Rollin' 18 Podcast

Truckers' Health Crisis, The Fight for Safe Parking, and Rolling into a New Schedule

• Walter Gatlin • Season 1 • Episode 35

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Balancing life on the farm with the demands of podcasting isn't easy, but I've made some changes to keep the Rolling 18 Podcast rolling smoothly! Join me, Walter Gatlin, as I dive into the generational perspectives in trucking, grapple with the high turnover rates, and tackle the urgent need for healthier food options at truck stops. I share my personal struggles with the allure of unhealthy snacks and explore how poor diet impacts truck drivers' health and mood. This episode, now on a new schedule of Tuesdays and Fridays, promises longer, more relaxed discussions in response to your feedback. So, get ready for some raw, unedited conversations on the crucial issues affecting our industry.

Truck parking safety is reaching a crisis point, and I recount a harrowing Trucker News story that underscores this reality. The Coalition of Trucking Organizations is pushing hard for the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, and I'm here to break down why this $755 million investment over three years is so vital. Between my home and Des Moines, Iowa, the lack of rest areas forces trucks onto interstates, risking lives. Imagine food trucks offering nutritious meals at these new parking spaces—it's a game-changer! With bipartisan support and 49 co-sponsors, now is the time to act. Tune in, get informed, and find out how you can help make trucking safer for everyone.

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Email me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at rollin18podcast@gmail.com. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.

Speaker 1:

Breaker 1-9. Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast. This 40-year veteran is here for anyone wanting to stay up to date in the trucking world. Grab your coffee, hop on board and let's get on down the road with Walter Gatlin.

Speaker 2:

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whenever you decide to listen to this podcast, I'm your host, walter Gatlin with Rollin' 18 Podcast. Yeah, I was off all week. Last week we had some situations at work that needed to be taken care of. Just to give you a small example, friday was almost a 20-hour day for me. So how do I get away with that? I work on a farm. You know. It's more than just driving truck.

Speaker 2:

We do all kinds of different things and boy, let me tell you, when it gets busy, it gets busy, and towards the end of this month, the beginning of next month, they're going to start harvest, so it's really going to get bad. I'm hoping I'm not really in a big part of that because I can keep my podcast going. I am going to do a major change. I'm going to put out podcasts on Tuesdays and Fridays now instead of Monday, wednesday and Fridays. That gives me a buffer zone, and I'm going to extend the podcast to 20 minutes instead of just 15. Also, I'm not going to do so much editing because I've had some comments saying hey, your podcasts are really great, but you talk a little fast. So bring this up. That's good. You know. You get information from people that listen to your podcast. That's the number one thing you want to do is listen to the people that listen to you and they explain to you what you can do and what you shouldn't do. And you know, some things just irritate people and it's understandable.

Speaker 2:

We have a lot to talk about this week and you know, the sad part is that some of these subjects that I'm going to bring up are going to get it. They're going to hit home and some of you folks out there that are new to driving, you're not even going to know what I'm talking about, other than because you know what you know right now and you don't know the past because you wasn't there. But there's a lot to talk about when it comes to you know, we get changes and boomers. We're always getting slammed because they say we don't like change. But you know, honestly, we do, because if things change for the better, we appreciate that and that's a good thing. There are things that really work and you change and you get rid of or you dismiss and, yeah, we get upset about that because it's hey, look, you know this has been tried and trued, it works. Why why do you want to mess with it why? Why don't you just leave it alone? And I'll go to one example.

Speaker 2:

I know it's complicated to find employees, especially employees for the restaurant industry. We have a couple of restaurants in my local town that struggle to keep good help and struggle to keep them around, and that's one thing we're going to talk about as far as the trucking industry our turnover rate but we'll talk about that in a little bit. But what I need to bring up is the fact that all of these truck stops and even your local places in town, are becoming salt and sugar stores, and what I mean by that is you go in to buy something to snack on. It's either chips or candy, or coffee or soda. You know, ladies and gentlemen, we got to get past all this. We got to somehow figure out a way to bring back the restaurant. We need to start eating healthier.

