The Gripe Session

It reads like a scripture passage from some alternative Bible for Trucking: “whenever two or more drivers are gathered together in the name of trucking, a gripe session eventually ensues.” What is up with that? I have begun to avoid groups of drivers standing around talking because all I ever hear is a bunch of griping. No solutions to problems ever get discussed. No positive topics are ever mentioned. It’s just one driver after another offering up their latest complaint, followed by the next driver whose problems are exponentially larger than the preceding rant.

I have to admit that I am as guilty as anyone of expressing my feelings about perceived wrongs and abuses. Knowing that, I have consciously tried to keep myself out of situations that feed my anger. I really have no excuse for participating in that manner. I know how to handle problems with the job. It is a step-by-step procedure.

STEP ONE:
Identify the problem. You have to remove the emotion from the issue and boil it down to a one sentence statement of the situation.

STEP TWO:
Find out who has the power to initiate a solution to the problem. If you have a problem with your fleet manager’s treatment or attitude, you start with that person. If you feel that DOT has wrongly charged you, you start with that DOT officer. Complaining to another driver about your fleet manager or the DOT officer while drinking coffee at the counter at the T/A won’t solve the problem and will probably make your coffee give you heartburn.

STEP THREE:
Organize a written chronological statement of the facts. Bullet points and time lines are your friends, especially if you have QuaalCom messages or official documentation to back you up. Phone conversations are not solid proof. They are deniable and result in a he said/she said argument. Write down your complaint using no emotion and only facts that you can back up.

STEP FOUR:
Know the chain of command. Whether you’re dealing with your company or someone like the DOT, everyone has a boss. Start with the initial person you have the problem with. If you can’t reach a solution with that person, elevate the discussion to the next level: their boss. Follow this procedure until you have either resolved the problem or realize that there is no resolution within the company or group you are dealing with. At that point, you have to make a decision. You will either have to deal with the issue as it stands or you will have to leave the situation.

The main thing to remember is this: REMOVE ALL EMOTION FROM ANY DISCUSSION. State the facts as you believe them to be true in a clear, concise and chronological order. Present the back up to those facts. At no time, ever, has injecting cursing into a discussion proven to have had a positive effect. You must present yourself as the professional, highly skilled and valuable individual that you really are. If you give in to emotions like anger, you will lose your battle.

As our economy falters, our freight is less stable and our regulations continue to change, we as drivers need to stick together and help each other maintain a positive outlook and attitude. Our life experiences shape us. We are all under such pressure these days to pay the bills that many of us are walking on a razor’s edge. When coal is put under extreme pressure, because of its characteristics, it eventually becomes a diamond. Let’s try, as a group, to develop characteristics that will let the pressures on us form us into a “driver diamond” and not crush us into useless dust? Until next time, stay safe out there!

Merging Mayhem

My name is Kat Tracy and I am an angry trucker. There, I said it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step in reconciling the problem. I fear there are many steps left to take before I get it out of my system. In fact, there are probably as many steps as there are drivers on the road. Based on that statement, this should be a long-running blog, unfortunately.

So, what qualifies me to write this blog? Let me just say that 25 years on the road should be enough qualification for anyone, but during that quarter century, I’ve driven virtually every interstate and many of the back roads of this country and Canada. I’ve trained other people to be professional truck drivers. I’ve pulled most types of trailers with most makes of trucks hauling so many different types of freight that I can’t begin to list them. I have also experienced infinite numbers of acts of stupidity, ignorance, rudeness, and downright danger from the motoring public. That motoring public doesn’t just include four-wheelers. Some of you Billy Big Riggers are the most dangerous individuals on the road. All of this means that I have tons of material to write about.

Let me start with one of my biggest pet peeves. This one encompasses the whole of the driving world, from the smallest motorcycle to the largest over-dimensional load. This may be the mother of all of my pet peeves. Merging into freeway traffic from an on-ramp requires timing, control of your vehicle and your full attention at all times. Apparently, no one is teaching this skill in any driving school or driver’s education class in the whole country. Many of the grey hairs on my head are directly attributable to bad merging situations.

People, it is called an “acceleration lane” for a reason! You must be surveying traffic, finding your gap in the flow and adjusting your speed accordingly. You are most likely moving into high speed lanes (55 or higher) so that means acceleration! You cannot do all of these things if you are texting or talking on a cell phone, putting on make-up, opening your breakfast, mixing your coffee, reading your notes for a meeting, folding up a map, or trying to tie down your child in his car seat. Near misses occur all the time because the merging driver can’t be bothered with the traffic he/she is merging into until the very end of the ramp. At that point, they find out that there is no gap and no speed match and their vehicle is totally out of place in the land. This usually ends up with one of two things happening: the merging vehicle slams on their brakes and swerves OR they try to force their way into traffic that has no place to go to let them in resulting in the merging car being reduced to navigating the shoulder of the highway until they can manage to find a hole to move their vehicle into. None of this is safe and all of it is stressful in the max.

Also, signal lights are not optional. Especially in multi-lane merges, signal lights indicate to me how many lanes you need to move as you enter the freeway. I understand that some interchanges require multiple lane changes in a short distance, but I can’t read your mind. If you don’t show me your intentions by using your signal lights correctly, I don’t think you should flip me off when my rig blocks your progress and causes you to miss your exchange. Correct use of signal lights includes turning them off once you enter a lane, then turning them back on to move again. If you leave them on with no break in the action, most people, myself included, assumes you have forgotten to turn them off, not that you are continuing to move to the next lane over.

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but just in case, here’s some breaking news for you. Tractor trailer combinations can legally weigh up to 80,000 lbs. Reach way back to your high school physics class. A body in motion stays in motion. To stop that 40 ton rig requires quite a long distance. If you have failed to judge your merge properly for all the previously mentioned reasons, it is logical to expect bad results when you suddenly jam up at the end of the ramp. Sometimes this error can cost lives. Your environmentally green car doesn’t stand a chance against my Kenworth’s diesel burning, atmosphere polluting 450 horsepower engine or the 80,000 lbs. Billy Big Rigger, some of the worst truck wrecks I’ve seen were rear end accidents caused by a poor merge decision. One of the worst occurred when a rig in the travel lane moving at 65 mph hit a merging truck entering the highway from a rest area. Rest area merges have their own, unique set of problems, especially at night. Those trucks parked on the ramps block vision of vehicles moving within the rest area heading for the entrance ramp to the highway. If you are a big rig, your marker lights are not discernible from theirs. Rest area merges require extra attention and focus from both sides of the ramp.

Last but not least, the “mergers” are not always the sole problem. The “merges” can do much to alleviate the merge problem. As you are driving, be aware that you are nearing a merge ramp. Look for the signs indicating the type of merge ramp ahead. Is it a merging ramp into your lane or a continuing lane? Is it a clover leaf on-ramp? Clover leaf ramps are more dangerous because those vehicles have a shorter acceleration lane to get up to highway speed before the merge. Watch the traffic movement on the cross road as you are coming up to the exchange. Is it busy? Can you see any traffic moving to enter the acceleration ramp to merge with the highway? If so, move to the next lane over in advance, if possible to do so safely. If not, pay close attention to the merging traffic. Check your speed against theirs. Odds are, you will have to make adjustments for them to make the merge safely. Remember, you are the professional. Practice safe merges and stay safe out there!