Blackballed!

Hi all,

Have you every heard of someone being "Blackballed"? Do you know what that term means? I didn't, but I have been using the term to describe something I have been finding in our industry during this job search. I had also been exposed to something similar earlier in my career.

According to Wikapedia, Blackballing describes a voting procedure that was common in Gentleman Clubs of the Victorian Age. It was a procedure used to vote in a new member. It only took one black ball in the ballot box to exclude the initiate. If you sponsored that initiate and they were blackballed, you would then suffer the same fate as the blackballed person. In this procedure fairness and explanations played no part, if you pissed one person off you could be blackballed.

In our industry (trucking) I have found there are two entities who are likely to "cast" you the black ball if you are trying to get a new job. The first is the Safety Dept. of your previous job and the second is (and the most likely) the Insurance Company of the job you want.

If you have been fired from your previous company for anything safety related you will be blackballed from many companies, period. The period of blackballing will last from 3 months to 5 years. And, it doesn't matter what your CSA score is or how much experience you have. With some companies just being fired for any reason is enough to get you blackballed.

I believe, though I can't prove it, I was blackballed from flatbed companies after I had gotten hurt while working for flatbed company in California. After that job, I could not get hired on with a flatbed company for a period of seven years and I am one of those fools who actually like "throwing rags". I began to get suspicious when one employer was all hot to hire me, then after the DAC was pulled, they wouldn't even answer the phone when I called. I pulled my own DAC and saw absolutely NO bad information on my "Consumer Report". After being turned down by a few more flatbed companies for no good reason, I gave up and went to work for JB Hunt for 6 months,(6 months too long).

There is another thing that can get you blackballed, take six months off of work and your blackballed from many companies.

I understand the companies have a great deal to lose if they hire the wrong guy, but when someone such as myself with 20+ years of experience, a clean MVR (Motor Vehicle Record) and a great CSA score knocks on your door at lest take the time to find out what happened and judge it in light of the aforementioned data not the data that some statistical genius in an ivory tower somewhere that's never even seen the inside of a truck has come up with.

Here is one of the things that is really wrong with this system. Dispatchers and Safety Directors know how this system works better than the average driver and will sometimes use the system to "burn" a driver they didn't like. It can be very time consuming and expensive to correct false data on your DAC, (the main tool used for blackballing) and the companies have little to fear in the form of reprisals if they get caught doing it.

Bottom line is, if you like driving truck for a living always be professional and realize it only takes one slip up to get blackballed.

Keep the rubber side down. God bless

Please comment, especially if you have ever been blackballed.

Leslie R Auger has driven truck for more than 20 years. He has written a book for the want-to-be truck driver called, "So, You Want to Be A Truck Driver", You can get it here by clicking on the title or visit his website at So, You Want To Be A Truck Driver? | Wix.com

Bluetooth Headsets

 Hi all,  

It's been  two years now since the Hand Free law for commercial drivers went into effect. In those two years, I have gone through two bluetooth headsets. Recently I have noticed more and more drivers NOT using their hands-free devices while driving. 

    Guys and gals, they haven't changed the law. It's still a crime to use your handset and it will cost you dearly if you are cited.

That being said, I will admit there have been times when I too have violated the law. Not because I wanted to, but because the d*#n headset I currently own does not live up to it's billing. 

I currently have a Plantronics Voyager (top photo). I am satisfied with it as far as performance is concerned. The noise canceling works extremely well and I have had no problem with hearing as long as I have it placed in my ear right. Where the problem lies is the amount of time on the battery and the screwy time remaining messages. It is extremely annoying when the message comes on and say's "Four Hours Remaining", then two minuets later you get the message "Charge Headset". Even if you don't make any calls, the 10 hour standby is only good for about 6 hours and the 6 hour talk time is a myth; it's more like 3 hours. One more complaint is the use of the micro USB plug on the charger; it's just too much of a distraction to try to plug it in while driving and the cord is way to short to be plugged in to the charger while in use.

