Changing Seasons We are coming into a new season where temperatures can fluctuate wildly. When this happens we run the risk of getting into what is commonly referred to as cold and flu season. Being truck drivers on the road means that we cannot call in sick when we are not feeling well. We have to be at that pick up or delivery on time and with a sunny disposition. What do we do? How do we get to feeling better quickly? In our case, we try to carry common cold medicines that...

Recently, the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) held its Brake Safety Week. It’s the annual commercial motor vehicle brake-safety inspection, enforcement and education initiative conducted by law enforcement agencies across North America. During Brake Safety Week, inspectors conduct their usual Level I and V inspections and report all brake-related data to the CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance). Brake-related violations typically relate to the large...

DOT Inspections Recently, we were called into a scale house with a hazmat load. Fortunately, my husband Dave was driving. I say fortunately because any time I get called into a scale I get so nervous that I will do something wrong to get a violation. The DOT inspector gave us a Level One inspection which we passed with flying colors. I breathed a sigh of relief. How often do you get called in for an inspection of any level? This was the first inspection that we have had on ou...

A simple “thank you” will never be enough. What can really be said to the men and women who spend hours, days, weeks, and months away from their families while keeping America’s gears grinding in a forward motion? This is Driver Appreciation Week, September 15th through the 21st. It’s a week where we, as the transportation industry, recognize the collective trucking and driving community as a way of saying thank you for the jobs they perform on our behalf every single...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will be holding an online listening session October 4, 2024 at Noon ET and will end at 1:30 PM ET.  The topic is the unique needs for women in the trucking industry.  The commissioner of the EEOC Kalpana Kotagal will be hosting this listening session. This is a virtual listening session that focuses on women truckers and the unique needs they have.  The commissioner will open the session with some brief remarks.  They wil...

Over twenty years ago, I began a career in television as a sports producer - a far cry from where I’ve found myself in recent years, working in the trucking industry in several different capacities. One of those capacities, and most recently, as the host of two different podcasts available on ExpeditersOnline.com (Industry Outlook and State of the Industry with John Elliott). In each of these instances, however, I’ve enjoyed both ventures and have garnered a good amount o...

If you are one of the estimated 3.5 million truck drivers out on the roads today, you are probably aware of the significance of the month of September. This is when way back in 1988 the first Truck Driver Appreciation Week began....

Happy Anniversary! This week Dave and I are celebrating 25 years of marriage. If you readers don’t mind, I would like to take this space to talk about us. We met because a mutual friend’s father passed away and both Dave’s family and I and a friend went to the funeral. Well, we didn’t met AT the funeral. We met after the funeral. A group of single people gathered and visited for a while at our friend’s house. After that day, I had not heard from Dave. At another sin...

Labor vs. Work This week we all had the opportunity to enjoy a holiday that allows us to reflect on the work that we do. While we were home over the Labor Day weekend we still were working. Dave was working on the truck. I was working on end of month reconciling and planning future work. We both were doing laundry, grocery shopping to supply our truck for the next several weeks and visiting with friends too. It seems that we are always working. In our case, I will honestly sa...

I have daily conversations with drivers who are looking for ways to get into the trucking or expedite industry, and those discussions can sometimes be frustrating on both ends when the prospective drivers just don’t have what it takes to get started. And what it takes is often just the simple desire, or financial backing, to step into a classroom and obtain the driver training that is currently required by the transportation industry. Well, help is on the way as the federal...