Trucking: The Truth of Trucking

By B A Warburton

Banged into, rear-ended, run off the road, and a knife to the throat, the author kept driving. Dealing with the police shippers, receivers, dispatchers, and other drivers, trucking isnt what most people know of, and so the author brings to light the truth of trucking.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504907354

B A Warburton

The author has spent most of his employed years in transportation, starting as an auto parts driver and working his way up to the big rigs. In between has work at the auto parts driver, he was also an auto mechanic, auto machinist, and diesel mechanic on tractor and trailers and commercial busses. His experience under the hood or looking out the windshield tells the story of someone who has been there. Fixing things on the road got going again after accidents. The author has plenty to talk about to those who want to listen. Some of what is written can be useful information, but then use them at your own risk. The author has driven many types of trucks and trailers, of which he tells about in this book.

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© 2015 B A Warburton. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/16/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-0736-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-0735-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015906083

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Chapter One

         Truck School

Chapter Two

         Heavy Equipment

Chapter Three

         Van or Box Trailer

Chapter Four

         Refrigerated Trailer- Reefer

Chapter Five

         Flatbed

Chapter Six

         Food Grade Tanker

To thank God my savior who tromped on earth a few thousands years ago. Most people call Him Jesus

for Mom and Dad putting up with all crap theses past years and Dad finding a program to change Word Perfect to Microsoft Word

for My sister Karen who dumped me cash every time I changed trucking jobs to keep me floating for a while

To my brother Ed who gave something but I can’t remember now what.

to my little brother Leland aka Tiny, who has gone on to be with the Lord, all his giving when I had need he gave without wanting anything back

To my friend J R Schwab for all the lunches and other gifts thanks.

And special Thanks to Betty J Kerwin who›s first proof reading and editing showed me how to look at my work and make it better. Thanks for all your giving it won’t be forgotten.