Speaker 2:

When I looked at the average lifespan of a truck driver and realized it had dropped to 61, that is not good. I turned 61 this year, but you know that's beside the point. The fact of the matter is do we really want to be out there busting our butts, you know, 24-7, going through all the hassles that we go through, just to eat ourselves to death. With junk, I mean total junk. Yeah, you know, they do put grapes, and sometimes strawberries and different type of fruits and vegetables in plastic cups, which make everything taste like oil or petroleum by the time you buy it, because it's been sitting there for a day or two and it's absorbed the fumes from the plastic container that they use, which they probably buy from China because it's a lot cheaper and we know where their material is coming from. Their soil has been saturated with toxins for, you know, 100 years or however long it is. They became able to start making goods for the United States, and we all know this to be true. This is nothing new.

Speaker 2:

A lot of people like to deny things because they don't want the reality in their head, but the facts are the facts, ladies and gentlemen, and everything that we buy at the store is now stored in plastic. You can no longer go into a truck stop. Walk into the restaurant, look at a big sign that says truck drivers only sit down, communicate with your fellow drivers, order a meal from a nice person that's there to serve you, and then you know, eat a healthy meal, like a nice, fresh, freshly made stew, or maybe a steak and eggs or something that's going to provide you with some substance. Now, everything is pre-packaged, pre-cookedooked, wrapped up, stuck in some plastic container that was made overseas and, honest to god, I taste petroleum every time I eat out of one of those containers, and I don't care what it is, and I believe it's constantly making us sick.

Speaker 2:

And what? What do you get when you get sick inside your truck or you, when you just start not feeling real well at all? What do you get out of that? You get an attitude, you get angry, and that anger projects onto other people, whether it be drivers, whether it be shippers or receivers, whether it be your wife, husband or kids at home. You know, all of that stuff projects out into your world. I don't think it's fair that we should have to go through all of this.

Speaker 2:

Okay and I've always said this and you guys have heard me say it before we are the largest industry in the world. Why don't we start acting like it? Why don't we take control of the reins of the many horses that we're driving down the road and say look, you, look, we are the champions, we are the ones we need more respect. We're not asking for the moon. We're asking for a slice of heaven. We're asking for you folks to realize that we work our butts off and you think it's just turning the steering wheel.

Speaker 2:

Please turn this podcast off now. Turn around and walk away and go listen to the Simpsons or go watch a cartoon or something and maybe stick a binky in your face because you don't get it. You don't understand, unless you've been behind the wheel of a semi and I would say, at least six months out there living the way we do, and we try to do our best, we try to get all the creature comforts we can. But, man, we go out there and we hurry up and we got to run inside and what do we see? We see a bunch of shells filled with junk, everything from sugar to salt, everything that's preservative, everything. It just breaks my heart.

Speaker 2:

And even driving local, I find myself having to stop and you know I'm probably going to change this, to be honest with you. I'm probably going to change the fact that I'm working local now and I still feel like I got to be the over the road truck driver and get there, point A to point B, and make it quick and all this other stuff. No, I need to start stopping at a restaurant, if I can find one, because even four rollers are having a tough time finding a good restaurant anymore. But I need to stop. Take that half hour or that hour, go inside, order me a nice meal, relax gear down a little bit and just fill my belly with good, wholesome food. Is that too much to ask? I mean, would it be too much for us to get together and say, look, hey TA, hey Loves, hey Flying J, hey Pilot, we need restaurants back.

Speaker 2:

I don't give a crap what you have to do to get them restaurants back. You need to add on to your building. I don't care if it's only a room for you know, 20 people. Make it just for the truck drivers. Okay, Don't invite the four-wheelers in there because they're 20 minutes or 10 minutes, five minutes from home. 90% of them are fueling up after or before work. So why don't we just make it for the truck driver and say CDL holders only. They're going to come in there at their convenience and they're going to sit down and they're going to get a freshly made meal, whether it be scrambled eggs, whether it be bacon, whether it be stew freshly made stew. We got to figure this out. We need to get a wholesome meal at least once a day. Even if you only ate once a day and snacked on healthy products like nuts and berries and things like that, you'd be much better off than what we're doing now.

