Been a day or two, so I thought I would put a few words in to reassure VM that I would always come back like a bad penny.
Since I got my own authority I have not been running as hard as I did before hand. Yet somehow I am bringing a little bit more money home. You know that old saying "work smarter not harder", I didn't disqualify it totally but now I know that it is actually true. Someone asked me the other day if I would consider expanding by letting other drivers lease their trucks to my company, at first I laughed hard at that thought thinking it was an idea that was completely out of place. But who knows? If I can make a little money out of that situation and get to stay home a little more it would be great. I am not in love with the idea of putting up with more hardheads like VM and I but I know how hardheads operate so I can tell them to sit down and quieten down because I know when they are getting out of hand.
Heck, I am getting near to retirement and here I am thinking of spending more time working. I am hoping that old dogs can learn new tricks and yes I am definitely an old dog. Maybe I will offer VM a job as a dispatcher just to make sure he doesn't go off the deep end. If he's good I may even offer him a driving job. Whoa, I didn't say that, did I? Just a joke, VM, calm down.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. hasta luego.
Last 10 Posts
hi
Category: General
Posted on Sat, Aug 16 2008 @ 7:07 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 2] [Send Article] [Improper]PC or not, who knows?
Hasn't this been a wonderful week? I am glad to see that Rdhzrd is doing fine after his stroke and that really makes this a good week.
The other day I was talking to a fuel desk clerk at a Flying J at an unnamed location and she began to talk about the elections and all the posturing that is going on. What she said got me to laughing, hard, her comment was that there is one dummy in the White House and two more dummies trying to get in it. She wanted to know why we would elect another dummy for president when the one we have is more than enough.
Did any of you see the poll where Congress had a lower approval rate than the president? The president has a 28% approval rating and congress has a 14% approval rating. I almost swallowed my teeth when I read the senate majority leader's response to this. He said that the only reason their approval rating was so low was that the president's rating was low and he, alone, drug down their rating. Wow, I thought that they were individuals in congress and wanted to make sure that they were not connected to the president in any way. So, now they blame their own uselessness, ineptitude and general slothfulness on everyone else but themselves. Oh well talk about having your cake and eating it too.
Darn, I slipped and was not politically correct. Just slap me silly and call me a idiot, I won't do that again.
Everything seems to be going fine for us and hopefully it will continue. I now have my own authority and can say my wife and I own our very own trucking company. I really don't know whether that is a good thing or not but I am going to give it a whirl and see if I get dizzy. The freight rates seem to be quite a bit higher and I don't have anyone taking a huge chunk of the pay. Now whether I am making money or not remains to be seen.
I hope everything is going well for each of you and hope it continues to do so.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
The other day I was talking to a fuel desk clerk at a Flying J at an unnamed location and she began to talk about the elections and all the posturing that is going on. What she said got me to laughing, hard, her comment was that there is one dummy in the White House and two more dummies trying to get in it. She wanted to know why we would elect another dummy for president when the one we have is more than enough.
Did any of you see the poll where Congress had a lower approval rate than the president? The president has a 28% approval rating and congress has a 14% approval rating. I almost swallowed my teeth when I read the senate majority leader's response to this. He said that the only reason their approval rating was so low was that the president's rating was low and he, alone, drug down their rating. Wow, I thought that they were individuals in congress and wanted to make sure that they were not connected to the president in any way. So, now they blame their own uselessness, ineptitude and general slothfulness on everyone else but themselves. Oh well talk about having your cake and eating it too.
Darn, I slipped and was not politically correct. Just slap me silly and call me a idiot, I won't do that again.
Everything seems to be going fine for us and hopefully it will continue. I now have my own authority and can say my wife and I own our very own trucking company. I really don't know whether that is a good thing or not but I am going to give it a whirl and see if I get dizzy. The freight rates seem to be quite a bit higher and I don't have anyone taking a huge chunk of the pay. Now whether I am making money or not remains to be seen.
I hope everything is going well for each of you and hope it continues to do so.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
Category: General
Posted on Sat, Jul 19 2008 @ 3:47 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 1] [Send Article] [Improper]PC IV
Man, was I lucky today. I got to drive on the same highway and in the same direction that the great, hallowed Barack Obama did. We only had to park on I-70 and wait for one half hour for him to get on the highway.
Isn't that man something? Can you imagine what kind of president he will make? What's that, you would rather not imagine that? How dare you because according to his campaign workers and his ministers he is the greatest thing living. You know that a minister would never say anything wrong about anyone and they have the last word when it comes to someone's character. They would never say anything offensive about anyone. Why the great William Clinton is willing to campaign for him and you know that is a true blessing for Obama, because Mr. Clinton is the scion of honor and trust. You can always trust every word he says and that is why he charges a fortune for his speeches, because he is the true champion of the downtrodden and poor. He would never lie to us especially about Obama.
