Trucking The "Mainer" Way!!

Springtime Truck Roads

2010-05-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

There are alot of nice things about woods work after getting back from spring break, but there are also somethings that aren't so plesant. The big push to get back to work can be rushed too much causing a not fully dried out road to cause many setbacks and also so hazzards. If a loaded truck should crowd the edge of the road it can risk the chance of the ground letting go and the truck rolling over into the ditch, also sinkholes become a large problem when the weight rolls over the top of it the truck can become buried in the soft ground. Some things that can give these areas away is if the road looks packed down but it has fairly large cracks in the ground. It is just an unwritten law that in the springtime you don't crowd the edges of a graveled road , or if your heading towards a soft spot keep the momentum up so if it does start to sink you can carry yourself through and not get yourself buried and in need of a tow.

Some People Can't see a Good Thing if They are Standing on it !

2010-05-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

Why is it that there are always coworkers that try to make out that your employer is always out to get you? The Company i work for has been around for 20 plus years, But coworkers act like they are just getting started and have no idea what they are doing. I worked for this company when i owned my own truck and they have always treated me very good. Now i work directly for them and still find that i am treated very well. There are some however that call them crooks and thieves and say they aren't concerned with anyone else but themselves. Not true , if 1 of our truck have a breakdown that they cannot get fixed that day they will let you take a company vehicle home rather than call for a ride home as long as there's a vehicle available. They are very fair in their pay and always making sure there is work available in advance. I find they are one of the last companies to shut down in the mud season and try to be the first to start up again or to not shut down if they can help it.The other coworkers fail to see this i guess and just look for things to complain about. I'm not sure if it makes them feel better about how good they are or what the reason is but it gets tiresome listening to this day after day about how picked on they are,Oh well i guess there are some that are like that no matter where you work.

New Job New Locations

2010-05-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since i posted anything here, but since my last time on here i have taken a new job with alot more benefits for me there. Now instead of driving 30 miles to go to work i can bring the truck home which is a big help as far as travel costs for me (saves about 200 a month at least). Now i am paid from the time i get into the truck in the morning until i get out at night,By the hour is the way to go definitely. I started hauling round wood for the first few months, then worked my way into hauling wood chips from the chipper to various paper mills and power plants in the northern part of Maine. It's definitely quite a change from hardly any work to all the hours that i want and it seems pretty good.

What happened to making a living trucking?

2009-07-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

It used to be that a person could make a decent living trucking, what the hell happened? It has gotten to the point that you can't even put food on the table now , if you can afford the table to begin with. This is getting pretty sickening and i don't see it getting any better anytime soon.

Another Wonderful Monday

2009-07-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

After having 3/4 of last week off and a wet 4th of July weekend we got word we could go back to work this morning. I had a feeling it was going to turn out to be a headache but didn't know to what extent. First off after leaving my house at 2:45 a.m. I made my way to the truck and then over to the job.I arrived at the road at 5:30 and made contact with the crane operator who was full of encouragement when he said get it really rolling and don't back out of it till you see me.Swinging the corner the road was covered in 2 inches of slimy muck,with all the wheel locks in but 1 I slipped and spun up the hill till i could see the boom in the air." That wasn't as bad as I thought", I told him as I topped the last part of the hill. "Wait till you get down here by me it gets alot worse" he laughed.Great i thought and as i got down where he was the road got softer and softer. I stopped by him and let him get half of my front tier on so I would have some weight on my drive tires for traction,slowly i made my way down to the turn around. After a few trys i finally got my self turned around and dug my way back up to the crane. After finishing off the load I tried to get started out but there was no way that truck was going to move. We ended up getting a skidder and pushing against the wood on my trailer to give me a push till i could go under my own power. When they got me to the top of the hill the road behind me was trashed. After strapping my load i headed to Bucksport with the load,but just before i made the half way point i met another truck that apparently was coming back from there. He asked me where i was headed and then informed me that the mill wasn't taking any treelength wood deliveries till Tuesday so i might want to find out what to do with it. I called the boss and he asked what the condition of the road was,when i told him it was a mess he told me to take the load home and take it down in the morning because he didn't want us on the road so it might dry out some.So here we go again playing the wait and see what happens game.What a wonderful Monday.

Well this Week They Dropped the Bomb

2009-07-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

This week started off like last week in Shirley RAIN,and a lot of it. It is getting kind of sickening Monday hauled 2 loads but wasn't much because where the wood is put up is dam near impossible to get to because of the rain. So tuesday morning 2 of us came in and grabbed last loads on the main road with hopes that when we came back we would be going to try to get some of the other wood. Of course this was the day the forester decided to pay a visit to see how things were shaping up. Before i could make it back for my second load he decided we needed to leave the job to dry out so i got the call to go home and my favorite saying" I'll call ya when they will let us back in.Hmm that is looking like next monday now that work so very well for bill that come due wether or not your working.