With all that said, it is still far better than the Nokia I had before (middle photo). I got rid of the Nokia within a week of getting it because people I called said it sounded like I was talking down a tube and others complained it sounded like sandpaper in the background. Granted the sand paper sound was probably my beard, but why should I have to cut my beard to use my phone?

As I have not been very happy with either of the two headsets I have used, it is still better than a $1200 fine and the loss of my job, so use them I do.

The last photo is the headset I hope to buy sometime this year. It is the Roadwarrior Bluetooth by Blue Parrott. I have asked many drivers that own one and not one single driver had any complaints. It boasts having the loudest volume and 16 hours of talk time. I am not sure I like the over-the-head design but am willing to give it a try. I do like the long mic boom as mic placement is sometimes a problem with the behind the mouth mic designs. This headset is a bit more pricey than the other two, coming in around $120.00 retail and that is the primary reason I have not bought it already.

Keep the rubber side down. 

Thank-you

Got something to say, please comment.

Job Hunting

If your anything like me, you hate looking for a new job.

In today's truck driving industry it has become a bit simpler to search for work, as you don't have to travel around and log a bunch miles on your personal vehicle to put in apps. Now-a-days, you can just hop onto the internet and within a few hours have a hundred or more truck lines to check out.

With my experience, I also got about ten to fifteen phone calls from recruiters, but that might not be the norm, I don't know.

At any rate, thought I would write about one of the pitfalls I have been able to spot as I have been going through this process.

As I wrote in "So, You Want To Be A Truck Driver" our industry is filled with dishonesty and that is especially true when searching for work. Remember a recruiters job is to fill driver seats, the bigger the company the more likely they are to waste your time since you are just a number to them. If you are experienced with three or more years of driving and have a clean MVR (Motor Vehicle Record) and a 0.0 CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) score the recruiters will work harder at trying to sign you up for orientation.

One way I have tried to cut through all the nonsense has been to seek driver comments on any company that I am interested in. I have been able to find driver reviews at several web locations; Rip-off reports   Indeed.com   Glassdoor.com  just to name a few. But, there are problems with relying on these reviews, especially if you only read the first one you come to. Often the first review you see is written by an angry disgruntled ex-employee who is not above lying about the company he/she just left, so read several, if they are all saying the similar things then stay away from that company.

You also should be aware that some company recruiters will check out these driver reviews and post good reviews that appear to be coming from a driver. So read as many reports as you can and watch for similarities in both kinds of reports, good and bad, only the most experienced writers can hide their style.

Shouldn't need to be said, but, you can pretty much discount any report written by someone who doesn't know how to write, or tell the whole story. If you are not an experienced driver the whole story will be much harder to spot, but if the writer doesn't confess to some wrong doing on his or her part then they "ain't" telling all since we are all human and there is always blame enough to go around when there is a problem. Here is a good example of what I mean: Boyd Bros.Review

One more thing you might want to check out is the companys safety rating which you can get for free here. They use our safety ratings to determine if they want to hire us so let's turn the tables on them and use their safety data to determine if we want to work for them.

One last thing, you should know what you want in a job. How much home time do you want, is insurance important and how much are you willing to pay for it, and of course how much do you want to get paid as well as how many miles do you want to run weekly? These are important questions to answer before checking out any company, but don't buy their answer until you check them out or until they are willing to put it in writing.

Well, I am scheduled to start orientation with a company on Jan 6th 2014, but still have my ear to the ground.

Keep the rubber side down.

Your Fired!

Words no one wants to hear..."You're Fired!"

Well on Dec 10 2013 I got to hear those words for the first time in 10 years or so, and like then it wasn't unexpected.

Like ten years ago, my firing was due to an accident. Unlike, back then, someone did get hurt and man do I feel bad.

When you drive truck for a living accidents are something you do your best to avoid but lets face facts they do happen. All it takes is a split second of inattention, a wrong assumption, a misunderstanding, someone else's mistake, truth is when your a big boy or girl playing with big toys, at high speeds it is inevitable at some point in time you will have an accident. Mine was a misunderstanding between the loader and myself, he got hurt, he could have been killed, in which case I would have been jailed for manslaughter, so I thank my God that a few broken ribs and a broken collar bone was all that happened.

