OOIDA member John Nesbitt of Hood River, OR, sends out a West Coast RAZZBERRY to the entire state of California. What got John’s ire up? Well, he said the state doesn’t have nearly enough parking spaces for trucks, won’t let trucks park for long in the spots it does have, and collects exorbitant fines when trucks violate the strict parking rules.
Well, John, according to a 2002 study by the Federal Highway Administration, California ranks 48th out of 49 participating states in terms of total truck parking spots available. That means there are way more trucks in California than there are spaces.
John says the main problem is that drivers are required by law to have 10 hours of uninterrupted time in the sleeper berth, but they have to drive beyond their hours just to find a place to park.
“Something is wrong with this picture,” John wrote.
He’s right, of course, and if any place knows about bad pictures it’s the home of Hollywood itself.
Robert Raypholtz, an OOIDA life member from Huntington, IN, sends some ROSES to Securitas Security Services in Austin, TX. Robert, along with two other drivers, was stranded in Austin for several days during a winter storm in January.
Robert said the folks at Securitas went out of their way to check on the truck drivers, giving them coffee, driving them to the Securitas offices to use the phones, and even taking the drivers to get showers.
We don’t know much about Securitas Security Services, but drivers can feel secure knowing there are still some good people out there willing to help when it’s needed.
Paula Vickers, wife of OOIDA member Chris Vickers, offers up a van full of RAZZBERRIES to the driver of a Kenworth her husband saw recently in Alabama.
Chris was traveling on Highway 78 near Birmingham when he saw the Kenworth sitting on the right shoulder of the road. Being a courteous driver, Chris moved to the left lane in case the driver wanted to pull out onto the road. Instead, the driver did a U-turn across four lanes of traffic.
If Chris hadn’t slammed on the brakes, he could have hit the other truck and possibly killed – or at least seriously injured – himself and the other driver. Paula said Chris pulled the wheel to the right and missed the other trailer by inches.
The other driver didn’t even acknowledge what he had done, and just continued on his merry way down the road as though nothing had happened.
Paula writes, “When a driver gets in a wreck, he suffers, but he has a family that loves and needs him so we all suffer for others’ mistakes or just plain stupid, inconsiderate and irresponsible acts.”
We couldn’t agree more, Paula. Especially about the stupid and inconsiderate part.
OOIDA member Scott Sexton of Piedmont, SC, offers ROSES to not one, but three companies that helped him out of a jam recently.
Scott broke down near Louisville, KY, and accidentally dropped his new camera phone while he was on the side of the road. He called the company that sold him the phone, Get Connected in Piedmont, SC, and they arranged for him to get a loaner phone through a local dealer in Louisville called I Wireless.
Scott’s good fortune didn’t stop there. Peterbilt of Louisville – where he took his truck for repairs – sent someone to pick up the loaner phone for him.
Being an owner-operator, Scott said his phone is the lifeline to his business. Here’s to those three companies for helping to keep that lifeline alive.
Dave Wadsworth, an OOIDA life member from Lolo, MT, sends out big ROSES from “a dirty, tired trucker” to the good folks at TMW, a steel company in Red Bud, IL.
After making a delivery there recently, Dave asked the folks if there was a truck stop around. They said no, but allowed him to park on their back lot overnight. As if that weren’t enough, the company also had food vending machines in its shipping offices and, best of all, showers for the drivers.
Considering most requests we get for this column are dripping with sarcasm, asking some companies to clean up their act, it’s nice to finally have a company we can shower with praise.
“Roses and Razzberries” is written by Terry Scruton, senior correspondent for “Land Line Now” on XM Satellite Radio. He may be reached at terry_scruton@landlinemag.com.
