Imagine being caught in a snowstorm, your vehicle overturned - a nightmare scenario turned heartwarming rescue as Quentin, a valiant trucker with Decker Truck Line, becomes a beacon of hope for a grandfather and his grandson. Our discussion doesn't end there; we explore the camaraderie that binds the trucking community, a force strong enough to drown out the static of negativity on CB radio and social media. We challenge you to harness the power of positive influence on the highways, just as Quentin did on that icy road in Oklahoma.
The road ahead may be bumpy, with the trucking industry bracing against the harsh winds of soaring fuel prices and the heavyweight of record-breaking taxes. As we navigate this financial storm, we consider immediate payment solutions as a potential lifeline for carriers. But even in tough times, the spirit of trucking is alive in the tunes that score our journeys. So crank up Red Simpson's "Nitro Express" and join us as we reflect on the music that fuels our souls behind the wheel. Remember to keep it safe, keep it legal, and let the music play as you roll down the road.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
Imagine being caught in a snowstorm, your vehicle overturned - a nightmare scenario turned heartwarming rescue as Quentin, a valiant trucker with Decker Truck Line, becomes a beacon of hope for a grandfather and his grandson. Our discussion doesn't end there; we explore the camaraderie that binds the trucking community, a force strong enough to drown out the static of negativity on CB radio and social media. We challenge you to harness the power of positive influence on the highways, just as Quentin did on that icy road in Oklahoma.
The road ahead may be bumpy, with the trucking industry bracing against the harsh winds of soaring fuel prices and the heavyweight of record-breaking taxes. As we navigate this financial storm, we consider immediate payment solutions as a potential lifeline for carriers. But even in tough times, the spirit of trucking is alive in the tunes that score our journeys. So crank up Red Simpson's "Nitro Express" and join us as we reflect on the music that fuels our souls behind the wheel. Remember to keep it safe, keep it legal, and let the music play as you roll down the road.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
Speaker 1:
Hello drivers. Rollin' 18 podcast is for anyone wanting to stay up to date in the trucking world. Hop on board with Walter Gatlin and let's go on down the road.
Speaker 2:
Today we got two stories, but the first story we're going to get to is a trucker that was praised for getting a driver and a passenger out of overturned pickup. This is an amazing story, but we had to give praise to this guy, an Oklahoma truck driver for Decker Truck Line, and he was recently honored for his actions at a scene of an accident on February 6, 2022, around 7 am, and it says here that Quentin was in the passenger seat while training another Decker truck line driver. A snowstorm had just came through that area in Oklahoma and the pair were driving north on I-35 near Tonkawa I guess I'm saying that right Tonkawa, oklahoma. They came upon an overturned Dodge Ram pickup truck and apparently the pickup truck had a blowout. The vehicle rolled and no other vehicles had yet stopped to help. Now, without a moment to spare, quentin's trainee safely pulled the truck over to the shoulder and as Quentin approached the overturned vehicle, he heard thumping, so he quickly ran back to his truck to retrieve a rubber mallet. Moments later, he returned to the accident scene while calling 911. And he was able to get help and get them out of the truck. He said it was a 10-year-old boy and a grandpa. How cool is that I mean? To be able to save a life, isn't that? It's a humanity thing? It's not just a truck driver thing, that's a humanity thing. But you know, out there on the road, the way we are constantly, I'm sure a lot of us have stories of some amazing accidents that we have seen horrific accidents, but also with amazing results. He said he was able to get them out of the truck and it was a 10-year-old boy and his grandpa, and he offered them water and blankets and kept checking on the welfare of the child, who appeared to have a concussion. Emergency crews arrived and took over.
Speaker 2:
Just do what's right, quentin said regarding why he stopped at the accident scene. I'm going to stay on the road for the rest of my life. If I have the chance to do a job that I really like, see a bunch of places and I'll have a chance where somebody's in trouble and nobody's there and I can help them, that's worth being gone and doing this job. I mean, on the CB we talk about a lot of negativity and I joined a Facebook group a couple weeks ago and it seems like about 50% of the posts are pretty negative, especially towards older drivers. There's a lot of younger drivers that want the older ones out there because, hey, you know, they're saying, hey, this is our thing. Now you guys have had your time. It's time for us to do things our way, and that's partly true. But the point is we need to get along.
Speaker 2:
There was one guy that posted something this morning about how he doesn't really listen to the CB anymore, keeps it on low volume because everybody, all they do is bitch and complain. There's a lot of people that don't talk on the CB. But I can tell you one thing the CB is going to come back and it's going to come back. Strong CBs help situations like with what Quentin just did by saving this grandpa and this 10-year-old. I'm sure he used that CB, probably spontaneously, just without even thinking about it, telling people to clear the area. Don't, you know, get over to the left lane. You know we've got an accident up here, whatever Could have easily reached out and got on there and used the 10 code and told everybody hey, somebody called 911. We've got a wreck here. But obviously the story says he was calling 911 while he was returning back to the accident scene.