But that is not what I really want to write about today, it's the aftermath of being fired and trying to find a new job, that I want to focus on.

Our industry has become super sensitive to safety issues and being fired for an accident has some very serious consequences. Let's start with the CSA score.

Having a high personal CSA score (get yours here) will cause you some very serious problems because that is one of the first things prospective employers are going to look at. I have found out that being fired will in fact cut your prospective employers by at least one third. Many of the big carriers have told me that I would have to work for someone else from 6 months to 3 years before they would even consider me, even some of the not so big carriers have this policy. Oh, yeah, just being fired will do this, it doesn't have to be for a safety related issue.

If you have ever been fired then I don't need to tell you what it feels like. In short it feels like you have let your family down, like the word worthless is tattooed all over your body for everyone to see. It shakes your confidence in who you are and what you do right down to the foundation of your soul. So, what are you going to do, sit in the mire of self pity or get off your butt and find work.

Honesty, is going to be of great help in finding work, don't think for one second you can get away with a lie or omission with a prospective employer, remember CSA and DAC and don't forget your previous employers MUST be contacted before you can even be considered. Be courteous to the employers, it does cost them time and money to do this research so let them know up front if there are any problems and let them decide if they are willing to spend that time and money.

Finding a job is just like sales, most times it's a numbers game. Getting leads and tons of them is critically important. I have found the internet extremely valuable in this regard and it has gotten much better in just this past year for finding leads. My first application was placed on Layover.com this resulted in about 80 e-mails and 20 phone calls from prospective employers. My second app was placed on CAD and my app was sent to 28 employers and resulted in 5 phone calls with about 30 e-mails. My wife also helped by finding other employers to apply to while I was filling out online applications and taking calls.

The result of these massive numbers is that I am scheduled to begin orientation, January 6 and I still have many more people to talk to before then who may offer me a better deal. Believe me, my self esteem has recovered.

Bottom line don't let those words get you down. Just get it in gear, and plow forward.

PS. I could really use the money right now so please if you haven't checked out the book I wrote go and buy it NOW, please. Buy a dozen to pass out to those curious young people that think trucking is so cool. You can find it here http://augerles.wix.com/be-a-truck-driver.

Cooking on The Road

 Hi all,

Got another product review for ya.

Mind you I do not get paid for this I just want to share some valuable information with you to help you eat and stay healthy (and keep more of your paycheck in your pocket) while doing the work that makes this nation great.

I am of course hoping that you will decide to check out the book I wrote, "So You Want To Be A TruckDriver?" and buy it for someone you know that's thinking about joining us out here. My book is not the run of the mill book of this type and you can preview a bit of it at the link above, or on Amazon (available on Kindel also).

Okay, so back to business.

In the photo above you see the Rival, 2 quart crock pot. This is my second one, the first one disappeared between jobs, gotta be around the house but just can't find it. And that's part of what makes this little gem so awesome, that's the price, right about ten bucks at most Wall Marts. Lose it or break it and it's very affordable to replace.

Another wonderful thing about this little guy is that you can operate it on a 300 watt inverter which these days runs between 20 to 30.00 dollars at the truck stops. On high, it uses about 80 watts of power.

Within a few meals it will pay for it's self. The black bean chili that is in the photo below makes three 1 cup servings, about three meals. The ingredients for the chilli cost me right about $3.00, or about $1.00 a serving. try to beat that at the truck stop! Add a can of veggies, some tossed green salad and a piece of fruit and you have a full course meal thats very filling, low in calories and under four bucks.

There is only one draw back to this product and that is that the lid does not lock down, so if your going to cook a meal while driving better find some way to secure the lid. I don't cook in it while driving, I usually start cooking before going to bed so it's done or near done when I get up.

Chilli is one of the many things I have cooked in it. I have cooked sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, stew, chicken thighs and breast, and sausage.

I would be remiss if I didn't include my recipe for my delicious black bean chili, so here it is.

