I Need another Driver

Things are going fairly well. I have more work than I can handle. I keep hearing about our economy and it's weakness. Sorry, but I don't see it. I have five shippers here in STL with work EVERYDAY. I go to the load boards and there are 20 or 30 different loads moving within 100 mile radius of STL. I need another driver!

But I am VERY particular about the kind of driver I want. They need to have a diesel pick-up truck or flatbed and hold a CDL-A, or willing to get one. They need to have a clean MVR - no accidents in the last 5 years and no more than one ticket in the last three. They need to be a self-starter and have some common sense. Experience is NOT required but good attitude is essential.

I am also looking for a Big Truck owner-operator - an 18-wheeler. I have specialized in doing Hot Shots - loads under 35' and 15,000 lbs - for the last five years and have found that niche to be much more profitable. The cost of operating is less resulting in higher profits. But there is work out there for big trucks too.

And speaking of trucks, I need a new truck. This Dodge is getting tired. It's 10 years old and has more than 350,000 miles - a great workhorse. But I have spent more than $2,000 in repairs in the last month. But it IS paid for. I don't miss NOT having a $600/mo truck payment. If I can get another driver - or two - it would be easier to handle a truck payment tho.

Egads! Busier than a 1-Armed Paperhanger

I have been fairly religious about updating my blog twice a week or so --- until now. Despite my best intentions, I have been negiligent. But I have been quite busy, as I will now share.

Ha ha ha -- just reading my last couple of posts to see where I left off. Both attest to my being busy. And I have also used the '1-Armed Paperhange' line. Guess I need to get a new 'Book of One Liners.'

I was bragging on my new driver - Mike last month. He continues to do awesome. You may - or may not - remember, he has no over-the-road driving experience but has pulled flatbed trailers with heavy stuff on them. So he knows about securing loads and driving with 30' of something hanging off the back of a truck. He is now familiar with the various state DOT inspections and what power-trips some of them can be on. Mike has been a OTR Truck Driver for about a month now and understands why most drivers dread the 'right-lane' when pulling into a weigh station.

Mike has done so well for me that I have modified our agreement where he makes an additional bonus every month he exceeds a certain gross dollar amount. He hit the bonus round for the month of September by mid-month! He reminds me so much of me going down the road. The other day he was near Seattle, WA and was describing the beauty of Mt. Rainer as he passed by. I laughed as I thought, 'Been there, done that.' I reminded him he was getting paid on top of getting to see these phenominal sights. Life is good for both of us.

I was very successful while in St. Louis last month setting up direct contact with shippers. I now get emails everyday from 4 or 5 companies moving freight. That's on top of the construction company we have been servicing for almost 20 years. I need another driver. In fact I'm headed back to STL to do just that. I wonder what the odds are of finding someone like Mike?

I am currently in Paradise (Treasure Island, FL). I got down here Labor Day weekend. I booked a load from one of my new shippers down to Biloxi, MS and then worked my way accross I-10 into FL and down to Orlando. Then hustled to St. Pete on Friday afternoon in time to drop the trailer, unload my truck at the house, shower, shave and haul butt on two-wheels back to Tampa for the Toby Keith concert.

Anybody that knows me also knows I am NOT about the country western. I have heard of Toby Keith but couldn't tell you what he looks like much less the name of a song he sings. I went because of the group of people that invited me. They are fun and most any concert I have ever been to, it's the people that make the party.

I am still not much into cowboy. But this show was far and away Top-5 in my book of concerts. Trace Atkins opened the show. OMG! What a great start! By the time Toby came out there were probably 40,000 fired up Americans singing and dancing in the aisles. What a red-white-and-blue show this was. Other than his Ford truck (I'm a Dodge man, thank you) this was as inspiring a performance of nationalism as I have ever seen. Anywhere. Anytime. It makes you proud to be an American, not that I had any trouble before. David Allen Coe made a guest appearance - at age 71 he can still sing a song. Willie Nelson had a video appearance. Definetly Top 5. And I have seen some shows: Aerosmith (twice), Doobie Bros., Lynard Skynard (several times), ZZ Top and more.

Two of my best friends also came down from Belleville that weekend. Jim is my cabinet maker bud. He built a new kitchen for one of the rental units and he and his wife came down for a week to install (one day) and hang-out at the beach. Pam was also off for several days (holiday weekend) so we had a blast. They brought their bikes so riding was a big part. One day we 2-wheeled up to Caladesi Island and then rented kayaks. I have NEVER seen a REAL pink flamingo -- until that day!

