Life is a Highway Owner Operators

03/03/2020

It happens every winter. Drivers going too fast for conditions, not allowing enough following distance, using wrong braking methods and basically having their heads up their ass.

Three deaths have been confirmed.

10/24/2019

Well it's been three and a half years since the accident that put my wife and I out of work in the trucking industry. I had a lumbar fusion surgery on October 7th where the doctor placed spacers between the L3, L4 and L5 vertebrae and anchored them in place with screws.

In April I had the same procedure done to vertebrae in my neck of C5, C6 and C7. We're not quite sure as of this time if I will need more surgical intervention in my neck as I still have numbness radiating down my arm into my thumb and first two fingers.

I kind of went of on my attorney after my most recent surgery due to the fact that it's taken this long to get to this point and we need a court date to get this thing settled. We have lost over $525,000 in gross revenue since the wreck based on the earnings we had since starting with Panther 6 months prior to the accident. We were bringing home over $12,000 a month working 5 days a week with them. The opposing attorneys want to use our prior tax returns as a basis for compensation of lost future earnings. Now you and I both know that the turnover in the trucking industry runs about 100% year in and year out. We're all out there looking for the company that best suits our needs in both income and a family life. We found that fit with Panther.

What we were doing with Panther was their Life Science division which is basically hauling medical supplies and high value pharmaceuticals. We were on a pay plan that paid us $1.60 for every loaded mile plus a minimum of $1.00 for every empty mile. There were other perks to the pay plan such as layover pay, paid tolls and 100% of fuel surcharge. After all was said and done we were averaging $1.00 per mile in take home pay. This included our truck payment, fuel, permits and maintenance being taken out. We didn't have to run hard to make good money. The other attorneys can't seem to wrap their head around the idea that had we not been in the wreck we would still be with Panther making great money.

I urge all of you to realize it only takes one second in time to wipe out your plans for a great life driving for a great company that will end it all. So be safe out there. I'll be posting more here in the near future.

07/11/2018

Ok everyone get ready for a very scathing blog I'm getting ready to put out regarding the wreck we were involved in and the progress in the litigation involving Averitt Express and Shore Trucking. It will be very eye opening for all drivers who have never been involved in an injury accident where you were not at fault.

See you all soon.

06/17/2017

A very good expose` on how the major trucking companies alleviate themselves of operating costs pushed onto the so called independent contractor.

Thousands of drivers work up to 20 hours a day, sometimes for pennies. When they get sick or refuse to keep working, trucking companies fire them and take their trucks – along with thousands they have paid toward buying them

08/09/2016

So Hillary Clinton wants to raise taxes on the rich to help pay for her economic plan. What doesn't she understand about higher taxes on the wealthy? If you raise taxes on the wealthy and higher taxes on corporate earning then there is less money to invest in jobs and expansion by small business as well as large. Small businesses employ more than large corporations as they help to supply the large corporations with products to build more products. I've hauled products from small manufacturers to the auto industry from headrests and seat materials to steering wheels and tires. The auto industry is just an example in that Ford, GM and Chrysler can't make all the parts that go into to making a vehicle. They are dependent upon other businesses to make those parts, radios, windshields, disc brakes, brake lines, batteries and many others to complete the manufacturing process. Without these parts you have no vehicles.

I'm going to say that Hillary Clinton has no clue on how to operate a business and what it takes to make a business successful. NAFTA opened the door for not only the auto industry but many others to send these manufacturing jobs to Mexico and overseas. We heard that Carrier Corporation is sending their Indiana manufacturing plant to Mexico putting 1400 people out of work. These people counted on Carrier to give them the opportunity to have a good quality of life and to provide for their families. I've hauled for Carrier and now those products are going to come from Mexico. This affects the drivers who had hauled for Carrier losing contract freight to provide for their families only now to have them shipped from the Laredo border to whoever bids the lowest to move those products. The repercussions of a company moving a plant to Mexico is far reaching.

