What do you do with your "Down Time?"

Review for free here

Hi all, I don't know what you do on your breaks or those long waits at shippers and receivers, but for the past 8 or 9 years I have filled that time with researching and writing  books.

My first book was "So, You Want to be a Truck Driver". This book approaches the subject from a very different perspective than most other of books with similar titles. It is geared to the wanna-be driver and gives a 12 question quiz to see if you got what it takes to be a great driver. Christmas is coming soon and if you know someone considering doing what we do, spend the $9.95 to get this book for them, it very well could be the best Christmas present ever for that person and could save them from making a huge mistake.

My second and third books came after I came back to my faith in my God who has helped me to get my Diabetes under control and allowed me to go back to work after having been put on Insulin. Those two books can be downloaded for free from my website or you can purchase them through the website at a discount. These two books are about how a Christians should use the Ten Commandments to improve their walk with God.

Then came the book,"Yahweh, the God Who Speaks and How to Hear Him", the title tells the subject. But, to peak your interest a bit, I go through the Bible and show how God has spoke to all of His people in the distant past and then give the basics one needs to know to open those 'inner ears' that you might be able to hear the Masters voice and know for sure it is Him.  I published this book last year but found quit a few mistakes so I revised it and republished today. You can get a free copy for review at the link below the picture of the cover, or you can get it on Amazon, Kindle or from my website. (the revision will not be available on Kindle for a day or two and on Amazon until next week).

And of course my most recent book is the one I published this year titled " The Lazy Man's Guide to Managing Type Two Diabetes". This book is also very different from books about this subject as I have disclosed from a personal perspective what I have learned and what I have done to control my own disease. I was diagnosed in 2010 during a routine CMV physical, I did manage with pills ok until 2006 when things began to get out of control. Then in 2009, the doctors decided insulin was my only option, needless to say I had to leave the profession. I lost almost a years work (10 months) before I received my waiver from the FMCSA, during that year I learned a, new to me, way of managing my disease which is easy, doesn't require exercise and any truck driver (really anyone) can do it, if he wants to.

So, if you are on pills right now or know someone who is, spend the few bucks to learn this easy method to stay off drugs and keep on trucking. This disease is progressive and the longer you wait the longer it takes to get it under control and the grater risk for permanent damage to your body. You can get it here The Lazy Man's guide to Managing Type Two Diabetes or you can get it on Amazon.

If you decide to start writing books during your down time like I have, you don't have to go through the rejection process of the traditional publishers to get your words into print, you can use the print on demand houses like I have. There are several, but I recommend Createspace.com, you can order one or a thousand, or more at wholesale prices. They have editing and cover design available for a price, but publishing and getting into distribution channels (like Amazon) is free. They also have marketing packages available if you don't wish to do your own marketing.

Well enough for now. Please buy one of my books, (you can find the all here) and keep the rubber side down.

Thank-you

NO TIME!!!

"I Don't have the time to eat healthy",I can't tell you how many times I have used and heard this truly lame excuse for not eating healthy while on the road! That excuse is especially lame now, since we must take the mandatory 30 minute break we are all complaining about.

Let's get honest guys, the fact is you do have time you just don't want to do it.

Look at the meal in the picture at the right. I guarantee it took less time to fix than standing in line at Mcdonalds. I can guarantee it because I made it. Half a 12 oz. bag of salad mix a few slices of onion and tomato, as well as a few slices of cucumber from our garden, a can of tuna and a can of green beans, all under 8 minuets, heck, took me longer to eat it than to make it. So don't give me that lame old excuse,"I don't have time to fix healthy meals while on the road". I have two words for you B.S..

Let's consider the long term situation.

Keep eating at Micky D's or getting those footlongs at Subway and the oversized sodapops and the bags of chips, cookies etc. at the truck stops and I guarantee you your body will rebel. Diabetes, sleep apnea, heart and vascular diseases are all from poor nutrition and a lack of exercise. Lets face it, our way of life is a formula for physical disaster. We aren't just sedentary we are Super Sedentary. Of course there are exceptions and if your one of them please pass this article on to a fellow trucker.

For years I said I didn't have time to eat right while working, I was lying. First came sleep apnea, the mandatory yearly sleep studies are expensive and require an overnight stay at a sleep lab. There is the nap study which takes just an afternoon but what a pain.

Then came diabetes. I then had to learn something about nutrition and controlled it for a few years with diet but the day came when the good old excuse was once again employed and I soon lost control again and couldn't get motivated to regain control, that in time lead to being put on insulin.

Truckers if you are put on insulin work is done until you get a waiver from the FMCSA.It took me 10 months to get that waiver, thats a whole bunch of time. The waiver procedure requires that you have an endocrinologist and optometrist and see them every three months, not cheap without insurance or an income. And, unemployment in most states will not cover you during this time. Disability, forget it if you can work doing something else like cashier at Micky D's or greeter at Wall Mart.

So for every dollar you spend at one of the fast food restaurants or the junk food isles at the truck stops you better save two dollars for you future medical needs or you can take the time to eat right now and avoid the future health problems of wasted time and loss of income.

Your choice, spend a few minuets now making a healthy choice or spend months or years paying for it.

Keep the rubber side down.

Les

Who Represents Us???

I made a disturbing discovery this morning.

Correct me if I am wrong, but, it seems that the three million Commercial Drivers or so here in the good ol' USA are being regulated without due representation.

There seems to be only a few players that have been showing up at the public hearings and that are being heard by the FMCSA and non of them have the company drivers intrest at heart.

Those players are the OOIDA, (Owner/Operator Independent Driver Association) and the ATA, (American Trucking Association).

The OOIDA has a membership of approximately 150,000 or about 15% of all drivers and most of those are small company owners. The ATA has 37000 members who are all corporate size truck company owners. I didn't check any of the roll calls on the various regulatory hearings held by the FMCSA but did do a search for truck driver associations and didn't really find any that appeared to represent the company driver. Of course there is the Teamster who have branched out into other industrial divisions and boasts 1.5 million members but who really believes they are interested in the company driver.

You could say that the OOIDA members interest are similar to ours and in many respects you would be right but, it's still all about profit for their members. Of course the ATA is worse. They don't care about us company drivers trying to make a living, I do believe they are the ones promoting the lie that there is a driver shortage, there is actually far more drivers than the market can support which is part of the reason wages have fallen so far behind inflation.

Non of these organizations as far as I know have ever considered trying to get us reclassified by the government into our own labor class, consequently we are still treated as day labors as far as the labor law is concerned.

Meanwhile our wages have not kept up with inflation and now we are being saddled with Government regulations that makes it even harder for us to meet the demands of our jobs and the needs of our families.

I got no answers.

Wish I could retire.

Please visit my site and consider buying my book by clicking HERE