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Phil Madsen's BlogLearning Something New Every Day |
Truck drivers Phil and Diane Madsen live, work and play on the road; transporting expedited and critical-shipment freight in their custom-built truck. Phil's blog is a blend of travelogue, brain dump and commentary on road-inspired topics.
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Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, December 1, 2009. I learned today that Diane's braces will come off when we are home for Christmas. Learned when her dentist confirmed it today.
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We woke up yesterday morning at the Petro truck stop in Oak Grove, Missouri and were dispatched as we ate breakfast. The load picked up this afternoon near our home in Minnesota. We spent yesterday deadheading home to spend the night there.
That's right, with the freight having brought us home several times in the last few weeks, it happened again. That's not something to expect in expediting. These repeated trips home seem strange.
We put this one to good use. Diane was scheduled to go in for a dental appointment next week. Rather than make a special trip then, she called to see if the appointment could be changed to today. It worked out. With the freight picking up in the afternoon, she got an appointment in the morning and a special trip home next week was avoided.
The load we picked up today delivers tomorrow afternoon. We will be driving and sleeping in shifts to get it there.
• My regular blog readers know we have put an awful lot of time and money into Diane's braces. While the dentist says her teeth now look "fantastic," the braces were not put on for cosmetic reasons. The choice was braces now or surgery later. That made the decision for braces easy to make.
We paid the dentist $6,500 up front for the work. Additionally, we have flown or driven Diane home several times in the last two years to have her braces adjusted. Air fair and deadhead miles for those trips added several thousand dollars to the cost. There is also the opportunity cost. That is the revenue we gave up to take the truck out of service so Diane could go home to have her braces adjusted. If not for those trips, we would have stayed in service and earned more money.
I'm not complaining. We are blessed to have a job that provides the scheduling freedom and financial means to get Diane's braces done. It is great to know that Diane will not need surgery later in life because of what we have done now.
A major recession hit and the freight slowed while Diane had her braces on. It is better to take time off when things are slow than when things are busy. While we did not plan for it to work out that way, it was good that the business interruptions caused by the braces coincided with much of the recession.
With all that said, the best news is Diane's braces are coming off before Christmas. It will be fantastic to return to the road next year and run without the interruptions the braces required. And of course, Diane will be thrilled to get all that hardware out of her mouth and have a nicer smile. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, December 2, 2009. I learned today nothing new.
As most people do, I always learn something new everyday. Like today, I learned of Tiger Wood's infidelity. When I say I learned nothing new, I mean I learned nothing new that that was meaningful or important to me.
We drove all night last night and most of the day today to deliver a load in New Jersey. We picked up the freight in Minnesota yesterday afternoon. Our time was given to the freight as we drove and slept in shifts. After the delivery, we drove to the Petro truck stop in Bordentown, ate supper and will soon go to bed for the night.
On the way from Minnesota to New Jersey, we were pre-dispatched to pick up a load tomorrow afternoon. We will deliver that load on Friday morning. Financially, it is shaping up to be a half-way decent week.
With a good night's sleep ahead of us tonight and a late-afternoon pickup tomorrow, I plan to get in several hours of trading screen time in the morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, December , 2009. I learned today more about trading. Learned by practice trading.
We woke up this morning at the Petro truck stop in Bordentown, New Jersey, after driving here to spend the night. We are set to pick up a load later today that we will haul overnight and deliver in the morning.
Having made good progress in my Operation Streamline and practice trading, real-money trading will begin soon, perhaps before the end of the year. While I am now able to make paper (practice) trades with confidence and produce hypothetical profits, certain refinements must be made to my trading plan before I jump in for real. Once those are made, I will be ready to go (finally!).Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, December 4, 2009. I learned today that construction is complete on I-294 from I-80 to I-90 in the Chicago area, and much further along from I-90 to I-94. Learned by driving the route.
Interstate highway construction in the Chicago area has been going on for years, making the trip through terrible at times. All of the interstate highways have been affected. Progress has been made, however, and it is now almost fun to sail through the area.
Open-road toll lanes have replaced antiquated toll booths, making it possible to drive through at the speed limit. While it would be better to eliminate tolls altogether, it is nice to not have to stop every several minutes to pay a toll. The fewer times you have to re-accelerate after a stop, the better it is for fuel economy.
On the completed sections, lanes have been added, lighting has improved and wider shoulders exist. A whole new freeway, I-355 provides an additional way to get through town. The dread we used to feel when planning trip through Chicago has largely disappeared.
Traffic still jams up during the rush hour and it will only get worse in the future as the economy recovers and congestion grows. But compared to how it used to be, a drive through Chicago is not the unpleasant trip it once was.
• We drove overnight last night with a load we picked up in New Jersey. The two-stop delivery in the Chicago area was completed this afternoon. The second stop put us near the TA truck stop in Zion, Illinois, where we went for showers and sleep. Not being dispatched and having no desire to fight rush hour traffic in the dark to find a different place to park, we decided to stay put and spend the night at the TA.
• 
It's cold outside. The daily lows here are in the mid-twenty degree range. I hate to admit it but must accept that fact that winter has arrived. To stay warm in a parked truck, we must run the generator and bunk heater full time. We wear jackets outside and warm clothes inside.
The days are short, increasing the amount of night driving we do. I love late-night drives on the open road. Driving in the dark, in a city, during the rush hour, sucks.
Unless we are in a southern state, going to a park to sit in a lawn chair to wait for freight is out. Even if we went into a a library, mall or museum to pass time while waiting for freight, the truck would still have to be heated to keep the sleeper water tanks and plumbing from freezing.