I did my part to help the impoverished highway departments of the country and the poor needy oil companies last week. When I looked at my settlement and found that I had spent over $4000 for fuel I was extremely happy because I had made sure that I had paid my fair share of highway use taxes. Then when I realized that I paid over $200 for tolls in the same week I was ecstatic. It hurts my feelings when someone tells me I don't pay my fair share and now they can't say that, I can proudly show them my settlement statement and laugh at those poor misinformed people.
Wow, these poor car drivers are sure getting it hard aren't they? Why they are having to pay over $4 a gallon for gas and they shouldn't have to do that because they sit at their desks and slave all of 4-5 days a week. They put in their 40 hours a week slaving at a hot desk then have to contend with this. Of course they need to drive their cars to work and back home 50-100 miles a day. Who wants to ride that public transportation anyway? And why should they have someone else in their cars? Heck they need their own car with them so they can run errands in the evening and they can drive to lunch instead of having to brown bag it. If they had to car pool (shudder) it would limit them in what they can do.
Well, I hope life is treating well this day. I know that I am having a fine time and not having problems at all. May I wish all of you a joyous happy day.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
Isn't that man something? Can you imagine what kind of president he will make? What's that, you would rather not imagine that? How dare you because according to his campaign workers and his ministers he is the greatest thing living. You know that a minister would never say anything wrong about anyone and they have the last word when it comes to someone's character. They would never say anything offensive about anyone. Why the great William Clinton is willing to campaign for him and you know that is a true blessing for Obama, because Mr. Clinton is the scion of honor and trust. You can always trust every word he says and that is why he charges a fortune for his speeches, because he is the true champion of the downtrodden and poor. He would never lie to us especially about Obama.
I did my part to help the impoverished highway departments of the country and the poor needy oil companies last week. When I looked at my settlement and found that I had spent over $4000 for fuel I was extremely happy because I had made sure that I had paid my fair share of highway use taxes. Then when I realized that I paid over $200 for tolls in the same week I was ecstatic. It hurts my feelings when someone tells me I don't pay my fair share and now they can't say that, I can proudly show them my settlement statement and laugh at those poor misinformed people.
Wow, these poor car drivers are sure getting it hard aren't they? Why they are having to pay over $4 a gallon for gas and they shouldn't have to do that because they sit at their desks and slave all of 4-5 days a week. They put in their 40 hours a week slaving at a hot desk then have to contend with this. Of course they need to drive their cars to work and back home 50-100 miles a day. Who wants to ride that public transportation anyway? And why should they have someone else in their cars? Heck they need their own car with them so they can run errands in the evening and they can drive to lunch instead of having to brown bag it. If they had to car pool (shudder) it would limit them in what they can do.
Well, I hope life is treating well this day. I know that I am having a fine time and not having problems at all. May I wish all of you a joyous happy day.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
Category: General
Posted on Tue, Jul 01 2008 @ 5:47 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 5] [Send Article] [Improper]Politically correct III
Finally the long awaited sequel to the PC (politically correct) series.
My heart goes out to those mistreated car drivers. Why they might have to pay $50-60 to fill up their cars once a week or so. That is an awful shame because these poor people only drive 55-60 mph while those dreadful trucks cruise at very high speeds. You know that it doesn't cost very much to fill a truck not like those cars.
Hey, how about the presidential races? Doesn't Barack Obama just make you feel so warm and cuddly? Here he is coming out with all those domestic and foreign policies that are clear cut and precise. You just know that he will understand everything immediately and act decisively and powerfully on just everything. He understands that Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa know how to run our country better than we do. I guess he is going to appoint an international cabinet, you know a French citizen as Secretary of State, the president of Zimbabwe as the Secretary of Defense and the president of Iran as our chief negotiator, etc.
I just can't understand why no one would vote for him. He and his wife are properly ashamed of this country and have never been proud of being a citizen of America until recently so who could better understand the proper place of America in the world than Obama? And of course he is going to have to raise taxes to take care of all those poor, downtrodden and mistreated illegals that have flocked to this country so they can be American citizens and own a home (this is the way they are going to take care of all these repossessed homes, didn't you know?). We, who vote as independents, must vote to get this upstanding, proud American citizen into office and (shudder) get rid of all those greedy, grasping, money grubbing Republicans. You know that the Democrats would never lower themselves to the level of Republicans. They would NEVER take money from lobbyists, raise taxes unnecessarily, coddle illegals , play partisan politics or attempt to be pigs and tack pork projects onto any bill.