Cables versus Straps

2009-06-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have been hauling wood for years and up until a few years ago i had only ever used straps.They work good but come the winter time they are a pain,because they will freeze to your load and are sometimes hard to free up. They are also harder to roll up in the winter time because of being stiff. Cables on the other hand will not freeze to your load and since they are usually attached to your trailer already they can be wrapped up in a figure 8 pattern and your done. I have found they cables last alot longer than the straps too. I generally only get about 3 months out of straps before they start to fray then break. Maybe in flatbed conditions straps might last longer but as far as wood goes i feel the cables are the answer. Straps hold fairly tight but they will allow wood to slide out on occation,where as cables will literally cut into the wood and bind in solidly in place. People like both but i perfer the cables over the straps anytime,just watch for the wires sticking out sometimes those can hurt lol.

Will The Rain Ever Stop HA HA!

2009-06-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

The past week seems like all it has done is rain. For a while the weatherman said we needed some rain because it was getting dry but this is ridiculous! They said on the news the other night we had received something like 5 and a half inches of rain in like 10 days. Now the ground has soaked up all the water it can handle and pools of water are everywhere.This causes problems with work because the foresters are more likely to shut us off from hauling because we are beating up the road so bad and the cutting and yarding in the woods are effected greatly also.So far we have had 1 good day in 2 weeks but not much drying went on in that short of time. Oh well we'll just have to wait and see what next week brings, the predictions are rain half the week but what can you do.

Shirley Maine 3 Miles Instead of 35

2009-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well this week brought a little change they moved us from township 35 over to Shirley which is next door to Greenville. The job has only 3 miles of off road to travel but the ground is very wet there and it rained almost daily this week which made the hauling shutdown on Thursday instead of Friday, next week having only a 4 day week also due to the Fourth of July is not helping the paychecks much. The truck road there has alot of loam mixed in the gravel so the more it rained the more slimy the road got, and with the short steep hills it made more of a challenge of getting up and then coming down plus turning onto the main truck road. One ruck came down the hill a little too fast and failed to make the turn,causing the crane to have to come out and almost fully unloading the truck before he could pull it back into the road. There is alot more wildlife in this area we have seen Moose, Deer,Coyotes,And a ton of Rabbits, Ruffed Grouse and Hawks. The area is nice and has alot of beautiful scenery hills, lakes, ponds, and not many houses. All in all it is a pleasant change from the studmill road.

Week 2 at T 35 MD

2009-06-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Week 2 went pretty smooth for a change other than picking up a few more nails in the tires but no major problems. There seem to be alot of turkeys in the area i see anywheres from 3 to 15 a trip.There is now a family of ducks living in one of the brooks in the area that runs through the Sunkhaze Meadows refuge , I see them go acrossed the road as i neared one of the brooks. Inspection time came so that took a little time up trying to get into the garage so that could be taken care of, But all in all not much happened exciting or otherwise.

Day 3 Hauling in T 35 MD ( The Day from Hell!!)

2009-06-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

It started at 7:20am and the same routine but on my way up the studmill rd the vibration dropped the end of my load strap onto my driveline that's when old hell broke loose . The hook end of the strap cut off 2 air lines and punched a hole in the secondary air tank at mile 25 with no phone service and just out of radio range of the crane. luckily I was able to make my way the rest of the way in after freeing the driveline from the strap and get loaded,but as i got loaded my air ride needed air more air than could be produced with the hole and cut off lines. So the crane operator finished the load and we took the line to the pooched tank and plugged it off with a piece of wood laying on the ground. This allowed me to release my brakes but there was a problem that added a twist to getting started out,when the lines were broke i was in the high side of the transmission and it mangled the line so it wasn't a matter of a new fitting i needed more line also.With the aid of a skidder we got the truck rolling fast enough that i was able to get going without stalling, but i had 33 miles to go with tight corners and big hills and only the top 9 gears available. I made it down to the mouth of the road with a few tight meetings in corners and some pissed-off grader operators when i met them at 30 and dusted them out OOPS. Just as i got out from under the trailer my plug in the line let go again with just 5 miles to the repair shop i was screwed again till i made a new plug . At the shop i spent 4 hours there because none of the dealers had a tank in stock so they had to keep welding and pressure testing my tank till the hole was repaired.By the time i was fixed up i went home for a shower and a meal because it was 5 pm now. I left later that night hooked back up and headed to Verso Paper because they open 9:30pm sunday and do not close again till 8pm friday night,but on the way down there was a loud BANG ,yup another tire this time on the trailer.Well the boss had no spare for me yet and it was 1:30 am nothing was open, using the rain to my advantage i just went slower and continued to the mill with my nerves on the edge if the other tire blew i wasn't going to be happy and the boss dam sure wouldn't like that early morning distress call. 90 miles later i had made it but it was now 4:15am and i had to be back in costigan by 7:30 in order to make the 8 30 load time with a 3 hour trip back and i needed a tire.I got back to the nearest tire place at 5:30 and i thought they opened at 6 but they had 6:30 on the sign.By 7:30 i finally left but i was 2 1/2 hours late for that days load time.When i got there the operator was glad to see me and chuckled about my luck lately my load was all slashed out already so he loaded me in 30 min and i was out of there taking a shortcut that i was told about out to a diffrent route but saved alot of time, because i ended up only 45 min behind my normal time.It was smooth sailing down and back but almost 20 hours strait working to get caught up with my load count for the week combining day 3 with 4 , but it was over for the week because a big rain was coming and they shut the newly graded road down so we didn't beat it back into washboards.

