For a few years now, we have offered coffee in the driver’s room. Is it being used? Is it wanted? With the help from several shop and office employees we have been trying to keep coffee, sugar and creamer in stock at all times. Sometimes it goes unnoticed that the coffee is empty and needs to be refilled. If you notice that we are out of anything in the driver’s room, let someone in the office know and it will be refilled. Same goes with paperclips. If we are LOW or COMPLETELY OUT of paperclips, please let the office know. It is a nuisance when paperwork is put together with anything other than paperclips. An few examples of what has been used in place of a paperclip that WE as a company offer to you: glue, staples, tape, rubber bands, sticky part of the sticky note or just tossed in the box with nothing holding it together. Say something, so something can be done about it.
I just got word our big job west of Eugene is about to start. Get ready, we should be getting busy.
Sorry to the folks at the bottom of the seniority list and our owner operators. I thought I had this all worked out when Boise backed this job up 2 months. You all should have been working steady already.
Psych! This article isn’t about your W2’s…. We have been having a hard time getting employees to come into the office and update their personal information with Heather. Today we have posted a page on the board in the driver’s room showing which employees need to come in to fill out the form and who needs to come in to get pictures taken. If your name is on the list, please come into the office. We need to update this information for emergency purposes, but also to update your info for W2’s just in case you leave the company and need it mailed in the future.
Not work related by any means, but if you are interested in putting in a pre sale order of girl scout cookies, come see Heather in the office. For the next couple of weeks pre orders can be put in for what you would like and then you pay when delivered to you around February 10th. Come help support a young girls cookie goals of selling 1000 boxes this year.
We have several reasons for wanting your picture in your file. And we need you help getting Them in there.
A lot of time employees come and go. After several years trying to place the name with a face isn’t that easy. With a picture by you name we can instantly decide if we want you back or not. That is just one reason.
We have, over the years had 2 – 3 drivers with the same name. New people. Some times the support staff can’t remember your name yet but recognize your face.
These are all good reasons. We will not use them to hurt you so please come see Heather or Stew or Doug and get a picture taken. It won’t hurt, I promise.
Take care of yourself and your truck. The Company is only a few points away from qualifying for TRUSTED CARRIER STATUS again. Please do your part to help us regain that status. It will make a big difference for every truck and driver in the fleet.
Take the time to make sure your truck is READY to GO for any conditions.
Check and pre-fit your tire chains- write up repairs and leave the chains on the catwalk
Keep an eye for cracks in the wheels
Look for air or fluid leaks, check brake lines and your brakes regularly
Check vital fluids daily
Dump the air from your air reservoir daily so it doesn’t ice up
If something is broke or wearing out- WRITE it UP- if its not getting fixed see your supervisor
Everyone’s truck has updated permits, make sure you know where your cab book is located;
Log trucks make certain you have the proper trailer registration in your cab book
Thank You
Doug
Vice President of Trainco Truck Driving School, Mike Moscinski, recently weighed in on the topic of how to deal with road rage on episode 13 of Big Rig Banter, hosted by Troy Diffendorfer and Connor Smith of AllTruckJobs.com.
Before Mike discussed dealing with road rage, he talked about some of the primary causes first.
Trucker Perspective: Top 3 Causes of Road Rage
- Getting cut off – Truck drivers get cut off in a variety of circumstances. As a society, we are all in a hurry to get to the destination. What many motorists — “four-wheelers” — do not consider is the speed in which the truck is going, or how much larger/heavier the trucks can be. Being cut off is one of our bigger agitators because it’s not only rude, but it’s also dangerous. Our trucks cannot brake as fast as conventional vehicles due to our size and speed.
- Automobile drivers hanging out in our blind spots – It is difficult for us to see and keep track of vehicles that tailgate too closely or ride in the blind area.
- Soft or indecisive merging – Being hesitant or indecisive can cause traffic jams, frustrations for all drivers and could potentially cause accidents.
How to Deal With Road Rage and Respond to Aggressive Drivers
It is easy to cave into our initial response when a driver “does us wrong.” We want to express our frustration by blowing the horn, speeding up, slowing down, etc. As professionals, we need to be very passive about it and expect the behavior.
Laying on the air horn intimidates, scares and angers the driver — which just escalates the situation. As the truck driver, anticipate and expect the behavior to happen and simply go on about your way. Do not get worked up about it. Truck drivers have a voice and it’s important to calmly educate family and friends on the proper ways to handle road rage incidents.
At Trainco, we conduct 40 hours of classroom curriculum that covers a wide range of topics, and how to deal with road rage is one of them. We explore the topic in detail. We discuss different ways to handle it. One thing we explore is to put yourself in the other person’s position. Think of the other side of the scenario, empathize with the other driver. Do what you can to prevent a situation from escalating.
Distracted Commuting and Advice for Pedestrians
We’re asked often to provide advice to pedestrians from the trucker’s perspective. Distracted driving and commuting (whether on foot or bicycle) can cause lots of issues. Distractions we most commonly see include walking around preoccupied with their mobile device or using headphones. Big trucks do not stop like a car, so pedestrians need to allow for more space. We don’t stop as much, we take wide turns and we don’t take off as fast as a car, so you have to be patient with us and we’ll try to be patient as well.
Changes were made to our fueling process in the yard. Hopefully it gets easier on everyone. If you are having troubles, please come in and ask for help. Instructions have been posted at the fuel island, as well as instructions left in EACH truck.