More Money for Truckers

06/04/2022

I’m Rickey widow. He passed away March 11, 22

09/16/2021

Driving a truck is not the best way to make the most money. Operating a truck is maximizing everything you and your truck is doing when in operation.

Optimizing fuel mileage no only saves money on fuel cost but reduces down time. Giving you more mileage per tank of fuel equals more income.

07/20/2020

I was reminded this morning by a driver that so many still don’t realize that when you get an equipment violation and the officer writes a warning ticket there is no legal remedy.

It’s a shame but it’s the law. Demand a ticket if you were rolling and was stopped.

Rickey

03/08/2019

This Roadside Drug Testing Program Got It Wrong 31% Of The Time… So It’s Being Expanded

NEWS

A roadside drug testing pilot program finished and the analysis is in. According to the report published by the authorities who conducted the pilot, their drug testing results were wrong 31% of the time. Now the pilot program is being expanded.

Like much of the country, Michigan has seen an increase in impaired driving in the past few years. But unlike alcohol impairment which can be easily determined by a breathalyzer test, impairment by drugs is much more difficult to determine in real time.

In November, 2017, five counties in Michigan started a pilot program which allowed police officers who are trained as Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) to administer roadside drug tests. Cotton swabs rubbed on the inside of a person’s mouth sop up enough saliva to return a positive or negative drug result within 5 minutes. The kits test for amphetamines, benzodiazepines, co***ne, methamphetamines, opiates, and THC (found in ma*****na).

According to the Michigan State Police, roadside drug tests are a useful tool in keeping drug-impaired drivers off of the road. But critics of the tests say otherwise.

One problem is that while false positives are a concern for all drug tests (with rates around 5%-10% depending on the substance), saliva tests like the ones used in the MSP program are notoriously inaccurate. Despite there being only 92 roadside drug tests given during the pilot program, MSP says that 29 tests returned positive results that were only later determined to be false positives.

“I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, but I would not take this test,” said Grand Rapids criminal defense attorney Ed Sternisha according to WWMT. “I simply wouldn’t do it because I don’t want to risk a false positive.”

Refusing to undergo the saliva testing can result in a civil infraction.

Additionally, while a breathalyzer test fairly accurately conveys whether or not a person is inebriated at that specific moment, some enzymes that drug tests look for remain well after the effects of the drug have worn off. A drug test administered to a medical ma*****na user for example could show a positive result for THC, despite the driver not currently being under its influence. The majority of positive results caught by the MSP program was for THC use.

Despite concerns however, Michigan is expanding the pilot program to the entire state. If the expanded pilot is successful, MSP plans to share the data with the hopes of expanding the program nationwide.

Rickey Gooch
“Call your lawyer! Keep a copy of this report and refuse to take the blood test based on the high probability of false positive test by testing instruments according to the defense council above!


Source: michigan, fox17, hollandsentinel, freep, clickondetroit, wwjnewsradio, dailpress, webmd

By Samuel Barradas.

01/25/2019

Trump and Russia
Facebook issues
The two most read articles being read about today.

Don’t we have anything better to do?

If we get ride of both of those issues the problem no longer exist!

12/24/2018

The latter of success starts at the bottom and ends at the top. Every time we stop and jump off the ladder and start a new job we are starting over and at the bottom of the latter again and again. Think about that? How can we get further down the road if we are always turning around and starting over again? Doesn’t make much sense does it?

12/17/2018

Innovators

Innovation comes only to those who can accept the fact there may be failure. Innovation is a gamble it is a risk.

Innovation comes from forward thinking. Planning on improving the status quo! Planning on improving ones self at the risk of failure.

Those who cant imagine this concept are trapped inside their own self. They are experts in giving all the reasons for not taking risks. They live under a low ceiling they built for themselves. It is in fact their comfort zone. They are comfortable in the position in life they are given and are experts in that position. It seems to be something they are meant to be.

Innovators work hard to no longer have to work hard. They work hard to reach higher levels even though the risks of ending up having nothing is more possible than getting what they want. They are the people who say I can when almost everyone else says I can’t.

Without innovation we would still be cooking outside over a campfire. We would walk everywhere we needed to go! We would only copy what we saw others doing and never advance society. We would be like animals. We would all actually work a 100 times harder just to survive!

God gave mankind a spirit that sets us apart from animals.
God gave mankind the power to innovate.
God gave mankind the ability to learn to innovate.
God gave mankind the ability to choose between right and wrong!
God gave mankind laws to live by!
God gave mankind the power to love deeply!
God gave mankind the ability to love him deeply, to appreciate him greatly, to communicate with him through our spirit.
God gave us the opportunity to live an everlasting life.
It is God who is the greatest innovator of all! In case you haven’t figured it out for yourself.

ORG

05/19/2018

The history of trucking sadly includes drivers changing jobs a lot. But the truth is that drivers who stay at one place throughout their years make more money and are happier.

We know that drivers don’t really want to change jobs. They feel like they are forced to however whenever they feel like they are lied to or just ignored.

