Phil Madsen's Blog

Learning Something New Every Day

Truck drivers Phil and Diane Madsen live, work and play on the road; transporting expedited and critical-shipment freight in their custom-built truck. Phil's blog is a blend of travelogue, brain dump and commentary on road-inspired topics.

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Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Sunday, February 1, 2009. I learned today that new heavy-duty truck sales in 2008 were less than 2001, the year of the previous industry downturn. Learned by reading a report in The Trucker.

In 2008, 133,473 new heavy-duty trucks were sold, compared to 139,576 in 2001, which was the year of the previous sales downturn. The article says manufacturers are expecting 2009 sales to range from 75,000 to 100,000 trucks.

While the particulars are different, the theme is the same. A severe economic recession is challenging businesses, non-profit organizations and people in ways not seen in many years.

I am getting tired of the theme. I keep looking for indicators that the economy is near the bottom of its expansion/contraction business cycle, but see none. Housing prices continue to fall. Unemployment continues to rise.

It is absolutely true what they say. Without trucks, America stops. In fact, if all trucks stopped at the same time, the country would grind to a near-instant halt as things like fuel, food, diapers for babies and oxygen for hospital patients would be no longer available.

So, when we see 2008 truck sales figures dropping below 2001 levels, and 2009 sales projected to be lower still, that indicator, like many others, shows no economic turnaround in sight.

That leaves Diane and me looking at the worst January gross revenue figures we have had in six Januarys in this business. Still, we managed to show a small profit and put some money in the bank.

We woke up this morning in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Texas. We are in service and waiting for a load offer. Today is Sunday. We don't expect an offer until Monday at the earliest. Even in good times, Dallas is not known for dispatching freight on the weekend.

We plan to do some business paperwork today. There is an 18 screen Cinema nearby and an A&W. A movie and root beer float may be in our future. In the spirit of the recession, the movie will be a matinee and the root beer floats will be medium, not large. Steakhouse meals are out for now, as are tourist attractions that might cost a couple hundred dollars or more to enjoy. We made money in January but money-losing months may lie ahead.

Afternoon movies, medium root beer floats and periods of inactivity between loads are nothing compared to the true recession hardship stories we read. This thing is setting a lot of good people back on their heels. Jobs are being lost, businesses are failing, people are giving up things like medical and dental care as they try to hold on to their house.

We are grateful to have a job and mindful of the real pain others are feeling as the recession progresses. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Monday, February 2, 2009. I learned today an example of how one's pride can be misplaced and work against one's own best interests. At least I think that's the case.

We are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area waiting for a load offer. Diane goes into a Wal-Mart store to buy a morning paper and a few grocery items. At the checkout counter was a woman trying to buy some oranges. She was taking some of the oranges out of her bag to reduce the price so what little money she had would cover the purchase.

We see that happen every now and then and our response is always the same. We will slip the person or cashier a few dollars to make up the difference so the money-short customer can walk out of the store with the goods he or she came to buy.

In this case, the difference was $0.75 but the woman firmly refused the dollar Diane tried to give. She then left all the oranges on the counter and said she was going to customer service to check on her credit card limit. Diane's sense is that she waited for Diane to leave so she could return to the cashier to buy what oranges she could afford. The cashier told Diane, "There is no reasoning with those people."

Seventy-five cents, a public event, pride, shame, a rejected desire to help, hunger, health, judgment and more; events like this give rise to a flood of emotions and assumptions in everyone involved. We love to fill in what we do not know.

Do you have an image of this woman in mind? If you do, it goes to show how automatic it is to fill in what we do not know. She was skinny, well-dressed, white and mid-30's in age.

Why would she decline the dollar that would allow her to have her oranges? What did the cashier mean by "those people?" Why was the woman short of money? Why does it make us sad when our offer to help is rejected? Why does it make us sad to see someone struggling to buy oranges? What if she was trying to buy candy? Would we have helped? Maybe the woman was not poor at all but was actually fully employed as a secret shopper who was testing the cashier.

There are a thousand ways to view the event and people involved. And I guess that is what I am really writing about today; the many ways one can interpret the things we see and experience, and how easy it is to be wrong, even if we mean well.

It may not have been misplaced pride or shame that motivated the woman to decline Diane's dollar. Who knows what her reasons may have been? We don't. The woman herself may not even know why she instinctively declined the dollar. She might be kicking herself for doing so, or feeling very good about herself. We simply don't know.

All we know for sure is she lacked the money to buy oranges and declined the dollar that would have made it possible to complete the purchase. We resumed our day hoping that whatever she was trying to accomplish by declining the dollar was accomplished. We also took a minute to talk through the rejected offer of help. It is not our place to label or judge the woman in a negative way because she had little money and declined the dollar. Nor are we entitled to feel bad or put off because our good deed was rebuffed.

Still, I can't help but wonder if the woman is going hungry because pride gets in the way. It is not uncommon for people to fight to the death or destroy relationships because of pride. Will people starve themselves to death or forgo healthy eating for the same reason?

Business has slowed and we are spending more time waiting for freight than we did before the recession hit. While our revenue has slowed too, we sit in a comfortable truck with well-stocked cupboards.

Thank you, Jesus!

We see a woman struggling to buy oranges and say, "There but for the grace of God go I." And then we wonder why the grace of God seems to be so randomly applied.

Why can't the woman have her oranges? Why can't we have more freight? Why do we have good health and food in the cupboards when so many others do not? Why this? Why that? Why the other?

Sometimes I wonder if I wonder too much.

12:37 p.m. We just accepted a load offer that we turned down earlier this morning. There was nothing wrong with the load, but the pay was insufficient, but not by much. Such offers raise questions.

On very low paying loads, the choice is easy. We turn them down. On loads that pay just a little under our set rate, do we take the load and run for little money (in this case $.12 per mile below our set rate), or do we sit and maybe not run at all?