Truck driving is so much fun lately. I am making a fortune and enjoying this life so very, very much. What, you aren't? My gosh the DOT is giving us so many breaks, the politicians are trying to make it so much easier on us, and the people that belong to the various lobbying groups like C.R.A.S.H. and P.A.T.T. are making life so enjoyable.
Oh, well you just can't make some people happy, can you? Truck drivers just love to complain about everything. Here they have it better than they have ever had in their lives and they just want to complain about it. Everyone is working so hard to help us in our jobs and try to help keep us from causing all these accidents we are having, because you know that the cars would never, ever cause an accident.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
My heart goes out to those mistreated car drivers. Why they might have to pay $50-60 to fill up their cars once a week or so. That is an awful shame because these poor people only drive 55-60 mph while those dreadful trucks cruise at very high speeds. You know that it doesn't cost very much to fill a truck not like those cars.
Hey, how about the presidential races? Doesn't Barack Obama just make you feel so warm and cuddly? Here he is coming out with all those domestic and foreign policies that are clear cut and precise. You just know that he will understand everything immediately and act decisively and powerfully on just everything. He understands that Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa know how to run our country better than we do. I guess he is going to appoint an international cabinet, you know a French citizen as Secretary of State, the president of Zimbabwe as the Secretary of Defense and the president of Iran as our chief negotiator, etc.
I just can't understand why no one would vote for him. He and his wife are properly ashamed of this country and have never been proud of being a citizen of America until recently so who could better understand the proper place of America in the world than Obama? And of course he is going to have to raise taxes to take care of all those poor, downtrodden and mistreated illegals that have flocked to this country so they can be American citizens and own a home (this is the way they are going to take care of all these repossessed homes, didn't you know?). We, who vote as independents, must vote to get this upstanding, proud American citizen into office and (shudder) get rid of all those greedy, grasping, money grubbing Republicans. You know that the Democrats would never lower themselves to the level of Republicans. They would NEVER take money from lobbyists, raise taxes unnecessarily, coddle illegals , play partisan politics or attempt to be pigs and tack pork projects onto any bill.
Truck driving is so much fun lately. I am making a fortune and enjoying this life so very, very much. What, you aren't? My gosh the DOT is giving us so many breaks, the politicians are trying to make it so much easier on us, and the people that belong to the various lobbying groups like C.R.A.S.H. and P.A.T.T. are making life so enjoyable.
Oh, well you just can't make some people happy, can you? Truck drivers just love to complain about everything. Here they have it better than they have ever had in their lives and they just want to complain about it. Everyone is working so hard to help us in our jobs and try to help keep us from causing all these accidents we are having, because you know that the cars would never, ever cause an accident.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
Category: General
Posted on Sun, Jun 15 2008 @ 6:57 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 4] [Send Article] [Improper]Politically correct II
Hello out there in computer land, it's time for my weekly saccharine injection to you heathens.
Isn't this great? That is the oil companies making all this money, you know they deserve it because they are hard working people that have sacrificed so much for us over all these years. I am glad to see that they are getting the rewards that they so much deserve.
I thought that this 72 hour inspection blitz that they had this past week was fantastic. It helps us make sure that our trucks are in good shape and the good law enforcement types show us how to make sure our paperwork is in good order and make sure we know how to do it. The only thing that confuses me is this, how did they learn so much in such a short time without ever doing it themselves? Oh well, I guess they are naturally smarter than us. And it helped the states reduce their deficits quite a bit also. Doesn't it make you feel so good to be able to do that? All in all it just makes you feel so good to be able to do so much good in such a short time. I met a driver the other day that was complaining that he had been inspected three times in one day. I shook my head at his statement and told that he should be pleased that the DOT would be so nice to him to make sure that everything was going good and not complaining about it.
Everyone I talk to is complaining about CA and their idling laws, I just have to shake my head in exasperation. Then I tell them that they should be happy that CA cares enough about them to want to help them conserve their expensive fuel. Don't you agree? If the states are trying to help us this way shouldn't we thank them?
These poor car drivers are having to spend so much money just to go to the grocery store, beauty shops, their children's soccer games and to the local parks that it is a shame. I feel for them because these are such important activities and they shouldn't be penalized. Of course you have noticed these people are slowing to reasonable speeds to conserve their fuel, haven't you?