Speaker 2:
The point I'm trying to make is we're out there. We can do good things for other people, but the CB is going to be the only thing out there left that is going to allow you to have authentic free speech. Now think about that for a moment. Authentic free speech. You can go on Facebook and make a comment. If somebody is sitting behind a desk doesn't like it, they can shadow ban it. They can cover it up with a warning, they can delete it. They can ban you. They can suspend you for 30 days. Whatever Twitter's the same way. There's a lot of websites I'm sorry, a lot of social media sites out there that are the same way. They're trying to protect other people from what you've got to say and unless what you have to say is a danger to society, there's no reason for them to mute your voice, regardless of what it is. There's a lot of things on Facebook I don't like to read.
Speaker 2:
Half the comments made on this trucker site that I joined are negative. I don't like to hear that stuff all the time. It's just boring. It's boring and it's disheartening. It just shows me that whoever's making these negative comments all the time really can't handle being out in the road. They're disgruntled because they don't like their job, they don't like their life.
Speaker 2:
Well, if you don't like your life and you don't like your job, what are you doing it for? Are you doing it to make money? Well, that isn't good, especially when you're driving truck, because it puts you in the wrong mindset and it takes over your ability to be able to think clearly and do your job, because your mind is back, your mind is back in your, you're mixing in with your subconscious and you're thinking about things that are negative all the time and that can build up road rage as well. Somebody goes to pass you on the right, which we know what happens. They may decide one day just to turn that steering wheel to the right and ran them into a brick wall. I mean, it's not good, ladies and gentlemen, it's not good at all. We, as truck drivers, we know that there's times we think about things like that. We think about, you know, somebody that's speeding too fast or somebody that wants to get ahead of you. In a construction zone where the arrow points, you know, right lane, left lane, closed Everybody gets to the right lane, except for these few people that want to jump ahead of the line. You know and it comes into your mind well, boy, I'll just move on over and crash into them or whatever. People go through this all the time.
Speaker 2:
But the point I'm trying to make is the CB radio is the only thing we're going to have left in this world. That is literally free speech. They monitor don't tell me they don't, but the government monitors your texts, social media, google giants, the people that you know that run the things on the cell phone that require your cell phone to operate. They monitor everything you do. I don't care if it's an email, I don't care if it's a text, I don't care if it's a post. On any site, even if it's a complete free speech site like getter g-e-t-t-r dot com, they're going to monitor you, they're going to decide whether or not what you said is appropriate and they're going to figure out a way to get you in one way or another. They're going to stifle your free speech. But they cannot do that on a cb.
Speaker 2:
And why, for the life of me, people don't have cbs is beyond reach. I cannot fathom that, because the cb was the conversation, it was the ultimate communication device when we were in trucks to call the boss man. But it can also save a life, just like what Quentin did. He pulled up on a scene. I'm sure the first thing he did was jump on that CB. If he had one, chances are training another driver. Who knows? Maybe he didn't. But that would be my first response is we've got an accident, mile marker such and such. We have people in the vehicle, we need help. And then I would jump out and go see what I can do to help and I would get on my cell phone Don't disregard CBs. Cbs are the only thing left that can produce authentic free speech and as drivers, we need to show an example and we need to be courteous, we need to be kind and we need to say and do the right things. We need that respect back and we can only get that respect by earning it. My hat's off to Quentin for saving a grandpa and a 10-year-old grandson. He saved their life, and thank you drivers out there that do the right thing every single day, because that is what makes it worth being on the road every single day. Now, I have always said I'm out here for the money, I'm not here to make friends, but, with that being said, that would be anybody's priority. That is actually in a semi, you know, spending weeks at a time away from their family. So it's really important that we all try to get along and do the right thing. Now.
Speaker 2:
The trucking industry has been really talking a lot here lately about the demand drop and they're worried that it's going to go to pre to or below pre-COVID levels. I've been reading a lot of stories, been talking to a lot of people. The main story that I'm going to go off of today is by FreightWaves and it's FreightWavescom. They put out a story which I think has the most analytical information in order to talk about the subject, which is good, and I believe that FreightWaves does their due diligence when it comes to getting analytical information to the driver, especially the owner-operator. But the demand is falling back and if it falls back to pre-pandemic levels, that could be an extremely bad thing because after the pandemic hit the truck companies and the owner-operators, everybody has increased their driver and their load capacity by 10%. So if they end up losing that 10% and going back to pre-pandemic levels for freight, they're not going to have any choice but to cut back on the work, cut back on the drivers, the rates are going to fall back and that's going to pretty much hurt everything. Now the average vehicle in order back and that's going to pretty much hurt everything. Now, the average vehicle, in order to run the average vehicle, with the inflation we've got going on now and everything, estimates have been predicted that the expenses for nearly all carriers have surged by more than 38 cents per mile over pre-COVID levels. Now, this calculation only includes maintenance, insurance and fuel costs. It's gone up even further when you factor in the fact that the people driving the trucks have to spend more money to live at home to take care of their family. So wages had to go up. Taxes have gone up.
