The Government and The New Year!

2011 we will see some changes in the trucking industry. With CSA 2010 we will see some 10% of drivers being taken off the road. The is also talks of changing HOS to making driving time only 10 hours a day and reducing the 14 hours also. They may also change the reset time from 32 hours to 48 hours. There may also be more required equipment that forces mandated breaks and to get rid of paper logs to reduce "cheating"!

When we look at things we will also see many more boomers retiring in the coming 2 years. Trucker capacity is going to be strained heavily and if the economy picks up it will strain things even more. Add on the increase in fuel prices and things will start to look harder at a recovery.

There is also the need for highway spending in which the money has not been authorized for this year. This will be a fight. For the trucking industry hard times will be coming, and it will be the companies that are smart enough to adjust to the changes. There is also talk of taxing trucking companies even more because of their use of the highways. In my state of Michigan they are hiring 50 new Motor Carrier Officers focusing on weight stations, to get more money.

As I have been saying for the past 2 years drivers are in the sights of the liberal government. Simply because of those "dirty Diesel Trucks". 1 less hour per day is 55 miles not driven and equals 385 miles less during seven days. This will force more drivers out of the cab.

One of the advantages is if we can get drivers more on a 24 hour day cycle. One huge factor in weight gain is no normal sleeping patterns. It will also be nice to have 48 hours to restart the clock. Much better then getting 36 hours of home time.

We will see the games being played in June as the presidential election will start.

That Time of the Year!

This time next week I will be so excited to indulge in the Thanksgiving feast that happens at my parents house. Turkey, Mash potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, green beans, some classic Polish food and the pumpkin pie. Finish the night off with It's a Wonderful Life! The one down side of eating healthy now is that my stomach can no longer hold 3 plates of mom's home cooking.

But the good side of adopting my plan is I am always able to enjoy a good meal when such an occasion happens. Matt during the years of yo yo dieting, or just eating that one big meal a day would feel so guilty about blowing my diet.

Currently I am doing more of a muscle building phase, so I can have more carbs with my meals. This will build up to January when it will be time to lean down for the summer time. This is also me trying to learn the ways of properly maintaining my weight. If I get a few lbs out of my ideal range then a few weeks of clean eating and a few double cardio days and I am back within my range.

The election just happened and it was an historic election. Hopefully we will have some good changes coming. I have noticed many more truck driving jobs being available and in other fields also.

This will still be a tough holiday season, but we still need to be thankful that we are still alive, and things will get better. Enjoy your holiday.

Differences in society

One thing that OTR truck drivers get to see is the differences in the regions in which they travel. This is something that is also easily seen in today's Global business environment. So it is important for people to be able to understand each other.

The English language in the United States alone has over 27 different distinct dialects. When you are driving a truck across this country you can hear the differences almost at every 6 hours of travel. All of these different speech patterns are parts of the unique ethnicity for different regions.

In one 14 day stint of being out I heard the New York, Boston, Chicago, Minnesota, Cajun, Mississippi, Texas and of course South Florida's many different versions of the English language. You have to be able to understand people when talking to them.

When I did customer service at one place of employment, it was amazing to hear the differences during the day. 8:00 am to 9:00 was mostly east coast, with Boston, New York and southern east coast versions. 10:00 to 12:00 I would start hearing Texas, Mississippi, Minnesota, Midwest. 12:00 to the rest of the day was a different time of hearing every different type of English being spoken.

Now add in international calls and you can easily have some misunderstandings. A place that I used to love getting calls from was the UK. Hearing proper English was nice. But there could easily some misunderstanding. The way we say vitamins, and aluminum will sound completely different. When I look at the way it is said in the UK it is the proper way of pronouncing the words.

What makes English in the United States so much different is the unique diversity of the immigrants that came to this country. Many of the styles can be directly traced to the different ethnic groups that would settle in an area. So around the Minnesota area their is a strong Norwegian influence in the speech patterns. Cajun came from the French. Just to name a few of the many different types.

The same thing can be said for many of the differences in food. Look at the simple hot dog. New York, Chicago, Detroit and the Southwest all will have different versions and I have enjoyed them all. This type of diversity should be embraced. The one down side of eating at a truck stop is everything that is served is usually just some industrialized version of food.

When you open yourself to experiencing other society's diversity, you can truly experience what our society has to offer. Thomas Jefferson once said " Traveling makes a man wiser, but less happy." So yes as truck drivers you can see this first hand.

ATA tonnage down.

The ATA tonnage index went down in may to 109.6. This was the first time since Feb of this year. However last year it climbed in the month of may. This may seem nothing big, however it means loads may start slowing down again.
Down time may be increasing soon, along with a bunch of other lousy economic news during this week.

Dude Where's the Book All Ready?

Well after a year of writing and refining the program most of the book is done. I still have to do the long process of editing, and getting the work copy written. This process will still that some time, but the wait will be well worth it. With this new book smart companies will be able to take better care of their drivers. Driver's will no longer except the Bull Shit line, I am fat because I drive a truck.
Momentum is building as driver's are getting turned on to the site. Drivers in the USA, Canada, Russia, Great Britain, Japan, China just to name some of the few. Thanks for visiting, and please continue to do so, I am focused on moving forward. It will take time and that is something I have had a lot of lately.
I did have a teaching job recently as a part of the stimulus fund. The money ran out, maybe there will be more teaching in the future. The main reason I took the position was to improve my teaching skills to apply to this business. I am also looking for other opportunities to build my skills to deliver the best to all of those out there.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend, for those of you at a truck stop with lot's of down time increase your cardio to 8 minutes. For those of you at home enjoy your sleep and family and your home cooked meals.