Waiting in Laredo

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Waiting in Laredo

I got here yesterday at 10:00 and went on the board at 108. This morning I am 66. I don’t expect to be out of here today. It is taking drivers about 3 days to get a load. The last few times that I have been here it has been slow getting to leave.

A couple of the guys that I went to CFI boot camp with are here so it has been good to see them. They both have been averaging about 2200 miles a week. That is what I get in a low week but I expect that to drop after this so called busy season of the year. Freight has been slow and will undoubtedly get slower. Our economic outlook in poor but I have a few comments on the cause and the fix.

The Cause: I won’t try to cover all the reasons but what I consider the major causes.

Financial Responsibility: Our government, our financial and business institutions, and we have violated the very basics of being financially responsibility; we owe too much. We have borrowers that get in over their head, banks, and credit cards companies, and other business that give credit beyond the borrower’s ability to pay.

The weak dollar: The weak dollar has caused an increase in the price of gold and therefore an increase in the price of oil and everything else. Bush’s belief that a weak dollar would help our export shows how little he understands the economy. The US has always stood for a strong dollar and has made it the standard currency that the world uses. We can not just print more money without causing an economic problem. If you compare the value of gold to the price of oil you will find that it runs parallel.

Regularizations: This is a real problem. How much is too little and how much is too much. We have seen the results of too little regularization. We need some regularization but too much can also be a problem. One of the greatest difficulties in small business success is dealing with government. Large businesses can have dedicated people to deal with this regularization but for a small business it can become a major problem.

Taxes: None of us like to pay taxes and believe that it should be the other groups’ responsibility. The lower income class feels that they can’t afford the taxes as well as the upper income class that believes that it restricts their ability to earn money that goes back in the economy to keep it running. If you are in the very low class you can get money that you didn’t even pay in. Does anyone think this is fair? We have several problems with the current tax plan. If you are in one of the lowest income brackets with dependents besides receiving the earned income credits you can qualify for food stamps, housing assistants, free health care, and other programs. The low income or immigrant is no longer earning $6.00 hour but much more. This adds to the burden of the middle income earner in the form of taxes and completing with the lower paid and unskilled employee. This puts him in a similar economic position as the low income worker. The upper income family has attorney, tax consultants that helps him avoid paying as much taxes. It is a system that is unfair and doesn’t work.

Some Solutions:

Financial Responsibility: This is the most important part of a recovery. We must not cover ourselves with debt. This is personally and our government. We shouldn’t buy what we don’t need or can not afford. Keep out personal debt to a minimum or have none at all.

The dollar: Base our dollar value on a gold standard. This doesn’t mean that we have to go back to the gold standard of the 50’s where our money is backed by gold but to keep the strength of the dollar to a level that keeps gold prices in the $500 range. This will also keep oil prices predicable. With this our economy will improve.

Regularizations: We need reasonable regularization. One is for interest rates. I propose a maximum interest rate that can be charged. If your credit rating is not sufficient to get a load or credit card at this rate then you shouldn’t have it. This would stop this lending beyond the ability to pay. We also need to regulate the jobs that are leaving this country. We are in a world market (free market) but without regulating the flow of job from our country that are free flowing to cheaper labor markets without a reasonable replacement of these jobs then we are certain to have unemployment and under paid employees and small business failures. This not only hurts our country but as we see, the world economy.

Taxes: There is only one fair tax; a flat rate tax. It creates the most incentive for increasing your earnings. The trickle down economics is a failed policy. There will never be enough crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table to feed the rest of us. People don’t understand money. Money is control. Why would anyone whom has furnished all his needs seek more? Power! The fewer earnings that the middle class has the less power they have over their value of life. You might think that the wealth needs us to earn more to purchase their products but that is not the case. The power is in the difference in the earning. In a high unemployment time they can get the labor for less money and less befits. If you wont take what is offered someone else will. We need to lower taxes and therefore programs. The questions are what the government should be furnishing with our tax money. My belief is Security (enforce domestic laws and international security), Regulate money and business practices to allow for fairness and growth, Infrastructure (transportations, energy), Education, Health. Without these our nation can not grow and prosper.

This doesn’t cover all nor is it intended to do so. But we do need to get an understanding of what government should be providing. We can don’t and should not try to do it all

Eddyville, Iowa to Laredo, Texas

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Eddyville, Iowa to Laredo, Texas

I got dead headed from Lincoln to Eddyville, Iowa, 259 miles. I had been to Eddyville before when it was flooded during the summer for a load to Laredo from a different company. This time I have a load of 43000 lbs of Citric Acid for Mexico. I will be there tomorrow. I did 700 miles today and am now in New Brunfels, Texas. I have 200 miles to do tomorrow.