Snow adds challenges, risks and effort to living in and working with a truck on the road. We have had no snow to deal with so far and it would suit me just fine if we avoided it altogether. Sadly, that is not a realistic hope.
This will be our seventh winter on the road. As with the others, we will deal with it while counting the days to spring.
Diane grew up in Minnesota. I grew up in Wisconsin. We have noticed that people who grew up in Florida have a different conversation about winter than we do. I joke that every day spent out of winter (in a southern state) is a bonus for us. For Floridians, every day spent in winter is a penalty.
My countdown to spring goes like this. Nationwide, we can generally count on spring weather by April 1 (exceptions in the Rocky Mountains and extreme northern locations). In early March, we can begin to hope for unseasonably warm weather in the north and enjoy mild weather further south. In January and February, the weather will pretty-much suck wherever we are, except Florida, Southern Arizona or Southern California. I hear Brownsville Texas is nice that time of year but the freight has yet to take us there.
Early December can go either way. At the moment, it is cold where we are but unseasonably warm days sometimes happen; like yesterday in New Jersey, when we walked around in shirt sleeves. December 21 is important. It marks the point where the days begin to get longer and the nights grow shorter.
December 25 is Christmas, a holiday I can do without. Diane likes Christmas and we make it a point to go home for it every year. Depending on circumstances, we may go back into service on the 26th or stay home longer for appointments, tax work, and such.
Either way, once Christmas is out of the way, there are only a few days left in the month. On New Year's Day, only 60 days stand between me and the hope for warmer days in early March. The more time we spend hauling or waiting for freight in the South in January and February, the better. If we could do short runs in Florida in those two months, I would be thrilled.
People say that winter is pretty and they enjoy the seasons. I say winter is bad for the environment. Look at all the clothing and fuel we would not use to stay alive, heat our homes, remove snow, etc., if not for winter.
Make no mistake. Winter is evil. No matter how much of a positive spin you try to put on it, the weather will kill you. Human beings were not designed to live in northern climates. We are designed to live naked in a tropical paradise. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, December 5, 2009. I learned today, that today, is the day, that I will stop sharing details about my day-trading work. Learned by reaching that point.
I updated my trading page for the last time today. With real-money trading soon to begin, it is time to stop talking publicly about it. I may talk in this blog about the time I spend trading but not about the details, experience or results. See the summary at the top of my trading page for the explanation.
You will know I am succeeding as a trader when you start seeing Diane and me taking time off the road and checking into luxury RV resorts and hotels to give me time to trade. Until then, you can assume that our trading earnings are less than our expediting earnings, and expediting continues to be our primary source of income.
Loving life on the road as we do, I don't see us giving it up even after our trading earnings exceed our expediting earnings. I do see expediting becoming a part-time occupation as our trading revenue grows.
• We woke up this morning at the TA truck stop in Zion, Illinois. No load offers worth taking have been received today. We moved to a bookstore parking lot. Diane is inside reading. I am in the truck, polishing up my trading plan and preparing to trade for real.
I can tell you this. It is a lot more fun to wait for freight when the weather is nice than when it is cold enough to kill you if you are not properly dressed. Runs to Florida become highly desirable this time of year.Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, December 6, 2009. I learned today a bit more about OpenOffice.org. Learned by studying it.
• We woke up this morning in a retail area in a Chicago suburb. We delivered a load nearby on Friday and are now waiting for freight to haul.
• Regular readers know I have been working on streamlining my administrative procedures. Part of this ongoing project is to get Microsoft out of my life and use open source software in its place.
OpenOffice.org does most if not all of what I use Microsoft Office products to do. The difference is OpenOffice.org is available free of charge, and is free of the bloatware, security holes, proprietary standards and vast array of unwanted and unused features Microsoft imposes on its customers.
There was a time when I was a happy Microsoft customer. No more. It is a long-term project but, bit by bit, I am getting Microsoft out of my life. I spent part of today studying and experimenting with the OpenOffice.org database program. I intend to import my old Microsoft Access databases into OpenOffice.org and free myself (and my computer) of yet another Microsoft product.
• The forex market opens later today. If we are not yet dispatched, I will go to a movie and then spend the rest of the day trading (trading page updated on Dec. 5). Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, December 7, 2009. I learned today a bit about the micro machine tool industry. Learned by receiving a brief plant tour from a shipper.
We woke up this morning in a retail area in a Chicago suburb and passed time in the truck until we drove 15 miles to this afternoon's pickup.
The shipper said he had never before seen freight secured as well as well as I secured his. Diane and I hear that a lot. It is not hard to make a good impression. Just treat the freight like it belongs to you, use a few more load bars and ratchet straps than the next guy, and presto, you are a hero.
When he told me about freight damage he had with another trucking company, I said not a word. Instead I pulled my jacket collar away so he could see the FedEx logo and tapped it with my finger. He smiled and nodded. I next stepped to the loading dock and tapped the huge FedEx logo on the back door of the truck. He again smiled and nodded. Now having a couple of people in the shipping department laughing, I did it a third time, using the FedEx logo on my uniform shirt.
Finding these people to be friendly, I asked about the business and received a brief tour.
The load will keep us rolling until about 1:00 a.m. tomorrow. We don't have to stay awake with this freight and will be able to sleep until tomorrow's delivery.
We are keeping a close eye on the weather. The atmosphere is busy today in most states. Winter storms have developed in some areas. More are forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday. We will be fine tonight and tomorrow morning. What weather we hit after that depends on where the freight will take us. We won't know where until we are next dispatched. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, December , 2009. I learned today nothing new, at least not yet.