Think of how this affects you and your family when the answer from the Democrats is always raising taxes to the Republicans who want taxes cut for investment by both the rich and the middle class.

08/06/2016

I'm going to get up on my soapbox for a few moments and let you know why I am supporting Donald Trump for President. As a small business owner, yes that's what owner operator truck drivers are, each day we face more and more regulations from the Federal government that attacks our businesses and creates more for us to do to stay in conformity with the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) as new regulations are generated. These new regulations produce an undue burden on us and specifically our bottom line. Hillary Clinton has stated in a recent campaign speech that she is going to raise taxes on the middle class, to which most owner operator truckers fall into, which again will cost us on our bottom line.

Todays truck drivers provide a valuable service to America in keeping the shelves at the grocery store stocked so that you may eat. We keep the gasoline in the ground at your local gas station so that you may go to work. We keep the department stores stocked with clothes so you don't go naked. We keep the dealerships stocked with new cars for you to drive to work clothed and fed with your lunches each day. We bring materials to new homes and businesses so that you have a roof over your head and a building to work in.

We endure long hours each day to make sure that you have the things that you need in your life. We endure long periods away from home and our families to keep Americans safe and secure in their homes and businesses by supplying you with fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and lighting so that you don't have to wake up or work in the dark.

These things we do because we have to support our families so that they can have the same things but also so they may enjoy a good quality of life and enjoy the freedoms that our founding fathers promised us with the famous words "....in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness".

Each day when you go about your daily lives you see the American truck driver and you should thank them for doing the jobs they do for you.

Donald Trump has said many times that he will reduce regulations that are unfair to businesses, to secure our borders and to bring jobs back to America. In bringing jobs back to America that helps the small business truck driver to haul more freight from more convenient locations rather than us having to deal with border issues as well as port authority issues along the western and eastern seaports.

So if you are a small business owner do yourself a favor and support Donald Trump in his bid to be our next President.

If you agree with this please share this with your friends and ask them to share.

06/10/2016

Now that we know who the two major party nominees are for President we need to take a look at who would best suit our interests as small business owner operators.

We have seen what has happened to us over the last seven years with the Obama administration with all of the regulations being handed down by the FMCSA and the EPA. The FMCSA has straddled us with E-logs which I know is a sore subject with many and that fight isn't over yet. Now they are trying to put speed limiters on all the trucks that will create a huge problem with freight and delivery times. I will touch on this later in the article.

The EPA has given us Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) and Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) which is supposed to make our fuel burn cleaner and reduce the amount of CO2 we put into the air. All of this was started by the California Air Resource Board (CARB) all because California has an issue with smog in their major cities. CARB is blaming the trucking industry for all of their pollution problems without taking into account all of the passenger vehicles within their state. The addition of DPF and DEF has raised the cost of a new truck with all the added equipment needed to reduce the pollution problem but what was not taken into account is that the majority of trucks on the road don't reside or do business in California. The EPA has let CARB set the standard for the trucking industry nationwide. CARB members are appointed by the Governor of California and although it is supposed to be a non partisan office the majority of the people sitting on CARB are Democrats and left wing liberals with an agenda to push green energy. This is being done with the addition of Natural Gas vehicles that routinely do not travel more than 300 miles per day. The conversion to LP or CP gas is substantial and a cost that many small trucking companies cannot afford. Let's not forget that the availability of fueling stations will take another 10 years to complete nationwide as it costs the truck stops around $500,000 to complete a fueling location on their current properties and even higher to build stand alone facilities.
This is fine if the trucking companies have local trucks that start and end their day at the same location. Many cities have converted their buses and light vehicles to this which at this time is a money saving venture for them but as the demand for diesel declines and the demand for LP or CNG rises so will the cost. This is very simple explanation of supply and demand economics. In my testimony to the House Subcommittee On Energy and Power in March 2012 one of the things I touched on was the availability of these fueling locations and I expressly told the Congress members that it will take time and money to build these fueling locations and asked what if any kind of tax breaks or subsidies would be provided. No one could or would answer that question given the state of our economy and our national debt at the time. Now we are another 3 trillion dollars in debt and there is no way that our government could seriously look at any type of tax breaks or subsidies at this time.