On a sunny afternoon I was rolling down I75 south bound in West Chester Oh. Content with the maximum speed of 65 in the second right lane a glitter caught my peripheral vision to the left. A silver sedan fish tailing in the median and the far left lane a 100 yards behind to the left of the trailer. Thinking to myself, Good stay over there! So I stayed the course. Looking straight ahead the fish tailing silver sedan left my mind as I took in the sunny afternoon. Rolling southward I was startled to see the silver sedan swerving back and forth coming up along a side me. Thinking, if I go right, the car will go under the trailer, to go left I would surly hit it, no chance to get out of the way as it went past me then spun back into the left front portion of the truck. Blam!!! Car parts splatered all over the road way. Thinking I could make my way to the right to get to the emergency lane, I blurted out, I can’t control the truck! Hearing the deep rubber scuffing sounds, This truck has ABS brakes. The brakes won’t be lock-up! rattled through my head. The next thing I knew I was waking up hanging half upside down still strapped in by the seat belt. The diesel engine still growling I was able to reach down and turn the ignition switch off and shut the engine down. Fidgeting and fiddling with the seat belt I finally got down out of the drivers seat. Looking up I could see that I couldn’t get out through the driver’s door I started kicking at the windshield. To my surprise work boots on the other side were kicking in. Then I heard a loud voice say, Cover your eyes, Cover your eyes!! Just as my hands were making their way to cover my face, Bam, bam smash crash crash!! Glass flying all over my hands and face, and someone made a hole big enough for me to scrunch my way out through the busted windshield. Once out from the truck people on both sides of me took hold of my arms and walked me away from the wreck and sat me on a stack of pallets. The pallets, most likely from the load that had blown out from the roof of the trailer. Sitting on the stack of pallets, I remembered company policy to take pictures of the accident. As I started to get up people on both sides of me pushed me back down, they weren’t going to let me get up and take pictures. So I called the safety department and told the lady who answered the phone that people weren’t going to let me take pictures. She said not to worry about it the state police will take care of that. Sitting there in a bit of a daze a local cop wearing black uniform walked up and asked in a very polite manner, What happened did you fall asleep at the wheel? No I said as I pointed across the highway. That car over there spun out and I hit it. Then I ended up here. Just then a man came up to the police man and said, He didn’t have a chance. As the cop talked to the man I was still sitting on the pallets looking at the 2011 International Pro Star still hooked to the53 foot Hyundai trailer with the whole load blow out of the roof of the trailer. 22, #2000 bags of sodium carbonate, aka Alka Seltzer. Then EMT’s showed up. They got out walked up to me in a slow step that said that they weren’t in any kind of hurry. The shorter one said Hey we didn’t get the call. I asked what are you talking about. He replied we heard the BOOM!! Then looked out back and across the highway and saw you in the median. The EMT’s poked and prodded my neck and looked at the bump forming on my forehead. They were saying that I didn’t look that bad, and seemed to be wanting to be somewhere else. I finally I said to take me to the hospital. The parra-medics had me stand straight up then they applied the back board to me and put the every so painful neck brace on me for Just in Case, I get dropped on my head in the process. Then lowered me to the ground and finished strapping me down. It was a short ride to the hospital. One of the medics was calling in the stats. Male age 53 alert with head and shoulder contusions. A few bumps and bounces as we left the median, then down the highway a bit. Then a ramp to the right, a left turn and a couple of rights and the ambulance arrived at the emergency room doors. The EMT’s got out walked back opened the doors. They pulled the Gurney out and extended the legs down and wheeled me into the hospital. The afternoon still sunny and clear. The EMT’s handed me off to the hospital staff and I was wheeled down a maze of white walled hall ways and into a room with a CAT scan machine. I was schootched off the Gurney and onto the CAT scan table. Swoop, Swoop! Two swipes across my head and done. Back on the Gurney down some more white walled hall ways and into a xray room. The nurse had me stand up and put my bare chest against that cold metal plate. Take deep breath, hold it and relax. Then turn me side ways and Take a deep breath hold it and relax. With the necessary pictures taken I was wheeled into an exam room. I got off the Gurney and sat on the table and they finally took off the neck brace. That has to be one of the most unnecessary and painful devices to have to wear for Just in Case! Sitting on the olive green exam table, looking around the room the stainless steel cabinets and the polished white tiles floors I got a call from Charley who said that a lawyer named Dan would be calling. Then Jackson call and said that they were sending an independent lab to administer the alcohol and drug test. Then a male nurse came in dragging his medical cart behind him. He looked at my right leg with cuts’ scrapes and bruises, then reached back grabbed a bottle of some type of antiseptic, flooded my leg from the knee down to my toes, then took a sanitary wipe and wiped my leg down and that was that. After the nurse was finished with my leg, I was given a TV remote. I pressed the on button then started to surf the channels. I came across a news station and there I was or I should say the truck was laying on its side with those big white bags on the ground, with a line of traffic all backed up for miles. There I was sitting in the emergency room watching live on TV the aftermath of the wreck. Hey sorry guys I know what it is like to sit in traffic for more than four hours because of an accident. Sitting in the exam room waiting for the drug and alcohol test, an adjuster from the lawyers office or insurance company came in, then right after an Ohio State Trooper came in, and as he stepped into the room my cell phone rang. A second later the lady to give the drug and alcohol test walked in. Isn’t it just the way things go that when you think that things have calmed down then Whammy! The Muridae hits the ventilator. With my brain beginning to swirl I answered my cell phone. It was the company lawyer or one hired by the company. He started yelling at me, Don’t say anything even if you have the slightest inkling of guilt don’t say anything! His voice was quite harsh. He asked if there was anyone else in the room. Yes I said the state trooper and the lady to give the drug and alcohol test. And of course he knew about the adjuster being there. Let me talk to the trooper he belched. I handed the phone to the trooper he held the phone to his ear for less than a minute then handed it back to me. The Lawyer instructing me to get out of the room so he could talk to me. Walking up and down the white walled hallway the lawyer continued to rant about not saying anything. He assumed that I was automatically guilty. Finally I said I don’t think that I am at fought and that the only thing the trooper wanted was a statement. I hung up went back to the room. Still waiting for the results from the CAT scan and x-rays, the lady to give the drug test was waiting patiently. The trooper handed me a note pad and I wrote out what I saw happen as the accident unfolded. Signed it and he left. Did the same for the adjuster But he stayed. Then the ER doctor came in and said everything looked ok and that I could be released. Then the young lady still with that pleasant smile had me blow in this contraption. Take a deep breath and blow. Like blowing in a Spirommeter to check for asthma. She printed out the results. All zeros. Then pee in a cup. A little while later a nurse came in with a bunch of papers to sign. Instructions on medicines to take and the like and to follow up if things changed and got worse. On the way out the bright sun had dropped below the horizon and the dark sky brought out the brightness of the stars and moon. The adjuster to take me to where the truck was towed and then to a motel. Just as we got to the exit An Ohio State Trooper came through the doors and handed me my wallet and asked where the insurance card was. I said in the permit book in the drivers door pouch. We said our good nights and good luck and stuffed and headed for the adjuster’s car. Some big black SUV. I climbed in and off we went. I noticed that we were going south on me 75 and I asked if we were going past the crash site and he said yes just a few miles down the road. A moment later I saw skid marks from the second right lane all the way to the median. Took note and pondered the deep rubber scuffing noise before I woke up belted upside down. A few minutes later we pulled into this obscure dirt lot. The tractor up right on blocks with the steering wheels turned all the way to left. Took note of that too. The whole-left side of the truck was bashed in along with the sleeper. If anyone was in the passenger seat even belted in, I don’t think that they would have made it. With my head starting to throb and still a little sore from the bumps and bruises I scrounged around getting as much of my personal stuff as I could.