We chose to decline the load and sit. Our carrier is reluctant to pay trucks extra money out of its profits for the loads they book. Doing so means less money for the company. Yet a dispatcher will often plead with a driver to take a low paying or money losing load because "the customer must be served."

Well, if it is OK for our carrier to protect its reasonable (not exploitive) profit margin, it is OK for us to do the same, so we declined the load. We next informed dispatch that we would be willing to cover the load (haul the freight) for a price we specified. The price includes our costs plus a profit. It took a couple hours for dispatch to reply but they surprised us by meeting our price.

The load picks up tomorrow morning, 500 miles away, near New Orleans, Louisiana; so we had to leave today to make the pickup. I was able to put in a full day of practice day trading. We were on our way to the pickup soon after the U.S. stock markets closed. Diane drove. I studied.

Winter weather lies ahead. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Tuesday, February 3, 2009. I learned today that the city of New Orleans has made significant progress in its Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Learned by seeing the city as we drove through.

It has been a while since we have been to New Orleans. It was nice to see the restoration of many of the buildings that were in shambles when we saw them last. Though, I question the wisdom of rebuilding in a known and proven flood area, and it troubles me that tax dollars are being used to help it happen

We saw New Orleans a few days after Katrina hit, again a couple years later, and again today. Recovery work is still being done. With the city's reputation for corruption and the lack of first-responder services, we are happy to stay away. Going in and out for a quick freight pick up or delivery is OK, but we won't go anywhere near the place for other reasons.

We spent last night in Baton Rouge because we do not trust New Orleans and do not feel safe there. We rose early enough to make the New Orleans pickup and then headed straight out of town. Yes, the city looks better today than anytime since Katrina, but until we know that an honorable police officer will quickly respond to our call for help if we have an accident, and that an ambulance will also quickly respond if we need one, New Orleans is a city to avoid.

With New Orleans in our rear view mirror, we settled into a pleasant drive. The sun is shining, the wind is mild and the temperature is comfortable. We are soaking it up as cold weather is forecast where we will deliver tomorrow afternoon. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Wednesday, February 4, 2009. I learned today about the Plastic Logic Reader. Learned by seeing it featured on CNN and then reading more about it online.

I believe this reader, or something like it, may be the breakthrough e-reader the world has been waiting for. The photo on the bottom of the Plastic Logic web page says it all. Click the link on that page to see the product shown on YouTube. Many details remain to be announced but this looks like a winner to me. I think the Amazon Kindle may be history the day the Plastic Logic Reader hits the stands. See also: this review and video.

I saw the CNN piece while standing in the waiting room while our truck was being greased. We delivered a load in Pennsylvania about noon today. From there we went to a truck stop to have the truck greased and wait for freight. We both took naps during the day. Diane did laundry. I got a haircut. Exciting day, eh? Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Thursday, February 5, 2009. I learned today that NASA, MIT, the National Academy of Sciences and Joe the Plumber have yet to solve the problem of hair-trigger, automatic-flush toilets. Learned by using one of the newest and most-modern toilets on America's interstate highway system.

We stopped today at a newly remodeled service plaza on PA I-474. Functionally, the service plaza is some of what it needs to be. Architecturally, it was a disappointment.

Not that I expect architectural wonders from tollway service plazas, but the building could have been better. It is not a restful place. Hard surfaces and one big room makes it very loud. The floor plan is set up more for food and gift shop sales than visitor comfort. For a facility that should provide travelers comfort and a place to rest, it falls short.

There is no picnic area. In the building bright lights, loud noises and wooden chairs create a cold and uninviting atmosphere. There are no soft seats. There are no quiet areas to sit and relax. The open food court is not sectioned off into smaller seating areas. Everyone sitting there can ogle everyone else. Every crying baby and ringing cell phone will be heard by everyone in the room.

This is not a service plaza that serves travelers and gives them a place to rest. It is a service plaza is designed help vendors extract money from toll road users that happen to stop because they need coffee, food or to use the bathroom.

Many states have service plazas where vendors sell food, drinks and gifts. Every one I can think of is more pleasant and comfortable than this one. Words that describe it include sterile, cold, hard, loud, unimaginative and warehouse.

It would be an OK place for a trucker to spend the night. Truck parking is available. The lot is well paved and lit. Rest rooms are available 24 hours a day. Coffee and food is available. Just don't expect to relax inside. The floor plan makes it very clear. When you are at this service plaza, your task is to spend your money and get out.

We accepted a load offer this morning. The pickup is tomorrow morning and the delivery is tomorrow afternoon. The pay is good but it delivers Friday afternoon. That pretty-much shoots the chance for a weekend run.

We turned down a load that picked up in Massachusetts and went to California. We would have taken the load in an instant, except for the pay. The price was $0.20 per mile too low. Our counter-offer that named our price was rejected. Someone else was willing to do the run for less.

That's just fine with us. It is more important to protect our profit margin than run freight at a loss, breakeven or low-profit rates. If another team wants to work hard for two or three days and make little money, they are welcome to do so. We are not desperate for cash. We are at peace when sitting. We do not need to run for the sake of running.

People who commit their truck to two or three days of work for few profits, breakeven money or even a loss, run something more than freight. They run money out of their bank account and thereby weaken themselves as competitors. In the long run, that gives us a competitive advantage.

They do the work. We get the advantage. Free-market capitalism is a harsh and unforgiving environment. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Friday, February 6, 2008. I learned today a bit about the land development history in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia. Learned from the truck wash manager who told me about it.

After delivering today's load nearby, we went to Fredericksburg for a truck wash. While waiting in line, a cop pulled up behind the truck behind us and ran it off. The line extended out the driveway onto the street. The cop did not want the truck on the street. I mentioned it to the manager when it was my turn to pay and he gave a sigh and knowing nod.

