needless to say, until the shoppers move out of line ain't nobody going anywhere.

Fuel islands are a good place to turn off your CB radios in these conditions. The 15 truckers waiting to fuel are also most likely in desperate need of the bathroom as well as fuel after driving like a bat out of hell for 6 hours straight. The CB trash-talk is virulent and violent. Usually, nothing comes of it; but there are always stories from truckers who've been around awhile.

As a woman, I'm not exempt from the trash-talking. However, once they realize I'm a woman the physical threats usually dry up. I'm just as stuck as anyone else and I've been patiently or impatiently waiting my turn.

(This is why I started the primitive bathroom arrangements.) I cannot justify to myself jumping out of the truck to run in and use the bathroom if I'm holding up the other drivers. Even the possibility of delaying the rest of us schmucks so I can use the restroom inside is intolerable to me.

The courteous and responsible behavior is pull up after fueling, keep your inside the store time to a minimum, or find a parking space and then go inside. Time and time again a truck is blocking the fuel island because a jerk decided to have his "magazine time" in the bathroom, or order the supersize gutbuster and make sure the fries are fresh out of the fryer. Fast food is rarely that fast.

Some drivers will take their mandatory 30-minute breaks in the fuel island too. It's enough to make most of the drivers out here homicidal, but the same driver who just got ticked by the waste of his time has no problem with pulling the same crap with the next guy in line. Hypocrites.

A day in the life of a truck driver is filled with people who only have their own best interests in mind and to hell with the other guy.

One of the biggest issues drivers look for in a company is whether they care about the individual driver. We are cut off in traffic, undervalued or discounted by the general population, disrespected by retailers and customers alike, and highly underpaid. If the company you've hitched your wagon to doesn't seem like they care about what you go through out there, you don't stay long. As long as your record is clean, you can go anywhere or even 10 anywhere's before Monday.

I'll talk about pay issues next time. It's worth it, and at the same time...it's not.

Thanks for being here.

Renae-The Truck Driving Woman

DRIVING DAY - THE STANDARD EDITION

The average day begins with the getup-and-go routine I've worked out. See the last post if you need a reference.

Once I've done the pre-trip inspection and gotten all the stuff in the truck locked down into their various nooks and crannies, it's time to roll.

I mention this step due to the fact that having a book fall on your head while bouncing down the road, or a full drawer crash to the floor behind you is very distracting. My drawers have a tendency to fly open when they need to stay closed and remain closed when I want them to open. I use a bungee cord and cursing. All depends on the appropriate occasion.

The headlights are on, the stereo tuned, phone attached to the Bluetooth, food and drinks to hand, and the brakes released. Out of the parking spot I roll.

This is the part of my day I really love and dread at the same time. Every day I start driving at a different time, from a different location, and different things to look at.

Today, for example; I parked in a rest area. It's dark, quiet, (other than highway noise and the trucks also parked here with either idling engines or reefers kicking on and off), and there's a place for me and the pooch to do our business.

A lot of ladies out there would be a bit nervous about parking in a rest area for 10 or more hours. Heck, a lot of men aren't all that fond of them. Me? Rest areas generally have less area than a truck stop to park trucks, so there are fewer of them. The other drivers, even though they're resting, will keep an ear out for trouble; and it's generally a place that's patrolled by law enforcement officers on a fairly regular basis.

Another benefit is fewer opportunities to blow my money on useless crap.

Back to the point... I parked with the intention of taking a split sleeper. Which is a 10-hour mandatory rest break that can be legally split into 2 breaks consisting of 2 hours off duty or sleeper, and 8 hours in the sleeper. I miscalculated. This isn't difficult for me since my math skills have always stank worse than roadkill skunk.

I'm writing another post because I can't take the split sleeper break and remain legal. I screwed up. Instead of putting myself in the sleeper, I put myself off-duty. The sleeper has to be utilized if I want the split sleeper. Off-duty needs a full 10 hours to get your clock back. I also approved my logs so I can't even go back and edit. I'm an idiot.

I'll explain...E-Logs are Electronic Logs. There's a lot of controversy regarding this tool. Basically, a computer program keeps track of where, when, and how you log your time. The benefit to me is that it does the time math for me. The drawback to me, and any other idiot, is that garbage in garbage out still applies. If you hit the buttons before thinking, the consequences can be large or small, but there will be consequences. Every line except driving can be edited, but only before you approve them. They have to be approved every 24 hours. Once approved, you have to wake up the safety department to edit them for you. I'm not a fan of waking up people in the middle of the night for my own stupidity.

Back to the driving day...

I usually have checked the weather conditions and traffic conditions on my route and checked my truck-rated GPS to see if I'm still heading to the right place. So, off I go.

I'm watching my truck in the mirrors as I pull away so I don't hit anything and I'm safely heading for the highway. Merge with the flow of traffic, pick up speed, and settle myself into my seat with a sigh.

I sigh to let out the tension I've created for myself in just leaving the parking spot. Driving for 2 to 5 hours at a stretch without this tension release generally gives me headaches, stomach aches, and muscle aches. Driving on the highway for long periods requires a kind of watchful relaxation.

The relaxation is keeping your shoulders from hunching and as good of a posture as you can to be able to physically endure the trip. Drivers are constantly abusing their bodies. I consciously have to remind myself to lower my shoulders, stretch my neck muscles, and generally bend in ways that allow small sections of my body to stretch a bit. It keeps me from being a cripple at the end of the day. I don't like feeling or appearing like I've just gotten off the bull at a bull-riding competition, so I do what I can while I'm driving down the road.

The watchful part is the mental and physical effort of keeping your eyes moving, staying alert, and being ready to react at a moment's notice. I'm constantly finding myself saying, "What if this...? What if that...?"