Day 2 Hauling in T 35 MD

2009-06-12T18:12:00.001-07:00

Morning 2, I could hardly wait kind of like having a tooth pulled haha.Things started about the same fuel,long ride but instead of a bear there was a hen turkey and 6 chicks beside the road hurry into the tall grass, then further up a couple of deer in the choppings of a cut area just off the road.After getting loaded i was off wondering what the day would bring.Surprisingly nothing but clear sailing all the way to Verso Paper where i was in and out and swept off in less than 30 minutes, alot quicker than an hour to load with having to slash the wood from tree length down to 8ft while loading it. It was a good ride home arriving at 5 pm, i jumped in my pickup and went home.

Day 1 Hauling in T 35 MD

2009-06-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Started the morning off in Costigan Maine getting fuel at Madden Enterprises then started on my journey up the graveled studmill road looking for the 31-000 rd branch. About 5 miles up a fairly big Black Bear came into the road, stopped then ran back into the bushes as i got closer. I was not sure where exactly the 31-000 rd was but after about the 12 mile marker i met up with another truck and he radioed back i still had a good half an hour ride ahead of me,so i continued to about mile 30 because the markers were few and far between and met another truck that said it was just down over the hill from where i pulled off. The road i had traveled was so dry the dust layed in the road for at least 5 minutes just like dense fog. I started in and went about 3 more miles before finding the crane that would load me with 5 tier of 8ft for Jay Maine about 4 hours ride from there if all went smoothly. After loading and strapping down i headed out for the 33 miles of rough graveled road before seeing hottop again. After the slow ride back to civilization i was cruising down the road again,but an hour into the ride i blew a drive tire with no spare on board and had to limp my way to the tire shop and get 2 new ones so they would match up. After an hour there, I was off again thankfully reaching the Verso Paper mill with no more delays. Headed home i new i had 3 hrs till i made it to our garage to park for the night . When i finally made it it was 6:30 pm i had started at 7:00 am , 12 1/2 hrs. the 1 load didn't seem worth it but oh well that's the life in the woods.

A Little Humor For The Road :)

2009-05-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Nate the rattlesnake knew that there was a mysterious lever hidden in a bush across the highway from where he lived. Before they died, his parents had told him that if anyone pushed the lever, the world would come to an end. Fortunately, a truck driver named Mike was the only person who knew about the lever. One day, Nate decided to slither across the highway to get a better look at this powerful lever. But as he was nearing the opposite side of the road, who should come barreling down the road driving an eighteen-wheeler but Mike. Poor Mike found himself in a dilemma: Either hit the snake or swerve into the bush and end the world. Needless to say, he ran over Nate. As he squashed the snake, Mike cried,"Better Nate than lever!"

Tire Chains (Winters Other Pain!!)

