$3.00 a Gallon for Diesel in California

Here in the upper Midwest diesel cost is a bit less but still having a costly effect on the trucking industry. Yes, some of the cost can be passed on to shippers as surcharges but most trucks do some "deadheading" or running empty to pick up the next load. This deadheading is costing about fifty dollars more this year than last year per 300 empty miles. If trucks deadhead an average of 600 miles per week then deadheading is now costing each truck about $100 more in fuel costs per week over a year ago. Survival of the trucking industry is becoming difficult.

Show Me Your ID Please!

I was driving around this morning on my errands and decided to do the grocery and the miscellaneous shopping at the multinational corporation branch over on the east side of town.
As I was checking out I needed to show the lady my driver's license so she could sell me a can of air! Yes you read it right.......I needed a can of air to clean the computer! I had to show the lady my driver's license so she could sell me a can of air! What's next! Will we soon need a calcium consumption permit to buy a jug of milk?

How To Get Two for The Price of Two

I chuckled to myself as I observed "Grampa", a trucker, and his rider grandchild at a warehouse in Appleton today. The youngster as I must call the child since I was unable to determine it's gender was feasting on items from the vending machines outside on a park bench and soon returned to the break room to pillage Grampa's change supply to buy another item which after the purchase the kid announced to Grampa to be the "wrong kind". Being a good Grampa the youngster got another set of coins for the "right one" . I wonder what happened to the "wrong one" as the youngster left the break room heading for Grampa's truck with a candy bar in each fist!

What Are We Going To Do With Dad?

The program "Fresh Air" on NPR this week featured the author of this article.
It brought back memories of what my Dad's last years were like and caused me to consider what my and other dads last years might be like. Its a bit long but a must read for everyone with a dad!

Does the horse and buggy really belong there? Upon waking one wonders if this is reality or just a dream. Yup, it was real. This scene near Bonduel, Wisconsin, at 6 in the morning.

VOLVO

Giving Directions

A few weeks ago I was "driving around" south from Rockford, Illinois on I39 when I heard a fellow driver asking for directions into the RR Donnelly printing plant in the town of Mendota a few miles down the road. He was given very specific directions. "Take the Mendota exit and go west through town to the four way stop and turn left and the plant will be down the road a few miles. You can't miss it" It was too late for me to catch the driver looking for RR Donnelly when I realized that these directions would not get him to the Mendota location. He had gotten good directions to the RR Donnelly plant in Mattoon, Illiniois, some 150 miles away. I guess the moral of the story is that if you are giving directions don't confuse the locations!

The sign the truck brought is now firmly planted along Route 141 in Niagara

VOLVO

Congrats!

Congratulations to the guy who just completed three years of service to this. Add another 27 and you'll get your longevity award! You can do it by drinking more of this than this or this.

Oh, Oh!

I wonder what the owner of the green travel bag lying up ahead on the zipper wondered when he/she started looking for it? It caused quite a bit of talk on the CB. This was seen on I94 west of Kalamazoo, Michigan

What Is It All About? Tennyson Tells About "It"

"Flower in the Crannied Wall"

Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower -- but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.

Do It

I Need A Reminder

I need to ask someone out there who wishes I remain
sane to remind me to turn "popup blocker" off for
certain tasks. For months I wondered why I couldn't
do what I wanted to do at my wireless providers
web site. Then more recently I pondered and tried
in vain to get the new little picture adding thing to
work here at this site. Today I eventually switched
from Netscape to MS Explorer where I have some
silly toolbar installed and again tried to use the
above mentioned picture thing. Ha....I was warned
that a "popup" had been blocked! Then the light
came on and I can even use the ABC thing with
the blocker disabled. Maybe I should just kill it and
rid myself of the frustration next time I run into a
similar situation. But then all those popups! Did you
ever wonder what's worse, popups or junk mail?
In my business I'll take the junk mail.
It keeps us trucking!

The Flags Flies Again!

Just off I 43 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is the new flag pole near the offices of Acuity. Over the years, my travels have taken me past this area many times and I passed their flag flying high. It was visible even at night lit with multiple floodlights. Then one night it was not there. Apparently the pole had been blown down during a windstorm. Eventually , I noticed they were constucting a new site and then a new pole. This one is taller still and much stronger. I would guess the pole at the base must be 18 inches in diameter or more. At the top is a strobe light. The flag again waves day and night along I 43! Thanks, Acuity, for the beautiful sight!

Ever Wonder How it Got There?

Did you ever wonder how something got there?
It is a good possibility that a truck brought it there. One of our trucks dragged this sign a couple hundred miles from the manufacturer to Niagara. Since it was over width the trip required special permits and routes. I'll post again when the sign is installed.

The Feast

These geese of Elk Grove Village waited patiently for the lady to come to work with her bag of bread. Then after the feast they proceeded to cross the street stopping all traffic for a couple of minutes. I presume they were heading for some water hole.

VOLVO

The Crossing

Heading across the street.

VOLVO

Will It Be Hit Again?

