Truckpocalypse!

Truckpocalypse!
When Trucks Stop, America Stops
*Our economy depends on trucks to deliver
TEN BILLION TONS
of virtually every commodity consumed.
*In the U.S. trucks transport
$671 BILLION
WORTH OF GOODS A YEAR
3 Hours in to the unknown stoppage:
Fuel Stations and Power Plants could run out of fuel
-The nation's busiest fuel stations sell between 200,000 and 300,000 gallons per month. These stations require multiple deliveries every day to meet this demand.
-Some coal power plants could start running low on supplies
Americans use over 1.1 billion kilowatts a day.
-Factories could start running out of production product.
Major American manufacturers, ranging from computer manufacturers such as Dell and Compaq to major automakers such as GM and Ford, rely on just-in-time manufacturing.
24 Hours in to the unknown stoppage:
-Healthcare facility's could run out medical supplies.
Truck transportation is the key to delivering urgently needed medical supplies necessary to save lives such as syringes,catheters,radio pharmaceuticals,as well as pharmaceuticals and care products.
-Hospitals and Nursing Homes will exhaust their food and medical supplies
Many hospitals and Nursing homes carry limited daily supplies because of the sensitive nature of the products.
-Coal Power Plants and Water Hydrangea Plants will slow down production of electrolytic.
Most power plants produce a high volume of power to meet the demand of the power grid and keep the cost under control.
-Grocery and Food Stores will start to run low on food.
Most grocery and food stores get daily refrigerated food in on a daily basis,because of the sensitivity of the products.
-Production and Factories will have to slow or shut down assembly lines.
If assembly lines are forced to shut down, manufacturers will incur significant disruption costs and thousands of employees will be put out of work.
-WASTE REMOVAL
Within days of a truck stoppage, Americans will be literally buried in garbage with serious health and environmental consequences.
Americans produce over 10 million tons of waste daily.
Uncollected and deteriorating waste products create rich breeding grounds for microorganisms, insects, and other vermin. Hazardous materials and medical waste will introduce toxins as well as Infectious diseases into living environments.
48 Hours into the unknown shutdown:
-BANKING will suffer
Unable to conduct transactions at a central location, banks will be unable to process deposits, checks, and other standard bank transactions, bringing the American banking system to a halt.
-Stores of all kind will run out of supplies.
At this point total panic has occurred,many stories will have ran out of the products we use on a daily basis as no deliveries are being made.
-Fuel and Gas Stations will be forced to close
With no fuel being delivered even the small stations that are less busy will have ran out leaving a total panic.
-Local Services Will be unable to help or very limited.
Police,Fire,Medical and other services will have ran out of fuel and as the National Guard may help to a degree they will be limited as well,their services will be used on panic control and do their best as the nation under goes a shortage of everything.
72 Hours in to the unknown stoppage:
-Significant Shortages All Over:
With no transportation of any goods or products in America the stores are empty,power plants have limited operation to prevent power overages,those that can run on other sources are up and running but pushing out more then they usually do. Coal plants are shutdown as they have run out. Power plants can only run so long and without regularly maintenance the likely hood of failure is high as no trucks no items get shipped in.
96 Hours in to the unknown stoppage:
-Sources Become Limited:
Without fuel, police, fire, rescue and other public service, vehicles will be paralyzed, further jeopardizing public safety.
Airlines and air cargo operations will be grounded due to the lack of supplies for operations.
RETAIL STORES:
Replenishment of goods will be disrupted. Many of the nation's leading retailers rely on just-in-time delivery to keep inventory levels as low as possible.
Since many large retail outlets typically keep inventories as lean as possible, problems often arise quickly during truck transportation slowdowns that occur from crises such as hurricanes.
120 Hours in to the unknown stoppage:
-Hospitals will be almost empty of supplies
-City operations for service will be tight
2 Weeks in to the unknown stoppage:
With most fuel sitting or unable to move some areas may get help from the National Guard,we as smaller cities and towns will be fending for their own,tempers will run high and towns may actually fight each other for supplies.
The US Government is in panic as they order a Marshall Law nation wide,however some smaller towns may be unable to protect themselves the warlord battles may start. Food and water supplies are limited to almost not availability.
30 Days in to the unknown shutdown:
-Total panic has ensued,several have died in riots over supplies,The National Guard has become a force to protect the food supply,the government has split in to sections,many states have recalled their representatives back and are trying to become independent from the feds.
**************************************************************Even though this is a story that i wrote,the question is to think what would happen if trucks did stop?
I hope to never see a far fetched story like this but who knows.
Have a bless and Merry Christmas to all.

My View On Trucker Shortage

In the few years we have heard the "shortage of truck drivers" thang! going on. As a long time truck driver my views are from the inside not the spoon feed media. So here their are.
It is a very demanding and time consuming job,it's not a profession it's a trade. Trades are usually low paying and hard labor jobs,the average pay is truly around $40,000 a year not these $60,000 plus I hear,unless you stay out for months at a time. To point out other issues.
Low pay,misinformation from companies telling the new to be hired drivers,dispatchers who don't care and only do it for a paycheck,and companies that just care about the money and numbers.
The Fed and state governments,We all know of the CMV officer/agents and sure the Fed sets up the rules and leaves it up to the states to enforce them and too many times the state CMV people interpret the laws in their ways which gets confusing. Then comes fines and CSA this is the more complex numbers that only benefit the enforcement personal. Log books and hours of service,oh don't even know where to go from their!!!
Parking,Pay, Traffic,shippers and receivers,lack of pay,over regulations,low to minimal training (pump em in,push em out).
In overview the whole industry needs an over haul,not by government but by the companies,drivers and workers. Not calling for a union but a crack down. Shortage ? Maybe not so much as a deception.
Be Faith,Be Jesus,Be Good That To Others.