Well, so much for this saccharin injection. Will try to do better next time.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
Isn't this great? That is the oil companies making all this money, you know they deserve it because they are hard working people that have sacrificed so much for us over all these years. I am glad to see that they are getting the rewards that they so much deserve.
I thought that this 72 hour inspection blitz that they had this past week was fantastic. It helps us make sure that our trucks are in good shape and the good law enforcement types show us how to make sure our paperwork is in good order and make sure we know how to do it. The only thing that confuses me is this, how did they learn so much in such a short time without ever doing it themselves? Oh well, I guess they are naturally smarter than us. And it helped the states reduce their deficits quite a bit also. Doesn't it make you feel so good to be able to do that? All in all it just makes you feel so good to be able to do so much good in such a short time. I met a driver the other day that was complaining that he had been inspected three times in one day. I shook my head at his statement and told that he should be pleased that the DOT would be so nice to him to make sure that everything was going good and not complaining about it.
Everyone I talk to is complaining about CA and their idling laws, I just have to shake my head in exasperation. Then I tell them that they should be happy that CA cares enough about them to want to help them conserve their expensive fuel. Don't you agree? If the states are trying to help us this way shouldn't we thank them?
These poor car drivers are having to spend so much money just to go to the grocery store, beauty shops, their children's soccer games and to the local parks that it is a shame. I feel for them because these are such important activities and they shouldn't be penalized. Of course you have noticed these people are slowing to reasonable speeds to conserve their fuel, haven't you?
Well, so much for this saccharin injection. Will try to do better next time.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
Category: General
Posted on Sat, Jun 07 2008 @ 12:51 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 2] [Send Article] [Improper]politically correct
Recently I have chastised for speaking my piece and saying how I feel and others have chastised me daring to say anything that might appear to blame someone else, so this time I am going to try to stay completely politically correct so that everyone will approve. How I am going to do that is beyond me but so what I'll give it a try.
O.K., here goes the weather is wonderful but just a little bit hot right now which is perfectly alright. I feel great and don't have to wear a strait jacket or take any pills. All the people I know are right about absolutely everything and I am wrong, my opinion doesn't count for anything and I should listen to those that know more than I do, which is everybody.
The truck is running O.K. for the time being and I am making a little money, not much, but a little. I would say something about the oil companies but that would be critical of them and express my opinion, which a no-no.
Aren't politics wonderful? Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are super people and excellent politicians, they want to help us through their superb work as politicians. None of these three would ever do any thing illegal or wrong, don't we have such a wonderful choice for president this year? Also, I know the government, either Democrat or Republican, is working in our best interests and want to make sure all of us are happy in our every day lives.
Traffic is excellent and I see truck drivers making mistakes by the hundreds. I don't see those precious 4 wheelers making any mistakes at all, we really shouldn't say bad things about them.
I feel toll roads are a fine instrument to make sure all of us pay our fair share and that trucks should pay 100 times more than cars to make it fair.
Now, I hope I left everyone happy and without bad words to say about me as usual. Those that disagree with me should be happy that I am turning over a new leaf. It has been said that the only reason I get on here and write a blog is so that I have my little group to agree with me and compliment me on my sayings because I don't like controversy and want everyone to agree with me. Others don't like some of the things I say and violently refuse to talk to me after I have my say I guess they might have an inferiority complex, but who knows? I love a good argument or discussion and I really could care less who agrees with me because life is full of disagreements, but I seem to come back for more every time. Please, never feel that you have to agree with me because that isn't even expected nor wanted. But, some of the things that have been said to me are personal and demeaning. I don't take what you have to say personally, why should I? That's your opinion and your opinion counts just as much as mine, now who can convince the other person to agree with them? That's the fun part, sometimes I win sometimes I lose but that's the fun of life.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
O.K., here goes the weather is wonderful but just a little bit hot right now which is perfectly alright. I feel great and don't have to wear a strait jacket or take any pills. All the people I know are right about absolutely everything and I am wrong, my opinion doesn't count for anything and I should listen to those that know more than I do, which is everybody.
The truck is running O.K. for the time being and I am making a little money, not much, but a little. I would say something about the oil companies but that would be critical of them and express my opinion, which a no-no.
Aren't politics wonderful? Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are super people and excellent politicians, they want to help us through their superb work as politicians. None of these three would ever do any thing illegal or wrong, don't we have such a wonderful choice for president this year? Also, I know the government, either Democrat or Republican, is working in our best interests and want to make sure all of us are happy in our every day lives.
Traffic is excellent and I see truck drivers making mistakes by the hundreds. I don't see those precious 4 wheelers making any mistakes at all, we really shouldn't say bad things about them.