The next day, we took Pams convertible down to Sarasota and went shopping at St. Armand Circle, where the rich and famous spend their money. That afternoon we drove up to the beach at Anna Maria. I live on one of the barrier islands north of the entrance into Tampa Bay from the Gulf. Anna Maria is the northernmost beach on the south side of the entrance to Tampa Bay. Parking is near impossible there as it is 99% residential. That didn't stop us. We 'borrowed' a vacant rental-properties alcove to change into swimming suits, hiding behind big beach towels. Then it was a half block walk between residences to get to the water.

To be honest, I like my beach better. There was nice sand there (like mine) but no shells. And the sand bars went out into the Gulf for several hundred yards before plunging into deep water. Very deep water. I know for a fact they shark fish in the channel less than a mile away. I reminded everyone we were just shark bait. But now I can say that I have been there. Good memories. But probably not worth the trip to go back again.

We had dinner at some beach restaurant and watched the sunset. And then road home with the top down star-gazing and marveling at how the flashes of lightening off in the distance were such a contrast to the rest of the sky. Until it started raining on us. And I'm talking a torrential downpour. The stereotypical gully washer Florida is famous for. Jim was driving so he was not familiar with the controls for putting the roof up. He knew we had to stop. But it was a few seconds before he figured out the car also has to be in neutral. To say were were soaked would be an understatement.

Eventually we got the top up. But the windows were still down and the wind is blowing the rain sideways - IN on MY side! And he can't get the windows up! What the hell? The girls in back are laughing hysterically as I try to hold a beach blanket over the opening - pretty much unsuccessfully. It felt like 10 minutes but was probably only one before he realized the child-lock was on preventing the windows from being raised. More memories.

Pam celebrated a birthday that week. The four of us and four others went to a fine dining establishment in Tampa - Seasons 52. Everyone was dressed to the nines. The bill was close to $400. Pam and Lori did a little swing dance at the bar with the piano INSIDE. More memories.

The Tuesday after Labor Day I worked - like a dog. We installed the kitchen cabinets. Jim goes 150 mph. I struggle to keep up ... and keep out of his way. But it sure does look good. I kidded the tenant that his rent was going up $100/mo.

There was some bad news. On my trip down here I got stuck in stop-and-go traffic for more than an hour pulling a 10,000 LB load. It pretty much destroyed my clutch. I guess after 350,000 miles it was due replacing. So I put my truck in the shop Wednesday with the expectation it would be done Saturday, which it was. But I only made it 10 miles and had complications. It went back in the shop Monday and I just got it back this morning. Hopefully it is good to go because I load in the morning headed back to STL to find another driver.

So now I'm caught up - again. I will try to get back in the habit of updating. But right now, it's dinnertime.

Can't Forget Saturday Night

See how busy I have been? I forgot one of the highlights this past week - Saturday Night at the races. Freeburg held it's annual Homecoming last weekend. On Friday nights they have the tractor pulls and then Saturday it's the trucks. LOTS of trucks. All makes and models, gas and diesel, old and new.

If you haven't been to a truck pull, imagine a 20' long trailer that sits very low to the ground and has wheels at the very back end - called a sled. They hook the sled to you with a big chain, give you the green light and you take off and pull it as far as you can. Oh, and there is this VERY heavy weight on the tail end - over the wheels to start - that moves forward on the trailer - towards your truck - as you are going down the track. The front of the sled eventually begins digging into the dirt.

Only the good ones get more than 150'. The best get 225' or so. The very best that night was a Dodge Ram Diesel, for the second year in a row, I might add. Some break things on their truck in the attempt - like U-joints. Thats the thing that connects the drive shaft to the rear-end.

Some of the guys are REALLY serious about their trucks. They have the monster, all-terrain tires; propane-cooled, chipped-up monster diesels; huge ladder-bar style arms holding the rear suspension in place. Big bucks. And the crowd was all into it, including us. We had a blast.

I took one of our flatbed straight trucks up to the race track about 7 AM Saturday morning and backed it up to the fence near the finish line. At race time we packed about 12 people on our 'stage' with lawn chairs and had a blast. I do have pictures but in the intrest of protecting the innocent, they will remain in my private collection. Sorry.

Double the Business -- But only Half as Much Time!

I know it's going to get better, but I feel like a one-armed paperhanger. It is a relief to get in the truck and just go drive somewhere - like Montgomery, AL where I am tonite preparing to deliver some pipe to a sign company.

It took a bit longer last week to get everything in order for my new driver. There were some minor complications with his truck and repairs were needed to get the DOT inspection. That happened Friday. He is pulling my old trailer and that also had some issues that took until Friday to fix. That and about $400! And that doesn't include the new tires it needs. But it is in service for the moment and making money.

We got Mike a load Thursday evening going up to Minnesota. WAY up in Minnesota. He was about 90 miles south of Canada. And his first load required tarps. I gave him mine. In fact I went with him to load and showed him some things.

