Archive for the ‘Truckers Wives and Families’ Category

Well here it is the middle of May and I’ve been home for six days now.  That’s not quite as good as it sounds since I originally planned to be home only three days.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love being home.  It’s a pleasant change being able to spend some time with Marilyn, even when she puts me to work with chores around the house.

This happens sometime in the trucking industry.  Too many trucks at one end of the country and not enough loads.  Seems like there are one or two such slowdowns every year.  A friend of mine with the same company, who only came as far east as Toronto this week, is running full out and getting lots of miles.

But here it is the 14th of the month, second last day of the two week pay period, and I’ve only got one weeks running in.  That is definitely going to put a dent in the end of the month pay cheque.

No use complaining.  Just have to be thankful I’ve been enjoying more home cooking than usual and that we’ve been able to go out to a restaurant together a couple of times.  We had time to rearrange the livingroom, wash and service my truck, set up the bird feeders so Marilyn can get more bird photos. Man has she ever got more bird photos!

Birds aren't the only ones who benefit from feeders. Click on the picture to view more in the Gallery.

I know there are other driver’s experiencing this same slowdown right now.  I hope they are enjoying the time at home, not stuck out on the road somewhere, staring at the same trucks stop parking lot.  Been there, done that.

*****

Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where
The birdies is.

That old childhood rhyme sprang to mind this week as Mother Nature begins to make her powers of renewal evident in most parts of the country.  Of course the biggest evidence I see is the massive bug collection on my grillework and the backs of my mirrors.

There are still a few areas being reluctantly dragged into showing signs of the impending summer. Not the least of these is right at home in Nova Scotia.

There is little question, even there though, of where the birdies is, as many of them are falling within the range of Marilyn’s questing camera.

I’ve decided to include a few of Marilyn’s most striking images in this post as she is learning the patience needed to get the perfect shot. 

All in all a great bunch of shots from Marilyn and I know she took many many more in order to get the ones she saved.  I hear nothing but groans via the instant messenger during every rainy day that keeps her from roaming the yard with the camera.

To view more photos click on this one.

 If anyone else has some great backyard bird shots they’d like to share with our readership please send them along. Include any information you’d care to add and email them to grumpy@grumpyoldtrucker.com.  See ya next time and stay chirpy.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the level of respect for truck drivers and the trucking industry in general.

In Europe and other parts of the world, trucking is an honorable profession and drivers are looked up to and respected. While this was the case in North America 30 or 40 years ago, not so much today.

In fact I get the impression some days that those of us who hold onto a steering wheel for a living are considered to be 3rd or even 4th class citizens.

Oh sure, family members and close friends, and other members of the trucking community still tolerate us and even give us a grudging degree of respect. But the majority of the population at large look down their noses and give short shrift to this once noble profession.

I’d like to suggest a few possible reasons for this change in public opinion and attitudes.

First off, we have become a much faster paced and self absorbed society. Everyone is in a hurry. Common courtesy has all but disappeared. People, especially city dwellers and commuters have no time to waste behind heavily laden, slower moving vehicles. In fact they’re in such a hurry, common sense is a thing of the past. Tailgating, cutting others off and ignoring the use of turn signals are becoming common occurrences.

Of course some truck drivers have brought a lot of this disrespect on themselves. There are those who throw their pee bottles and garbage out in parking lots and ditches never giving a thought to the person who has to clean up after them.

They park in places they shouldn’t with total disregard for other motorists. Some are unkempt, unwashed, loud and obnoxious. Of course many others in society are those things too, but they don’t all drive 70 to 120 foot long, noisy, smelly,  obstructions to draw attention to themselves. .

Years ago truck drivers were kings of the highway. They were the  ones you could depend upon to stop and give assistance if you ran out of gas, had a flat tire or were involved in an accident. Truckers have been known to stop crimes, save lives, and even give their lives to avoid harming others.

While that remains true to a very small extent today, in this day and age stopping to give assistance could just as easily result in having a gun or a knife stuck in your face and your wallet lightened or your truck and load hijacked.

There is one truth that folks who resent or despise truckers and trucks need to keep uppermost in their minds though.

There is not an article of food in their kitchens or restaurants, nor a stitch of clothing on their bodies, nor any component of their homes, cars, or leisure equipment that hasn’t spent considerable time in the back of a truck. If you even have such an insignificant item as a tissue in your possession with which to blow your nose…… thank a trucker.