Being in the shape that I was, I was too tired to work my way through the busted up side box and get my 50-foot air hose for airing up tires. And of course I never saw it again. I could take another twelve pages or more to tell about after being dropped off at a motel near Cincinnati Oh, and the aggravation of getting back to the terminal in Nashville. Dealing with the massive head aches, doctors and being stuck Music City for three months was a bit frustrating until doctors released me to go back to work.

The following are a few events in the trucking industry that I went through for over the past on twenty years. These are true to the best of my knowledge and where events weren’t clear some statements were added or enhanced for effect. These are the things I went through and things I have learned over the years. Not all of these actions are in sequential order, not all of the time lines are exact, but the reality of what goes on in trucking, I do think needs to get out to the general public so that they will have a better understanding of what truckers have to do to get the job done. The procedures that I have written down are of my own learning over the years that have served me well but may not be the best way to operate. This story isn’t written as operators manual but one may find some helpful hints but use them at your own risk. Though I have some negative opinions of some trucking companies’ it is not my bane of existence to discredit them. Traveling down the highway, byways, city or country roads keep your eyes open because to some degree we need to be better than Cain and be our brothers’ keeper. Keep on trucking, and be safe.

April 16,2014 Brian A Warburton

CHAPTER ONE

TRUCK SCHOOL

Well it is time to write about trucking. With all those big trucks on the road people may think that, yes the truck is big and moving fast, but the driver just sits there holding the steering wheel. Yes that is a phrase that is used quite often. Steering Wheel Holder! Look up at the driver and he has that blank look on his face just holding the wheel. One might think that the driver is some big dumb ass that can’t think for himself. Hold on to the steering wheel and hope for the best. Yes there are some steering holders out there but how many? Who knows? But most truck drivers do more than just drive. And if the general public knew what the driver has to deal with to get the job done, then there may be a little more tolerance, fewer hand gestures and less road rage. If someone driving down the road look’s up at a truck driver with that blank look on his face, holding the wheel, and understands all that drivers go through, then I do believe that the motoring public will have a better appreciation for the CDL TRUCKER. Not to ignore any driver’s bad operating procedures on the road but to show the reasons for that a blank stare or those tiger teeth grill in your rear view mirror two inches off your bumper at 70 mph. It is all of the crap that truckers go through to deliver the goods.

