The Truckers of Expediteinsight.com

"We are a certain brand of renegade. We are antagonists. We are unapologetic. We say what we think. We stand up for what we believe in. We work hard. We love our country. We have your back. Our philosophy is not for the weak minded. This is our creed".  LETZROCKEXPRESS 2011
"If "those of influence" choose to stand with a site that helps to promote hate speech by banning those who speak up against it, that is their choice. If they choose to avoid us because they view us as the bad guys, they are closing their eyes to the truth. I will stand against hate speech even if I stand alone".  DOUGTRAVELS 2011

This site is a blend of some of the most unique minds, and some of the most rediculous. The bannter is lite, but the heated discussions are at times truly extreme.   IT IS NOT A BAD THING.     In a way, this site reminds me of a mosh pit of sorts: We verbally bannter and spar...much like the physical mosh pits where they slam each other around and have an absolute great time. Have you ever experience a mosh pit? I have. It was frightening at first. It was exciting, it got HARD CORE. It was an adventure. It was all in fun.  Like the mosh pit, this site is NOT for everyone.  

If you believe in the freedom of speech, and can withstand the indepth, sometimes extremely heated discussions....if you can survive comedy, tragedy, raw emotion and the sometimes off the wall oddity of a great group of people who are strong in their beliefs......if you are outspoken, outragious and totally out of your gord.....then this is the place for you.  Expedite Insight is informative, entertaining and enlightening.  All are welcome.

  Our Mission and Forum Rules

 Our mission is to provide a forum for expediters to speak freely without fear of retribution. We do not wish to be an overly sensitive forum however we do need a few rules to protect our membership.

These are the rules as of today, more may be added as they are needed, but we will try and keep them as limited as possible and still maintain a community.

1) No Hate Speech

 We will not tolerate racial or religious hate speech. Additionally we will not tolerate hate speech directed at another member.

2) No Threats Of Violence Toward Anyone This means no threat toward any member here nor any discussion of a threat toward anyone else will be posted on this forum.

3) No Pornography, or links to any kind of pornography whatsoeverThis is self explanatory

4) No Posting of anyone's personal information, member or notThis includes real names, addresses, driving records or anything which may affect their reputation and or ability to earn a living.

5) Swearing ( cursing, etc.)
We do not have the swear word filter enabled and it is our preference to not enable it. Sometimes a swear word can really make a point and we do not want to become so sensitive that your point gets stifled. We do however ask our membership to not type swear words just for the hell of it. Profanity laced posts may eventually make us re-evaluate our stance to have it disabled.

These guidelines hereby stand as the rules of this site at this time. Failure to abide by them could very possibly result in your suspension or banning from ExpediteInsight.com

HEADING INTO OVERLOAD

Distracted Driving?

BILLBOARDS.   AIRPLANES PULLING BANNERS.   CONSTRUCTION/LAW ENFORCEMENT LIGHTS.  

 I do not have to think about taking a drink, or eating a sandwhich.  I do not have to look at what I am eating.  Turning the station on the radio is a no brainer too.   We drive more miles in a day than most people drive in a month.  Driving is all we do.  We know our trucks and we know the roads.  There is a time when we can multi task and a time not to, and we know the difference.
The 55 mph speed limit makes me drowsey....We are used to driving speed limits of 60-75 mph and to drop to 55 for an extended length of time is hazardous.  I smoke. I smoke the most doing 55 because it gives me something to do to keep me awake.  Telling me I cannot smoke while I am driving....well those are fighting words and I will step up.
Driving is not like a 9-5 desk job, or a factory job.  Expediting is even worse.  We are on time sensitive loads, we cannot pull over any time we want a smoke or something to eat.  For us to pull over for a sandwhich or a smoke takes at least 1/2 hour, it also does not stop our 14 hr clock.  Communicating with dispatch:  if I have to pull over and use the QC to communicate, that load I am on could be sitting for an hour waiting for someone to get back to me....IF they even do.
You want us to drive keeping our hands on the wheel and eyes on the road for the long hours we drive....that would turn us into road zombies.
All these rules and regulations are not going to do anything but add more stress and pressure to an industry already carrying a heavy load and you know what happens when you OVERLOAD!
New HOS??   Our hands are so tied right now we cannot stear!!  You cannot make this a 40 hr a week..9-5 job.   Trying to overhaul the trucking industry is a never ending job.  There is such a thing as overdoing something.  IF IT WORKS, DON'T MESS WITH IT!!
 There is only so much an industry can take and if they keep adding to what we already deal with, they are going to push drivers to the point of driving these trucks straight up the anal retentive cheeks of America.   " Sorry America, we were distracted by your controlling bullshit"!