It's exhausting to stay focused that long, especially without something to occupy your mind, at least in part. Texting is a huge no, no, but one-touch calling and using the Bluetooth through the truck sound system is wonderful. I barely have to look away from the road to dial. And I avoid dialing or anything else when I'm in thick traffic or challenging road changes. (Construction, curves, etc.)

My phone is capable of voice dialing, but the interface keeps asking me if I want to call people other than the one I request. The same applies to texting. I pause too often in my speech to allow the phone's little brain to comprehend that, no, I really didn't want to send a 3-word text. I wanted to send a 13-word text, or even 30.

A lot of people are fully capable of entertaining themselves on the road. Music, talk-radio, podcasts, audiobooks, and other forms of audio distraction keep me from becoming mired in my own thoughts. I turn it down or off when I'm entering a truck stop, navigating a lot of turns in a short period of time, or entering a customer's property.

I'm in awe of the technology now available that keeps our mobile entertainment with us wherever we go. During training, we weren't allowed phone calls and my phone was an ancient hockey puck. FM radio or silence were the options I had at the time.

There's a lot involved in the day of a truck driver... More in the next post.

Thanks for being here. Please stick around. I promise interesting stuff will show up. Eventually.

Renae-The Truck Driving Woman

A WOMAN'S DAY ON THE ROAD

This is what's coming at you in your first traffic jam behind the wheel of a big rig.


I don't remember what kind of dog this is, but this is what I felt was coming toward me from all directions that first day. It was scary, intimidating, and my leg cramped from using the clutch repeatedly. That ol' leg muscle builds pretty darn quick!

Anyway, this post is about a woman's day on the road. It's pretty similar to a man's day without all the farts, belching, and bathroom humor.

My day starts when it's time to drive and ends when I go to bed. Huh? Does that use all the minutes of a day? Yes.

I set my alarm for about an hour before I have to actually put it in gear. I set a second alarm 15 minutes later. I set a third alarm for 30 minutes later. I set a fourth alarm for 45 minutes later. There is a method to my madness. I promise.

An hour before I get behind the wheel I'm sound asleep and the alarm goes off. I have the most annoying tones and set it to maximum volume. I actually do occasionally hit snooze or sleep through it. Thus, the second alarm. This one usually gets my tush out of bed.

Once I manage to pry my eyes open and take care of morning needs, my copilot is pleading with me to help him take care of his. Regardless of my appearance, I step out of the truck, drag the leash out, and proceed to follow him around. (Him, is my Parsons Russell Terrier named Bingo. He's 9+ and a shelter rescue from Omaha.)

Now, you'll notice I didn't step out of the truck until AFTER morning needs. You guessed it. I've got a primitive bathroom setup. Picture large cups, empty (until used) water or soda bottles, and a plastic lined bucket and you get the idea. Hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and gallon jugs of water are pretty essential. I've also got an electric kettle to boil water and a basin for getting the old spit bath going.

A lot of drivers take that morning trek into the truck stop for a morning shower to get going. My shower is whenever I can fit it into the schedule. A day or two without a shower won't kill me or anyone else as long as you wash the necessary areas in between times. Some drivers wash at the end of the driving day. Some will grab an hour or so out of the schedule.

At the 30-minute alarm, I know I need to hurry my butt along. The hair gets pulled back after a quick dry shampoo or spray of conditioner and a combing. Whatever clothes I grabbed to take the dog out are checked to make sure I've got clean stuff on. (You would not believe how many times I've sniff tested my clothes!)

This is also when I grab a quick bit of food and set up the dog for the day. Sometimes, I have what I need in the truck. I have a fridge now, but that wasn't always the case. In training, I honestly don't remember seeing a fridge in the trucks. I guess it was a space-saving issue to accommodate the trainer and the student driver's stuff. I'll talk about the shopping issues later.

Food and drinks are set where they'll be handy going down the road. Usually, this means a couple water bottles and whatever snack foods I'm craving at the time. I am a pop drinker, so I almost always grab a 44 ounce fountain drink. One of these keeps me from caffeine withdrawal all day. No, I'm not drinking the loaded versions. Sugar free is bad too, but I'm getting the caffeine and not the huge calorie count. (It's better than grabbing the coffee, which I can't stand without tons of extra crap. The only time I drink coffee anymore is when I'm constipated. Works every time. Usually when it's the most problematic.)

By this time, the 45-minute-from-wakeup alarm is going off. Turn the truck on, get the Qualcomm to wake up, and start my pre-trip inspection. The pre-trip is all about making sure the truck is in good working condition. Opening up the hood, checking fluids, brakes, connections, tires, wheels, lights, air lines, mudflaps, and the list goes on. Getting back in the truck, you check all the gauges, interior systems, braking systems, and all the other bells and whistles are working. The general consensus by DOT (Department of Transportation) and companies is that this should take up 15 minutes minimum of your day.

When that 45 minute alarm goes off and my Qualcomm is awake, I put myself on duty for that pre-trip inspection. While I'm doing the inspection, any messages from the company have finally been sent to me. These include everything from safety messages to load plans. I usually finish my pre-trip a little earlier than 15 minutes and take the leftover to look over what the company has sent me.

You'll notice that nowhere in my morning routine have I done anything that improves my appearance. No regular makeup routine. No jewelry choices. Nothing. If you're a girly-girl, you might think about that. This is not the career choice of the easily insulted, intimidated, or high maintenance kinds of women. Many women on the road will take the time to do a makeup routine, but they have to include the extra time it takes in their plans or forgo it altogether when time is short. It's short a lot.

Which, right now, it's short for me. Gotta get that shuteye for my final push to the yard. My day starts at 1 AM tomorrow.

Again, Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again,

Renae-The Truck Driving Woman