Video of the Week #2: How to Navigate a Traffic Jam

As I sat in bumper to bumper traffic on the North side of Atlanta, Georgia this Tuesday, I imagined how I could easily get through it, and my best option is shown in the video below. It is actually a clip from the movie Armed & Dangerous starring John Candy and Eugene Levy. If you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it. You can buy it on DVD from Amazon, or download it from Amazon Instant Video if you want to see it.

Come on! Be honest, you've thought about doing it before. What's stopping you? I mean aside from the lengthy sentence in Georgia State Penitentiary and a mountain of lawsuits? Someday I swear, I am going to try it... maybe not, but its nice to think about.

WHATS THAT SMELL?! The World's Easiest Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Welcome back to WHATS THAT SMELL?! The weekly blog entry giving truck drivers fast and easy recipes they can prepare anywhere cheaply. Today's recipe is another one of my favorites. This is another crockpot recipe. YES, I know, you sitting there saying "Two crockpot recipes in 2 weeks? COME ON!" Well, get over yourself. the weather is starting to cool down and I like to cook in the crockpot when its cool out. I promise next weeks recipe won't involve a slow cooker. By the way, if you don't have a crockpot, here is a few links to a 3-quart crockpot (What I have), a 5-quart crockpot, and a 1.5 quart 12-volt slow cooker for those of you who don't have an inverter.

The World's Easiest Pulled Pork Sandwiches!
Serves 8 regular people or 4 truck drivers

What you need:
2 pound pork tenderloin, shoulder or butt (pretty much your choice. I like tenderloin)
A can of rootbeer
A bottle of barbecue sauce (I like something sweet on this, but it's your choice)
pack of hamburger buns
whatever fixin's you want on your sandwich (I like white onion and dill pickles)
crockpot liner

What you do:
put the crockpot liner into your crockpot
put the tenderloin/shoulder/butt in the slow cooker
pour in the can of root beer.
Set the slow cooker on low, put the lid on and let it sit for 6 hours. THEN, drain the liquid off, shred the pork with a fork, mix in the BBQ sauce and serve.

NOTES: This recipe makes about 8 pulled pork sandwiches. I usually put the leftover meat in a Rubbermaid container and use it for a quick lunch over the next couple of days.

Pinching Pennies: saving money on the road

For some reason everyone assumes truck drivers are rich. WELL THEY ARE NOT! But this doesn't stop truck stops from charging extreme prices for everything from soda and candy bars to GPS navigation systems and satellite radio receivers. Why do truck stops do this? Because they think truckers have no other choices available to them. This simply isn't the case. So lets go through some helpful hints on ways to save on the road.

1. Don't buy things at truck stops! Don't eat at truck stops. Make food on the truck. you will eat better, and cheaper than at the truck stops. In the near future I am going to post an extensive blog about cooking on the truck, in addition to my weekly recipes.

2. Use your "points" from your loyalty cards. Almost every major truck stop offers drivers a loyalty card. In most cases, you earn 1 point (equal to 1 cent) for every gallon of fuel you purchase. As any truck driver will tell you, these points can add up very fast. Use them for items you need to purchase immediately. DO NOT buy junk, electronics, audiobooks or videos with them.

3. The Mighty Amazon! Amazon.com has literally EVERYTHING! Whether your looking for Books, DVD's, or Washers & Dryers you can find them on Amazon. The great thing about Amazon is they have a LOT lower overhead than retail stores, so they can offer savings on almost anything. This is where I buy all of my cooking appliances, electronics and video games, at a much lower price, better selection and better quality than truck stops or even Walmart. It is also GREAT for gifts since Amazon has a gift wrap service. Your mom wants a kayak for mothers day? No problem it will be on her doorstep waiting for her. Your son needs crochet needles for Home Economics? They got 'em! Even items you need for the truck, like windshield wipers and all the rest. More on Amazon in a future post.

3. Wally World: You non-drivers have seen it before. You pull into Walmart late at night and see 15 trucks parked at the far end of the parking lot. HUNDREDS of Walmarts allow trucks to park in their parking lots overnight. Why not take advantage of it? I stay overnight at Walmart at least once a week, if just so I can buy food and whatever supplies I might need. I will tell you now, I eat like a pig and I only spend about $70 a week on food at Wal Mart. BUT don't make the kneejerk assumption that Walmart has the best price on things though. I always compare with Amazon before I buy anything.