Speaker 2:

And a lot of guys are going to dismiss what I have to say because they know I'm right and they're feeling guilty and they're going to be like no, that's just not the case. I mean, if you get plenty of exercise and all that, you'd be able to squeeze all that salt and sugar out of you. No, that's not how it works and it's affecting everybody's attitude. I'm sitting here on the radio the other day listening to these people just go off about the stupidest stuff and it's getting to the point you can't even talk on the CB anymore. And you're listening to this rambling going on and as you listen and with my experience, I'm not hearing them complain about anything. I'm hearing them complain about everything. I'm hearing the sickness that is within their body pour out of their mouth because they are disgusted with the way they feel. And if you're not happy within yourself, there is no way that you're going to be happy with anybody else or anything else that is happening in your life and it's going to affect your friends. It's going to affect your family. It's going to affect your life, and we know how much happier we are when we are happy. Do you understand what I'm saying? We know how good we feel when our body feels good, and the only way that's going to happen, ladies and gentlemen, drivers, you know this to be true is if we are well taken care of with our body. I'm not trying to be a health nut. Believe me, I'm a truck driver. I'm furthest thing from a health nut, but I'm noticing the difference.

Speaker 2:

Even in our small town, it's hard to keep employees working at a restaurant. It's hard to keep getting a good meal. Even the restaurants are starting to order from these places that pre-package and pre-cook everything, and it's like my God, can't we concentrate on our town locally? Can't we concentrate on, you know, making good food? Don't you really want to be a restaurant, or are you only in the business to make a buck? When you open a restaurant, your heart's supposed to be into it. When you make pies or cakes, your heart is supposed to be into it. It's supposed to be something you love to do. You love to produce a product that's going to make people so happy they're just going to come back. Isn't that the truth? And I'm speaking from the heart. So, whether you appreciate what I'm saying or not, just remember I'm speaking from the heart. I'm speaking because I want to be happy and I'm speaking because I want to be able to communicate happy things with my fellow co-drivers all the other drivers out there on the road.

Speaker 2:

Half the time you call people on the radio, go in the opposite direction, you give them a report or whatever, and they just ignore you, even if they're listening. You see they've got $60 antennas on their truck. You know they're monitoring their radio, but they're not talking to you. Why are they not talking to you? Because they're not happy with their self. And why are they not happy with their self? Because they don't feel good.

Speaker 2:

Do we not deserve, out of all the hours and all the months and all the years that we put in these rigs, do we not deserve at least a healthy meal? We are working our butts off to make as much money as we can, and who do we take care of the least? The person that's making the money. Now, come on, you can't stop and afford a $20, $30 meal. Because of what reason afford a $20, $30 meal? Because of what reason? Because you need every dollar you can to squeeze into your electric bill or your rent or your mortgage. You know you got five kids at home, whatever. Bull crap, bull crap. You come first and I don't care, you know, I know we do our best for our families and I know we do our best for our friends, but we have to come first because if we don't, we die, and if we die, we don't make a paycheck, and if we don't make a paycheck, nobody gets nothing. So why not let them get a little bit less and do a little bit more for yourself, make a living and eat well, be happy, and let's start commanding that these truck stops start taking care of us. I want to start a nationwide petition to get these restaurants to start concentrating on our food and to make our food fresh and to help us be better to ourselves, and that includes a place to sit down and have somebody make us a hot, fresh meal. And if nobody can understand that, then I think the rest of the world is crazy, because I know for a fact that that's what we need.

Speaker 2:

Break one nine. This is Rollin' 18 Podcast. We're switching gears.

Speaker 2:

Now, this next few minutes, I want to talk about a story that broke on August 5th and it's at truckernewscom. So if you want to look at it, go look. It's called Trucking Organizations Call on House Leaders to Set Vote on Parking Bill. And this is important because I have been negotiating with my local elected officials, because we need parking, we need a place. I mean I've got two rest areas between where I live and Des Moines, iowa, two rest areas and one on each side, so one on the east side, one on the west side, so that's four rest areas and they are constantly full and they are running out, spilling out into the interstate, which is not safe to begin with. But the story says the Coalition of Trucking Organizations is calling on Congress to take action on legislation that would allocate funds to create new and much-needed truck parking.