Now let's talk about the issue of Speed Limiters being proposed by the FMCSA. This action is being looked at to reduce the and limit the speed of all trucks to 65 MPH on interstate roadways. This isn't an action to save fuel but to reduce accidents. As a retired deputy sheriff it is my opinion, like that of many others, that this will lead to more accidents involving trucks and passenger vehicles. You will see virtually all trucks limited to the right hand lane of travel while cars pass us like we are sitting still. Just imagine a long line or convoy of trucks on the interstate. You think it is hard to negotiate through traffic now just let the FMCSA pass the speed limiter issue. By all trucks doing 65 MPH the interaction between trucks will increase as will truck and passenger vehicles.

Now let's talk about who would be better suited to lead this country in the years ahead. We, in the trucking industry have seen many new regulations being forced down our throats by this Democratic Administration and should Hillary Clinton get elected we will see even more has the left continues to push green energy initiatives into the forefront. We have already seen what these green energy programs have cost us with DEF/DPF additions to our trucks. CARB has come out and said that these additions are now hurting the trucks causing breakdown and maintenance issues costing us thousands of dollars in repair and lost revenue.

With Donald Trump he has said that he will reduce the government burden on businesses to help alleviate the burden we face everyday in doing business. I am sure that Mr Trump, with all of his businesses has a better first hand knowledge of what the cost of doing business is with all of the government regulations. He handles it in the billions of dollars each year while we handle it in the thousands of dollars. We need a businessman with years of experience to run this country like a business. We need reduced regulation and taxes to be able to operate on what thin margins we currently do and to raise our level of profitability. We are out here on the road at a minimum of 300 days a year away from our families when we could raise our income levels and spend time with our children, grandchildren and spouses.

The big question is do we want a person who is beholding to the mega corporations and lobbyists running this country or do we want a man who is self made owing nobody for the decisions he has to make to make this country great again? The choice is yours to make but as a small businessman myself I know who I want.

05/25/2016

This is something that has been happening for the last 8 years at Swift. When I was in management with Swift we were all promised X amount of shares when Jerry Moyes brought Swift back into publicly traded companies. He has always operated on thin margins and his decisions have now come back to bite him in the ass.

As Swift Transportation’s stock price falls, the company’s CEO is taking action to reduce his risk in case the company’s share prices drop. $600 Million In Swift Stock Could End U…

03/06/2016

Have you ever thought about leaving your current company if you are a company driver looking to test the waters of being an owner operator? At this time my wife and I are looking to expand our presence with Panther Premium Logistics by hiring a team to drive for us as we are looking to put a second truck on with Panther. We would like to find a team, be it husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend to drive a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia that has less than 50,000 miles on it. We are willing to pay 55 cents per mile team split and do this by payroll. All of your taxes will be taken out along with social security. You will be provided with occupational accident insurance as well. This in addition to hometime that allows you to enjoy time at home with your family and to have a life outside of the truck. We will also offer a fuel mileage bonus in addition to your regular pay. This will be done monthly with a minimum of 8.0 mpg average over 30 days. We also provide I-Pass and EZ-Pass for headache free travels on the turnpikes and toll roads from Chicago into the northeast.

If you are looking for a great career in the trucking industry and working for owners with 27 years experience in this industry reach out to me here and we can discuss this opportunity further.
Panther has dedicated lanes and customers that make it easy to make a good living.

