TruckersU Blog

The end?

Not quite. Truck Suds A truckin’ soap opera Miles here. We had some reg’lar readers send emails an such, wondrin’ what-all was goin’ on with my blog. Kinda missed it, they said. Thank you kindly for sayin’ that. This’ll be the last blog edition of TruckSuds, though, as Nadine says…

Nadine whaps some manners into a customer

TruckSuds: a truckin’ soap opera Hey, everbody. Short of time today, but wanted to share somethin’ that happened last Monday. You know my wife, Nadine, is a mite feisty at times. If she suddenly got reincarnatated, she’d be the chihuahua challenging a St. Bernard. That’s jus’ her nature. Remember when…

Trouble at the Truckstop

TruckSuds – a truckin’ soap opera It got a little lively around here last week. Clarissa had gotten herself kinda settled in lookin’ after my sister, Flora, and her lil’ cat that had a broken wrist too. She refused to let my sis pay her for the help, though, ’cause…

Mamies Gas-Up & Go Cafe'

Thanks, truckers

Nadine here. Wasn’t that a nice Google Doodle to salute health care workers, first responders and farmers? Now they need to salute another group that’s often overlooked even though they’re on the front lines too. You know who ol’ Nadine’s talkin’ about – yep, truckers. You-all.

Mamies Gas-Up & Go Cafe'

Cat House on Wheels

Seems Flora recently had kind of a rough time of it, her and the five cats. Some mouse snuck into her little RV last week and the cats just went crazy. The RV was rockin’ back and forth and jumpin’ up and down, leanin’ first one way and then the other until Flora thought for sure they were all going to be capsized like that fishin’ boat in “A Perfect Storm.

On a Hammock

Road Skill – Planning a Vacation

Taking a vacation is something many micro-motor carriers place on the back burner. The trucker either thinks he can’t afford it or his business will go down the tubes if he takes time off. On the contrary. As far-fetched as this may seem, a vacation is possible with a bit of planning and foresight.

Mamies Gas-Up & Go Cafe'

Newbie or not?

TruckSuds: a truckin’ soap opera Howdy from Miles, everbody. Hope your highway’s straight and your EOBR is too. A few days ago, some of the long-time truckers decided to ‘help’ a new trucker out with all kinds of advice. Well, naturally, I just had to listen in on that –…

basket ball and goal

Road Skills – Being in the Game to Win

Do you have the facts and figures which support what you’re doing according to your plan? This is how you determine if it’s working. Should you stay the course? If it’s not working, to what extent do you adjust the plan? Do you scrap the portion that isn’t achieving your goals, or make small changes? How do you know the best course of action?

You Got This

Road Skills – Knowledge is Strength

Knowledge creates strength; hence, it gives you the power to succeed. There are two different ways in which a person can gain knowledge. One is from experience, being there and doing it, making mistakes and working in the trenches. The other way is through studying and research until you know your subject inside and out.

Mamies Gas-Up & Go Cafe'

TruckSuds – A real trooper

Hello everbody, hope you’re under a real good load an’ headin’ home after delivery. Let me tell you about another local character, our Super Trooper, ‘Rattle’ Snake, Snakes, or a lot of other names. Depends on how long it’s been since you got a ticket as to what you call this epitome of trooperhood. I remember one tale specially, from Lucas Briscoe.

Compass

Road Skill Blog – Where Are You Headed?

You need to reassess where you’re hauling, who you’re hauling for, and what you’re hauling. Many hauling sectors declined in the last year, but not all. A hauling sector can be anything from the lane you haul in, to the products or industry you’re concentrating on, to the individual companies for which you haul.

The Trucker Zone – Lookout Pass

The snow, which had been no more than just spitting began coming down in furious earnest, quickly coating the roadway in an inch or more of snow. We continued on, as we were now fully committed to the climb and descent.

As we’re crossing a long bridge, a fire truck frame (just the cab with nothing but frame rails and rear axle) does a 360-degree spin about 200 yards ahead of us on the bridge we’re crossing. I know that if it’s that slick I must maintain momentum

You Can’t Make Butter Churning Drivers

With a scarcity of people wanting to drive a semi, with freight availability increasing almost daily, many trucking companies’ thoughts are turning to add more drivers. However, with recruiting, training and being sure new hires are ready to follow the constant barrage of new regulations from the FMCSA, the investment of both time and dollars bringing on new truckers has increased.

Trucking business courses

One for the Team

When any two units of the team are in conflict, the entire team suffers. If each team member is only interested in his or her own benefit without regard to the effect on the other members, the entire team’s efforts will fail. It’s important for all the units which make up the team to work together.

Riding the Economic Roller Coaster

The thought of riding a roller coaster leaves me with memories of the stomach in the throat, white knuckles, sweaty palms, and sheer fear of what’s over the next rise or around the next corner. Kinda sounds like trucking, available freight scraping bottom and freight rates leaving our stomachs in knots—well, like a roller coaster.

Thriving not just Surviving in 2020

It’s not just a question of survival during these times of low freight volumes and freight rates. It’s time to take advantage of the many opportunities coming down the road. The last year was one the hardest on small motor carriers since the Great Recession of 2009 and 2010. But…

Mamies Gas-Up & Go Cafe'

Real life at the truckstop

TruckSuds: a truckin’ soap opera Miles here. Strange happenin’s at Mamie’s this week. I’d just finished fillin’ the paper towel dispensers and windshield washer containers at the fuel islands when a kinda battered, older rig pulled into the far island. Wouldn’t have noticed except there seemed to be a real…