Throw into the crock pot in this order:

1 cup uncooked black beans

1 can stewed chop tomatoes

1 to 1/1/2 lbs of meat (chopped steak or roast or hamburger, I sometimes use turkey sausage

1 package of chili seasonings (I use Great Value from Wall Mart)

Onion and Jalapeno peppers in any amount you want

and about 2 cups of water.

Mix, put on high and forget it for 8 to 10 hours or until the beans are as done as you like.

That's it. Enjoy.

I also have a web site that you can check out at http://augerles.wix.com/be-a-truck-driver

Inverters

Ahhh, the smell of freshly perked coffee!! A hot dinner, YES!!! Eggs and oatmeal on a cold morning, mmmm.

Simple pleasures that the non-trucking public take for granted.

Even in theses modern times, most semi-trucks come with a bunk, a few shelves, and little else. Somehow, they forgot that the monkey behind the wheel needs fuel just as much as that cat under the hood. Then again, maybe it's a great conspiracy with the truck stops who are in such a hurry to provide us with the latest greatest health killers on the market, like Micky D's.

Real restaurants with truck parking are getting scarce.

And the cost!! 3 meals a day at an average of $12 a meal for a total of  a whopping $252.00 a week add $1.00 a cup for coffee (I drink three a day), and you have spent $273 a week or about 1/3 of the average drivers paycheck. Who can afford it?!

Well, good news! There is a solution. Get an inverter.

Most companies will install an inverter for you, if you ask nicely. If you are an O/O then you should know how to instal one yourself. Be sure it is installed correctly or you may kill you batteries or cause a fire. That being said, what size and brand should you get?

Regarding size, it all depends on what you plan to run on it. For a 900 watt microwave, you will need at least a 1500 watt inverter as it will pull right about 1100 watts or so. My coffee pot pulls 670 watts while it is perking and about 60 watts to keep the coffee hot. When I say 1500 watt rating on the inverter, I mean continuous operating watts, NOT peek watts. The peek watts can only be maintained for a short time before the inverter overloads and shuts down. Most appliances pull a larger amount of wattage during start up, which is why the peek wattage is important. My opinion is, if your start up pull is greater than your continuous wattage, the inverter is too small.

Regarding Brand, get the best you can afford. That being said, let me tell you about the one I purchased a month ago.

The one I bought is the Whistler Pro-2000W (pictured above). What I liked about it was the price at $149.00 which is about $100.00 to $50.00 less than a comparable model at the truck stops. So far it has preformed like a champ. This past Sunday I cooked a weeks worth of chicken breast and pork chops in my 900 watt microwave and didn't have a lick of trouble with it overheating although I did have to run the big motor as my APU couldn't keep the batteries sufficiently charged under that much demand.

Already the Whistler Pro-2000W has paid for it's self and provided hot meals and fresh brewed coffee. I highly recommend it.

Boredom

Hi all

Boredom can be a killer, especially in our line of work, boredom can cause us to drift our attention off the road and our rigs into the ditch.
Boredom can cause our imaginations to drift into all sorts of chaotic thoughts that can disturb our minds and truly distract us from doing our Jobs.
Then there are those long 10 hour breaks and even longer 34 hour breaks on the road that can really get boring if you don't find some kind of entertainment.
One of the things I have done for the past few years is teach myself to play the harmonica to fill in those long miles and boring breaks, it keeps the mind and hands from becoming idle and the mind from being dull.
Harmonicas are wonderful, they are still somewhat inexpensive, can be played with one hand and take no special skill to learn. Also, they take very little of that precious space in the sleeper.
Here are a couple of the tunes I have learned to play:
Play Music - Share Audio - Put your hand in the hand
Listen Music - Upload Audio - 09 13 How Great Tho Art
Embed Music - Embed Audio Files - Angels we have heard on High

As I am sure you can hear you don't have to be perfect, after all it is mostly for your own entertainment but who knows you may be the next Buddy Green.
I have seen Harmonicas for purchase at a few of the bigger TA's and of course most Wall Marts have a good cheap one with instructions. Give it a try I need a few guys to jam with so I can get better.

Les

Tailgating Disaster

Hi all.