02/09/2016

Sitting here at the TA in Hebron, Ohio watching the snow and trying to stay warm. We, my wife and I, have some down time between loads and are updating our records in a program called Truck Logics. It is a wonderful program helping us to track our revenue, expenses and giving us a profit and loss statement. We are able to keep a better grip on all trucking related expenses and see how we are doing on a cost per mile basis letting us see just what we are making off of each load. We had a great January working only 20 days and brought home $15,600.

We went through an IRS audit last year and was it exhausting. See....my wife and I have only been married since June 2012. We have each had our own trucks and the IRS decided they were going to go back for the full 7 years on both of us. There were a lot of questions on deductions as to whether they would he allowed. Things so simple as a hotel receipt while being broke down on the road. I will admit that my wife is not the best at keeping her receipts together and we were finding them everywhere. Hell, we're still finding them and have to determine if it would be cost effective to file amended returns for the years in question. Guys and girls....do yourself a favor...get some large envelopes, mark them by expense catagory and keep your receipts separated by the type of expense. If you scale quite often, as we did, have an envelope for them. Same can be said for fuel tickets, ATM receipts, showers, whatever you get a receipt for have a separate envelope for them. This may sound like a pain in the ass but at the end of the year it will be worth it.

01/01/2016

Happy New Year to all the drivers out there. May this year see you drive to succeed and may you always be safe. Sitting at home today getting ready to watch my OHIO STATE BUCKEYES take on and beat Notre Dame.

12/22/2015

So yesterday there was a discussion on a page called Truckers Against More Regulations, which is administered by Sandy Long, about how the 4th Amendment protects drivers when it comes to turning your log book over to law enforcement for inspection. She also stated that the 5th Amendment allows you to refuse to turn over your log book, or ELD (ELECTRÒNIC LOGGING DEVICE), to law enforcement as well. She cites several case law issues that honestly have no relevance to the issue of your logs and the rules as set forth by the FMCSA.

AS I tried to explain to her and a few other drivers on the thread that when you go to the DMV and get or renew your CDL you have at that time given IMPLIED CONSENT for a certified law enforcement officer to examine any and all paperwork connected to your load. This would include your log book, or ELD, whichever you may have, as well as your Bill of Lading, a manifest and your permit book.
She also stated that the 5th Amendment rights of self incrimination apply and that you may refuse to turn over any and all paperwork should they ask. This is where you still have outlaws in the trucking industry that fudge their logs or run multiple paper logs and in turning over their log book would be found in violation of the hours of service.

Ladies and gentleman I am here to tell you that as a retired Deputy Sheriff, who is certified by the State of Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, that neither of these arguments by Sandy Long hold any water.

By implied consent you have given up any right of refusal to hand over any documents related to your truck and your load. If you want to test the waters go ahead. Just be prepared to get cuffed and stuffed in the back of a cruiser and then have your equipment impounded by the arresting authority.

Sandy Long also cited the court case we all know so well of Miranda. This is where you are to have your 'Miranda' rights read to you upon arrest. Her theory is that once pulled over by a law enforcement officer you are in custody and thereby under arrest. That is also a fallacy. A traffic stop in and of itself is not an arrest. You have no reasonable expectation of being Mirandized until such time as a law enforcement officer tells you that you are under arrest for a violation of the law.

There are others that have argued that your 4th and 5th Amendment rights are protected during a traffic stop. As a CDL holder you are subject to being pulled over with OR without probable cause at any time be it roadside or at the scale house. Please do not listen to these people that say you have the right to refuse to turn over your log book and any associated paperwork when pulled over for an inspection. You agreed to follow the FMCSA rules when you accepted that CDL and became a professional truck driver.

I have spoken to several law enforcement friends who can verify what I have said in here to be true and accurate. They include Kevin Killen, a former Florida Highway Patrol Sgt, Quinten Brune, a former Oklahoma officer, and Sgt Art Coval, a 29 year veteran of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department whom I worked with during my time in law enforcement. All three of these gentleman are on my personal page.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Chris Milburn