He explained that the truck stop that used to be there was torn down and a brand new retail area was built in its place. The developer has the city in his pocket and wants the truck wash and the trucks it attracts to disappear. The truck wash has been descended upon by every regulator and inspector you can name. The cops run business off when they can.

This on the very ground that armies marched as they fought to establish America. Hearing the manager's story would leave one skeptical and tempted to write it off as just so much complaining. But seeing the cop run the truck off for no good reason and seeing the manager point out changes made to the building because of the regulators made his story credible. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I said yesterday that the load that delivered this afternoon pretty-much shoots the chance for a weekend run. That turned out to be only partially true. After the afternoon delivery near Washington, DC, we were dispatched to pick up a load in Virginia, near Dulles Airport, and run it to Connecticut for a Saturday morning delivery.

When we are driving up and down I-95, through cities like New York, Philadelphia and Washington, I often think about our nation's founding fathers and the peacetime trips they took between these cities. I wonder what they thought about the country as they rode through a quiet countryside. I wonder what they would think if they saw the congested, loud, dirty, chaotic, industrialized, toll-booth infested and stressful mess that I-95 is today.

We live in a great nation because of the nation these early travelers and leaders founded. There was no way then to foresee the population boom and effects the automobile and other technology would have on the way people live. That the documents they penned remain viable today is a miracle in itself.

Development for development's sake was probably seen as a good thing back in their day. In our day, I am not so sure it is. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Saturday & Sunday, February 7-8, 2009. I learned today ... nothing new.

First, a shout-out to a blog reader who lives in Connecticut and winters in Florida. Last year, at an RV park in Florida, you invited us to join you and your wife for dinner. We declined because we were getting ready to roll on a load. Since then, it has bothered me, and it still does, that I did not get your name or properly thank you for the invite.

We have been to Connecticut several times since that brief meeting and I have thought of you each time. I apologize for being so rushed that I could not have even thanked you by name. We would have enjoyed a visit.

If you continue to read my blog and happen to see this, please shoot me an e-mail. The brief chat we had sticks in my mind and maybe we can meet again.

We delivered a load Saturday morning in Danbury, Connecticut and went to the rest area there to sleep and wait for a load offer. Two offers were received and declined. The pay was insufficient.

Except for a trip to the local Barnes and Nobel bookstore, we spend the weekend at the rest area, and did not do much of anything. Mindless pastimes filled our waking hours (movies on the computer, pleasure reading, web surfing). We did some business paperwork but did not otherwise do anything productive. After our Saturday nap, we were physically ready to go. I guess we were ready for a mental break.

Couch potatoes. That's what we were this weekend, couch potatoes. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Monday, February 9, 2008. I learned today that the fine for driving our truck over the I-95 bridge in Providence, Rhode Island, is $3,000. Learned by seeing the sign when we avoided the bridge.

Three-thousand dollars! That is a hefty fine. Today's load was a same-day run that picked up in New Jersey and delivered in Providence. Do you remember all the talk in the news about "structurally deficient" bridges after the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis? Those bridges have not gone away. One of them is in Providence and heavy trucks have been banned from the bridge. We knew that from trucking literature. I did not know about the steep fine. The cops were there watching. This is not a bridge you want to cross with a heavy truck.

Now for some trucker slang. A rest area is a pickle park. A scale is a chicken coop. A DOT truck inspector is a creeper cop (uses a creeper to go under the truck to inspect it). Wally World is a Wal-Mart store.

We woke up this morning in the Danbury, Connecticut, pickle park which also hosts a chicken coop. The coop was open and we were parked close to and in full view of the creeper cops. After eating breakfast and before going to Wally World for truck supplies and groceries, I made a big show of doing a thorough pre-trip inspection, just in case they were watching. We do pre-trips anyway. This one was more visible, as in making sure my tire gauge could be clearly seen by anyone looking as I made my way around the truck. They left me alone.

At Wally-World, I stayed with the truck while Diane went in. A load offer came that required an immediate pickup. I called her on the walkie-talkies we use just for things like this. "We have an offer, ASAP pickup. Leave your cart behind and return to the truck." She had just cleared checkout and instead returned to the truck with purchased items. A minute later we were on our way.

The run would take us through New York City to get to the New Jersey pickup, and back through the city to get to the Providence delivery. Both times we would cross the George Washington Bridge.

The pilot who water landed the passenger jet in the Hudson River was again in the news today. When crossing the river I glanced upstream and down to see if he had done it again. Having received so much positive reinforcement for doing it once, I wondered if he might do it again. No planes were seen on the Hudson today.

The New Jersey pickup was something else. The freight was routine and ready when we arrived. Getting to the dock was not routine. I sent this message to dispatch:

"Chaos at these docks. Shipper has instructed us to take next open dock. Numerous trucks jockeying to do so, some pinning others in. More coming in. Unsafe to get close. One driver has been leaning on his horn non-stop for 10 minutes as he is trapped by other trucks. Tempers are flaring. I am not going to get into a fist fight or use our truck as a battering ram to get into a dock. Safely parked away from the fray now."

Reply: "I wouldn't either. Will advise consignee of delay."

The trucks cleared out in about an hour and we safely docked and picked up the freight. At issue now was getting back through New York City. The rush hour was at hand. We might be delayed a couple more hours.

We were surprised at the light traffic coming through the city the first time and shocked on the return trip. We could not believe it. We made it the whole way through the city at the speed limit. Traffic was unbelievably light.

Even so, doing short runs up and down the East Coast is not easy work. Traffic was light by East Coast standards but heavy by most other measures. It is more than traffic levels. The area is over-populated. The roads are obsolete. Way too much is packed in. Interchanges, tool booths, construction zones, narrow lanes and irate drivers are all too frequent. People cut in front of trucks like that is what they are supposed to do. It seems like every other driver is on the phone, texting or reading while trying to drive.