4. No impulse buys. Do you REALLY need that Arizona shot glass? or that magazine filled with information you could get for free online?

The more you save on the road, the more you have to spend when you get home. Drive Safe!

A Note About This Blogs Ads

YES I have ads, see above, and to the right. Almost every blog has ads. What makes mine a bit different is the fact that I only advertise sites and products that I use myself, or find useful. At the top of the page is a link to a free trial of Amazon Prime. I plan to dedicate an entire blog entry to this because I find it EXTREMELY useful when I am on the road. To the right is an ad for Amazon.com. Once again, I link to it and highly recommend it. Don't believe me? Try to compare the prices of things at truck stops to what you'll pay on amazon! You will be hooked too. Soon I hope to get ads for Audible, as it is another great service I use literally daily. So check out our advertisers and see what you think. Have a good weekend and DRIVE SAFE!

WHATS THAT SMELL?! Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

My Weekly "WHATS THAT SMELL?!" is a simple recipe you can easily make on the truck. Feel free to modify these recipes and please, comment on the recipe if you liked it, hated it or changed it for the better. Anyway, enjoy the recipe, don't get to fat, and happy driving!

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings
Serves 4 regular people or 2 truck drivers.

What You Need:

• 2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut up
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 tube of your favorite biscuit dough. I prefer Pillsbury but its up to you.
• 1 10 oz can of Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 finely chopped onion
• (Optional) whatever kind of canned veggies you want to add. I put in Celery and Carrots
• CROCKPOT LINER! (It will save your life!)

What You Do:
Install the crockpot liner
Toss all the ingredients into a crockpot EXCEPT the biscuit dough
Let it cook on high for 5 hours.
Tear up the dough and add it to the crockpot 30 minutes before you eat. DON'T ADD TO MUCH! the dough swells at it cooks.
Turn off the crockpot, serve and enjoy.

Tips:
Put the crockpot on the floor while your driving and put something around it to keep it from tipping. you can also tie it down if you want. Also, I always stir the dough down into the chicken soup for a more dumpling-like texture.

Video of the Week #1: Will It Clear?

T.G.I.F. That's right! It's finally Friday, and I have decided that every Friday I will post a video. No, not like the one I made in college... I was drunk... and they offered me money... another story for another day. This is just a random, entertaining video that I found online and I thought I would share with my blog readers. THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO!! I have to give credit where credit is due, so this video was uploaded to YouTube by uShip.com which you may recognize if you watch the show Shipping Wars which airs on A&E. If your not familiar with it, you should be. It is an AWESOME show. Various drivers bid on unusual, dangerious, oversized or sometimes downright humorous loads through uShip.com and show you their successes (and sometimes, failures) at delivering those loads.

Please click on the LINK TO USHIP.COM'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL to see other videos they have uploaded and let them know you appreciate them!

 

I did not obtain uShip.com or A&E's permission to link to their videos or webpages, but I' fairly sure they won't be mad. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the video! Have a great weekend and Drive Safe!

Getting Started in Trucking

So you want to be a truck driver? That's great. I personally love trucking, although I must warn you its not for everyone. You will know within your first year if this is a profession you will want to do for life. That being said, let me tell you, the first year driving a truck over the road is going to be the worst year you will ever have as a truck driver. You have to deal with an enormous learning curve, companies that pay you just enough to survive, old equipment (YEAH, they are going to hand the keys to a brand new $200,000 truck to someone who, until 2 weeks ago, hadn't driven anything bigger than a Toyota Corolla), not to mention getting used to life on the road.

What You Need:

The basic things you need to get a job in the trucking career are: (In no particular order)

• Class A CDL
• Decent driving record
• No felonies
• Respectable Employment History
• Some endorsements

Lets start with a Class A CDL. If you don't have one, your going to have to get one. Most people seek out a local tractor-trailer school around them. Many vocational schools also offer CDL programs that can be completed in a short time. I earned my CDL at a school in Buffalo, NY in about a month with little out-of-pocket expense and even less trouble. More on choosing a school in a later blog.