Speaker 2:

Now, if they do this and back to my original story before this part if they do this, you guys out there that love food and you want to own a food truck, go to the government. I'll let you attend to one. They'll give you a grant. You can make us some really nice fresh food in these truck stops or these truck parking areas, you could make us some really nice, fresh food every night. Not this junk that you slap together and stick in plastic, but real, honest, wholesome food so we can eat good. If we can't make it to a truck stop because they're full, we can pull good. If we can't make it to a truck stop because they're full, we can pull into one of these rest areas and have us a truck there and we can get us something really good to eat before we lay down and take our nap.

Speaker 2:

Now, on Monday, july 29th, 18 organizations sent a letter to Speaker of the House, mike Johnson, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries asking they take action on the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which has been languishing since being approved in committee since May of 2023. This is how important we are to these elected officials. So if you're a truck driver and you're out there arguing about one candidate or another, just remember they could give a hoot about you. They wouldn't take five seconds to spit in your face, let alone to shake your hand. So please stop. Unless you're writing them a check, they don't care about you. So quit putting all your beans in one basket. Quit protecting these fools. Just remember that they're there as our servants. They're there to do a job. May of 2023, drivers May of 2023 is how long we've been waiting. And guess what? They look at that and they go truck drivers. They can park anywhere they want to.

Speaker 2:

It says here the legislation would earmark $755 million over three years for projects to expand truck parking. It has 49 co-sponsors 25 Republicans and 24 Democrats. Now, if that isn't bipartisan, I don't know what is. In part, the letter said to Johnson and Jeffries we encourage you to work together to schedule a vote for this important legislation that would benefit countless men and women who make their living behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle. That's all well and said, but let's see what else it says.

Speaker 2:

It added access to safe and ample truck parking has been a top safety priority for American truck drivers for more than a decade. By increasing capacity, we can ensure that truck drivers do not have to choose between parking in a potentially unsafe location, such as a highway shoulder or on-ramp, off-ramp, or continue to drive while they feel fatigued and are out of available driving hours under federally mandated hours of regulations. So, ladies and gentlemen, drivers, get on board with this. Find out who your local legislators are that work nationally and get a hold of them, write them a letter, send them an email, call them every single day and let them know that we need something done. This is not a catch-22. This is a bipartisan situation.

Speaker 2:

We can all agree that we need safe parking. We can all agree that we need fresh food, fresh, good food. We can all agree on a lot. There's a lot of things we can argue against. You know, and I can tell you who I am, but I'm not going to get into this podcast ever politically, because I know where that goes. That brings in half the population of the United States and the other half walks away from you and I don't want that. I want to give all of you a big, big hug. And you think, oh, wow, that's kind of weird. No, it's not. I mean, shouldn't we be happy? I mean there were times I'd pull into the truck, stop over there in Ontario, california, 80s, 90s, whatever, even the 2000s, because I ran LA up to about four or five years ago.

Speaker 2:

But I'd go out there and we would sit at them tables out front while we're just relaxing before we go to bed. And you know, sometimes I would stay in my truck and chit chat on the CB for a while, but other times I would go out there to the, where the front entrance is for truck drivers. There was such a thing and there would be tables set up for all of us drivers. We'd sit there and have a cigarette and talk and and talk about all kinds of different things and, man, we would collaborate on all kinds of things. We just have a great time. Drivers, tuesdays and fridays are going to be my days for podcasts, so I hope you join me. Visit me at roland18podcastcom. Let your friends know. I really appreciate your support. And next show I'm going to talk about the driver retention problem, because we really need to get to the bottom of it. God bless, be safe and, as always, keep it between the lines. Driver.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast. Please visit Walter's podcast site at Roland18podcastcom or his social media sites such as Instagram, facebook and TikTok. All links are in the description.