Guard rails and jersey barriers often leave just inches between them and the right side of your lane. Bottomless potholes cannot be avoided because there are often no shoulders and the lane to your left is filled. If you are running at the speed limit, those holes shake the truck and everything in it, including you.

Hundreds of thousands of trucks drive up and down the East Coast every day, so it is not like it is something that cannot be done. But at the end of the day, you know you have earned your pay. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Tuesday, February 10, 2009. I learned today how to speak a few new words in Spanish. Learned by listening to a Coffee Break Spanish lesson on our iPod as I drove.

When we went to bed this evening, I said to Diane that today was similar to the days we we had when we lived in the suburbs and worked white-collar jobs. We got up early, took showers, ate breakfast, drove to work, returned home, cooked and ate super, watched TV, and went to bed.

It was similar in that we got up in the morning, did our work and went to bed at night. It was different in that we did not do any of the above in the same place we did yesterday; or the day, week or month before.

Yesterday, as we hauled freight from New Jersey to Rhode Island, we accepted a load offer that picked up at noon today at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. After making last night's delivery in Providence, we headed back toward New York.

We woke up early this morning at a Connecticut service plaza on I-95 and drove a few miles to a truck stop, where we fueled the truck and took showers. Continuing toward New York, we stopped at the next service plaza to grab a McDonald's breakfast to go.

We next made our way through New York City, first to a paperwork stop and then to Cargo Area B at Kennedy Airport. There is a massive freight industry built up around Kennedy Airport.

Paperwork stops are sometimes needed when the freight comes in from overseas. We go to an office near the airport to get the paperwork that is needed for the freight facility to clear and release the freight. Some of those offices are tucked away on narrow streets that offer no truck parking in nasty parts of town. This was not one of those. The paperwork stop was easy. Our next stop was Cargo Area B.

I always breathe a sigh of relief when we get into the airport cargo areas. Unlike most places in New York City, there is room to turn and park a truck. The streets are well lit at night. Trucks are permitted on most streets. Signage is excellent, making it easy to find your cargo area, building number and airline freight office. It is not a place to linger if you have no load and are waiting for freight. But, compared to many other New York City locations, it is a good place to be.

Once we bumped the dock, we waited an hour for the shipper to clear and release the freight. By 2:00 p.m. we were on our way, glad to be leaving that early so as to beat the rush hour. The load was going to Upstate New York, which would take us across the George Washington Bridge, through New Jersey on I-80, across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania and then north to Upstate New York.

Like yesterday, we were surprised by how light the traffic was as we made our way through the city. A trucker friend told us yesterday that he made it through Washington, D.C. without stepping on the brakes. That is also unusual. The economy has slowed on many fronts. Has it slowed so much that big-city rush hour traffic is lightening up? If so, the economy has really slowed. It is a theory but not one that seems likely.

We know from tollway usage reports that are publicly made that toll revenue is down because driving is down. Could driving be down enough to lighten East Coast business day traffic? It does not seem possible.

So, with showers, breakfast and our drive to work behind us, our work day would end when we delivered the freight early in the evening. With that done, we went "home," which today was a Wal-Mart parking lot near the delivery.

Once home, we changed clothes, freshened up, cooked supper and settled in to watch TV. We have no TV in the truck but programming is increasingly available online so we use the laptop.

Watching TV is a mindless and mostly unproductive activity. But after a day of East Coast driving, mindless activity is relaxing and just what we need. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Wednesday, February 11, 2008. I learned today what it is like to deal with Canadian customs officers when they decide to screen in depth. Learned by doing it.

We went to Canada today to position ourselves for an early pickup tomorrow morning in Ottawa. The border crossing was a surprise experience; totally different than anything we have experienced before.

Every other time we have crossed into Canada to pick up freight —meaning we are entering with no freight on board—the crossing was a piece of cake. We would pull up to a booth and present our passports. The officer would ask a couple of questions about where we are from, how long we intend to stay in Canada, the purpose of our visit and the last time we were there. We would answer and the officer would wave us through.

This time we were not questioned. We were interrogated, not once but three times. One of the officers was asking rapid-fire questions, some of them trick, designed to get us to talk about things that would give them reason to believe we were up to no good.

The first interrogation happened at the booth every truck approaches when crossing. We were not waved through at the booth. The officer sent us to X-ray. The second interrogation happened there, before we exited the truck. The third was conducted by yet another officer who questioned us. He stood with us in the rain while the truck was being X-rayed. All of this took about 30 minutes, after which we were cleared and sent on our way.

Since 9-11, crossing from Canada back into the U.S. has become more and more problematic. I don't know if today's Canadian entry experience was a one-time thing or a sign of things to come. It would suck if crossing into Canada from the U.S. became as problematic as crossing into the U.S. from Canada.

After clearing the border, we drove through heavy fog to a retail area near the shipper, where we spent the night. We were glad to have left as early in the day as we did. Most of the driving was in daylight. That fog after dark would have been a pain. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Thursday, February 12, 2009. I learned today about Toonies (a/k/a Twonies). Learned from a Canadian who told me about them.

I knew about Loonies, the one-dollar coin in Canada. I also knew about the Canadian two-dollar coin. But until today, I did not know they were called "Toonies" or "Twonies." The spelling varies by the source you reference.

We picked up freight in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada early this morning. I got to talking about U.S. and Canadian coins with one of the people involved in the shipment. The shipment had nothing to do with money. The conversation was prompted by my pocket change. (We do not haul money. Armored trucks do.)

The pickup went well. The border crossing back into the U.S. was not one of our best or worst. We were delayed 90 minutes because of a paperwork mix-up. As things turned out, there was no mix-up at all. The customs officer misread or misunderstood the shipping documents we gave him.

Once cleared, we were on our way to Philadelphia, where we made the delivery on time. On the way down, the weather reports had us a little concerned. High winds were forecast for most of the route and gusts of 60 mph were reported in Philadelphia.