We also know that usually trucking ownership or top level management is not aware of the situation causing you to leave. The fact is most of the time drivers are very limited to who they can discuss their problems with.

One of the things that we do for our drivers is act as a third party intermediary. This allows a fresh look at the situation and if we feel the situation calls for it we will take the matter to a higher level for both the drivers and carriers benefit.

When a driver has to leave their job simply because there is no one willing to listen it hurts both the driver and the carrier. The day of old school trucking is over and the drivers today will not put up with rules that are designed to leave them out of the process.

At the end of the day. It is going to be the decision of the management of your company if they want someone outside your company to represent you when issues arise. But our experience has shown that good companies realize this is a benefit that is worthy of at least testing. After all they really don’t want to lose good drivers and they do lose drivers all the time because of the lack of good communication.

Call us at 615-424-8635 or 615-557-5472 when you feel you are not in the wrong and we will help you reach out to your company management.

What you have to gain is not giving up income and starting all over again trying to learn the rules at another trucking company who make exactly the same money and has exactly the same expenses as every other trucking in America. It takes a lot of down time and learning curve time to start a new job and that cost drivers a lot of money.

Rickey Gooch
Justice for Truckers

03/29/2018

People want to do business with you not because you say you are Godly but because your actions in everyday life show you are Godly!

03/01/2018

Oakley Trucking owner-operators are receiving an increase in pay based on their CSA scores.
Oakley Trucking (No. 137 on the CCJ Top 250), a 100 percent owner-operator fleet, has started a new per-mile pay increase that pays drivers based on their Compliance, Safety, Accountability scores.

The North Little Rock, Ark.-based dry bulk hauler will pay all new lease owner-operators an additional 10 cents-per-mile on both loaded and empty miles on top of their base pay. Drivers can keep that top bonus by not having points added to their CSA scores while leased to the company.

For drivers with 1-15 CSA points while leased to Oakley, the bonus goes down to 6 cents-per-mile. Drivers with between 16 and 30 CSA points while on with the company, their bonus goes down to 4 cents-per-mile. With 31-60 CSA points, drivers still get an additional 2 cents-per-mile.

Oakley says everyone starts with 0 points when they start with the company. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration updates the CSA system monthly, and Oakley says it will check each driver’s roadside inspections and any points assigned to them each month. While FMCSA itself doesn’t release drivers’ CSA scores, the calculation of the scores is done either by the carrier or a third-party provider.

The company says its end dump owner-operators can make $1.82 per loaded mile and $1.42 per empty mile with the bonus and current fuel surcharge.

02/22/2018

Driver pay has finally started to increase. Be sure to shop around before you jump ship. Also ask to speak to drivers who have been with the company less than 6 months and more than 1 year.

08/22/2017

Hello Rickey,

We all know that staying safe on the road is an essential part of any fleet operation. Health, on the other hand, may be a less obvious consideration. This week we take a look at the value of health and wellness programs to keep drivers healthy behind the wheel, as well as safe.

Driver Health and Wellness
More Roadside Humor
Health & Wellness: Healthy Drivers Can Help Your Company Thrive
Read this article online

Over-the-road drivers face a special set of challenges in the quest to get or stay healthy. Many don’t feel that they have the time to “be healthy.” Faced with time constraints and an abundance of quick but unhealthy foods in truck stops, many believe “healthy truck driver” is an oxymoron. But on-the-road health and wellness is possible, and your company will benefit from encouraging good habits and helping drivers to get and stay healthy.

In this article we will discuss the ins and outs of establishing an effective driver wellness program, including:

Why driver health is your concern

How you can encourage driver wellness on the road

What other companies are doing today
Tips for implementing a health and wellness program

Overcoming potential objections and obstacles

Benefits of creating a wellness program

The average lifespan of a truck driver is 16 years shorter than the national average of 77 years. Long hours, bad habits (unhealthy food, smoking) and a general sedentary lifestyle isn’t good for anyone. Factor in the demands of the job, and drivers will be more likely to experience illnesses and injury, potentially leading to crashes or early retirement. Implementing a health and wellness program for your drivers may cost money at the outset, but the savings in terms of insurance and workers’ compensation costs, turnover, recruitment, and training, and the potential for accidents and other driver-related problems offer farther-reaching benefits.

Obesity and smoking are two of the biggest challenges for a company trying to keep its drivers on the road and out of the hospital. More than 50% of drivers, both male and female, are smokers. Boredom, fatigue, stress, a constantly shifting schedule and a lack of healthy food options doesn’t help. As a result, drivers tend to experience many costly health conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, joint issue, sleep apnea, cancer, substance abuse, and depression, among others.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Drivers are required to pass regular DOT physicals to manage many risk factors and conditions, so allowing these issues to continue unchecked can eventually take a driver off the road. Limited access to health care makes it harder to manage chronic conditions. With a wellness program focused managing and improving these conditions, drivers get the help they need to stay behind the wheel.