Keeping Records for the IRS

Keeping records on the truck can be very simple.  A loose leaf note book and 12 clear sleeves works wonders.  Lable the sleeves January thru December.  Each month put all the receipts and your log copies for that month into the corresponding sleeve.   At the end of the month tally your recepts.  On the front of the sleeve write the # of days you were out, how many miles you drove,  list your expenses individually,  write down your revenue for the month as well.  At the end of the year you will have all the information at a glance.  Tally your totals for the year and there you have it.  Use a white sticky lable on the binder of the folder to write the year and your name and unit #.  It is ready for your accountant or tax preparer, and you can place it on a book shelf for safe keeping if it's needed in the future... an audit for example. 

Anything you purchase and put on your truck is tax deductable, so save all of your receipts.  Even movies, books, ect...for entertainment.  Motel costs, clothing, shoes, boots, office supplies, etc...

It is a good way to keep track of your receipts and yearly information.  It fits nicely into a briefcase too. :)

Expediters by Accident

In 2005,  we applied on line to attend a truck driver training school in Indianapolis.  We thought we were signing on to PAM or USA...was expecting to go to classes, learn to drive and maintain a big rig and get our class A.  Our applications in reality, were what we considered at the time "shanghyed" by Expedite Solutions.  Although we were not lied to, and everything was explained to us up front, we really had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.  We took the advice of the "school", rented a computer, phone, and paid for the accounting service. We also had a mandatory drivers savings plan.  We thought we were doing everything possible to have a successful business of our own.     We went thru the training and upon completion were leased to Panther.

 We were flat broke in the beginning and drew advances to live on until our pay started coming in.  We ran hard. We took everyload offered to us. Only went out of service when we had to reset 34 DOT hrs/ or was broke down.  We revenued over $50,000 in the first 6 months.

Now,  that sounds like alot of money.  And, it is.  We should have been on top of the world.  Would have been except for a couple of things.  By the time the deductions  ( tuition, advances, fuel, computer, phone, accounting services and drivers savings plan) were taken out, we ended up with a grand total of $3,000 in our bank for 6 months of hard work.    We lost EVERYTHING except our personal vehicle (which was broken into while we were on the road).   Needless to say, we resigned from Expedite Solutions and thru Panther hired on with another truck owner.  Things went down hill from there.

We learned alot that first year.  That was 6 years ago.  We have been through truck owners who wouldn't pay, trucks that wouldn't stay running, carriers who don't pay enough to keep running (and pay our bills), and carriers who couldn't keep us loaded. Why are we still here?   We love it!!   From time to time I check online and newspaper classifieds for other employment.....what a joke!!  

My Husband gave up a Tyson pension, insurance, and 401K  to do what what we do.  I have managed real- estate, been a business consultant ,waited tables, cleaned houses professionally, worked with outreach programs  and even have my own business.  We rarely get to see or spend time with our 4 adult children and 14 (2 more on the way) grandchildren, and at times the loads still are not there, the trucks still break down, the miles get longer, and we are getting older.

 Though we originally did not set out to be Expediters and the industry is not consistant,  we cannot imagine doing anything else.

THE FREE SPEACH WEB SITE IS NOT DEAD

"Many people do not  know what the liberty of free speach really is, or what freedom of speach even means.  Freedom of Speach is not a free ticket to intimidate, mainipulate, degrade, or in general tare someone apart. To use it as such... is just showing ignorance and being abusive of the liberty". There are limitations to everything....including freedom. With any form of freedom, comes responsibility.   

 Manners, and knowing how to treat people play an important role in any public forum. A forum that allows freedom in speaking is allowing you to agree or disagree.  It is allowing you to speak about anything you wish.  EXAMPLE:  In some places you cannot speak about religion, politics or leaders. 