Sixty mph winds are enough to put a truck on its side. We dialed in the Philadelphia traffic reports to learn more and, sure enough, there were reports of trucks on their side. The winds weakened by the time we reached Philadelphia. We got in and out with no worries. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Friday, February 13, 2009. I learned today the state of the expediting industry as told by ten expediters representing three carriers (expedite companies). Learned by listening to them.

Diane and I woke up this morning in the bobtail lot at Petro truck stop in Bordentown, New Jersey. We went there after yesterday's delivery in Philadelphia to go out of service to get a good night's sleep.

Walking inside from the truck in the morning, someone behind me called out my name. I turned to see a man in a car. I recognized him. As my mind rapidly scrolled through the list to come up with his name, that I knew I knew, he made it easy. "It's Charlie," he said. He invited me in for coffee and we had a brief visit.

Charlie is a truck enthusiast who I met via Hank's Truck Pictures Forum. Since we spoke last, he has retired and is now starting a car transport business, driving cars one at a time for people who want their cars moved when they move. "Snowbirds a Specialty" Charlie's business card says.

It is common to see numerous expediters in this parking lot. In the afternoon, I went truck-to-truck and invited them to dine together at a certain time. Of 11 asked, ten came in. Diane and I brought the number to 12.

It was interesting and informative to listen to these folks. One had changed carriers because the carrier was no longer paying money owed. Others spoke of this week being the slowest week in this area—normally a very busy freight area—they had ever experienced. One said he did very well in January. Overall, the consensus is that things had slowed down.

I knew this before. It's just nice to know that when things are slow for you, you are not the only one. If everyone else was running and we were slow, the down time would be harder to deal with.

Before dinner, we received and accepted a load offer that pays well and takes us toward home. Diane has a dental appointment next week. We will be driving the truck home for this appointment instead of flying her home as we usually do.

This time, the cost of flying and driving is about the same. By driving we can visit with someone we want to see and get the truck serviced at a shop we like. Neither are in Minnesota but both are on the way home from where we will deliver our load Monday night. The load picks up Monday morning, 30 minutes from the Petro.

Saturday, February 14, 2009. I learned today that it might make sense to install a fuel-powered bunk heater in our truck. Learned by talking to a fleet owner and seeing the device in one of his trucks that happened to be parked near ours.

While changing the oil on our generator this morning, in the Petro parking lot in Bordentown, New Jersey, some of the drivers we dined with yesterday were passing by and stopped to chat briefly. As I worked and they visited, another husband/wife driving team appeared. The husband said, "You must be ATeam."

ATeam is the screen name I use on the ExpediersOnline.com Open Forum. He was "dabluzman1." We are familiar with each other from the forum.

This is the first time we met Dave and Linda in person. Diane and I know the fleet owner that provides the truck they drive. Meeting them prompted me to call him since we have not talked in a while. He told me about the bunk heater. Dave and Linda opened their truck and let me have a look at it.

This is a very interesting concept and new to me. We use the generator and roof unit to heat our sleeper when the truck is parked on cold days. The generator produces electricity that powers the roof unit. The generator uses a fraction of the fuel the truck engine would use. Using the generator conserves fuel and enables you to stay warm in the increasing number of states where idling a truck engine for more than a few minutes is illegal.

The fuel-powered bunk heater burns a fraction of the fuel the generator does. Using it would enable us to stay warm in the sleeper without running the generator. The bunk heater uses some electrical power that the truck batteries supply. The generator would kick in every so often to recharge the batteries. But with a bunk heater, it would not have to run all the time to keep the sleeper warm.

In other words, a fuel-powered bunk heater would extend the generator's useful life. That is no small thing, given that a generator costs about $9,000. We have over 5,000 hours on the generator now. Ten-thousand hours is a reasonable useful-life expectation for the unit we have. A bunk heater is not cheap. Diane and I are thinking through the numbers and beginning to research bunk heaters now. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Sunday, February 15, 2009. I learned today the sound of music, the music of Dave Terry. Learned by listening to it.

Dave and Linda Terry are a married-couple expediting team, like Diane and me. They are laying over at the Bordentown, New Jersey, Petro truck stop, like us. We are getting better acquainted. We dined together in the restaurant. I showed Dave how to change the oil in his generator. Linda showed me her paintings (she paints). And so it went as we spent some time together and some of the weekend going about our business.

Linda paints. Dave plays the guitar and sings. He sent me a link to a web site where some of his songs are featured. Had Dave been around on Friday night, we could have turned the back room of the Petro restaurant into a coffee house.

Today was a layover day. We are picking up freight Monday morning to deliver Monday night. It is a decent run. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Monday, February 16, 2009. I learned today more about the state of the expedite industry. Learned by visiting with a fleet owner over dinner.

We woke up this morning in the Petro truck stop in Bordentown, New Jersey, where we spent the weekend waiting to pick up today's load. The pickup was in downtown Philadelphia. We have been to that shipper before. The trip into town and the pickup went well. There was an hour delay while they got the freight ready but that was no big deal. We were soon out of town and on our way to Columbus, Ohio to deliver the load.

Diane has a dental appointment at home (Minnesota) on Wednesday. We will head home in the truck this time instead of flying her from Columbus. The cost will be about the same and there are some things we can do on the way.

One of them is to visit a friend in Columbus. He is a fleet owner running ten trucks. After a routine delivery, we called him and arranged to meet at a Bob Evans restaurant. We visited over dinner, talking shop and getting caught up on news about his family. His brother, also a friend of ours, recently died. We were pleased to hear the family is doing well.

After dinner, we drove to Fort Wayne, Indiana, arriving there about 1:00 a.m. We have an appointment at the Volvo dealer there to have some minor work done on the truck. We bought our truck from this dealer and think their service department is the best Volvo service available in the country.