We picked up a load in Chicago yesterday afternoon and delivered it early this morning in Plymouth Minnesota, which is not far from home. Once again, the freight took us home. Once again, we are struck by how often that has happened in recent weeks. As expediters, our pickup and delivery locations are random. We don't expect the freight to take us home at all. We have never had a time like this where the freight takes home this much.
The weather we were keeping an eye on yesterday caught up with us. The snow began to fall soon after we parked the truck at home. A full-fledged blizzard is expected with six to eight inches of snow, strong winds and zero visibility at times. The storm will continue through Wednesday night.
Not being pre-dispatched and being parked at home, we did something we don't remember doing before. We went out of service to wait out the storm.
We have driven through worse weather than this. The weather does not frighten us. The truck is ready and we are ready for most anything that Mother Nature throws at us. What is different this time is trading (trading page updated on Dec. 5).
While the weather does not frighten us, safety risks increase in these conditions. The logical decision is to lay low until the storm passes, especially if the down time can be productively used.
My day trading efforts are far enough along that out-of-service time can be financially productive, if I use the time to trade. While a blizzard develops around us, we will stay safe and cozy at home and I will trade. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, December 9, 2009. I learned today that the 54,700 water systems in the U.S. are poorly regulated and millions of Americans are drinking polluted water because of it. Learned by reading this article in the New York Times.
This is a concern to Diane and me because we drive our truck all over the U.S., to communities large and small. We refill our drinking water tank from local sources and are at the mercy of the water system there used. More specifically, we are at the mercy of the people charged with keeping the water clean.
Some truckers we know drink only bottled water. A few have water filters built into their big-bunk sleepers. We know that a number of bottled water brands use tap water. Without doing a ton of research and paying labs to runs tests of samples we might send in, Diane and I have no way of knowing that bottled water or water filters reduce exposure to the toxic pollutants mentioned in the article any better than local water systems do.
After reading an advisory from our sleeper manufacturer, we have been thinking about adding a crude filter to our fill hose to help keep mineral deposits from building up in the sleeper plumbing. We have no buildup now but it seems like a wise precaution.
The article closes with a disturbing quote. "Despite the expected announcement of reforms, some mid-level E.P.A. regulators say they are skeptical that any change will occur.
"'The same people who told us to ignore Safe Drinking Water Act violations are still running the divisions,' said one mid-level E.P.A. official. 'There’s no accountability, and so nothing’s going to change.'"
• The blizzard that motivated us to stay home yesterday and today continues as predicted. I shoveled a path to the truck this morning before setting up in the sleeper to trade. Today will be a trading day.
We are scheduled to go into service at midnight tonight. We expect no loads at that time. We will go into service a that time to start building dwell time ahead of any other trucks that may be arriving in the area Thursday morning.
The blizzard will taper off here later today as it moves east. If we end up getting a load that takes us east, we may drive right back into it. That's alright. It is winter, after all, and at some point we will just have to put up with it. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Today's Topics: CARB Actions • Yesterday's Near-miss Run • Today's Activities
• I learned today that the California Air Resources Board is looking at giving truck fleets more flexibility to comply with air quality rules. Learned by reading this article.
What surprised me when I was reading this was my emotional response. It is now plain that don't like CARB, not just with my mind but at a heartfelt level too. I have seen people who have been seriously harmed by CARB actions that, had they been better thought out, would not have caused this harm and still would have accomplished what CARB tries to do. Their latest action will further "rubberize" their rules, making them more bendable and stretchable, and further confuse trucker business people who try to make good decisions under these rules.
A core problem is the way CARB is making rules that apply to existing equipment. It would be easy for the industry to move to cleaner burning products if CARB said a standard applies to new equipment made after model year XXXX. I hate it that CARB is trying to change the rules on our truck and millions of others by making rules passed today apply to trucks made years before. Diane and I bought our truck in good faith in 2006 under the then current air quality rules. Now CARB wants to mandate changes to our truck, the cost of which we are expected to pay. There is nothing fair or right about that.
• We were scheduled to go back into service this morning but got a call from dispatch last night saying, "You are our only option!" They had an urgent load to cover and sought our help. We agreed.
It was a short run, picking up in Mankato, Minnesota and delivering to the Minneapolis Saint Paul (MSP) International Airport. Someone in California urgently needed their computer parts. The parts were marooned in the system of an LTL trucking company. Our job was to pluck the freight out of that company's system and get them on a FedEx plane and on their way to California so the customer could have them tomorrow.
The first step was to start the truck and dig it out of the snow. A blizzard had just come through and the outside temp was near zero degrees. The truck started just fine but it took a while to dig it out and defrost the windows. The windows were ice covered inside and out.
The roads were OK most of the time and we proceeded at the speed limit most of the way. When we got to within 10 miles of the pickup, we received a message from dispatch. The load had canceled because the guy waiting for us did not want to stay.
I told dispatch that we are just 10 miles out and will continue to the shipper. Upset at the idea of losing the load after coming out of service and digging out to take it, I took a tone and pretty much ordered the dispatcher to call that guy back and tell him how close we were. The dispatcher did and the guy stayed. Dispatch gave us his phone number so we could tell him exactly where we were and when we would be there.
It turned out that he was concerned about the weather and roads. He was alone at the company's freight facility. The company had closed for the day due to weather, as had all schools and many businesses. He was relieved to hear our road report. The blizzard was over and the roads had been cleared. Blowing snow remained an issue but it was not serious. I was relieved that he stayed. This was not a load I wanted to lose.
We were in and out of the dock in no time. The stranded freight was now rescued freight. At this pont, the California customer had a FedEx tracking number to work with and could find out exactly where the freight was and verify that it was moving.