If you expect to get a job after you get your A-CDL then you will want to have a good driving record. Most companies specifically look at tickets and accidents within the last 3 years. No company is going to hire you if you have 17 speeding tickets, 8 other moving violations and 4 accidents in the last 36 months. Just ain't gonna happen. Company policy on accidents, tickets, et cetera varies greatly from company to company so do your research. Almost every trucking company has an 800 number for their recruiting department. Call and ask!

FELONS BEWARE! That's right, the transportation industry has finally caught up with almost every industry in the United States. Most companies will not hire you if you are a convicted felon, ESPECIALLY if that felony is recent, violent or drug related. Some companies will accept you on a "Case by case basis" depending on the type of crime, how old the conviction was, if you have any criminal history since then, etc. Once again, check with the company you want to go to work for to see what their policy on criminal convictions is and DON'T LIE! I can guarantee you that almost any company out there will run a criminal background check on you before hire. Another big setback for felons is, to my knowledge, a convicted felon cannot hold a HazMat endorsement. More on this later.

As with any employer, most look for a Respectable Employment History. If you got fired 10 years ago for cussing out your boss at a McDonald's, no big deal. If you've been fired 5 times in the last 3 years for stealing from your employer, your going to be a hard sell. And YES, most companies actually do call your old employers for references.

The last thing I am going to touch on in this blog entry is Endorsements. As most of you know, an endorsement is special permission to operate a certain type of vehicle or haul a certain type of cargo. There are three major endorsements you can get and they are:

• Hazardous Material (H)
• Tanker (N)
• Doubles/Triples (T)

The names are pretty self explanatory but I will go over them here. Doubles/Triples (T) allows you to haul double trailers and triple trailers, if the state in which you are driving allows it, not all do but all 50 states offer the endorsement anyway. Tanker is another self explanatory one, it allows you to haul tanker trailers. HazMat (H) allows you to haul reportable quantities of hazardous materials. It's not as exciting as it sounds. All of these endorsements require you to pass a written test, that's about it. EXCEPT for HazMat. In addition to a written test, you also have to be fingerprinted and pass a background investigation. Felons, don't even bother trying. Sadly, for you guys with a checkered past, you will probably be denied. Most of the major OTR companies want you to have a HazMat endorsement before your hired, or at least obtain one within a short period of time. The good companies will even reimburse you for the expense of the background investigation and fingerprints. One I left off the list is the X endorsement. The X endorsement is simply HazMat AND Tanker, and in most states, if you have both H and N they automatically convert it into an X endorsement. Not all companies require ANY endorsements at all, so check with whoever you want to go to work for.

For those of you who love extra letters on your CDL, get your license in New York State. In addition to those endorsements they have S for school bus, M for metal coil and W for tow truck. I have a New York CDL and I have all the endorsements I could get so my CDL says ENDORSEMENTS: XPWTM. Kinda looks like Roman numerals doesn't it? You may ask "why does he have all those endorsements?" Will I ever use all my endorsements? Probably not. Does it feel good to be over-qualified? HELL YES!

That about wraps this blog entry up. we will explore a lot of these things more in depth in future blog entries so stay tuned! And, as always, if you have any questions, or if you think I got anything wrong, feel free to comment below.
Drive Safe!

Hello and Welcome

Thanks to everyone who read this introduction to my blog. As the name implies, this blog is about trucking. I have been a professional Over the Road truck driver for a little over a year now. YES, I know the old timers who read this are thinkinking "A YEAR? What the hell does he know about trucking?" I freely admit that I don't know everything. I often come across situations that leave me scratching my head. BUT I have come to believe that in the past year I have learned quite a lot.
  
That being said, I encourage you old timers to chime in with your comments, and you newbies to chime in with your questions. If I say something you disagree with, or you simply think I am talking out of my ass, please feel free to correct me, but please be respectful to me and other readers with your comments and questions.

Also, unlike some truck drivers, I cook almost every meal on my truck, so I plan to share a recipe with all of you ever week, as well as give you hints and tips about cooking on the truck. I am also a miserly penny pinching person who loves to spend a lot of money on a good deal as opposed to a little money on a bad one so I will share with you some tips I have found useful to getting necessities as well as toys and extravagances much cheaper.

Along with all this, I will have my trusty sidekick, Blake, (another former Werner/Current Crete driver) who has a bit more experience than myself to chime in on certain issues. We both hope you will enjoy the blog and visit us again real soon. DRIVE SAFE!