We will go out of our way to have the truck serviced here. The good news today is we don't have to. Fort Wayne is on the way home from Columbus. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Tuesday, February 17, 2008. I learned today, along with the rest of the world, that President Obama signed the big economic stimulus bill into law. Learned by listening to the event on the radio as we drove.

Readers may remember how opposed I was to the $700 billion TARP bailout bill when it was passed. I am beyond caring any more. The federal deficit is now hopelessly bloated. If anything is working with any of these bailout bills or stimulus packages, it is not working in a way that gives us our money's worth. My calls and letters to Congress had no effect.

All we can do is run our business as best we can while we watch our elected officials spend money like drunken sailors. No one in authority is able to admit they do not know what they are doing. These bailouts are panic responses that doom us and the next generation to a lifetime of paying off the public debt and the negative economic effects the massive debt will have.

That's the bad news. The good news was a surprise load offer we received today.

We woke up early this morning parked on the street outside our favorite Volvo dealer in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We had an appointment there to have some minor work done on the truck. Shortly after pulling the truck into the bay, two things happened. The mechanic began work and the telephone rang.

At that instant, I realized we forgot to take ourselves out of service. I cringed because I knew we would turn down the load and be charged with a refusal for doing so. (For non-expediters, your load accept/decline percentage is tracked and used to evaluate your performance. You are not required to accept loads, but turn down too many and you might find yourself in trouble with your carrier. Our percentage is fine but refusals can be avoided by going out of service.)

As I listened to the offer, I changed my mind and told the mechanic to stop work. The load picked up ASAP in Indianapolis and delivered in Wisconsin, not far from home. It paid well too. The truck maintenance was minor and could be put off.

Diane was still asleep in the truck. I opened the door and yelled inside, "Secure for running! We got a run home. ASAP pickup in Indy."

"Secure for running" is one of the many shorthand phrases we have stumbled onto as we have worked together in the truck. I joke that by the time we are out of the truck, we will be communicating with grunts and clicks.

I went to the service manager and offered to pay for the time it took to get the truck into the bay, move the mechanic and tools to it and connect the diagnostic computer. There would be no charge, though I thought it fair to pay for a half-hour. We'll be back the first chance we get.

Off to Indy we went, then to the Wisconsin delivery and then home. Arriving a little before midnight, we slept in the truck. Diane's dental appointment is tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.

We were thrilled to get this run. A few days ago, we were looking at air fare of $600 to get Diane home. We decided to drive the truck instead because we could visit a friend on the way and get the truck serviced. The cost would be about the same. Instead, we ended up being paid to haul freight close to home.

Getting a load in the direction you want to go, when you want to go there, rarely happens in expediting. We went to sleep very pleased that it happened today. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Wednesday, February 18, 2009. I learned today that I was mistaken in my belief that the useful life of our generator is 10,000 hours. Learned when our generator vendor and a blog reader spotted the error in my blog and called to tell me that 20,000 hours is a reasonable expectation and 40,000 is not unheard of.

That is good news since a new generator costs $9,000 or more and we have over 5,000 hours on ours now.

We woke up at home this morning. We are home because Diane has a dental appointment today. It is time to adjust her braces again.

Yesterday we were surprised and pleased to receive a load offer that paid us to drive the truck home. You would not believe what happened today.

Diane had finished at the dentist and stopped at the grocery store. I was waiting for her at home. Our plan was to be run ready as soon as she returned. To that end, we had laundry in the dryer and were freshly showered.

The phone rang. A dispatcher wanted to know if we could return to Wisconsin, pick up the load we delivered yesterday and bring it back to Indianapolis. At that instant the dryer clicked off. The laundry was done. I called Diane on another phone. She had just cleared checkout at the grocery store. Yes, she could make it back soon enough for us to roll on the load and pick it up on time.

The dispatcher put us on the load which meant we were not committed. I hurriedly packed things up and prepared the truck while Diane drove home. In other words, I "secured for running" (see yesterday's blog entry). Diane arrived a few minutes later, pulled the car close to the truck, handed me the groceries, parked the car and returned to the truck. Moments later, we were in uniform and on our way (and oh how nice those freshly-laundered uniforms smelled!).

Unbelievable! The freight took us home when we needed to go. The next day, a few minutes before we were run ready, the freight called and took us back out on the road. Both parts of this round-trip run paid well.

I was in good spirits driving toward Indianapolis. We were ready to spend $600 to get Diane to the dentist and instead got paid much more to haul yesterday's and today's freight. Light traffic, good music and an easy run kept me smiling for hours. But that was not to last.

We ran into light snow in Wisconsin and Illinois, which was no big deal. But when we crossed the line into Indiana, road conditions instantly changed. Cars spun out and piled into each other. Traffic ground to a halt. Trucks jackknifed on the slightest of hills. Unlike Wisconsin and Illinois, Indiana highway crews failed to appear and salt the roads. Ice messed everything up.

We were trapped in the mess for an hour. We quickly plotted an alternative route to get off the freeway but it took an hour to get to the next exit, which was just a quarter-mile ahead.

This is not the first time we have seen Indiana fail to clear their roads when other states have no problem doing so. I am beginning to believe that something is rotten in Denmark. The sad part is people are dying when they would not otherwise have to. Injuries, property damage and delays all cost. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Thursday, February 19, 2008. I learned today that the traffic jam we spent an hour in last night only grew worse and lasted long enough to turn this morning's rush hour into a disaster. Learned from news reports.

See yesterday's blog entry for traffic-jam details. As yesterday gave way to today at midnight, we were in that jam. We finally worked out way out of it and onto an ice-covered and treacherous I-65. We thought about stopping but could safely continue with reduced speeds. The roads eventually improved and we finally made it to the delivery.