The sun set on our way to Mankato. Now driving at night, we saw road conditions deteriorate as we approached the Twin Cities metro area. Seeing numerous cars in the ditches, we slowed down. On a divided highway, we watched one mess build in front of our eyes as four cars in the opposite lanes all at once spun out in different directions and ended up in different places on the road and ditches. Traffic behind them immediately backed up. We continued on to the airport and delivered the freight in time for the FedEx people there to get it on the plane. That's one more happy customer proudly served by FedEx Custom Critical (Diane and me and everyone else that makes the company go) and FedEx Express (the folks with the private air force that moves freight worldwide overnight).
Our home is not far from the airport so we returned home to get a good night's sleep and wait for freight there.
• We woke up this morning at home. It is now 4:00 p.m. and we are still home. We are the only truck on the board and no load offers have been received, not even bad ones. I am using some of the time for trading. Trading is good. Because of it, down time is not down time any more.
The weather remains cold. Today's high was 4°F. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow. People are joking about a heat wave with forecast highs around 10 to 15.
Hopefully we will be on our way by then. Tomorrow is Friday. It could happen that we get dispatched on a Monday load, keeping us with no freight until then. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, December 11, 2009. I learned today what our holiday schedule will be. Learned by finding ourselves unexpectedly at home and making plans based on that fact.
We woke up at home this morning, in service and waiting for freight. The problem is, today is Friday and Diane has two dental appointments 10 days from now. That means that if we go back out to haul freight, we have to be back home on the 21st.
The 21st is a Monday. Any good weekend loads we might get before then would not work because they would deliver on the 21st. If we go out, we would need a day, maybe two, to deadhead back home from wherever we ended up.
Backhaul freight comes to mind. That is directional freight that we find on our own and book through our carrier's backhaul system. It is used to get a truck home or to a better express center under a load that pays at least something instead of making the trip empty and earning nothing. We have tried that before and concluded it is not worth the bother.
Until we know where we are coming from, we can't book a load toward home. Backhaul loads require advanced notice to book. With their low pay and the time it takes to book one, they cost more money than they pay. Another major disadvantage is when you have one of those loads on your truck, you will not see other good loads that dispatch might otherwise offer.
For big-rigs (E and ER-units, tractor-trailers), backhaul is a better option because truckload backhaul loads are easier to find. With a straight truck, we can only haul LTL (less than truckload) freight.
On Fridays, it is common to get dispatched for a Monday pickup. If we get dispatched on a load that takes us out today, that still gives us only one week's worth of running to get back home. We might gross a good level of revenue in that week, but if we end up deadheading a long way home, the profits off that week would be eaten up. While our carrier and customers would appreciate having an available truck, and while they would pay us a market rate to haul freight, we would end up working the week for free because of the deadhead home.
We do not like the idea of going out of service from now through December 26, but we are always home for Christmas. Because of the dental appointment and other appointments we made around them, the financially smart choice is to go out of service now and stay home.
Diane and I will use the time to work on Operation Streamline. I will also be able to dedicate major blocks of time to trading. With our schedule now known, we can try to set up social events with friends.
Finally, and most importantly, this gives us time to plan go out on what Diane and I call a dress-up date. We did not celebrate our wedding anniversary on the road this year. We will do so now that we are home. It will be a full day together, in nice clothes, with a car to use (we can park where trucks cannot!), no work to do, and the freedom to go wherever we wish. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, December 12, 2009. I learned today how to keep repeat DWI offenders from re-offending. Learned when Diane and I had dinner with the presiding judge and founder of the Hennepin County (Minnesota) DWI Court and his wife.
DWI, driving while intoxicated, is known in some states as DUI, driving under the influence. It's the same thing — drunk driving.
You know the story. We have all heard it. A drunk driver causes a fatal traffic accident and it comes out that the driver has been convicted several times before for drunk driving.
People talk about it at work or coffee or worship. We wonder why someone like that is permitted to drive at all. Why can't he or she just get sober? Why don't they lock that person up and throw away the key? It's terrible that innocent people were killed by the drunk. We feel bad for their families. We talk about how sad it all is for the victims and how wrong it is that the offender was driving drunk again.
The conversation ends. We go on with our business. A few weeks pass and we have the same conversation again when the story is again in the news, this time with a different repeat offender and a new set of victims.
As regular blog readers know, Diane and I love our life and work on the road. One of the very few things we dislike is how the work puts distance between us and the old friends we left behind when we moved out of our house and white-collar professions, into a truck and onto the road. Judge John Holahan is one such friend.
John and I first met and came to work closely together in the Perot '92 presidential campaign. When Ross Perot quit the race and I went on to found the Independence Party of Minnesota (see my bio for details), John, then an attorney with a law firm that specialized in family law, was an early and active supporter.
The Perot people, as we were then called, and our third-party efforts attracted the attention of then Minnesota governor Arne Carlson. We sometimes met with him and his staff. Through that activity, the governor came to know John and later appointed him to fill a vacant seat in the Hennepin County District Court. Citizens have since elected and twice re-elected John to that seat. Hennepin County includes Minneapolis and numerous suburbs. It is the largest county by population in the state.
It has been years since Diane and I last saw John and his wife. It was when he performed our wedding ceremony. When we met for dinner at a restaurant this evening, it was a heartfelt joy to see them again. We could not have stopped smiling if we tried.
They were fascinated to learn more about our decision to give up careers in law (Diane) and computers (me) to go to work in a truck. We were fascinated to learn, and John was eager to tell with justifiable pride, about the positive and real difference his DWI court is making in people's lives.
It's more than a simple difference. Once they are in the program, repeat drunk drivers are not re-offending. They are no longer driving drunk. They are getting sober, staying sober, turning their lives around and no longer putting innocent lives at risk. Some fall off the wagon and drink again but none have been charged with another drunk driving offense.