2009-05-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Tire chains, two words that a truck driver hates to hear even worse than bad weather. Never the less around here in Maine in the winter months, it is a common term heard. Although they are a major pain, they are a good thing to have available and a must in the woods. At one time or another. There are going to be times when even studded drive tires won't cut it. This is when the gloves come out and the ice is beat off the chains that has accumulated on them from carrying them on the headboard or on the trailer.
Some use the single chain which works ok on level ground or when it isn't too awful slick. They are lightweight and very simple to put on ,but at times they might not be exactly the right choice. When the road has a heavy crown to it making it so the outside tires having the chains on them aren't touching, they can't get a good bite, because they don't have enough weight to grab the ground. I myself have had employers tell me that was all I needed ! Only to end up being unfamiliar with the truck road I was on. It was before daylight and I did not make it to the top of a hill, I couldn't stop or slowly back down the hill because singles cannot get the bite, and weighing 100,000 plus pounds. I was sliding back gaining speed at a rapid rate only to come to a stop halfway down , jackknifed and screwed in a snowbank or ditch(A common sight in the woods, trucking at one time or another). If your lucky, they have a skidder available, but there are times there aren't any. In that case icepick triple chains would have prevented the whole ordeal!
Ice triple chains seem to transform a helpless truck into an ice digging tank,making it almost unstoppable. In mountain conditions, in the woods they are your best friend. The down fall is they are a lot heavier than singles, but far more effective as far as traction. Control as far as braking and taking off is doubled easily on snow even glare ice. They can be a major pain,but I keep them on the trailer with singles. If I put on chains I generally pull out the triples. To save the hassle of not having, what you needed on in the first place and getting into a mess. Oh well, they are a pain, either kind. In the winter time, drivers will gripe about them,but you don't find many that totally refuse to use them or at least carry them.

Why You Should Choose Satellite Radio from Sirius and XM

2009-05-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

By Reginald Sharp

A satellite radio is a special radio that receives signals broadcast by satellite. This allows the listener to follow a single channel no matter where they are because the signal's reach is not limited by station power and curvature of the Earth. Satellite radio, also called digital radio, offers commercial and distortion free, CD quality music beamed to your car radio or home stereo from space.

We all have our favorite radio stations that we preset into our car radios or home stereos, flipping between stations as we drive to and from work, on errands and around town. But when you travel too far away from the source station, the signal breaks up and fades into static. Most radio signals can only travel about 30 or 40 miles from their source. On long trips passing through different cities, you might have to change radio stations every hour or so as the signals fade in and out. Obviously, it's not much fun scanning through static trying to find something to listen to.

Imagine a radio station that can broadcast its signal from more than 22,000 miles away, and then come through on your car radio or home stereo with complete clarity. You could drive from Anchorage, Alaska to Miami, Florida, without ever having to change the radio station! Not only would you ever hear static interfering with your favorite tunes, but the music would be interrupted by no commercials. Welcome to the world of satellite radio....commercial and distortion free listening from coast to coast!

Car manufacturers have installed satellite radio receivers in some of the latest model automobiles, and electronics companies have launched several models of portable satellite radio receivers. Satellite radio is also available for the home for commercial and distortion free listening enjoyment!

What are the two types of satellite radio?

In the United States, there are XM and Sirius.

XM is a service in the United States that provides digital programming directly from two satellites (nicknamed "Rock" and "Roll") in geostationary orbit above the equator, and a network of ground-based repeaters. It is based in Washington, DC.

XM's business model is to provide pay-for-service radio, with commercial-free music channels, analogous to the business model for premium cable television channels. They also provide other data services such as weather information for pilots and weather spotters. In addition, they transmit coded traffic information directly to navigation systems using TMC technology. Their service includes music channels, news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, premium channels, regional traffic and weather channels. The XM signal uses 12.5 MHz of the S band: 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz. XM's competitor in the U.S. is Sirius.

Sirius is a (DARS) service in the United States that provides streams of music, sports, news and entertainment. The streams are broadcast from three satellites in an elliptical geosynchronous orbit above North America. Sirius is based in New York City. Its business model is to provide pay-for-service radio, free of commercials, analogous to the business model for cable television.

Sirius' spacecraft Sirius 1 through Sirius 4 was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral. The first three of the series were orbited in 2000 by Proton-K Block-DM3 launch vehicles. Sirius 4 is a ground spare, in storage at SS/Loral's facility in Palo Alto, California. Sirius was previously known as CD Radio. The dog in the Sirius logo is unofficially named "Mongo."

Reginald Sharp is a writer and the webmaster of Satellite Radio: Sirius & XM

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Reginald_Sharp

New And Used All Types Of Trucks And Trailers On Sale Online

2009-05-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

utor: Puneet_seo :: Views: 60 :: Send to Your Friends :: View PDF :: Print View

Searching for a Semi Truck or a Heavy Truck can be difficult. For many years truckers have been obligated to search dealer by dealer hoping that their dream tractor-trailer would be in one of the dealers they would walk into. However, since the rise of the Internet truckers and companies have been increasingly aware of the efficiency of searching for trucks online. At American Truck Buyer our goal is to do just that. We want to make Searching for a truck fun and easy. Avoiding the sales pitch drivers can now use filters to find the perfect truck throughout the country in just a couple of minutes.