I feel toll roads are a fine instrument to make sure all of us pay our fair share and that trucks should pay 100 times more than cars to make it fair.
Now, I hope I left everyone happy and without bad words to say about me as usual. Those that disagree with me should be happy that I am turning over a new leaf. It has been said that the only reason I get on here and write a blog is so that I have my little group to agree with me and compliment me on my sayings because I don't like controversy and want everyone to agree with me. Others don't like some of the things I say and violently refuse to talk to me after I have my say I guess they might have an inferiority complex, but who knows? I love a good argument or discussion and I really could care less who agrees with me because life is full of disagreements, but I seem to come back for more every time. Please, never feel that you have to agree with me because that isn't even expected nor wanted. But, some of the things that have been said to me are personal and demeaning. I don't take what you have to say personally, why should I? That's your opinion and your opinion counts just as much as mine, now who can convince the other person to agree with them? That's the fun part, sometimes I win sometimes I lose but that's the fun of life.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
Category: General
Posted on Sun, Jun 01 2008 @ 4:22 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 4] [Send Article] [Improper]Time
I am grossing more money at this company but I didn't realize how easy I had it at the other company.
This company pays more but you have to do most of the unloading yourself and in a couple of places either help to load or load the freight yourself. That's O.K. because the freight rates are so much higher it is worth it. You make enough money to make up the difference in working besides it is helping me lose some weight because these trailers are hot inside this time of year. If you want a free sauna then unload van trailers in the hotter months. The worst part is that it is not even the hottest part of the year yet. At least I don't have to handle tarps and tie downs, that is a distinct blessing.
That crane sure comes in handy because it saves a lot of extra work. Also the pallet jack, the J bars, and the little carts.
I learned the hard way this week how you can mess up using a crane. I picked a heavy bundle of ramps up and got them off the trailer, I was letting them down and was about 2 feet off the floor when the strap parted and the ramps hit the concrete with a loud bang, damaging part of them. Thank God there was no one under the ramps because no one was hurt. I had just asked one of the men to back off out of the way because you never knew what could happen. Something told me that there was problems coming.
I have so much to learn in a short time that it is unbelieveable. My class on how to operate the crane went like this "This is the crane, this is the control box, you extend the ramps out the back of the trailer". There were no demonstrations and no other explanation. I had to learn how to secure the straps to pick up something by trial and error, well one error could have been very costly. I am trying to concentrate on this and this alone and let everything else sort itself out because I don't want anyone hurt and I certainly don't want to have to live with hurting someone. Slowly but surely it is beginning to come around and I am learning the ins and outs of the crane.
More later. Oh, if you want to see one of the cranes mounted in the trailer google Cargo Master's home page.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
This company pays more but you have to do most of the unloading yourself and in a couple of places either help to load or load the freight yourself. That's O.K. because the freight rates are so much higher it is worth it. You make enough money to make up the difference in working besides it is helping me lose some weight because these trailers are hot inside this time of year. If you want a free sauna then unload van trailers in the hotter months. The worst part is that it is not even the hottest part of the year yet. At least I don't have to handle tarps and tie downs, that is a distinct blessing.
That crane sure comes in handy because it saves a lot of extra work. Also the pallet jack, the J bars, and the little carts.
I learned the hard way this week how you can mess up using a crane. I picked a heavy bundle of ramps up and got them off the trailer, I was letting them down and was about 2 feet off the floor when the strap parted and the ramps hit the concrete with a loud bang, damaging part of them. Thank God there was no one under the ramps because no one was hurt. I had just asked one of the men to back off out of the way because you never knew what could happen. Something told me that there was problems coming.
I have so much to learn in a short time that it is unbelieveable. My class on how to operate the crane went like this "This is the crane, this is the control box, you extend the ramps out the back of the trailer". There were no demonstrations and no other explanation. I had to learn how to secure the straps to pick up something by trial and error, well one error could have been very costly. I am trying to concentrate on this and this alone and let everything else sort itself out because I don't want anyone hurt and I certainly don't want to have to live with hurting someone. Slowly but surely it is beginning to come around and I am learning the ins and outs of the crane.
More later. Oh, if you want to see one of the cranes mounted in the trailer google Cargo Master's home page.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego
Category: General
Posted on Sun, May 11 2008 @ 4:30 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 2] [Send Article] [Improper]change
Sorry that I haven't been on for a while. The wife and I have been very busy lately just trying to keep our heads above water and I don't swim very well then it has been a problem.