The next time you find yourself in an ain't-it-awful conversation about repeat drunk drivers, you will not be at a loss to offer up a solution. Tell the people you are talking to about Judge John Holahan's DWI Court in Hennepin County Minnesota, and other such courts that have surfaced around the country.
Tell people that it doesn't have to be awful about repeat offender drunk drivers. A real solution really exists that can take repeat drunk drivers off the road by helping them get sober and turn their lives around.
These people were punished when they were convicted and sentenced for their first drunk driving offense. They were punished again when they were convicted and sentenced for their second, third, fourth and more offenses. Each time the punishment was more severe. Each time they offended again. Punishing a repeat drunk driver yet again for yet another offense might satisfy some people's notion of justice but it will not get to the root of the problem or improve highway safety.
That is not to say that the judge is a softy. As a criminal court judge he has sentenced numerous people to hard time. In lieu of going to jail, people under DWI Court supervision are required to do community service and allow the police to enter their homes and look around anytime the police want. Breathalyzer tests are given frequently to verify sobriety. Participation in AA meetings is mandatory as are frequent appearances back in court. Those are some of the many requirements the closely-supervised offenders must agree to before entering the program.
I invite you to do something that is easy and could help make a real difference in your community. Find out if your county is running a DWI (DUI) court. If not, find out who the chief judge and county prosecutor are, and send this Star Tribune article to them with the suggestion that they look into it. Additional program details are in this piece written by Judge Holahan for The Hennepin Lawyer. If you want to point people to this blog entry, you can use this permalink.
Your county court judges and prosecutors may have already heard of DWI court, but they busy people who hear about all kinds of things. A note from you, a concerned citizen, may be just the thing to bring this life saving idea to the front of their minds and prompt them to act.
Diane and I don't want to be in an accident with a drunk driver. Neither do you. Send the note, save some lives. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, December 13, 2009. I learned today that this time of year, when the daylight hours are shorter, the twilight hours are longer. Learned by chatting with an astronomer.
Diane and I are home for the holidays. A member of our church is an astronomer. As people gathered and greeted one another after church, I commented to him about the short days. That's when he told me about the longer twilight hours and explained the reason they occur.
I knew all about the shorter days but had never noticed or learned about the longer twilight hours. It goes to show that you really can learn something new every day, and it is good to keep your mind open to do so. It's kind of embarrassing to have lived on planet Earth for over a half-century without noticing something as obvious as this. It makes me wonder what else is as obvious as the sun in the sky but remains unseen or unknown. Maybe I should pause more often to think and look around. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, December 14, 2009. I learned today that the district court that serves our county does not have a DWI court. Learned by doing what I invited you to do on January 12.
We are home from the holidays and today is a professional development day. Diane is in downtown Minneapolis completing a continuing legal education class to keep her law license up. I am home, trading and working on year-end business paperwork. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, December 15, 2009. I learned today how to develop a database without using paper. Learned by doing it.
Before we got into trucking, I once worked as a software instructor and did some consulting work. Some of it involved helping people develop small databases for their small businesses. Today I am working on a database for Diane and me.
I remain profoundly influenced by the company tour blog reader Frank gave me last March. Part of my Operation Streamline is to improve efficiency by reducing the pencil and paper processes Diane and I use in our business. Accordingly, I am not planning the database in the way I did before. Instead of drawing out the database design on paper, I am doing it directly in my database software.
This is a mental stretch for me. It would be easier and more intuitive to make list of tables and fields on paper and then draw the table relationships. The advantage of the paper-free approach is that once the design is complete, I do not have to take the extra step of moving the information on paper into the database software.
It also means I do not have to keep papers with me when the laptop moves from place to place. If the project gets put on hold for days or weeks, I do not have to worry about losing the papers or spend time digging them out from wherever they end up stashed. And of course it saves trees, but that is not why I am doing this.
Completing this database will move Diane and me from using spreadsheets in our business administration to using a database. The data entry work will be about the same but analyzing our business will be faster, easier and more thorough.
With a database, if I want to know what our cost per mile was for the three months ending June 2007, and what it is this month, the information can be instantly obtained by running a simple query. If I want to know how much per mile reefer loads paid in the last half of this year and how that compares to the same period two years ago, I can find out by running a quick query. The same information can be obtained from a spreadsheet but not as easily or quickly.
It takes a lot of time and creative effort to develop a good database. I am doing the work because improving our ability to query our business data will help us make better business decisions. It will also help make me a better trader by enhancing the ability to analyze my trades. As the number of trades grows, so does the information about them. Database queries will help me review that information and improve my trading skills.
• I have the time to do this work because we are home for Christmas through December 26. We arrived on December 11, making this a longer stay than desired. The reasons are explained here. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, December 16, 2009. I learned today about Rick Bronson's House of Comedy in the Mall of America in Bloomington Minnesota. Learned by going to a show there.
Diane and I are home for the holidays. Having a safe place to leave the truck without worrying about it, and having a car available, we spent most of yesterday on a date. I worked on our business database in the morning. We spent the afternoon and evening together. It was a delightful day, spent with the woman I love. We enjoy each other's company are are blessed to have a job in which we can live, work and play together like we do. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
December 17-18, 2009. I learned today and yesterday more about trading. Learned by doing it.
We are home for the holidays. I am investing good chunks of uninterrupted time into trading and developing a business database that will further streamline Diane's and my business administration efforts. If you were to come by the house, you would see me in front of my laptop most of the day, secluded in a room and immersed in this work. It is a peaceful, productive and enjoyable time. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, December , 2009. I learned today the latest news about family members. Learned by visiting with them and catching up.