Speaker 2:
I don't know if you heard this first quarter of this year the United States government has broken a record. They have collected over two trillion dollars in taxes in the first quarter, which means that is the highest amount of money the United States government has ever collected in the first quarter of any year since it ever kept record. The government is getting aggressive. They're going to take as much as possible. They are going to tax the hell out of everybody. That means, since the government's going to do that, there's going to be less money for the states. That means the states are going to start taxing everybody, and this is.
Speaker 2:
We've already surpassed what they did back in the day when they dumped all the tea in the water the Boston Tea Party. They fought against higher taxes. They fought against taxing like they did in England under the Queen. We have already surpassed that. We tax more now under a republic than they do under a monarchy. Thanks to all of us who did not get involved. That would be every single American in the country, because obviously we didn't make a difference. So thanks to all of us that were too lazy to stop our government from doing stupid things like this. We're paying more now and we're going to end up paying more, and we're going to end up spending more money.
Speaker 2:
It doesn't help when you throw all these extra costs on here, like the cost of fuel is one of the largest variable operating expenses in the trucking industry. During 2019, retail diesel prices ranged between $2.97 and $3.11 per gallon. Now they're breaking records. They're up to some places, up to $5.25 a gallon If you use the average seven miles per gallon. The cost of fuel during 2019 ranged from $0.42 to $0.44 per mile for a Class A truck. For most carriers operating in 2019, fuel was incredibly stable and was largely an afterthought. The retail diesel price, of course, is $510, but now it's up to I've seen $525. And at seven miles per gallon that requires 73 cents a mile, 30 cent increase per mile and it will significantly impact the cash flows of the carriers. You know where are we going with this.
Speaker 2:
Fuel is often paid for at the point of sale when a truck is fueled. But shippers and brokers often pay a carrier a month or two after the load has been delivered and that's something we may have to look into. We may have to say look, the minute we scan a copy of that receivable, somebody's going to have to get paid right away Now, in this day and age of electronics, there's no need to be a month or two behind. There's absolutely no need Get rid of the snail mail. When somebody wants a load hold from point A to point B, you make them go to PayPal and you say you pay us, paypal will hold it pending. Once they have a signature that load loads received, boom, the money is in their hand. That's the only way you're going to solve that problem.
Speaker 2:
And if it does go back to pre-pandemic freight amount and we lose that 10% and a lot of people get laid off, a lot of people lose their trucks, lose their jobs, whatever. They're not going to have any choice because they're not going to be able to sit on five, six dollar a gallon fuel and still wait 30 to 60 days for their money. It's just not going to happen now, referencing tca data, insurance costs per mile were seven cents in 2019. In 2022, that have gone up to nine cents. Using the same data sheet, maintenance costs have increased from 20 cents to 26 cents per mile.
Speaker 2:
Keep taking all of this into effect. You add the 50 cents, the 79 cents, 26 cents, the nine cents. All that stuff adds up, ladies and gentlemen, and a lot of these people that pay 30 to 60 days later after you've hauled the load. They don't even pay fuel surcharge. A lot of these brokers don't. And we've got to get rid of the middleman too. I mean, there's no reason for a company that needs to ship a product to call a guy sitting at a desk so the guy sitting at a desk could call another guy that owns a truck to tell him hey, I'm going to take 15 or 20% of your money.
Speaker 3:
I want you to haul this to California. There was nothing but curves running from the top on down and at the bottom of the grade set a quiet little country town.
Speaker 2:
Now I know a lot has changed in the trucking world, especially with music. Because you go down the road, you want to listen, to talk shows, you want to listen to music. But every once in a while I want to recommend a cool trucking song from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and this one here is the Nitro Express by Red Simpson, and it is awesome. You know he was signed in 1965. Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson was looking for someone to record some songs about trucking and of course, they picked Red Simpson. This song is awesome.
Speaker 2:
If you get a chance, look it up on YouTube, listen to the entire song and you can even download, buy it. Whatever you want to do, you know you get your music. I mean, you're not supposed to copy it and I'm not advocating, just go ahead and get the song. It is awesome. Every once in a while you want to play an old trucking song going down the road. Anyway, you guys have a great day. I appreciate you listening to my podcast. God bless, be safe and, as always, keep it between the lines. Driver.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast. You can Google us or visit our website at Roland18Podcastcom.