This too will pass..

I'm sitting in my truck at a truck stop in Jacksonville Florida.. it's been 12 hours since our delivery last night.. I wake up to a QualComm message that our reload status is D: meaning getting a load out of here today is unlikely, but check back at 4:pm... last week my apprentice Terrence and I were stuck in Austin Texas for 2 days.. Florida is another black hole for freight.. much like most parts of Texas.

The main reason I chose trucking as a new career was 1) that there is demand for drivers 2) that as a trainer for C. R. England (CRE) I could exceed my financial obligations and pay back my creditors 3) ever since I was a young man while transporting horses from Tucson Arizona to Big Bear Lake California and back with my father.. I have always had a desire/fantasy about driving a big truck across this great country of ours.
Now with the economy seeming to collapse under the weight of countless compounding errors of our elected/corporate controlled officials, maybe picking this career has been a mistake. If I were able or given the 6 to 7 thousand miles a week I need to exceed my financial obligations.. then I would be singing a different tune.
Since I am in vent mode, well then vent I will. The driver managers/dispatchers hold way too much power in controlling our ability to run freight, which in turn controls our ability to earn money. Here is a brief history of my DM's since leasing a truck.

1) Fleet B9 - Justin Harvey transfered to a container division.
2) Benny Crawford took over from Justin.. he had the #1 solo fleet for a couple of weeks.. and I was running as a team with 2nd seat drivers at the time.. I don't know what happened to Benny.. I received a message from
3) Kevin Hoffman, Fleet ? that he was watching Fleet B9 .. Kevin gave me miles.. 7K in 1 week.. the most I've received in the 9 months with England. I was transfered to
4) Fleet D3 - Bryson Deppe 08/19/08. I was with this fleet less than a week and Bryson up and quits. I was shocked. I had just met him earlier the day I received a message that he walked out. Now I've been transfered to
5) Fleet G1 with Anthony C. and Johnny ? on 08/25/08.. got a solo run from SLC to Bolingbrook Illinois, then picked up my new apprentice Terrence in Hammond Indiana, went from there to Austin Texas, where we sat for 2 days (at $285 a day of net income) then deadheaded to Laredo Texas, hooked a loaded trailer out of Mexico and took it to Indianapolis Indiana. Then we got a load of frozen stuff from Indianapolis and brought it here to Jacksonville Florida.. where we will probably sit for 2 days again. Describing my angst over the QualComm to my DM, he replied with "call me please" which I did and proceeded to find out that there are 30 CRE trucks layed over in Florida.. so here we go again.. I'm frustrated, angered and helpless to do anything but nag my DM.

The last 30 days have yielded 14,504 miles. Divide 14,504 by 4 wks = 3,626 which would be a good solo drivers week. I need 6 to 7 thousand miles a week, or 24 to 28 thousand miles a month, which is what I expect to be able to run.

On the upside, I've had one good conversation with my DM today.. he's fully aware of my concerns and has stated his desire to help remedy the situation.
I have been able to listen to all of the speakers at Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic, held in Minneapolis Minnesota. You can watch video's of them all here.
While in Austin Texas, I was introduced to David Blume, through a BrassCheck TV email. The information David offers about ethanol has been suppressed by big oil since the days of John Rockefeller who sponsored "Prohibition". He has written a book which I ordered the other day.. called "Alcohol Can Be A Gas". There is $300K (all private money) invested and over 4 years for David and a group of dedicated researcher's life's that have gone into what is being touted as the most comprehensive book on ethanol ever produced. I suggest watching all of Davids video's available online here. He presents an incredible future for America, providing jobs in rural area's (where they are needed most) and becoming free from the strangle hold of big oil. I love this guy.

Here is a link to a page I share with everyone. The information contained in the video's are the stuff that revolution is made of.. and we need revolution to turn this insane federal government back to its roots in the Constitution of the United States of America. If you like what you see, feel free to share the page with all of your friends by adding the link to your email signature.

I'm headed to Walmart to buy some provisions... ciao for now.