The Christmas chaos has started. Diane and I have been home for a while for the holidays, dental appointments (she gets her braces off tomorrow!) and medical checkups. Our relatives are scattered around the country so visits and schedules get complicated. Family members are on the move and we visited with some today. We will be spending time with at least 41 family members before Christmas and about 10 more in early January.
The visits are nice but I'll be glad when this is all done. We are looking forward to kicking off our 2010 business year. With Diane no longer needing to get home to the dentist to have her braces adjusted and with no unusual interruptions in sight, we hope to run more loads in 2010 than in 2009. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, December 20, 2009. I learned today about Darik's Boot and Nuke (dban) disk scrubber, and I learned more about the Ubuntu operating system. Learned by downloading and using them.
Diane and I are home for the holidays. Interaction with the many relatives we will see has begun. A young nephew is not so young anymore. He starts college next fall. He can also use a computer.
I dug out one of our old laptops to give to him. There were two problems. It was packed full of our old business files and we lost the restoration disks that came new with the computer. If I scrubbed the disk totally clean, it would wipe out the operating system (Windows XP). The only way to replace XP is to buy a new copy. I don't know if that is even possible with Windows 7 now out. Even if it is, the last thing I want to buy is a Microsoft product of any kind.
Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system that is available free of charge. I decided to totally scrub the laptop to destroy our confidential information and then install the Ubuntu OS. That gives our nephew a working computer to which he can later add Microsoft products if he wishes. It is his computer to use as he pleases.
This is my first experience with a disk scrubber like dban and Ubuntu. Both were relatively easy to use. I downloaded the programs from the web site and burned (copied) them onto CDs. I next booted the laptop from the dban CD (put the dban CD into the CD drive and restart the computer). The dban program took over. I followed the prompts and scrubbed the disk. It took a couple of tries to get the hang of it. Not every prompt worked. That's OK. I used the prompts that did work and got the job done.
It felt wonderful to totally scrub the hard drive and know that every bit of data was obliterated beyond even the most sophisticated recovery attempts. It felt even better to wipe every trace of Microsoft off this computer. It was like getting something that stinks out of the house.
This laptop is a perfectly good machine that will run all but the most power-hungry applications. It is nice to see it doing more than gathering dust. By installing Ubuntu, we can continue to use this machine for years to come without getting forced into a new machine because Microsoft stops supporting one product and introduces yet another that requires more computing power.
The Ubuntu install was easy. Download the program to a CD, insert the CD in the laptop, restart and follow the prompts. Now that I have done this, I can say with reasonable certainty that I will never again purchase a Microsoft product. I think it is fair to also say that I will never again spend money to install applications on any computer we own. Ubuntu is a good operating system and there is a long and appealing list of software alternatives to most anything Microsoft makes.
Ubuntu uses the OpenOffice.org word processing and spreadsheet programs. I tested a couple of my business files with it by copying them off my Windows computer onto a USB drive and opening them on the Ubuntu machine. They opened just fine. I then created new word processing and spreadsheet files on the Ubuntu machine and tried to open them on the Windows machine. Again they worked just fine.
It is good to know that Ubuntu will handle the files have created over the years with Microsoft software. It is even better to know that I am that much closer to being Microsoft free. I stepped further into the open source (free software) world today and like what I see. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, December 21, 2009. I learned today what Diane's new smile looks like without braces. Learned by seeing it.
• We are home for the holidays and for Diane to go to the dentist to have her braces removed. It was an anti-climatic event. Her teeth look great. The braces did exactly what they were supposed to do. It was just a little bit of a letdown to see the retainer she must wear for a year and to learn the dentist wants to check on her three times in 2010. We are not as free from trips home for dental appointments as we thought. Still, we are far better off than we were in the last two years. Progress has definitely been made.
• Also worthy of note is the day of the year. Today is December 21, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Knowing that each day is getting a bit longer is a morale boost as I count the days to spring.
• Now for the big news of the day. Diane's mother is in the hospital. She took ill this morning and the decision was made to bring her in. The Doctor diagnosed a bowel obstruction and put her in the hospital. Christmas is coming soon and Mom did not complain about being hospitalized. She is in pain and knows the hospital is the best place to be right now. At the moment, surgery is not indicated. Tests and scans have been run. The doctors will have more information tomorrow. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, December 22, 2009. I learned today more about the Ubuntu operating system. Learned by studying and playing around with it.
Diane and I are home for the holidays. I wrote on Sunday about my Ubuntu activity. I spent more time with it today. This is part of my Operation Streamline, as is the database work I have been doing in recent days. It is nice to be caught up with old stuff and to develop new stuff that will enable us to further reduce and better use our business administration time. It's all about creating more time for trading.
Diane's Mom is still in the hospital for a bowel obstruction. Surgery is not indicated at this time. She is feeling better than she did yesterday. She was sitting up in a chair when we went to visit. She may be home in a day or two.
We are keeping an eye on the weather, more out of curiosity than concern. A major winter storm is heading our way. It will hit the Midwest on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It's nice to be off the road while it passes through, instead of being on the road passing through it. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Special Notice to Arrow Trucking Co. drivers stranded in or near Minneapolis/Saint Paul Minnesota:
I learned today from news reports that Tulsa, OK based Arrow Trucking Company has suspended operations and thereby stranded hundreds of drivers on the road. Recent paychecks have bounced and fuel cards have been cut off, making it impossible for drivers to buy fuel. Details here and here.