We knew exactly where to go because we had just picked up freight there on Tuesday. Expediters rarely pick up and deliver at the same place twice in a row. This time it happened.

We arrived a few hours before the consignee opened and got some sleep. At 6:40 a.m., we got up to make the 7:00 delivery, find a different place to park and go back to sleep. The nearest Wal-Mart parking lot met our needs.

Today feels very short as we slept through a good part of it. One load offer was received. We accepted, but another truck that was ahead of us in the que got it.

As I write this, there are seven trucks waiting for freight in the area (11 if you count cargo vans). Two of the trucks are equipped the same as ours. They are our most direct competition. Three of the seven have more dwell time, meaning they have been waiting longer, which puts them ahead of us in the que. At the moment (5:17 p.m.) it looks like we will be spending the night in Indianapolis.

Thoughts are starting to run through our minds about deadheading 200 miles to the Chicago suburbs, which is normally a strong freight area. In non-recessionary times, such a move would be unnecessary. We will give it a few more hours here in Indy and make a decision tonight. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Friday, February 20, 2009. I learned today about BitTorrent. Learned by following a link to it from a news story where it was mentioned.

BitTorrent is of minor interest to me and something I will further explore when the spirit moves. It might be something to use. We'll see. It is early in the day and too early to have learned anything else new to report.

In other news, Phil and Diane Madsen were dispatched this morning on a surprise load that will keep them busy and well paid until Thursday. Reporting live from Indianapolis is Phil Madsen. Phil?

Are you there, Phil?

Phil?

Obviously, we are having technical difficulties. We will be back soon with that live report.

Next up, Moscow in flames. Missiles headed toward New York. Details at ten. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Saturday, February 21, 2009. I learned today some granular details about our 2008 business results. Learned by going over our numbers and preparing income tax info for our accountant.

We are on a run that has us committed through Thursday morning. Some of the time includes sitting in one place, which allows us to do exciting things like income tax.

This is not one of our favorite things to do, but the information we gain by sifting through our data supports good business decision making. Taking a file-and-forget approach and dumping everything into our accountant's hands would be easier. It is better to do the work and thereby better understand our business. Doing this work makes it less likely that we will be among the thousands of truckers who will lose their trucks and business as the recession progresses.

In many ways, it matters how good of a truck driver you are, but to survive this recession, it matters more that you are a good business person. If we were better business people, our taxes would be done by now. We have put off an unpleasant task and are now victims of our own procrastination.

So, today brings both good and bad. We are on a great run that follows two just-completed back-to-back runs. We have not had three runs in quick succession in quite a while. It feels good. The bad is being down on ourselves for putting off a chore that we knew we should not put off even as we put it off.

Hangover words come to mind. "I will never drink again!" Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Sunday, February 22, 2009. I learned today the same as yesterday. Learned by repeating yesterday's activities.

Except for going to church, today is the same as yesterday. We are on a run that has us sitting for a while, which gives us time to work on our income tax.

I was down on myself yesterday for procrastination. Overnight I remembered the ton of time have I poured into learning about day trading. Our taxes are not done as early as they could be, but it is not like I sat in front of the TV and drooled my time away. The taxes will get done and my day trading studies are well worth the time. Right now, bookkeeping trumps day trading. I will soon resume my day trading studies and practice.

Also, it is more than taxes we are doing. Year-end tax work gives us a good opportunity to review all our numbers, and by that I mean ALL. We document every penny we earn and spend, whether it is deductible or not. If I find a nickel in the street, I document it as income. While it makes no difference on our income tax return, we know how much we spent on groceries, fast food and dine-in meals.

Tracking our income and expenses at this level of detail means that much of our bookkeeping pain is self-induced. But we do it because we enjoy the end result, which is better information with which to make better financial decisions.

Finally, please understand that we are not pouring our every waking moment into bookkeeping and income tax. We'll work at it a while and take a break, work some more and break again. This is unpleasant work for us. It is easier to do it in small pieces.

That sets me onto a different topic that I will not go into except to mention it. Who says the work is unpleasant? We do. Where does that opinion exist? In our minds. Have we changed our minds in the past? Yes. Would it be in our best interests to change our minds about bookkeeping and income tax being unpleasant? Apparently not. We seem to like the pain and keep it going as long as we can.

Now, let's see ... I know that book on the power of positive thinking is around here somewhere. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Monday, February 23, 2009. No blog entry today. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Tuesday, February 24, 2009. No blog entry today. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Wednesday, February 25, 2009. No blog entry today. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Thursday, February 26, 2009. I learned today about a new high-tech wheel chock. Learned by seeing it.

First, greetings from Upstate New York, where we picked up and delivered a short load today. That followed a long run that kept us under wraps and under dispatch from last Friday to yesterday. Immediately after delivering that load in Maryland, we were dispatched on today's run. We drove to the pickup last night and delivered the load before noon today.

Revenue-wise, the last seven days qualify as a good week even in the best of times. One good week does not a trend make but it feels good to have one just the same.

Now back to that high-tech wheel chock. For non-truckers, a wheel chock is a block of wood that you place under truck wheels to keep the truck in place. Wheel chocks are also made of rubber, plastic and aluminum. See the Wheel Chock Superstore for details. (Yes, there really is a Wheel Chock Superstore.) Wheel chocks are commonly used at loading docks. They are also used (sometimes) when a truck is parked on a hill and when someone is working under the truck.

My personal favorite is the HRX-PHP Large Rubber Wedge Extruded With Pole Handle. I have actually worked with this model and enjoyed its many advantages, not the least of which is a tall pole handle that is brightly colored to make it easy to see from the driver's seat. If you forget to remove the wheel chocks before trying to drive away, a glance in the mirror will remind you that the chock remains in place.

What is your preference in wheel chocks? Valentine's Day recently passed but if you have a birthday coming up, now is the time to start dropping hints with those you love. You only live once. Be sure to mention your wheel chock brackets and accessories too.