Mike has no Over-The-Road driving experience but he was in the construction biz for 20+ years and has lots of experience towing gooseneck trailers with equiptment. But best of all, he has the right attitude. And that's worth a ton. So we spent alot of time going over log books and DOT scales and expectations and an assortment of other stuff. He is on information overload at this point but I am a phone call away so, no worries. I added him to my "A-List" so we now talk for free.

He finally got on the road Sunday and made the delivery Monday morning. I hooked him up with a Jeep that moved him back south to Madison, WI and then three skids out of the Chicago area brought him thru STL tonight. He will deliver those skids in the morning and then we need to address those tires.

I had a local trip Monday and then loaded this pipe this morning. I will deliver this first thing tomorrow and then go 90 miles back north to Birmingham where I load more pipe with a stops in Indianapolis and St. Louis.

I was also busy last week soliciting new shippers. I had contact with five different companies and have actually done business ALREADY with two of them. I am VERY excited about this part of our growth. I hope to get enough activity directly with shippers (no brokers) to keep 4-5 drivers working getting OUT of STL and then use the load boards to get them back home.

But right now it's beddy-by time. I have another early day and 600 miles to go tomorrow!

Another Landmark Day in My New Biz

A very significant day for my trucking company as I double in size from one driver (me) to two! Welcome Mike! I'm not sure who's more excited - him or me.

I am back in Belleville for a week or so to get things in place with him. He has made some significant commitments to this career change - for him - and I am anxious to make sure he is successful. I am incredibly lucky to have found someone willing to make the effort he has and I feel an obligation to do everything possible to make this work, for both of our sakes. I talk to a lot of people who think what I do is 'kool' and are 'interested' but it is most often just talk. Mike has invested time, effort and money over the past couple of weeks to set himself up for this. Starting today it's MY turn to take this to the next level.

I was looking at the load boards this morning to see what was available. Searching with-in 100 mile radius of St. Louis, I found 23 loads on one board that we can do and more than 100 vehicles on another board that need to be moved! I heard on the news last night how there is concern that our economic recovery maybe faltering and unemployment is almost 10%. Just my opinion, but I'd say 90% of those 10% unemployed don't really WANT to work. There is stuff out there if you want to make the effort.

Being successful at ANYTHING (job, relationships, life, whatever) comes down to three basic things: Skill, Knowledge and Attitude. Skill and knowledge can be taught or learned over time. Attitude comes from with-in. A persons success - or failure - can be traced back to one of these three factors and more often than not, attitude is THE ONE.

Ok, enough of the soapbox. What have I been doing that I'm too busy to post for two weeks? My last post was from Florida where I had just arrived with my youngest son. The first half of our time together was great. But the vacation was cut short of what I planned when I over-reacted to what should have been a relatively insignificant event. My relationship with my youngest son has not been as good as it should be. In retrospect, it has been mostly my fault.

I did not go to any "parenting school." I learned, like most everyone else, 'on-the-job.' And I have made alot of mistakes. I am hopeful that in time my youngest will see that my heart is good even when my actions are not, and that will count for something. I use to think my father was the dumbest guy around. It amazed me how much he had learned by the time I was 40! Hopefully my son will see this a little sooner than I did.

Leaving FL, I found an auction car going from Tampa to about 50 miles from here. I added a forklift, also from Tampa, that delivered in Memphis, which was sorta on the way. In Memphis I picked up a second car that I delivered the same day in St. Louis. So the ride back here to Southern IL was good financially.

I will spend probably a week here with Mike and then head back out Sunday or Monday. I have to be back in FL by Sep 3 or 4. There is a kitchen remodel scheduled for one of the rental units there and I'm the plumber as well as the gofer (you know, go-fer-this and go-fer-that). Hopefully there will be some work here with the construction company that is our #1 local client to keep us busy.

Right now, I have stuff to do getting ready for orientation! A significant day for me!

Lots of "Paradise" in My Near Future

Made it into St. Petersburg late Sunday afternoon. It rained much of the last two hours thru Florida but it's okay. The tarp-covered motorcycle seems to be doing well. A bonus is the very shiny, high-dollar Porsche 911 sitting behind the bike is also getting protection from the road spray.

I rent a parking space for my trailer when I'm in town here. It's about five miles from the house but the best part is that it is fenced and the gate is locked. Plus, my parking space is right next to the owners house so he has a clear view out his back door. I don't worry about my $20K motorcycle (which is unloaded but sitting on the ground - Jared can't drive my truck) or the $125K Porsche waiting for delivery.