Took this photo on I-40 near the North Carolina and Tennessee border  a few days ago. It's a bit blurry thanks to the lousy camera that's in my phone but what your looking at is three Fed X trucks the two in the rear are tailgating, each being less than 1 second away from each other. The speed was 65 mph.

Now why am I putting this on a blog about truckers health? The answer is because it's hard to be healthy when your dead. Also, any discussion about health that does not include mental health seriously lacks full content.

Those of us that don't eat well while we are on the road and gain lot's of weight are just like these Fed X drivers who are asking for trouble. That said there is the mental health issues as well. Loneliness, boredom, fatigue, anger at other drivers, customers or dispatch all add to our overall health picture.

In my case I had to learn new ways of dealing with these emotional issues while and after loosing the weight. The food was a drug of sorts to help me deal with all the above mentioned mental issues. What has worked for me has been developing a relationship with the God of the Bible. It's amazing how much better I feel after I say a quick prayer for numbskulls like the ones in this photo, shure I still think they are lunatics driving this way but I don't have to be mad or afraid over others foolish behavior and I don't have to eat to numb out those feelings.

Most drivers I have talked to are believers though you churchy folks wouldn't think so cause we are still a bit coarse in our language and the nature of the job keeps us from attending church regular, but most of us have a spirituality that comes from personal experiences. I will relate some of mine some time here on this blog.

Tailgating, like the guys in this photo is dumb, it is asking for real trouble and yes you may get away with it for years but someday you wont. The same is true with our health, keep doing the unhealthy thoughts and behaviors and you may get away with it for years but then there will come that day when the guy ahead slams on his brakes,and guess what, game over.

Stuck in Shelbyville, IN this afternoon, thanks to a slow, like frozen molasses slow, shipper  in Alabama. Why bother with appointment times if they aren't going to keep them. Of course, I still could have made it here in time to off load if it wasn't for those stupid HOS rules. Missed the delivery time by 1 hour, ugh.
Oh, well at least it gives me time to write this post. What's the old saying, "you gotta make lemonade when handed lemons"?

Thought I would update you on my health progress since this blog is supposed to be about truckers health.

Last July the Doc told me to quit losing weight so I added a few calories to my food plan and well, I guess, I added a few too many and quickly went back up to 210 lbs. My wife is happier as she said I looked sick at 180. The insurance charts say I should be at 160 for my height and build, but as we all know insurance companies don't live in the real world. I could use a few more pounds off as my blood sugar averages have climbed up into the one-teens, but that is still considered normal so I am not too worried about it.

Since it's been a long time (a little over a year) since I last published my food plan here is a link to it
http://truckershealth.blogspot.com/2012/04/numbers-are-in.html

A diagnosis of diabetes does not have to be as scary for us (truck drivers) as it once was. If you discipline yourself to eating healthfully. Leave the truck stop garbage in the truck stop, park a bit farther away so you have to walk some and deal with the emotional issues in a healthy way, then you can get control of this disease.

New Job 03-04-02013

I've been on a new job for about a week now and really appreciate my weight loss even more than before since I have gone back to “flat-bedding”.

Up till now I hadn't written anything about the CSA rules cause I don't like reporting on rumors and speculation when I can avoid it, but my new Safety Director put a lot of emphasis on it in orientation. I have a clean CSA score so I have not been to concerned with it since I am a professional and conduct myself accordingly.

For those who don't know, the CSA is a scoring system based on safety issues such as inspections, log books, traffic citations and accidents. It will eventually be the basis’s for issuance ratings on the company and the employ ability of the driver. So, right now it isn't a big issue for the driver but it will be soon enough.

The bottom line here is; be a professional and it wont make a difference to you.

Most of my new companys violations is Log book not being current, there is no reason for this, if you can drive you can draw a line, so do it.

The second most common violation received by this company is light violations, let's face it guys sometimes lights do burn out while driving but in most cases if the pre trip is done then light violations wont happen as much..

If you are struggling with weight issues or diabetes issues then check out the food plan that I used to reverse my diabetes and loose 169 lbs. It is easy, it is free and I hardly ever get hungry, so give it a shot you got nothing to loose but the weight and every thing to gain in health.