Maybe you have considered training truck drivers?

Nearly a decade ago I started my journey of teaching entry level truck drivers. I have traveled all over the world and never had to leave the cab of my truck. Some of the stories that have been shared with me and the friendships I have made are really quite extraordinary. I’m eternally grateful to have this opportunity.

When I first starting working with entry level drivers I had not the foggiest of a idea how to even begin. I was a solid and experienced truck driver with out the skill set to teach. Of course I made all the rookie mistakes by showing them all the wrong things;

• Speed averaging
• Rounding off miles
• Trip dropping
• How to by pass the scales
• Taught them how to be more aggressive in their driving so we could make good time, etc

In the beginning my patients was tested and my life was threatened due in part to my inability to truly teach;

• I have had drivers fall asleep behind the wheel
• Get robbed or thrown in jail
• Urinate or defecate on them self and the truck
• Jump out of the truck while they were driving
• Try to punch me while I was driving
• Just released out of the mental institution (no joke)
• Speak very little English

My first year was a real learning experience it took me a while but I slowly realized that even tho you might be a great truck driver that does not mean you have the ability to teach. I thought to myself  “crap, I’m a horrible teacher” at this point I had two options;

1. Seek out guidance from a good teacher
2. Stop all together

Have you ever seen a truck this big?

On one of my recent trips out to Florida I pulled into the Tiger Truck Stop in Gross Tete, LA to partake in their fine cuisine when I spotted one hell of a beast and I’m not referring to the tiger that makes his home at the truck stop. The beast I’m speaking of was a 600 inch wheel based Freightliner Coronado renegade,  a somewhat rare truck that was pulling Chris Rado’s scion racers. Check this amazing truck out!

Want to check out what these guys are hauling in the back of this beautiful rig? Check out Chris Rado in action

Please check out my channel whitelinefilms and if you like my videos please subscribe to my trucking videos. Thank you to all who support the work I do.

Not a day goes by that I don’t hear “we need to improve highway safety” and tho trucking is at its safest point in history I would think that the constant pressure to make improvement plays a big part in that success. I personally believe that the current pay system in the trucking industry contributes to not only accidents on the highway but poor health for many drivers. Could changing the way truckers are paid make a difference for the well being of millions?

Every week on the blind spot trucking talk radio show industry experts get together to discuss the future and current state of the trucking industry.  Join in with the 30-50 regular cast members who are live on the call to talk about what matters in trucking, maybe your a little shy? Join in the trucking chat room instead every Tuesday night at 10pm eastern time. This show is downloaded on average of 50,000 times a month and has over a million downloads since the show launched. Unlike “ON AIR LIVE” shows this show can be listened to and shared with friends and family into perpetuity, thank you all for sharing the show because of you we’re really making a difference in the trucking industry.

Other topics on this episode:

• Talk about the entry level driver problem
• Going owner operator | Advantages, disadvantages
• Changing the pay structure in the trucking industry is it doable?
• CSA 2010

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I have traveled many miles across this great nation of ours meeting many great men and women along the way. However I’m not going to sit here and try to paint this pretty picture about trucking like all the men and women are great because the fact of the matter is there are many, many douche bags. Just when I thought I had met, seen, heard of the most notorious of douche bags this country has to offer out of no where like a burning sensation the day after partying with truck stop hookers comes Donald Crawford.

( alright, maybe not such a big surprise, LOL :->)

The story goes something like this;

Donald thrown out on his head by the bouncers of Sassy Kat’s Showclub in Indianapolis, Indiana after a 45 minute hardcore session of pounding back drinks like his life depended on it. He brings himself to his feet, dazed, confused, and mildly retarded. He slowly stumbles his way across the parking lot trying to shake off what appears to be a vagina high. At some point he starts to panic when he can’t find his truck, he calls 911.

“911 whats your emergency?”

“my truck has been stolen and my son is inside” Donald reports

This is the condensed version of the report as it took Donald four minutes to spit out what just took you five seconds to read.

Upon arriving to the scene the officers realized Donald was not the victim of theft he was plastered drunk and smelled of moldy snatch. Putting two and two together the officers had figured he had been at the titty bar, they went to the strip joint where they confirmed that Donald was in fact at the bar acting like a ten year old who just seen his first issue of playboy. Back at the truck stop they found Donald’s truck door unlocked  keys in the ignition and his five year old inside passed out from watching cartoons. Way to go super dad, your sir are the biggest asshole in the world.  The officers had found the mother of the child was in nearby Franklin, Indiana they called and she came down to pick up the kid and I’m sure what money if any he had left over as this douche bag is not going to make a paycheck for a long time.

Question: What do you think is wrong with this bastard? If he wanted to go to the strip club why not take the kid home to mommy and go back to the club or would she not like the idea of him being entertained by other women?  He must of thought he was home free if he had the kid and she wouldn’t suspect a thing? What you think?

I thought I was one tough trucker.