Guns and Truckers

The battle continues about carrying guns in a interstate commerce transportation,as well as long haul trucking. To put it simple,yes you are legal by law,of course that will very by state if an individual can carry a fire arm. Most companies restrict the carrying of these because of the liability that WILL HAPPEN after an incident. So if you wish to carry a fire arm check with your company and check your local laws.

I Am Better Then This

So today I was running shuttle runs from Westampton Nj to Delanco Nj between terminals with another driver who would run a truck down then jump in mine and ride back with me,we did that 5 times today.
After listing to his rants about how bad this company has gotten and how horrible they treat their drivers as well as how they screw them out of pay he had a list that would scare anyone away from here running also as out trip went on I learned the kind of person he is and well the term over the top was an understatement. Between the racial remarks of Mexicans,blacks and Arabs well he just had major stories of BS to be as creative as a goofy sitcom person.
Thinking about it I got to this idea,people have to complain about everything and blame others to not accept that they are part of the problem and that their attitude is one of the reasons why they are not doing as good as others and then tell the ones who are doing good that it's only a matter of time before they are treated like crap. I have been in trucking almost 20 years now(don't feel like i)I seen a lot but the one thing that does remain the same is if you are willing to work without pitching a fit or critzie everything,they will run you but you have to stand firm not to let them over run you but do it without being confrataional most of the time they will work you.
To conclude we as truck drivers have to stand firm and be above those who want to bring us down, I myself strid on safety and being legal I am a truck driver and enjoy what I do for a loving I will do my best to be a true and honest trucker who believes that I am in a crowd of many who need to be verbal and stand up for the straight and narrow law abiding truckers who believe we are a God fearing and peac loving crowd.

It's Your Falut!

Yesterday I had an interesting event happen to me,I had dropped an empty refer trailer in Ct to pick up my loaded trailer,as I hooked up and I noticed another driver hook up to the empty I dropped,I walked over and let him know that the refer unit had failed it's self pre trip,so I let him know,he then flipped out and started causing and swearing at me I told him I don't need this and I walked away,he reaches and heaps my shirt pulls me back ward,stunned I paused for a moment and their was a local driver their who stepped in and both of us got out of their,I called the company and filed a report.
Thinking of this situation it shows me that the trucking industry has a falafel of good quality drivers,I have been a licensed driver since 94 and each year I see more and more less quality driver out here. Some of the reasons why we have less quality drivers is several reasons.
Low pay and inter company driver training
Drivers with less then 6 months of driving exprance training new drivers
Recruiters filling new bees heads with bull that's not true.
And dozen more
Personally it is only going to get worse one of my biggest issues is for drivers to stand up for themselves,don't let dispatchers tell you how to think,you do have the law on your side,really you do!
Research the company you are looking at, talk to some of their drivers,ask the recruiter lots of questions,if the reciter gets snappy then move on,get EVERYTHING IN WRITING,if they are willing then great!
I think we can make a change we just need to use the law to our advantage .

Left Lane Speed Hauler

How many times has this happened to you,You get going at a good rate of speed cruising up that left lane,then BAM! That slower truck jumps in front of you,dropping your speed from 70 MPH to 62 MPH,and now you have this slow traffic for several miles.
To those drivers who drive the slower trucks,think before you jump in to that left lane,if you don't know what your truck can do,don't do it. I know many companies have their trucks regulated for either fuel mileage or insurance reasons,but never the less they are slow and can become a road hazard as well as more reason to restrict us even more then we are.
A study was done through the years and found out that even thought your truck may go 70 or 62 the difference after 10 hours is only 30 minutes,yes only a half hour! It sounds like it's not possible,well think about it.
So to all those slow trucks,your more then welcome to pass but don't take 8 miles to pass,look what's ahead,do you see a hill,do you see heavy traffic,do you see anything that may hold you up?

As you can see in these pictures,took like 6 miles to pass at 64 MPH in a 70 MPH zone.

Slow Poke!!

How many times have you been rolling with great speed up that hill with that light load,when out of no where a semi pulls in front of you(ok they jumped from the right lane)and with out warning you jam on the breaks,and now Joe's trucking is passing Bob's Trucking,at a heart pounding 61.5 miles per hour,1 mile passes,2 cars behind you 3 miles pass,6 cars and 1 tailgating semi,4 miles pass 12 cars,4 semis,6 miles pass,endless row of traffic and you get called all the names in the book and some even though you were chugging along just fine.
To think how common this is today from a climb up a hill to a straight away truck drivers pass when they should wait for a good clearing. This is not even law as of yet and the idea of speed limiters still lingers over the trucking community,the "idea" is to make trucks more "safe" on the roads,where is a slow truck safe on the road?
Answer: When the DRIVER(yes the driver)knows how to properly operate that truck.
Things like hazard lights on,head and tail lights on,warning other drivers they your slow moving.
The idea once again comes from people who have no clue what real life trucking is they are lawyers and government people who only see what certain groups tell them and these groups are more over control not Safety. The concept of speed limiters came about after a study by CRASH and Public Citizen two of the biggest anit truck groups out their,they say trucks should only use the right lane at 55 MPH and not only will allow for safe passage but can and will allow for better fuel economy,less fatigue,more driver awareness. That is wrong.
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