Voices: Page 69

Let the 14-hour conversations … begin?

‘Continue’ rather than ‘begin’ is probably the best word to describe what’s been at the forefront of hours-change debate for years now. Voices here following OOIDA’s lodging of a petition to the FMCSA to add an up-to-three-hour off-duty pause to extend the clock.

February 15, 2018

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More tolls or no tolls? Two-thirds of readers say no

Just a third of readers favored any liberalization whatsoever in the ability of government to toll interstate routes, whether current or new routes or expansion lanes.

February 12, 2018

Tale of the Tolls

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Overdrive Radio

BigRigTravels.com turns 10: A talk with Stephen Michaels, long-haul proprietor

In this latest edition of Overdrive Radio, Stephen Michaels talks about his informal ambassadorship from the trucking world to the motoring public via his BigRigTravels.com live-feed webcam, which has yielded plenty individual dividends in motorist education and a turn in the perception of trucking.

February 9, 2018

Round-up: Best safety device — you; Answering an ELD-exemption question

No safety tech can be an effective substitute for the ship captain: “No matter how fancy [your truck], no matter how new, the best safety device in your truck is you.” –Reader Paul Maine ALSO: Isolated farm-equipment haul prompts ELD mandate question.

February 5, 2018

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A corrective to ‘bubble-wrapped’ driving syndrome

A tip from Mustang’s Trucking — don’t try to read a book while going down the road — applicable whether your truck is “bubble-wrapped” with auto-braking and lane-departure-warning tech or not …

February 2, 2018

Mike “Mustang” Crawford — read more about him in this 2010 feature about him attendant to his “Trucker of the Year” honors that year.

Overdrive Radio

Profit — what this trucking thing is all about: A new, simple freight-bid calculator app

In the latest Overdrive Radio podcast, small fleet owner Scott Jordan intros the ICG ProfitCalc app for Android/iOS, a freight bidding app that allows users to input their own annual cost projections as a benchmark for load-by-load rate calculations, per-mile and per-hour, to ensure a chosen profit margin.

January 25, 2018

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POLL: Should tolls on existing or new interstate lanes/routes be allowed?

With liberalization of rules around use of tolls on existing and new federal-aid interstate routes and lanes back in highway infrastructure funding discussion, what’s your view on whether tolls ought to be allowed as a funding mechanism?

January 23, 2018

PrePass-Texas-tolls

POLL: What’s your take on Trump’s first year in office?

With Donald Trump’s first year as President in the books — and with a brief government shutdown nearing an end — what’s your take on the first year? Good, bad, indifferent? Weigh in here.

January 22, 2018

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Overdrive Radio

‘Should have planned better’ only goes so far when road realities are at play

As so many owner-operators have noted in past, “planning better” will only get you so far when it comes to ELDs, a 14-hour rule with rigid ends and little opportunity to extend it or stop it for mid-period rest. Owner-operator Mark Kirbyson, in this latest edition of Overdrive Radio, concurs wholeheartedly.

January 16, 2018

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‘Don’t work more for less’ is reader Tom Hall’s message on hours, ELDs

“A specialty equipment hauler once asked me just why some steel haulers will ‘haul 20,000 pounds overloaded for $1 a hundred when I make as much or more money hauling 40,000-pound legal loads at $2 a hundred?'” –Tom Hall on the scrum over income, pay, ELDs, hours and more. Hall views forcing pay for all time worked as a solution to many issues.

January 16, 2018

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POLL: Less-than-upstanding dealings with freight brokers: What have you experienced most?

From a meager truck-ordered-not-used payment after a conveniently “cancelled” load to late payment, no payment and having to file on a bond for hopes of payment, name your most-often-experienced frustration when dealing with freight brokers.

January 15, 2018

Night shot at dock

Readers respond to the passing of OOIDA President Jim Johnston with condolences, memories

Some words of condolence and recollection came in response to both the news of the passing of — in the words of one reader — “a trucker’s trucker,” longtime OOIDA President and Cofounder Jim Johnston.

January 11, 2018

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Electronic Logging Devices

POLL: Are you running with an ELD/AOBRD for logs or holding off?

With reports varying considerably from operators following the initial enforcement date of the ELD mandate in December, what’s your status for e-log implementation, whether already set up with one, protesting the mandate by shutting down/leaving the business, remaining on paper logs with an exemption, or another scenario?

January 8, 2018

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POLL: Where are your family’s roots — in the U.S. or outside it?

Do your roots in the United States reach back multiple generations or fewer? Share your experience/history in this poll.

January 2, 2018

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Business outlook trending pessimistic in the new year for owner-operators

And … a few late Christmas wishes from a variety of owner-operators on Overdrive’s Facebook page, with their rigs dressed up for the holiday last week. . .

December 31, 2017

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‘E-logs will cure everything, right?’

What they won’t cure, from hours violations incurred while passing full truck stop after full truck stop to overheated communication with inspectors to the sense of pride most longtime truckers take in their professional record. Also: ELD-specific enforcement update, OOIDA portal for any tickets received.

December 22, 2017

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Electronic Logging Devices

ELD protest enters third day in Miami

A group of drivers and owner-operators have shut down along U.S. 27 near the Florida 826 interchange in greater Miami through the end of the day today, at least, in protest of the electronic logging device mandate. Others have joined in around the country.

December 20, 2017

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Overdrive Radio

Brave new trucking world: Talking ELD angst, adjustment with Gary Buchs; plus Wes Memphis’ latest

Owner-operator Gary Buchs: Trucking “didn’t die” on December 18. “It just changed, and with every change there’s opportunity.” This Overdrive Radio edition runs through what the Landstar-leased owner-operator feels could be effective owner-operator strategy in the weeks and months ahead.

December 19, 2017

Page 69 of 124

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How military service set these trucking entrepreneurs straight on course to success

A special Overdrive Radio marks Veterans Day, commemorating the military service of so many around the United States, and in American trucking. Here we honor the stories of two vets -- Army and Navy, respectively -- who are equally clear-eyed emphasizing what their service meant for their long careers as business owners.

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Court pauses DOT rule seeking to push 200,000 non-domiciled CDL drivers out of commercial work

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Owner-ops adapt conservative approach to ever-expanding diesel service intervals

Owner-operator Raiko Graveran might be the 'nicest dude in all of trucking,' a version of which has been said by more than one truck showgoer who's found him and his 1995 Freightliner FLD 120 parked up. Here he's showing off fairly recent wins at the Old Town Rig Down event in Nacogdoches, Texas. Look for Graveran out at the Stars, Stripes and White Lines event this week in Atlanta.

Red, white and 'Little Blue': The story of owner-operator Raiko Graveran

JBL Live Beam 3 - Slim, sleek, and impossibly modern earbuds and Smart Charging Case - Audio Evolution You Can See and Hear

JBL Live Beam 3 - Slim, sleek, and impossibly modern earbuds and Smart Charging Case - Audio Evolution You Can See and Hear

How military service set these trucking entrepreneurs straight on course to success

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