Oh well, I'm Back!

Shortly after my last post here where I said "Hang On" and then it happened to me.
On 27 March 2009 I was laid off, my home terminal was being shut down.




In the off months I have had I have found something of interest in trucking land.

Crappy carriers will hire anyone, there are TONS of these places.

Good Carriers are NOT hiring, which is why I am Happy to be going back to my Superior Carriers Family.

Maybe the lesson learned is, hang in there for a real opportunity.
Or maybe the lesson can be "Don't Give Up On A Good Thing"

In any case, there are MANY places to go, they just really are not worth going to though.
Throughout my long transportation career, I have see recessions, fuel price spikes, rate changes and that along with all the regulatory changes the last decade has created and the new decade seems to be embracing.



Long ago, in the 80's trucking was a WAY different world.
Then came deregulation, air ride and power steering.
Then came the so called driver shortages, condo sleepers and the 425 Cat.
Then a recession, the 444 Cummins and the Super10 transmission.
Then a fuel spike and a drastic rate deflation, Autocar Corp closed as did Marmon Inc.
Another fuel price spike, and paperless logbooks.
Then another recession, a wake up on 9/11 in Mebane NC, a war on terror, my hometowns skyline changed FOREVER.
My Company then, Rocor Transportation Shuts down and goes bankrupt, Prime buys it in bankruptcy court for pennies.
I get another job right away, it lasted a MONTH, it went bankrupt and the dealer repoed my unit before I even removed all my stuff, Oh well.
Never mind the places in between, the ones that stole pay, the ones that did NOT take the Child support payments and send them in though my pay statement said they did it.
Never mind the breakdowns in communication with dispatchers that could not get freight out of a wet paper bag.
The breakdowns of equipment, truck and trailer.
The training in the Smith System and all the other courses out there.
The death of friends, the missing of holidays and birthdays, events and festivities.



Through all that I would not trade what I do for anything in the world.
It's not for everyone, but I love it.
Road has Ice, I am happy, I drive, I adapt and I am SAFE.
Rain, No problem!
Blow a Steer tire, Okay.
I don't care where they send me or with what load, I will go.
I will be safe and deliberate, planned and determined.
That is the job after all.
Just keep my pay right, be honest with me and I will deal with the truth and get the job done, and done right.
When I get to my customer, I will say hello, be pleasant and smile
That means safe, planned and deliberate at all times.



This is the service I provide for my employers customers.

Planned safe reliable and deliberate transportation of the products and commodities that they require, when they require it.
I don't chose the place and time, but I do enjoy my job in between the lines and the hour hands.
So now in 2009 with the holiday season fast approaching, I am happy to be getting back on the road.
Happy to have a job at a place that has the old fashioned and the new in balance.
Joyous over the fact I am going to be in the company of professionals and not hacks.
But most of all, I am grateful I can put all the hard knocks behind me and move on now.

I'm not the twenty something year old I use to be, trucking around NYC and peddling freight and produce off the Hunts Point Docks and North eastern farms from New Jersey to New Brunswick Canada.

But I am a wiser forty something year old trucker that knows how nice some of these things we have today are.

A/C Air Ride and Big Sleepers, Flat Screen TVs, Internet Access, APUs and Idle Air.

That's all fine and dandy, but I Still long for the good from the "Good Ole Days"

But I do long for the days when things were a little simpler, a little more reliable.


I will report to my new terminal, shake my Dispatchers hand and ask "What do you need done?"
Because after all, that is all it should take.
A handshake and a kept word. Nice and simple.
Maybe it never was this simple back then, but it seems it was and the job got done.
Not with contracts and lawyers, advisers and managers but with just a simple handshake.

Maybe that is the attitude we all need these days.
Seal the deal and get it done right.
Maybe, just maybe then, we can remove what sucks the life from some places and people and look at more than just Number One, or the bottom line.



Maybe we need to teach ourselves that honesty and hard work gets the work done.
So here I go again, wish me luck and I'll see you on the road somewhere.