The American Trucker is often seen as the last American mountain man, a nomad of sorts traveling across America through some of the worst of conditions to deliver his freight. A way of life for most, a job for others but one thing is for certain.  We’re a tough as nails subculture who can  do more then tell you about what it takes to keep a nation running we can show you the bruises.

As I like to say “trucking is not for pussies“. I have seen men travel under some really bad conditions and when I say conditions I’m not talking about the weather in this case. Most people have the luxury to call out if they feel a cold coming on. Have you had the flu or a cold lately? did you call out of work?  When normal civilians can call their doctor and schedule a appointment to take care of their health that is often not a option for a trucker who could be thousands of miles away from his doctor, if he even has one.

I once had a medical emergency that was life threatening, So I drove myself to the ER in Pasadena CA they told me “you can’t park that big truck here!” I said “watch me #$@#$ I’m about to die!!”. Finding a legal place to park to seek medical attention is another huge problem in the trucking industry.

I have dealt with all kinds of medical conditions on the road before I could get home or to a qualified doctor to take care of myself such as: broken bones, abscessed teeth. pinched nerves etc.. No one should have to compromise their health, their safety and the life of everyone around them because no one is there to help in their time of need or they’re to stubborn to seek out help. When I first started driving I hated the idea of taking time of to take care of my health after many health problems and nearly loosing my life on several occasions I realized taking care of your health should be every drivers number one priority.

I digress, I want to share a story with you about one trucker who’s medical situation makes my “dealt with medical problems list”  look like a whiny excuse to write a article. Trucker Jason Ripley was cruising through Darlington, Co Durham when he hit a crash barrier. What is so strange about that, you say “it happens everyday” you say “stop wasting my fu#king time” you say.  Alright mother #$@$# I’ll get to it. What makes this different is not only that he was impaled by a 8ft pole but that he was conscious enough to call his boss and say “I’ve had a bit of an accident - I’m in a spot of bother sir.“  That is truly a tough trucker. Jason recovered and was back to work shortly after the accident.

Have you ever felt like the highway patrol was out to get you?

Normally I would say “Driver your just being pessimistic that officer was just doing his job”, Or are they? Now former Wyoming highway patrol officer Franklin Ryle Jr. definitely wasn’t “just doing his job”. Franklin Ryle Jr. dreamed up a scheme that he thought would make him rich over night!

Franklin Ryle Jr.

His plan: To arrest a Wal-Mart truck driver under bogus claims that he had a warrant in Colorado,  murder him and stage a crash in order to collect a settlement from the company. On top of that he had planned to throw his wife into the mix and collect on her life insurance.

The investigation of Ryle began in mid-January after his brother-in-law - a Casper police officer - contacted Highway Patrol officials in Cheyenne to report that Ryle had planned to collect a settlement from Wal-Mart by staging an accident involving his patrol car and a company truck, according to the affidavit, which was signed by FBI Special Agent Richard Fanelli.

On Jan. 15, Wal-Mart truck driver Richard Smidt showed up at a Highway Patrol office in Cheyenne and told an official he’d been stopped by Ryle a week earlier while driving on Interstate 25 near Douglas. Smidt said Ryle arrested him on a Colorado warrant and drove him to Douglas in his patrol car.

Smidt told the Highway Patrol that Ryle stopped at a home in Douglas and went inside for 10 minutes, leaving him handcuffed in the car. Ryle eventually returned and drove Smidt back to his truck and released him, claiming there had been a mistake about the warrant.

The Highway Patrol asked the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to look into the matter on Jan. 16. Two state agents spoke with Ryle the same day, and according to the affidavit, the trooper admitted to stopping a Wal-Mart truck and arresting the driver on Jan. 8 near Douglas. He claimed a radio check revealed there was a warrant for the driver, but after driving to Douglas, a second check indicated the warrant information was incorrect.

The agents also questioned Ryle about why the traffic stop hadn’t been recorded by his patrol car’s camera. Ryle said he must have forgotten to insert a hard drive into the new camera, according to the affidavit. In the same interview, Ryle denied planning to use the Wal-Mart truck to stage an accident.

I call BS I can smell a lie like a fart in a car and this “claim of his” has stank all over it.

Ryle pleaded guilty to felony charges for depriving a trucker of his rights and using a firearm in a violent crime. Ryle faces up to 19 years in prison for the murder scheme. Ryle is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 29 by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming.

A psychiatrist has concluded the former state trooper suffered from “reduced mental capacity” when he kidnapped the trucker while on duty in January, federal court documents show.

However, the prosecutor in the case claims the psychiatrist’s report on Franklin Ryle Jr. is unreliable because the doctor failed to consider a pattern of criminal activity beyond Ryle’s money-making scheme to murder the trucker.

Read the full story on trib.com

What do you think about this, is this officer crazy? How would you as a driver deal with a lunatic like this? That I’m not even sure about.