Now back in the day one could get an A license by getting a learner’s permit from the MVA and practicing with the tractor and trailer go get the license. The unit may be from a friend who has a rig or at the place where you work, Permit, practice, and courage, go take the test and pass it. Years ago it wasn’t too hard to pass the driving skill’s test at the local MVA. But into day’s world most people wanting to drive commercial vehicles have to go to a ‘truck school’ or one of the major trucking companies that have their own school. Back in the day some thirty years ago I did not know anyone that had a tractor trailer so I went to a trucking school which was just a few miles from my house. Today to pass a CDL test is quite a bit more involved than years ago. Part of the test is the pre-trip inspection. Today the inspection is so detailed that it is impossible to complete in the fifteen minutes your company is going to ask you to log in your logbook. Today you have to be a diesel mechanic to do the pre-trip. And in these last days there is more of a procedure to do a post trip than the pre-trip inspection. And yes over the past few years the rules have been changed a little bit and it has help a bit too. But the willingness of drivers and companies to keep close to the rules and regulations is dwindling away and one can honestly ask, Did the change in rule’s make it any safer on the road? Maybe, but I haven’t seen it change the moral of the drivers. Receiving a commercial licence is a good thing and how you handle it will be up to the one who posses it. Some of the rules have changed since back in the day but the operations of the trucking industry haven’t.

The rule of thumb still goes on today; Get that load there no matter what! Throw that log book out the window, tear out a page or two if you have too, just get it there now! Now with electronic logs Ignore the warning, as this device calls out your name, you’re in violation, you’re out of hours service driving time. Some drivers continue to drive multiple hours after the warning.

And to some drivers to comply with this order from their company is a great Badge of Honor! There are a few companies where one can operate within the rules but, they are very few. If you have a Godly conscience, you will struggle with most trucking companies. No, this is not to advocate perfection is such a way as to be so legalistic that you never have to operate in the grey areas; Neither be over righteous neither be over wise why destroy yourself. But to run so hard that you health gives way before its time and you endanger the motoring public beyond the norms, one stretches the rules to make a fraction of a bigger buck at the risk of others. The thing that only a few of us old timers know is that you really do not make any more money running illegally. The trucking companies have made a promise to a shipper or receiver and will push the driver to cover the load. And just about everything that goes on with the truck and trailer is the driver’s responsibility. So if you like to drive, drive on. Know the rules and regulations, be safe and curtious to all and enjoy your ride.

Screech!!!!! me, an auto-parts driver slammed on the brakes to keep from hitting a woman in the cross walk. But the slamming on of the breaks was due to the fact that she was crossing against the light. I was watching the light, still green, more than the road not thinking too much about J walkers. As I came to a quick stop, the blue smoke from the tires billowed up from the rear around to the front of the 1974 light blue chevy pick up truck. Stopped in time as the young lady in blue jeans and pink tank top shirt and white tennis shoes strolled along the cross walk. She looks up at the sound of the braking tires and watched as the smoke rolled to the front and then just busted out laughing. I laughed back and watched as she wiggles her hips and bounced her big boobs, as she walks the rest of the way across the street. By then the light had change to red, so I waited until the green, then headed back to the store.

Then I turned left at the Exxon station drove past the pumps, hung a right went across the stations rear lot where I then pulled into the rear of the auto-parts store were the company drivers parked the company vehicles. Then I pulled up next to the other parts truck, a 1976 white F150 Ford pick-up truck. I grabbed my receipts, walked up the one flight of concrete steps at the back of the store. The metal door always squeaked whenever one opened or closed it. I Opened the squeaky door walked up to the counter put the receipts under the cash register counted out the cash in my pockets,