Censorship in this case, is not preventing the subject spoken about, but the WAY in which the freedom of speach is being used.  A public forum has the responsiblilty to protect the liberty and integrity of the freedom of speach.

" You have to stand for something, or you will fall for anything". 

                                                                                                RL MICHAEL
                                                                                                        aka
                                                                                                    GYPSIE

A SURPISING TRUCK STOP

We pulled into what looked like a rundown dirty little truckstop.  Being tired just coming off a long run, post trip inspection completed, we decided to get some sleep and climbed into the bunk.  Not long after we finally were able to doze off, we are practically launched from the bunk with an awful noise that sounded like an explosion and what felt like our truck trying to take off on it's own.  We had been hit by a semi driver trying to park his rig.  OK....I am thinking this stop is getting worse by the hour.

Awake, confussed and not happy about the truck getting slammed, I got all the information I could from the other truck (and forgot to get the drivers name).  Deciding I had had enough of this place already,  heading for the fuel desk I began the walk across the parking lot.  This is when I noticed there was a truck repair shop on the premises.  Ok...that's a welcome sight.  A little further on I noticed the fuel islands.....there must have been a dozen of them.  Plenty of islands means less wait to fuel.  Hmmmm.....2 kudo's for this place.

In the door I go......merchandise seemed a little sparse, not alot but deffinately items that would be needed.  OK....I like that.   The restroom facilities were a bit dummpy to say the least...thank goodness for trial size lysol and hand sanitizer.   Time to eat.  This is where I almost walked out.  The breakfast buffet was..... shall we say "untouchable", I would not have touched it if I were starving.   Beyond the breakfast bar I ventured into the main area of the restaurant.  Nothing fancy....2 counters and old time diner booths w/tv boxes.  I really was ready to call this place "Not in my lifetime".  Then the aroma of fresh vegetables caught my attention which caused me to investigate beyond the obvious.

Lo and behold the salad bar:  now this is where things began to take a turn.  This salad bar sparkled.  Everything was fresh, nicely presented, and they had a very nice variety of choices and fixin's.  It made me begin to think there may be hope for this place.  Then, I noticed the main course buffet was missing.  About that time a waitress greeted us with a shy smile and offered the lunch buffet from the dinning room around the corner.  Different.  Ok....so let's check it out.

The lunch buffet had 2 soups, some dressing,  mashed potatoes and 2 gravys.  There were meatballs and goulash.  Not alot to choose from.  I opted for the goulash and some dainty bread off the nicely presented bakery table holding a variety of baked goods.  My Husband  made a plate of the remaining menu.   Both meals proved to be very tasty and satisfying without having to return to the bar a couple of times.  We each had only 1 plate and the salad bar.  On to the table.

Sitting at the booth, I questioned the waitress if the tv actually worked.  Being tight with a quarter I did not want to attempt losing it in somethat that looked aged and disfunctional (much like the appearance of the truckstop to begin with).  Of course she had no idea if it worked or not.  What the heck, I dropped the quarter and pushed a button...and son of a gun if that tv didn/t fire right up with a clear picture, nice sound and controls that did as they were made to do.  My Husband and I enjoyed dinner and a show for under $20 that day.

We walked out of the truck stop after browsing and chatting with the folks and patrons, and laughing.  By the time we got back to the truck we were in much better moods, felt rested and content.  Realizing this, surprised me.   I don't feel this way walking out of a modern place with all the best aminities.  To top it all off, we learned this place sported a motel right there inside with the restaurant, store and fuel desk.  Onc could even get a massage!!    Yha, I decided enough was enough and didn't want to push my luck to investigate any further!! ;) 

So ,  KUDO'S  to the  All American Pilot Truck Stop.  Located at exit 10 off I-78, Frystown PA.
(And, if ya happen to venture that way, let me know how that motel/massage thing turns out).

See ya on the flip side.

GYPSIE

WELCOME TO GYPSIE'S CORNER

              If you are sitting on your donkey and I threw stones at you, would you be stoned off your ass?

                                Lesson:  Don't sit on your ass when someone is throwing stones!!

Rules and Regs are a part of everyday life.  We roll with the punches and keep the freight moving.  The changes that come about are for the better.  However, the powers that be do tend to get a little carried  away.   People can only do to you what you allow them to do.   What will you allow to be done to you today??