Drivers need exercise as much, if not more, than anyone else. Merely paying lip service to health, wellness and fitness doesn’t encourage your drivers to adapt to better habits - they’ve got enough on their minds and need concrete solutions, not slogans. Starting a wellness program for road-based employees can certainly be a challenge: It needs to be easy, fast to pick up and user-friendly.

One piece of good news is the fact that healthy foods are now more available on the road than before. A health coach can help your drivers identify the best food choices for their optimal health. Adding a built-in refrigerator to trucks can also encourage drivers to fill it with healthy food and snacks to take with them.

Rolling Strong is a wellness company that focuses on driver health. Their mobile platform, also called “Rolling Strong,” is a wellness and fitness program that fits in a driver’s pocket. The platform is integrated into in-cab systems and is also available via smartphone app. Drivers can keep real-time tracking of meals, exercise, sleep and can participate in company fitness challenges right from their smartphone or truck’s system.

One company that has already seen the benefits of improved driver health is Melton Trucking, headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With their holistic wellness program, Melton’s 1,100+ drivers and their families have a range of services to chose from, including fitness, free onsite health and dental care, diagnostics and screenings, health coaching and health-related financial incentives (e.g. for quitting smoking). The company’s 24/7 fitness center allows drivers to get the exercise they need after sitting for hours, and their website has an entire section for driver-centered fitness. Melton even has a dedicated YouTube channel to help drivers get started working out on the road using stretching, kettlebells and other small equipment. A “fitness-on-demand” app is also available for drivers to take with them on their phones to track progress, set goals, join company fitness challenges and set up daily reminders.

Prime, Inc., based in Springfield, Missouri, offers a 13-week program that costs drivers $300 up front, but the company reimburses them when they complete it. A road-ready fitness DVD is included that takes just 15 minutes, as well as health and nutrition information. Prime also offers fold-up bicycles that fit easily in a truck cab and allows a driver to get some much needed cardio during breaks. Support is also available to continue the program beyond the initial 13 weeks, and to encourage drivers to build on the progress and improvements they’ve already started.

Implementing wellness incentives can help your drivers take much better care of themselves, avoid weight gain and manage medical problems better. The payoff comes in improved quality of life and decreased downtime for the driver due to illness and accidents. Your company will see improvements in your safety record, have better control over insurance costs and lower workers’ comp costs. Your company will also attract better drivers and improve retention. When drivers see that you’re concerned for their well being, morale and productivity improves.

Ironically, one of the biggest blocks to implementing a wellness program can be the very people who will benefit from it the most: your drivers. Concerns about privacy and potential termination as a result of unhealthy behavior can understandably make drivers uneasy. Of course, employee health information must always be kept confidential, and you should reassure drivers of this fact when presenting a wellness program. In addition, providing incentives, financial or otherwise, for participation can further aid driver buy-in. Once drivers embrace wellness and make changes, they recognize the benefits and realize the value of adopting new habits.

How do you implement a wellness program that’s driver-focused but doesn’t talk down to them? These are some ideas that have been used at other companies:

Start slowly, asking for feedback in driver meetings and company emails. How many drivers would be interested in a health & wellness program created just for them and their lifestyle?

Ask about their needs—eating and exercising on the road, etc.

Find out what they really need from the program

What would they like to see in a new wellness program?

What don’t they want?

What kind of interactive resources would they need to use while they’re out on the road?

Will they be able to access needed medical care if they’re miles away from the terminal?

If your company already has a wellness program, investigate it and see how it’s working.

Do employees participate?

How about your drivers?

Why or why not?

Get feedback! Find out what people like about it, don’t like, why they do or don’t use it, and what can be done to improve it, particularly with the driver community.

What can your company add to this program to make it more user-friendly, particularly for drivers?

Contact a company that has already implemented a driver-focused wellness program, and ask questions. Ask about the benefits that both the company and the drivers are experiencing, and how your company can do something similar.

Decide if your company will handle this program in-house or outsource it to a company like Rolling Strong, or a combination of the two.

Consider utilizing local resources, such as schools and hospitals, who may already have health & wellness staff as well as resources available.
What kinds of resources can you make available to your employees? Fitness equipment and programs? Health/nutrition coaching?

When you’re ready to implement your wellness program, emphasize the benefits of participation
Offer incentives to participants—financial, etc. for things like weight loss, safe miles and smoking cessation
Offer preventative screenings for common conditions in drivers
Diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc. These conditions can take them off the road, possibly for good.
Make health & wellness a part of your safety program, your company’s culture, and make it a priority. Healthy, rested drivers are more alert, react faster and are safer drivers.

In the short term, implementing a new, well-designed health & wellness plan will take some work, and the benefits may not be immediately obvious. Wellness is not a “set-it-and-forget-it” idea, and you may need additional staff to implement and run an effective program. In the long run, though, health and wellness is a strong investment in your biggest asset: the drivers who keep your business rolling. Getting driver buy-in and promoting health and fitness education will help your drivers and your company thrive.

The long-term payoff is healthier, happier drivers, reductions in insurance and other financial liabilities, and reduced accident rates. It’s a win-win for your drivers and for your company’s future.

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