We changed companies this past week because my old company was breaking us slowly but surely. Within a month I will have my own operating authority and will be running my own independent operation. The company that I will be running with is helping me do it while I continue to operate on their authority for the next month. I just started April 18th and it has been totally different from anything I have ever done before in my life.
The trailer that I am leasing from them has a bridge crane, yes I said a crane, mounted on overhead rails and boy does it come in handy. This is a 53' dry van and I am hauling things that I didn't believe could be hauled in a van. Right now I have a load of tractor accessories on board and heading to LA.. When I get there I will run the rail extensions out, which extend about 5-6 feet out from the door. Then I will put straps on each piece then pick them up with the crane and run them out to the fork lift. This crane will pick up 8000 lbs and I didn't believe it until I picked up some heavy pieces of elevator and sat them down on the ground.
I haul elevators, hospital beds, farm equipment and several other types of bulky freight.
Why did I do this when fuel is so high and freight so scarce? Simply put, the freight rates are a lot higher on this and the fuel surcharges are unbelieveable. One load that I hauled this week paid me $3.50 a mile and they tell that some freight is even highere than that.
My old company had the philosophy of cutting freight rates and giving you more miles. For an owner/operator that doesn't work and they will go broke fast. You can only run so many miles a week, legally or illegally before you have to stop. The new company has the idea of not running so many miles but making the miles you do run pay for themselves. This, my first week, I have or will gross a third again as much as I was making at the old company. And this is with only 2323 revenue miles versus 4000+ miles. I can run less and make a bunch more money and this is proven, I can have more time at home and have more money to save or spend.
They have been trying to get me to come over here for the last 3 or 4 months and I was reluctant because I wasn't sure of being a totally independent owner/operator but the handwriting was on the wall at the old company. If I didn't do something pretty quick the bankruptcy court was staring me in the face.
So, anyway, the last month or so has been very hectic and it has been generally a nightmare. Trying to get a million details ironed out going in straight line.
anyway
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
We changed companies this past week because my old company was breaking us slowly but surely. Within a month I will have my own operating authority and will be running my own independent operation. The company that I will be running with is helping me do it while I continue to operate on their authority for the next month. I just started April 18th and it has been totally different from anything I have ever done before in my life.
The trailer that I am leasing from them has a bridge crane, yes I said a crane, mounted on overhead rails and boy does it come in handy. This is a 53' dry van and I am hauling things that I didn't believe could be hauled in a van. Right now I have a load of tractor accessories on board and heading to LA.. When I get there I will run the rail extensions out, which extend about 5-6 feet out from the door. Then I will put straps on each piece then pick them up with the crane and run them out to the fork lift. This crane will pick up 8000 lbs and I didn't believe it until I picked up some heavy pieces of elevator and sat them down on the ground.
I haul elevators, hospital beds, farm equipment and several other types of bulky freight.
Why did I do this when fuel is so high and freight so scarce? Simply put, the freight rates are a lot higher on this and the fuel surcharges are unbelieveable. One load that I hauled this week paid me $3.50 a mile and they tell that some freight is even highere than that.
My old company had the philosophy of cutting freight rates and giving you more miles. For an owner/operator that doesn't work and they will go broke fast. You can only run so many miles a week, legally or illegally before you have to stop. The new company has the idea of not running so many miles but making the miles you do run pay for themselves. This, my first week, I have or will gross a third again as much as I was making at the old company. And this is with only 2323 revenue miles versus 4000+ miles. I can run less and make a bunch more money and this is proven, I can have more time at home and have more money to save or spend.
They have been trying to get me to come over here for the last 3 or 4 months and I was reluctant because I wasn't sure of being a totally independent owner/operator but the handwriting was on the wall at the old company. If I didn't do something pretty quick the bankruptcy court was staring me in the face.
So, anyway, the last month or so has been very hectic and it has been generally a nightmare. Trying to get a million details ironed out going in straight line.
anyway
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
Category: General
Posted on Sat, Apr 26 2008 @ 9:57 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 4] [Send Article] [Improper]hello, dere
Whoops I seemed to wandered back to the blog page. Hmm, don't know how I ended up here but I am going to take advantage of it.
Ken, the one that points a finger at others and has three pointing back at himself is back so get ready to accuse me of said crime one more time. At least I do say how I feel without worry of what others say.
Recently I was watching a show on heavy trucks and it was very interesting. By the way this was on the History Channel and they gave a very unbiased account of trucks and commercial traffic during the hour long program. One thing that stuck in my mind was that 20% of the vehicle traffic was trucks which left 80% cars. I would put more like 70% cars-30% trucks but either way the cars far outnumber us. Whichever figure you use we pay the lions share of the money to keep these roads fixed. I would guestimate 60%-70% of the money is paid by 20-30% of the vehicles. Maybe I am wrong but that seems disproportionate.
