Into the dark of the night.

And, it's into the dark we go.
The middle of winter is upon us.
While it's been a warm winter over here in the northeastern part of the USA,
the sun doesn't stay up so long.

One of the benefits I think I receive as being a driver is that I'm outside in the sunshine
.
But, I think even "cabin fever" still affects us all this time of year.
Cabin fever? lol, that's the old term we used for the more politically correct term SAD (seasonal affect disorder).

My Wife is a sunshine person and loves working outdoors during the year.  But, her attitude and mine clash during the dark of Winter.  I used to think it was all my fault.  Now, I think it's just the Winter blahs.

Makes you think about how Easter got started doesn't it?

Smiles and understanding, open mind and heart and eye to eye conversations are what help get us through this. Spring will be here before we know it and I'll be out of her hair.  lol

Loves to all

Also, a thought to remember..
In trucking you make your money with the left door closed and the right foot down.
I'm out and back quiet.

Walt

Trucker Assimilated, Borg Style...you're next.

The Look of the Modern US Trucker?

Cool shades and Blue Tooth headset.  Get used to it folks.  No headset means big fines.
 
What amazes me is that DOT did not make it mandatory for The motoring public to use these.

 I mean, aren't they the less trained drivers by nature?

Again the DOT and the FMCSA react instead of innovate.

Sigh, to my friends who aren't truckers....it starts in the trucks and moves to the cars.  Yes, you can wear one too.

I like the boom mics for the high noise environment I work in.

What the real issue to this driver is that Insurance companies and our current political overlords do not want to want to mandate the rulings needed to correctly train people how to operate a motor vehicle.   If a person doesn't have enough sense to drive without maintaining attention to the road they should be excluded from driving.  

Sadly, like most trucking companies that train, insurance companies and governments are after that dollar and will issue an operators license with the minimum of testing and retesting.  Yeah, I said it...retesting.  That includes a physical every so often.  I mean, how many of those in the motoring public have untreated diabetes or poor heart health?

The insurers and the governments are the real culprits here.  To those safety advocates...look for real answers instead of beating on the same boogie man year after year.  It's not the truckers.  We're the most regulated unskilled work force out there.  Imagine that.  lol

You want safe roads.  Then all those who use them should be trained, retrained and tested frequently.
Or, make everyone buy a self driving vehicle.....wait....hmmmm......follow the money folks.

Okay, that's it.
Happy Motoring

Heydriver wishing all y'all a Happy New Year and we're back quiet.

The current state of trucking. The 2008 Christmas Season.

Wow! We're almost to the end of the 2008 shipping season.

This has been the slowest I've ever seen it. Usually we're given orders not to plan vacation time after the end of September. Not this year.

Food shippers are usually running 24/7 this time of year. Atlas of Malvern, Pa did no shipping the end of last week. They were doing an inventory and not shipping out. That is almost never done this time of year. Most of these companies wait till middle of January to start inventory. Maybe Atlas Cold Storage is planning a sell off?

I'm seeing fewer trucks at the docks of major food warehouses. Even Walmart DC's were looking a bit empty just before Thanksgiving.

Just a final thought here....

Has there been a sudden decrease in the eating population of the country? Or, maybe we're seeing the end of JIT (Just In Time) delivery in the US?

My guess is JIT shipping is going to go away for awhile. More warehousing will be done. Longer shelf life items are going to start showing up. Makes you wonder about fresh foods.

Okay, I'm starting to post more I guess.

Follow me at http://twitter.com/heydriver
and http://brightkite.com/people/Heydriver

If I don't get back on here before Christmas,

Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours.

God speed drivers!

Auntie Em, Auntie Em, Was it a twister?

SuperValu in Mechanicsville, Va experienced a four and a half hour complete shut down of recieving operations today. Between the hours of 4:30am and 9am edt, the Mechanicsville Va. warehouse ceased operating in its normal yet hectic mode.

When asked for the reason why operations were ceased I was told that the computer system in Minnesota failed for some reason or another. The event prevented the Virgina warehouse from doing any sort of receiving business.

I ask, is this a common way to run a business of this size? SuperValu owns and operates many large warehouses through out the USA. To have them tied so tightly together through networking so that if one fails it takes down another does not sound like such a great idea. Was it a twister? Maybe a lightning strike hit the wires in Minnesota and traveled all the way to Va? It could happen you know!!

Seems to me that maybe it would be prudent to have each warehouse autonomous with hourly uploads of information to the main frame at the head office. Heck, even upload every one minute as far as I can see. But, to have such a thin client that an event hundreds of miles away stops normal operations is not good thinking....no matter how much money you save. Walmart, Food Lion or even a local grocery chain can keep they're stores and warehouses up and running when any part of it's network goes down then SuperValu should be able to also.

Now, a few disclaimers!!

The info I got about the head office crashing came from a lowly dock worker. So, I did not take it at face value. I tried to access SuperValu's website and couldn't even get a 404 error. They were just not there. Nothing....loading page time outs up the ying yang. So, I'm gonna step out and assume (ya I know) that there was indeed a massive failure of the SuperValu network. I'm sure someone somewhere in Minnesota is pushing for a more autonomous setup for SuperValu's warehouses and I support him/her 100%. Come on SuperValu...get smart and put some funds into your IT system. Back ups and redundancy are the name of the game. Not spending the money on secure networking is really stupid.

Peace, love and put that hammer down.

HeyDriver
i'm outta here

US DOT starts Mexican drivers pilot program.

Just a short note on something that is becoming real in the Asphalt Nation.

Truck drivers from Mexico will be allowed to deliver loads beyond the 25 mile limit now in place along the US/Mexican border. This is going into effect within the next 30 to 60 days.

Mexican drivers are supposed to be held to the same standards as the US/Canadian drivers.

What concerns me is will they be paid the same rates as their northern brethren?
Is Mexico making sure that their drivers are compliant with US/Canadian standards.

Section 391.11(2) of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (FMCSR) states that:

(Drivers must show that they) Can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.

This is the one crumb in the bed that bothers me. I've seen as many as four drivers climb out of a truck made to handle two drivers. Do all these people speak english? My experience with them as been friendly and informative. However, most times one driver is the spokesman and interpreter. That's a violiation of FMCSR 391.11(2).

If the big companies that hire these drivers don't have a problem with them not speaking English will DOT?