If you are one of those stranded drivers and are in or near Minneapolis, Saint Paul or Albert Lea Minnesota, or Hudson Wisconsin, Diane and I can help get you home. I understand that the finance company that is now repossessing Arrow's trucks will provide you with a bus ticket home. We can provide a ride to the bus station and help packing or storing your gear if you need it. A major winter storm is due to hit this area soon. Contact me ASAP if you need this kind of help. Let's get you out of here before the storm hits. If you are out in the cold, let's get you warm. If you are hungry, let's get you fed.
Hundreds of people around the country are rising to help. They are posting their offers on this Facebook page.
If you are a blog reader and happen to know of an Arrow driver who is stranded in the Twin Cities area, please pass this info on to him or her. (permalink to this blog post)
• Shortly after posting the above notice, I learned that Diane's mother was not responding to treatment and her condition has become serious. Surgery was urgently needed. The surgeons in the immediate area were all busy with other patients. An ambulance was brought in to move her to the Mao Clinic hospital in Rochester Minnesota, about an hour away.
A number of relatives had gathered at Mom's house as originally planned for Christmas. Diane, the RN in the family, has been with Mom most of the time since she went into the hospital on Monday. She followed the ambulance to Rochester to be there during and after the surgery went on.
The surgeons were busy at Rochester too, but as Mom's case was reviewed they bumped her to the next available operating room because of the urgency. Before Mom went in for surgery there was the disclosure moment where the doctor explains the risks and Mom signs off on them. Diane called that information back to the gathered relatives. The house got quiet as they listened.
Diane is part of a large family. One of her brothers and one of her sisters headed out to join Diane at the hospital. I stayed behind, thinking I would fire up the truck and bring "our house" to Rochester to give Diane a place to stay and rest if needed. The family members left at Mom's house visited and played table games in their customary fashion but Mom and Grandma was never far from their minds.
The surgery lasted 2 hours 20 minutes. Diane's brother and sister, slowed by a major winter storm, had not reached the hospital when Diane received word from one of the doctors. She called the house about 10:30 p.m. with news that the doctors were thrilled with how things went. One termed it "the ideal result."
Once they started, they found out that they would not have to cut Mom wide open to fix the problem. A minimally invasive surgery technique could be used. Once inside, it was a relatively easy process to make the repair. (Forgive me for talking like a mechanic. My medical vocabulary is limited.) They did not need to cut the intestine open or in half to unblock it.
With that, everyone in the house relaxed and lit up. Diane's brother and sister arrived at the hospital and stayed for a bit before returning. Diane spent the night in the waiting room to be close to Mom. I went to sleep, missing Diane and thanking God that the surgery went as well as it did. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, December 24, 2009. No blog entry today.
Friday, December 25, 2009 (Christmas Day). I learned today what the inside of the famed Mao Clinic hospital looks like. Learned by visiting Diane's mom there.
This Christmas was one for the books as Diane's mom spent it in the hospital. With her surgery a total success, it was also a Christmas of great joy. The highlight of the day came when 14 relatives and Mom's dog entered Mom's hospital room to celebrate Christmas. We called ahead for permission to bring the dog. We do not yet know when Mom will be coming home but she is doing great. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, December 29, 2009. I learned today how my new wireless mouse works. Learned by trying it.
The mouse is a Christmas gift from Diane, and wow, does Christmas seem like a long time ago!
You know from previous blog posts that Diane's mom spent Christmas in the hospital. Things were very serious for a time but turned out great. She is home now, being cared for by some of her other children, in-laws and grandchildren. We are expecting a full recovery and for her to be back to her normal self in the near future.
We knew Mom's condition was serious when the doctors shifted into high gear and had an ambulance take her to a hospital where surgeons were available. We learned today if people who have the condition she had are not operated on within 36 hours, the mortality rate is 85 percent. That's a bit too close for comfort. Again, she is recovering nicely. The doctors were delighted with the surgery result.
• We were dispatched several days before Christmas to pick up a load on Monday. It is an overnight load that is on the truck as I write this and Diane drives. We will deliver it late this afternoon and proceed immediately to our next pickup. That load picks up tomorrow 350 miles away and delivers 170 miles from there.
I don't know if we will sit empty over the long New Year's weekend or not. I hope so. Christmas was chaos this year, filled with emotional downs and ups, dozens of conversations with dozens of relatives, a number of family events and two visits with two friends. While I am glad to be back on the road, I am also ready for some quiet time.
I have said before that expediting is the easiest, most lucrative and most fun job we have ever had. It is also a peaceful job. Nothing drives that point home better than a week spent neck deep in a sea of family members of all ages. Uff duh!
Tomorrow's delivery is in a southern state, making a New Year's layover all the more desirable. It would provide a break from the winter weather.
• Back to Christmas, Diane received from me an original, investment-grade work or art by a known and signed artist. We sometimes make pick up and deliver freight at or near museums and art galleries and tour them when we can. After we saw a piece by Chiura Obata (1885-1975) earlier this year, I noticed Diane taking a strong interest in his works. Without her knowing, I was able to find an original piece by him and had the gallery ship it home.
This is the first time I have purchased investment grade art. It was a pleasant and interesting experience. I like to think 2010 will be a better year that will provide the funds to purchase more. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, December 30, 2009. I learned today about truck leveling valves. Learned when ours failed.
At least I think that is the problem. I am in the middle of troubleshooting it now. We delivered our load late yesterday afternoon. When we dumped the air to bring the back of the truck more level with the dock, everything functioned normally. The consignee then told us to move to another dock which we did. The air bags re-inflated normally. We again dumped the air at that dock and made the delivery. The air bags did not reinflate when we threw the switch to air them up.
It is not a good idea to drive the truck with deflated air bags. We were glad to see a vacant commercial building next door to the consignee. We moved there and I spent a few hours on the phone and under the truck trying this, that and the other. Working in the dark on a truck that is saturated with road salt with temperatures in the twenties and a strong wind was not fun.