This would be alright if they used the monies to pay for maintenance on the highways. Recently the governor of New Jersey advocated raising the tolls on the New Jersey turnpike by 50% a year for 4 years. The reason? To pay off the states debt by putting it on the backs of travelers passing through the state. Why should you and I pay New Jersey's debts? They spent money they didn't have on programs that probably weren't needed and then increased the budgets for these programs without having the money to pay for them. These programs include welfare and many other social programs. But why pay for these said debts when you have a captive audience like out of state travelers to take care of them for you?
Now, that esteemed gentleman that calls himself governor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has raised the tolls across the bridges that you have to cross to get out of New Jersey by $3 increasing the toll to $16.25. Now, consider that most of these bridges are less than a mile long. Some of them no longer than 1/2 mile in length. So, that makes the toll rate from $16.25 a mile to $32.50 a mile to cross one mile. Makes perfect sense to me. The reason? And this has been stated publicly, to pay for social programs and monetary increases in their budgets. Hey, I don't get any benefit from this.
I could understand, barely, if they used these increases to improve the highways but to pay for social programs that only benefit the people that live in that state? This, so more people can refuse to work and stay at home to produce more kids so they can get higher benefits and that off the back of working people like you and I.
Then on top of record fuel costs the Federal government or some people in the government want to tack another .40 cents per gallon fuel tax on top of the .24 cents per gallon we have now. .64 cents a gallon of fuel tax? and heavy increases in tolls? that is double taxation in any person's view. I didn't say just diesel they want to do it across the board on all fuel. How high is fuel going to be before they realize that their political career is in jeopardy? And the only thing that really counts for a politician is getting reelected so they can continue to feed off the public and gain more power and money.
None of these politicians realize that anyone one of their jobs can be in jeopardy no matter which party they are affiliated with. Most of us don't give a darn which party in is office because there isn't enough difference between them and their method of operation to tell which party they belong to. The only way we can tell them apart is to see which ones cater to which lobbyists.
Many of you might and will disagree with me on parts of this. But, big deal because if you think about it then you will know that most people think this way.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
Ken, the one that points a finger at others and has three pointing back at himself is back so get ready to accuse me of said crime one more time. At least I do say how I feel without worry of what others say.
Recently I was watching a show on heavy trucks and it was very interesting. By the way this was on the History Channel and they gave a very unbiased account of trucks and commercial traffic during the hour long program. One thing that stuck in my mind was that 20% of the vehicle traffic was trucks which left 80% cars. I would put more like 70% cars-30% trucks but either way the cars far outnumber us. Whichever figure you use we pay the lions share of the money to keep these roads fixed. I would guestimate 60%-70% of the money is paid by 20-30% of the vehicles. Maybe I am wrong but that seems disproportionate.
This would be alright if they used the monies to pay for maintenance on the highways. Recently the governor of New Jersey advocated raising the tolls on the New Jersey turnpike by 50% a year for 4 years. The reason? To pay off the states debt by putting it on the backs of travelers passing through the state. Why should you and I pay New Jersey's debts? They spent money they didn't have on programs that probably weren't needed and then increased the budgets for these programs without having the money to pay for them. These programs include welfare and many other social programs. But why pay for these said debts when you have a captive audience like out of state travelers to take care of them for you?
Now, that esteemed gentleman that calls himself governor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has raised the tolls across the bridges that you have to cross to get out of New Jersey by $3 increasing the toll to $16.25. Now, consider that most of these bridges are less than a mile long. Some of them no longer than 1/2 mile in length. So, that makes the toll rate from $16.25 a mile to $32.50 a mile to cross one mile. Makes perfect sense to me. The reason? And this has been stated publicly, to pay for social programs and monetary increases in their budgets. Hey, I don't get any benefit from this.
I could understand, barely, if they used these increases to improve the highways but to pay for social programs that only benefit the people that live in that state? This, so more people can refuse to work and stay at home to produce more kids so they can get higher benefits and that off the back of working people like you and I.
Then on top of record fuel costs the Federal government or some people in the government want to tack another .40 cents per gallon fuel tax on top of the .24 cents per gallon we have now. .64 cents a gallon of fuel tax? and heavy increases in tolls? that is double taxation in any person's view. I didn't say just diesel they want to do it across the board on all fuel. How high is fuel going to be before they realize that their political career is in jeopardy? And the only thing that really counts for a politician is getting reelected so they can continue to feed off the public and gain more power and money.