With so many Companies taking advantage of building their own truck search engines/databases one might ask how it is that we differentiate ourselves from the competition. Well in one example our business is Truckers not trucks. Let me explain. While many companies out there are focusing on only making profits as a result of advertising trucks on the Internet, we are going the extra mile to not only focus on what produces revenues but on what a trucker really needs, which is certainly more than just having a truck. We have successfully built a web site where people can find great trucks, and also find insurance quotes, financing, dot inspection, transportation etc.... We also built other divisions that serve not only the people looking for a truck, but for existing drivers who are in love with their truck but need parts or services to tune up their baby. A full service web site for truckers is our vision. We want truckers to enter our site knowing that they won't have to go anywhere else to find the equipment or service they need to get them back on the road.

Our parts and service page is effective in finding specific parts that a driver needs to repair or tune-up their truck. Saving the time of having to drive around town in search for a part nobody may carry. Our free service shoots out hundreds of emails to companies offering that part throughout a designated area. Within a couple of hours the driver can expect to receive several calls with shops offering their part along with a competitive price. This is the way we are innovating the trucking industry and making a full service web site for the truck driver. When people think of trucking we want them to think American Truck Buyer.

Truck Leasing Offers Short-Term Solutions For Affordable Transport

2009-05-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Autor: tommy :: Views: 31 :: Send to Your Friends :: View PDF :: Print View

No matter who you are, at some point you're going to need a truck. Whether it's for moving an entire home or a washer and dryer set, or to start your own hauling business, trucks are how big jobs get done. For many, even though a truck is needed for one-time or continuous use, buying a hauler, pickup or especially a big rig is out of the question. This is where a good rental can come into play.

People who need trucks for personal use need them for a number of reasons. Oftentimes a temporary need doesn't justify an outright purchase. This is when a rental can really help out. There are companies that specialize in nothing but truck rentals to private, non-commercial drivers. These trucks are not big rigs by any means. They are smaller, lighter trucks such as pick-ups, small moving vans and so on. They are great for moving the contents of a house, or doing a one-time pick up of something too big for your regular car.

When leasing a truck for short-term, personal use, here are some things to consider:

* Shop around for prices and rental terms. There is generally more than one company in an area that rents moving trucks or even pickups.

* Ask about the little things. Don't sign the contract for a rental until you are very clear about hidden costs, rental requirements and so on. Make sure you understand any extra per mile costs and fuel charges.

* Check into rental insurance. This is almost always a good idea. Anything can happen and it's not your truck you're driving. You don't want to pay the bottom line if someone damages the rental.

Trucking Is This A Dying Industry Or A Thriving Industry??

2009-05-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

This is a question i have been asking myself alot lately. I have been doing this for Almost 14 years now,it's pretty much all i have known since i got out of school. In my area that was one of the most common jobs to do other than paper mills and logging when i was growing up but the economy and rising costs have began to really put a strain on it now with the increase in prices and the decrease in pay for the job that is done.

It seems now a days the big companies are trying to cut the costs but keep the product moving without giving enough thought to how it moves. The Big companies are feeling the crunch but do not take in consideration that the little guys are feeling it as bad if not worse. This isn't right but it is the way that this industry is going and there seems to be nothing that can be done about it. Local truckers and owner-operators traveled to D.C. to try to get someone to hear them out but it seemed to end up in a way being a waste of time and money because fuel prices lowered for a short time but are slowly creeping back up again, and they never seemed to get down where they should have been to begin with.

Yes the fuel costs dropped but along with those so did the pay. I'm not sure how the figures were done there but it ended up still with hardly any profit left over for the little guy once his bills were payed,but the big businesses need not worry because they had cut the throat of the smaller business enough that they still made a decent profit at their expense. I have seen many give up their trucks and dreams because of this myself included. My wife and i did this because that is how i was provided for growing up and i wanted my family to have the same chance i did , but about the same time we got into business things took a turn for the worse. It became a struggle just to find good work and keep your head above water.As things got worse and a few years of digging and scratching and pretty much starting our life completely over i knew it was time to duck out and go back to driving for someone else.

Things haven't got much better but there are alot less headaches as far as trying to keep the truck going,but long hours and decreasing pay have me wondering if it is worth it anymore. I'm not sure with all the paper mills and lumber mills closing and cutting back what is going to be left for the upcoming generation but it is scary! This is why i wonder is this once sought after line of employment is starting to die out, because it doesn't seem to be picking up and the future isn't looking real promising either.