We made it onto the beach for sunset - one of my MOST favorite things to do EVERY day! While the storm clouds did not allow us to see the sun 'kiss' the water, they did provide a colorful sky to welcome us home. As the sun settles below the horizon, there is a bright orange-changing-to-pink afterglow illuminating the clouds set against a darkening sky. Add in the silvery shimmering Gulf waters and the salt air and it is why I love it so much here. (Except for those not-so-nice things the salt air does to my shiny motorcycle over time!)

Monday morning, while my sleepy-head son slept, I delivered the Porsche. What a difference in dealerships! St. Pete Porsche is a class act compared to those clowns in Arlington. I asked directions to my Point of Contact from a young man power washing the driveway. He stopped what he was doing and with a smile, was about to take me by-the-hand where I needed to go. Maybe he was just trying to get out of work - hahaha. No, he was just very nice and obviously considered personal service to be important. (Are you guys in Arlington listening?)

Next was groceries and then the library (need some reading material for my lazy days on the beach) after dropping my trailer again.

Where I stay here is actually three apartments in two buildings about 200' from the beach. I stay in the 2-bdrm unit on the second floor with laundry and garage underneath. The other building, with a beautiful courtyard between us, has a very large one-bdrm downstairs and an efficiency upstairs. Both of those are rented. The efficiency has a new tenant moving in next week. She gets it furnished so I spent the afternoon putting the final touches on that. And of course sunset on the beach.



Today is a pool day. Jared and I will go to a close friends condo downtown and hang out at the pool. She has family in town visiting also. Then tonite we will walk across the street from her place and watch the Tampa Rays play. It's cheap seat nite there - $10 each.

Ahhhhh .... such a tough life!

We Can't Get There From Here

I delivered my pipe in Fort Worth last Monday morning and then loaded three ATVs going east just a few miles away in Dallas. I was on my way to pick-up my youngest son Jared in Arkansas when the sidewall of one of my rear tires gave out.

I had a very aggressive plan to grab him and then get down to my first stop in LA by Monday evening. It is only about 550 miles of driving but much of it was two-lane thru AR and LA where I had to get Jared. The flat made that impossible.

I replaced the non-repairable tire I had with a used one. My current tires have about 40% tread and I really didn't want to put a brand new one in the mix. A used one should work until I'm ready to change all six again. In fact, this used one may have a bit more tread left and might become my spare when I do change tires. Plus, it cost $35 mounted and balanced, way cheaper than the $150 a new one costs.

I spent the night at Jared's house and then out the door very early Tuesday to go the 120 miles to stop #1. From there we rode straight across I-20, thru Atlanta and made our second delivery outside Athens, GA just as it got dark. Then it was more two-lane as we went south 'thru-the-woods' to our final drop.

It was a very excellent day with Jared. We had good conversation and just a nice time. He has ridden with me before although not for a long time. He spent one summer with me travelling around the country in a 'Big Truck' about 12 years ago when he was 8.

We made our final delivery first thing Wednesday morning and then drove the last 50 miles to my parents house to spend a few days. I planned to find something to load on Friday that would get us to the sun coast of FL outside St. Petersburg. But it never happened. At least not how I planned.

Thursday we all went to Tybee Beach, about 15 miles from Savannah. I had been searching the load boards in vain trying to go south when I finally booked a trip going 500 miles north to Richmond, VA. From there I found a 2010 Porsche 911 Cabriolet going to St. Petersburg.

I left Jared at Grandmas, picked up a road grader 10 miles up the street and ran north up the I-95 corridor. I actually made my delivery Friday night and was able to continue to Arlington Porsche where respect is nothing but a sign on the wall. What a bunch of stereo-typical 'car salesman.'

I called my Point of Contact three times Friday afternoon to let them know I would be there first thing Saturday. Call #1 - no answer, left a voice mail. Call #2 = no answer, just hung up. Call #3 I asked for anybody and got salesman "T" who blew me off shortly after realizing I was picking up a car (rather than looking to buy one) by suggesting I call back in the morning because he "was with a client." Why did you answer the phone then stupid?

When I showed up at the dealership, my car was still sitting inside the showroom and the guys were in a meeting. After about a half hour wait, they finally got the car out and into my possession. No respect. Oh, and my POCs response when I said I left him a message yesterday telling him I was coming in first thing? He glances at his phone and says, "Oh, my light is blinking."

I was sitting a few feet away while their sales meeting was going on. Their topic today was "Getting Back to Basics." It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. How about "Practice What You Preach" or "Return Your Phone Calls" or "Show Some Courtesy". If the owner wants to improve business he could start by cleaning house because this GMs got nothing but lip-service.

But I got my high-dollar car loaded up and made it back to Grandmas by late last night. Today we will head down to Paradise. I'm looking forward to the beach!

And by-the-way, my tarp covered motorcycle is doing AWESOME! I rained again most of last night all the way through South Carolina. My bike is sitting high and dry! I love it!