It has been quite some time since my last post to this blog and if I had such a thing as regular readers I apologize. Between a lot of pressures on the job and a lot of other things going on, this blog got sadly neglected. None of it was really a good reason but most certainly a good excuse.
Hopefully, all that will change however, as I have moved my truck to a new company. As of Friday the 19th of February I am officially a driver/broker with Fastrax Transportation out of Hartland, New Brunswick, a division of Day & Ross.
I owe a deep vote of gratitude to Fastrax Broker Manager, Gerry Betts and his very capable assistant Andrea Grant for making the transition painless, if not downright enjoyable.
My previous employer, while acceptable in many aspects and even above average in a few, just didn’t seem capable of allowing me to meet their expectations without breaking the hours of service regulations on a daily basis. To be honest my last few months with them had me almost to the point of burnout.  As an example, I got a $488 logbook fine on my last trip with the previous employer. I hadn’t had a logbook violation in the past 16 years. This one totally attributable to lack of sleep and exhaustion.
Today is Sunday the 21st of February and I’m in Northern Ontario on my way to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with a load of McCains frozen french fries and pizzas. I had almost forgotten what it was like to drive mostly daylight hours and get a good nights sleep.
Now I’m not one bit afraid of a good days work or a good nights work for that matter. But when I’m expected to do both on a continual basis I’m forced to draw the line, for other people’s safety if not my own.
I truly hope if there are other drivers out there whose employers play fast and loose with their safety and well being that they too will have the common sense and ability to make a change.
Marilyn has been very supportive throughout this transition and is every bit as relieved as I am at the prospect of running legally once more. She doesn’t see me often but when she does she prefers it when I’m not quite so uptight.
Stay tuned to this blog and I’ll keep you posted on how Fastrax proves out on this and other factors. Who knows this may be the company to fit your needs as well.

If any of your decide to put in an application at Fastrax please tell them the GrumpyOlTrucker sent you.

PS. I’ll be posting pics of the truck with the new decal package whenever the weather allows it to be clean again for five minutes.

Hi all.

So whats it like to be a British Trucker? To be honest, it’s a thoroughly thankless task. Crowded roads, impatient drivers, inconsiderate employers and draconian legislation all add up to stress, tiredness and misery.

British road are very busy. Rush hours are, as you’d imagine the worst time to travel – but they seem to be getting longer. Morning rush is between 6.30 and 9.30, and the afternoon peak seems to be from 3 to 6. There are no roads over here that you can just get on and drive for hours and hours. The longest single road in the UK is a little under 400 miles, but to travel the length of it would be considered a full days work. Along the way you’re sure to encounter road works, road hogs and road rage.

One thing you won’t find is good food or places to park for the night. The days of the family owned truckstop are long gone, so now all you’ll find are service areas that cater for all road users, and are owned by large “hospitality” companies. As a result, they are totally focused on separating you from your hard earned cash, and giving as little as possible in return. Most contain some sort of fast food franchise, usually one of the big US burger chains, as well as a “family” restaurant, in which you’ll find grossly over-priced, poor quality food, that’s been sitting for hours under heat lamps – the only thing that isn’t as tough as shoe leather are the limp, soggy french fries. Other facilities in these service areas include one filthy shower that will give you an occasional dribble of tepid water, a shop selling rubbish at a 50% mark up and a game arcade. For the pleasure of parking here, we are charged about $35!

So more often than not, you’ll find trucks parked up in lay-bys (which are little areas at the side of the road for motorists to stop for a few minutes), or on industrial areas. Naturally, there are no facilities here – no toilets, washrooms, or food.

On the plus side, we don’t have to stop at every scales we come to. Most scales over here are also check points, where Police and Government Inspectors will examine you and your vehicle. These only operate part-time, and you only stop if instructed. Most of the officers know what they’re looking for, so if you drive for a well known and respected operator, you get left alone. I’ve only been stopped once in the last 5 years.

We face the same issues as you regarding the people we work for too. Planners and dispatchers that make promises to customers that the driver can’t possibly acheive, delivery and collection locations that think you have nothing better to do than sit and wait for hours on end, and people generally blaming the driver for everything that goes wrong.

Life tends to be easier if you travel out of the UK and into Europe, but not always. Most of the European bound traffic travels from here to France, and the bulk of that travels by ferry or tunnel from Dover in south-west England to Calais in north-east France. As this is a very busy route, it has become a focal point for French strikers, so whenever the French farmers or truck drivers have some sort of grievance, the first course of action is to block the roads approaching Calais. Similarly, the French fishermen have no hesitation in using the thier boats to blockade the entrance to the port. However, if you’re lucky enough to get over unscathed, Driving in Europe is a much more relaxed and pleasurable experience, and drivers seem to be treated with a lot more respect.

So your deliveries in Europe are done, and you’ve got your collection and you’re heading home – but your problems aren’t over yet! Believe it or not, there is a massive movement of people out of Africa, and they all think that England is the promised land. They pay all their savings to people traffickers and make epic journeys up through the Sahara desert to Libya,  across the Mediterranean sea to Italy, then up through Italy into France where they all converge on Calias. Here, at the final hurdle, they’re looking for an England bound truck on which to stowaway. You must check your vehicle VERY carefully, as there is an automatic fine of £2,000 for every illegal immigrant that comes in to the country in your vehicle, even if you can prove you didn’t know they were there. Drivers used to report any stowaways
they found, but now are more likely to let them go free to avoid the fines.

As with everything in life, there are good and bad things in a truckers life over here, so I’ll talk about the good stuff next time.

Take care.