None of these politicians realize that anyone one of their jobs can be in jeopardy no matter which party they are affiliated with. Most of us don't give a darn which party in is office because there isn't enough difference between them and their method of operation to tell which party they belong to. The only way we can tell them apart is to see which ones cater to which lobbyists.
Many of you might and will disagree with me on parts of this. But, big deal because if you think about it then you will know that most people think this way.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
Category: General
Posted on Sat, Apr 12 2008 @ 8:15 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 4] [Send Article] [Improper]I broke de law and de law won
The law is something that each of us is supposed to obey whether we agree with it or not. I know there are plenty of laws out there that each of us disagree with but nonetheless if we are to have law and order in our country it is necessary for us to swallow our pride and go along with it. There are a lot of laws out there that are plain idiotic and moronic in my view but you may not agree with that assessment and that is perfectly alright.
What brought this on is watching the traffic zip along the highways. To most of these people the law is only a suggestion to them and only counts for the other driver, that goes for everything from speeding, to running stop signs, refusing to yield right of way, etc.
90% of the truck traffic and 95% of the 4-wheeler traffic are always in violation of speeding laws and many of the other laws. I have set my cruise control on 60 mph in CA and OH then at least 75% of the trucks pass me like I am tied down, car traffic in those states is even worse. In the western part of TX, they have raised the car speed limit to 80 mph thinking that then the majority of traffic would stay legal. That didn't work because everyone believes that they can drive at least 5 mph over the speed limit and the cops won't bother them. The only way to insure that the majority of the traffic stays inside the speed limits is to set the speed around 125 mph simply because most cars won't run that fast. What particularly irks me is the trucks that do the same thing and saying what is good for the cars is good for the trucks.
First of all these people, car and truck drivers, aren't trained to handle that kind of speed and their reaction times are not up to the challenge if something happens. One thing that really bothers me is the trucks that will only run 65-68 mph, you know the company drivers, and run this speed in town, on the highways, in construction etc.. They never slow down when they get the truck to rolling. Second all of these people, car and truck drivers, don't realize that when you run at or just below the speed limit that your fuel mileage increases. They think that whatever they are driving should get the same fuel mileage at all speeds and then complain because they aren't getting the mileage the manufacturer said they would.
The irritating part is that most of these people are nice, law-abiding people when they aren't driving. You would never believe that they are a Jekyll and Hyde and change to something monstrous behind the wheel. Notice that I am not singling out car drivers or truck drivers by themselves because they are all equally guilty.
The attitude that the only thing that counts is "me" and what "me" thinks of anything is a lot of the reason behind this, no one or anything else enters into the equation.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
What brought this on is watching the traffic zip along the highways. To most of these people the law is only a suggestion to them and only counts for the other driver, that goes for everything from speeding, to running stop signs, refusing to yield right of way, etc.
90% of the truck traffic and 95% of the 4-wheeler traffic are always in violation of speeding laws and many of the other laws. I have set my cruise control on 60 mph in CA and OH then at least 75% of the trucks pass me like I am tied down, car traffic in those states is even worse. In the western part of TX, they have raised the car speed limit to 80 mph thinking that then the majority of traffic would stay legal. That didn't work because everyone believes that they can drive at least 5 mph over the speed limit and the cops won't bother them. The only way to insure that the majority of the traffic stays inside the speed limits is to set the speed around 125 mph simply because most cars won't run that fast. What particularly irks me is the trucks that do the same thing and saying what is good for the cars is good for the trucks.
First of all these people, car and truck drivers, aren't trained to handle that kind of speed and their reaction times are not up to the challenge if something happens. One thing that really bothers me is the trucks that will only run 65-68 mph, you know the company drivers, and run this speed in town, on the highways, in construction etc.. They never slow down when they get the truck to rolling. Second all of these people, car and truck drivers, don't realize that when you run at or just below the speed limit that your fuel mileage increases. They think that whatever they are driving should get the same fuel mileage at all speeds and then complain because they aren't getting the mileage the manufacturer said they would.
The irritating part is that most of these people are nice, law-abiding people when they aren't driving. You would never believe that they are a Jekyll and Hyde and change to something monstrous behind the wheel. Notice that I am not singling out car drivers or truck drivers by themselves because they are all equally guilty.
The attitude that the only thing that counts is "me" and what "me" thinks of anything is a lot of the reason behind this, no one or anything else enters into the equation.
Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.
Category: General
Posted on Sat, Mar 08 2008 @ 7:28 PM [MST]
[Permalink] [Comments - 7] [Send Article] [Improper]