When we arrived at today's pickup, a man came out of the building and chocked the wheels. Usually it is up to the truck driver to chock the wheels. Some companies have their employees do it to make sure it is done. While not common, we have seen it before and I did not give a second thought to what just happened.

When it came time to leave, I went back to remove the wheel chock. That is when I noticed a long cable that led from it to the building wall above trailer height. Looking closer, I saw it was a TV cable and there was a small camera attached to the wheel chock. It was positioned such that when the chock was placed in front of the tire, the camera would show the tire. Someone inside the building could then see that the chock was in place.

Do you ever get the feeling that we have more high-tech solutions than problems to solve? Do we really need a video record of where wheel chocks are placed and when? I wonder how long it will be before we see Kleenex boxes with environmentally-correct, solar-powered LED displays built into the side to tell us how many tissues are left in the box.

Some years ago, someone built a refrigerator that you could talk to over the internet. Giving you the ability to adjust your home refrigerator temperature from work was then seen as breakthrough technology. To this day, I remember that refrigerator and take great satisfaction in not seeing it for sale in appliance stores now.

Somewhere, right now, some geek is inventing a scale for weighing naval lint and analyzing the light beams that pass through it. Software will correlate the daily data with star charts, your blood pressure and your refrigerator's temperature variations over a given time period to provide you you with information you cannot live without.

If you see that geek, slap him! Hard! Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Friday, February 27, 2009. I learned today more about our truck's rear brake assembly hardware. Learned by discovering it defective and taking it in for repair.

A friend of ours once described trucking as one disappointment after another. That came to mind this morning when I did my pretrip inspection and discovered a broken bracket. But for the broken bracket, we would be on our way to pick up a cross-country load that pays over $5,000. Instead, we are parked in the lot of a truck dealer, perhaps for the weekend, while we wait for the part to come in.

We spent last night in the parking lot of a 24 hour restaurant. At 3:00 a.m. the phone rang with the good load offer. At daybreak we got up and got ready to roll. As I worked my way around the truck, I noticed that one of the brake chambers was out of its normal position. Crawling between the rear tires and under the truck, I jiggled it and found it loose. Not good.

Our next step was to find the nearest repair facility. A Volvo dealer happened to be just two miles away. The truck was drivable and the dealer could get us in right away. If they had the part in stock, the repair might be quick enough to get us out the door and to the pickup on time. We made our way to the dealer, using the transmission and engine brake to minimize brake use. True to their word, the dealer got us right in. I assumed this was a common repair and the bracket would be in stock. I was wrong.

When the service manager gave us the bad news, I called dispatch and told them to take us out of service, mechanical, and take us off the load. It was a great run and I doubt dispatch will have trouble covering it. It is unlikely we will be charged with a service failure for not making the pickup on time. As long as another truck does, we will be OK.

Service is one of the ways our carrier tracks our performance. 100% on-time pickup and delivery is the expectation and we are almost always up to it. But mechanical breakdowns happen, so here we are.

The parts man called the order in directly instead of using the computer. I said I would pay extra for Saturday delivery. The distribution center has the part in stock. If it ships today and arrives early enough tomorrow, we can get the truck repaired before the dealership closes at noon. If not, we will be here until Monday.

Truck dealerships are located in industrial areas of town. There are no stores, theaters, libraries or restaurants nearby. We will be spending tonight and possibly the whole weekend in a truck dealer parking lot. It is a scenic and interesting place if you like staring at parked trucks and snowbanks all day long.

In times like this, we especially appreciate the comforts our 132" custom sleeper provides. We have space to move around, an RV-like kitchen, a toilet and shower. We have the option of locking up the truck and taking a cab to a hotel, but with the sleeper, there is no need. Besides, truck dealership parking lots are notorious for truck break-ins after hours. Staying in the truck will keep the burglars away.

Long walks for exercise are something we may do, but not today. It is raining and wind gusts are rocking the truck. There are no sidewalks and the streets are busy. Traffic may grow quiet on Saturday and Sunday. Neighboring businesses like Duro Shed and Flex-Hose Systems are unlikely to be open on weekends.

There are a couple of restaurants and an airport terminal within a mile or two as the crow flies. But we are not crows. Walking to them would be made difficult by chain link fences, the lack of through streets and major highways that are not made for pedestrians to walk on or cross. If we want to get out of here to eat out or go to a mall, library, movie or bookstore, it would be best to rent a car (Enterprise will pick us up) or call a cab. We have books in the truck and the internet for entertainment. There is no pressing need to leave the truck.

On February 21, I spoke of being down on ourselves for putting off our income tax and bookkeeping work. We are out of excuses now. The lost run presents the gift of time.

Financially, this week was a good week. Had we not lost today's run, we would have had our first good month in a long time (actually, an average month by pre-recession standards). I don't believe trucking is one disappointment after another. But when you start your day by peering under your truck and see $5,000 fly away like dove released at a funeral, it can be a challenge to keep that characterization of our life and work from lingering in your mind.

It will pass and we can put our new-found spare time to good use. So, it's off to tax work I go. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page

Saturday, February 28, 2009. I learned today how Paladin in the Have Gun Will Travel series saved the town from a smallpox outbreak. Learned by watching the episode online.

Read yesterday's blog entry to learn how we ended up marooned for the weekend in a truck dealership in Syracuse, New York. The new part arrived today but not in time to get the truck fixed before the shop closed at noon. We will be the first truck in the shop Monday morning.

That gives us time to do some book work and pass in other ways, including making phone calls to catch up with friends we have not talked to in a while. Sitting in a truck for three days may not be most people's idea of fun, but it is peaceful and can be productive if we use the time well.

Of course, we would rather be hauling that load to the West Coast, but weekends like this are not all bad. I would take every time a weekend like this over the weekends we used to have in our old white-collar carrers. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page