The Alabama Shores hotel in which we stayed in a few years ago and was damaged last year is in the path of the current hurricane!

VOLVO

Passing Time

My how time passes quickly when one is having fun! A little remodeling carpentry in Minneapolis over the July 4th weekend brought back a few memories of the days of old and the jobs with the houses we redid. Christopher and I closed up one passageway/doorway and hung a door in another opening. Boy, I hate door hangings! We made a few mistakes and as dutiful carpenters always do, we covered them up! Christopher was left with the taping and and a pail of compound to cover up the joints. Then paint and baseboard and move in!
Julia is a gem. "Hi" was her word for the weekend. Such a sweetheart! We took a ride with her to the Mall of America where she snacked on healthy food while Christopher and I gobbled Krispy Kremes. As we walked by a teen clothing store Christopher was heard to say something about his turn coming up! Good luck! I hope Julia is not quite like Beth who could shop for hours and find nothing to buy or should I say buy nothing. Maybe that's why she has always had money!
How about a job at Gunville. Openings abound as usual. The safety/personel man quit, the purchasing agent left to start his new business, the head truck mechanic is having health problems and hasn't been in lately, the truck shop needs another line mechanic or two, the trailer shop could use another guy or two, and the over the road dispatcher whom I thought was coming back to stay awhile is apparently on his last weeks planning another "adventure". It is a wonder that we get done what we get done with all the new people constantly cycling in and then out! Reggie who retired two years ago and had been doing only training two days a week and now is in five days filling in as safty/personel plus training wants me to get out the truck to help him but he can't pay me enough to make the move plus do I want to work there at the yard? I dunno. Maybe I'll consider it later on. I think it would be a good "hobby" after retirement and that's not too far off!

Today is Father's Day

As a Father I have been blessed with Christopher and Beth. Even if you have been away for some time now you are always in my thoughts and I wish you the best always. Thank you for the card and pictures and letter which you sent from near and afar!
With Love,
Your Father

VOLVO IS 500,000

VOLVO has turned over a half million. That's about 2900 miles per week since we made our first trip in February 2002. VOLVO will probably outdistance me as I might give her up for a new VOLVO in a couple years or maybe I'll just give her up and go on a trip somewhere in an airplane!

VOLVO

VOLVO

Reminders, reminders!

Is it good or just a waste of their money and my time? Today's mail included some information from GlaxsoSmithKline the makers of among other medications my doses of fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder better known as ADVAIR DISKUS. (I think it should ADVAIR in a Diskus.) They don't want me to miss a dose and they don't want me to run out of doses so they offer to call me apparently twice a week to remind me to take my "snort" and they will also call to remind me to go the the drug store to get some more doses before the old supply runs out. This is today's world. So many helpers! So any reminders! I wouldn't have to remember much of anything on my own anymore! But is that good for my aging mind

I Didn't Get Caught!

Well we made it through the week without so much as a logbook check during Roadcheck 2005. In fact I had to enter a scale only once the last day but did have a bit of a scare there in Abrams as I got the little flashing red "GO TO SCALE" light as I was passing in the bypass lane. I think maybe the boys in blue were playing games as when I got to the scale platform I got the "GO AHEAD" green. Otherwise almost where ever I was they had collected enough business for the time being or they were were gone.... maybe fishing! (That's fishing for trucks somewhere else). That was nice. A trucker can't wish for more than the "big word" at the "chicken coops". The big word is of course "closed" and the "chicken coop" designation apparently grew out of the physical stucture of the scale houses with the glass fronts resembling chicken coops. So passed Road Check 2005.

There is so much to blog about!

All week I've been thinking about things to blog about. The flow of ideas is endless. So many, in fact, that it bloggles my mind and I can't come up with any one subject. The road is a "Golden Corral" of blogging subjects. There are the truckers with their many muddled thoughts expressed on the CB. There are the 4 wheelers many of them driving like here was to be no next minute. There are the construction zones many of which extend the entire 600 mile trip with short distance breaks to get ones hopes up. And the Schneider Eggs.....one after the other......millions of them. There are the receiving jerks....I mean clerks...many of whom have not even the slightest idea of why they were placed on the face of the earth. Then there is the big CVSA or Commercal Vehicle Safety Alliance road check 2005 this week Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is the event all commercal vehicle drivers would rather be watching on TV at home if it was shown on TV rather than being unwilling participants in the rabid motor carrier enforcement officers inspections. These guys just love getting on their little red creepers and sliding around under the trucks checking brake adjustments and listening for air leaks like kids listen for Santa on Christmas night. Only thing is they don't fall asleep down there but emerge to check out log books and truck registrations and shipping papers and driving licenses and health records and on and on. Oh well, that's life and we try to avoid them as much as possible. The only problem is that they are everywhere and I mean everywhere. I think I'll report on my true adventures during road check 2005 next weekend. Or maybe I'll luck out and not get caught!

Big enough? You bet!

I've decided I can handle this blog thing. I think I'm big enough to do it. First I have to get out on the road to gather some thoughts and even some pictures. I think it can be done! I, like the loader, am big enough to do it!