After trying everything my truck dealer, trucker friends and I could think of, I gave up and we went to bed. I was grateful to have the sleeper we do. We have plenty of fuel. The generator works fine. The sleeper is equipped with a toilet and shower. While the truck is broken down in a parking lot, we are in a safe place, warm and enjoying the comforts of home.
So, today begins with the truck broken down in New Jersey and Diane feeling sick with a painful sore throat and developing head cold. The head cold is no surprise given the exposure we had to them from relatives at Christmas.
The truck failure is a surprise. We called dispatch last night to tell them we unable to complete the load we had been pre-dispatched on. They were able to cover it so we were not charged with a service failure.
My task today is to get the truck running. I will be on the phone with Volvo dealers in the area. I do not want to have the truck towed but it may come to that. Towing a truck is very expensive. If I can get reasonably sure about the leveling valve diagnosis, I may rent a car (Enterprise picks you up) to get the part or have it delivered to me by a messenger service and make the repair myself. The repair is likely covered under the extended warranty we purchased when we bought the truck. I don't know if it is covered if I make the repair myself. Such are the issues I need to research and make decisions about today.
Update: It has clouded over and the sun is low in the sky. We made calls earlier today to truck dealers to determine parts availability, and to towing companies to determine price. The nearest dealer closes tomorrow and will not re-open until Monday. Other dealers that are open are backed up and cannot service the truck until Monday or later.
Even if I cannot fix the truck myself, there is no point in being towed to a dealer today. We are safer here than we would be in a dealer's lot, and a dealer may not let us stay with the truck if we are in the yard and they want to close the gate for the weekend.
I spent several hours under the truck checking this and that. If I was an experienced truck mechanic, it would not have taken me nearly that long to determine that the problem is not the leveling valve but a failed solenoid that supplies air to the valve.
It takes forever to get dressed for truck work and dig out the tools you need. It's not like working in a shop where you already know what tools you will need before going under the truck and your tools are laid out nicely in tool box drawers. When making a repair in a parking lot, using cardboard for a creeper and working in tight spaces under the truck in cold weather, you envy the guys that work in a warm shop. I was also delayed by having to learn what a quick-release air line connector (also known as a push-pull connector) is and how it works.
As with some of the other repairs I have made on this truck, this is my first time dealing with air supply issues. It will likely turn out that once the troubleshooting and repair are done, I could do it again in a fraction of the time since I will then know all the right moves.
While I was working on the truck, Diane called Enterprise to rent a car. An Enterprise representative came to our location to pick up Diane. They returned to the office where she completed the paperwork. While I cleaned up and warmed up, she went to the dealer to get the part I think I need.
Diane will also pick up some groceries and return to the truck with some nice hot Chinese food. I am and hungry and cold to the bone. A nice hot meal will hit the spot.
I talked yesterday about wanting some peace and quiet after the chaotic Christmas we had. It looks like I will get it tonight in a parking lot in New Jersey. I will be under the truck again tomorrow when daylight returns. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, December 31, 2009. I learned today our expediting gross revenue numbers for 2009. Learned by reviewing them on this, the last day of the year.
The numbers are not good. See the December 31 update on the page "How's Business These Days?" for details.
We are hoping for and looking forward to a better 2010. With only three trips home needed for Diane's dental work in 2010, and with the dates flexible enough that we should be able to work in the appointments when the freight takes us close, we should be able to haul more freight. If the economy continues to improve as most economists project, a boost in freight rates may occur. While I have not dismissed the possibility of a double dip recession, many indicators are moving in a positive direction.
While Diane and I don't know for sure what the economy will do, we know for sure what we will do. We will fully commit to expediting through 2010 and assess the business at year end. I will also continue to develop my trading skills.
• We woke up this morning in a broke-down truck in a parking lot in New Jersey. Diane used a rental car yesterday to get the part I think I need to get the truck running again. It is a solenoid, informally known as a dump valve, that supplies air to the rear-axle air bags. O-rings are also required for the repair and the dealer did not have those in stock.
We spent most of today running in the rental car from store to store in an attempt to find the required metric O-rings. You have probably never thought about it, but at any given moment, wherever you happen to be, there are probably hundreds if not thousands of O-rings for sale within a 25 mile radius. Finding the right-sized ones you need before the stores close early for a holiday weekend seems to have a lot in common with competing in a TV reality show.
O-rings come in metric and standard sizes. They have inside diameters and outside diameters. When set flat on a counter, some are taller than others. When set in the groove that is meant to receive them, they fit just so, or a little off. With a seemingly unlimited array of possibilities, there is only one size that meets your needs and your task is to find it. It is not something that can be described well over the phone. You have to match to O-ring to the solenoid. Having the Volvo part number does not help. No one we found was able to cross reference their O-ring inventory to the Volvo part number. All that for something that costs fifty cents!
With the proper O-rings finally in hand, most of today's daylight had slipped by. I decided to put the repair attempt off until tomorrow. We used the car to pick up truck supplies at a Wal-Mart store and to go to a diner for a sit-down meal. New Jersey diners are almost always great. The one we visited today does all its baking in house. The food was delicious.
With our year-end numbers less than stellar and the truck still broke down, the meal was the most satisfying part of the day. I have gotten the post-Christmas quiet time I wanted. We now have the truck parts need for the repair. I will get some trading in tonight. Tomorrow is a truck repair day and I will be at it until I am done.
I don't know if I can make the repair or not. If I can, we will go back into service immediately. If I can't, we are doomed to wait until Monday when we will have the truck towed to a dealer twenty miles away.
That's trucking. Happy New Year! Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page