Headed to Lincoln, Nebraska

Friday, November 14, 2008

Headed to Lincoln, Nebraska

I bob tailed from Palm Bay to Jacksonville for a load from Michaels to Greensboro, North Carolina with two stops there. I then got dead headed to the K-Mart to drop my trailer. I bob tailed to Conway terminal in Charlotte to pick up a trailer. Then I dead headed to Maxton to the Campbell’s soup plant to take to Wal-Mart in Hope Mills, NC. These were all 50 -100 mile trips around North Carolina, some had no dispatched miles. A got a lot of work with little pay. Then I got this load in Raleigh that is headed to Lincoln, Nebraska for a Monday delivery. I will end up with 2200 miles, not bad considering all the short trips and that I didn’t start till Wednesday.

I also had the time to stop by my son’s place in Brunswick, Georgia. He has the sweetest 3 kids in the world. I believe that I was a pretty good father but I wasn’t close to being as good as he is. His oldest son is the most beautiful boy. He is now 6 ½ year old. He can read very well and plays the Mandolin. His little red headed daughter seems to have his intelligent. All three are smart but the two younger one seem to be extremely smart. My son has a genius level IQ and he is home schooling his children. When he was growing up no one could meet his expectations including himself. I was afraid that he would expect too much from his children but he has learned a lot of patience. His wife has a real calming effect on him. I couldn’t be more proud of him.

While I was visiting he took me to a restaurant that he helping build. It is an exceptional place. He was in the process of paining murals on the wall. It reminded me of when in the fifth grade his teacher let him spend his hour rest period everyday painting a mural on the wall in their class room. All through school he had teachers that gave him special attention. He paints, writes, and plays music. He is a special person with a very special family.

Palm Bay, Florida Home Time

Monday, November 10, 2008

Palm Bay, Florida Home Time

I am at my in-laws on home time but I plan on going back on the board tomorrow morning. I dropped my trailer at the Jacksonville Terminal but they didn’t have an empty for me so I got highlight with a bob tail. I called my dispatcher today and he said there wasn’t much freight going out of Florida. I will have to get a trailer somewhere and it will probable be back to Jacksonville. I hope to get back on the road. This was a very light week and I need to make some miles. I will be on the road for the first time by my self. Shelly is staying with her mother here in Palm Bay to care for her during her cancer surgery. Shelly is a nurse so her skills will come in handy. I don’t know when she and Sweet Pea will be back on the truck.

Waiting in Nashville

Friday, November 07, 2008

Waiting in Nashville

We are still waiting in Nashville. It has been raining so taking Sweet Pea for his walk sucks and he doesn’t want to go so I stand in the rain while he looks at me like I’m a fool for standing in the rain. We are at the Pilot Truck Stop at Trinity Lane. There are 5 other CFI trucks that are still here that were here when we got in yesterday. We are number One. Right! I wonder if they are also number one. They were here before we were.

I know this part of Nashville having spent a lot of time in this area. We walked up to the corner to a Krystal to have breakfast. I was hoping that having breakfast would trigger a load assignment. I know from experience that as long as I sit and wait that I won’t get a load. It requires that I am showering, eating, or sleeping to get a load.

Des Plains, Illinois to Nashville, Tennessee

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Des Plains, Illinois to Nashville, Tennessee

We picked up this morning at a ConWay Terminal and it went crappy as usual. It took us forever to get out of the Chicago so we had to rush to meet our relay in Nashville. We got to the Pilot where we were making the relay about 40 minutes before our scheduled time. The load is going to Orlando, Florida. We have Hi Lighted to Palm Coast, Florida. Shelly is going to stay with her mother to help take care of her after her cancer surgery. I will be headed back to Palm Coast for Thanksgiving. Christmas is undecided. Anyway we are waiting here for our next load assignment.

Buffalo, New York to Kankakee, Illinois

Monday, November 03, 2008

Buffalo, New York to Kankakee, Illinois

From Alabama we went to Laredo. We were dead headed to Pharr, Texas to get a load to Phoenix, Arizona. We got there and the loads had been change so we went to Dallas instead but they pre planed us a load out of Lancaster terminal to Hammondsport, New York. We now have a dead head to Buffalo that goes to Kankakee, IL near Chicago. From Lancaster we ran 1475 miles in 2 days. It had started a low miles week but finished at 3250. This load that we are assigned is 683 for Wednesday morning.