Rollin' 18 Podcast

Reclaiming Trucking: Uniting Against Misuse, Promoting Integrity, and Advocating for Change

• Walter Gatlin

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Have you ever felt like giving up on something because of the actions of others? That was my initial reaction when I thought about the current state of the trucking industry. Join me, Walter Gatlin, as I share my personal journey through the frustrations and challenges we face today. Together, we explore how a few irresponsible drivers are tarnishing the image of an entire profession and why it's crucial for us to unite and support each other. I discuss the importance of communication and integrity as we strive to restore the values that once defined our community.

In a bold call to action, I propose forming the "Rollin'18 Club" to bring us together and demand meaningful changes in the industry. By working with legislators, we can tackle issues like penalties for fuel line misuse and seek solutions for concerns highlighted in a FreightWaves article, such as hours of service and ELD exemptions. This episode isn't just about acknowledging problems; it's an invitation to take charge and create a better future for all truck drivers. Let's reclaim our industry's respect and professionalism by staying informed and taking active steps toward improvement.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/top-4-hours-of-service-areas-carriers-should-be-concerned-about

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Email me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at rollin18podcast@gmail.com. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast. This 40-year veteran is here for anyone wanting to stay up to date in the trucking world. Grab your coffee, hop on board and let's get on down the road with Walter Gatlin.

Speaker 2:

Hello drivers and welcome back to Rolling 18. 18. I'm your host, walter Gatlin. I know I haven't been on since August 20th and there's a specific reason for that because I got upset one day, about a day or two after I recorded the August 20th episode, and I said you know what? I'm going to put this on hold for a while Because I do not think truck drivers today are being serious about things, because I do not think truck drivers today are being serious about things.

Speaker 2:

And as I went through the month and a half or two months or whatever it's been since I've been on this podcast, I thought about getting rid of Rollin' 18 podcast. I thought of you know, you drivers just aren't worth it is what I was thinking. None of us are worth it because none of us are getting along, none of us are talking, none of us are working on the problems that the trucking industry has. And I got really frustrated and mad and pissed off about the fact that we're not getting along. But you know what? It's not the majority of us, it's the minority of us, it's the foreigners that don't care about learning the rules of the road in America and the ones that are beaten through our skull since we're kids by listening to DOT and the lawmakers and all the people the good truck drivers that were out there, the real truck drivers, the ones that decided to do things in order to make a good living out there on the road. Now, we all bend rules, but we don't break them egregiously. We don't go out there and try and destroy people's lives and try and destroy equipment and do stupid things in order to make it harder on other truck drivers. We do things to make our lives a little easier, a little more pleasant, so we can make more money. We bend the rules, everybody bends the rules. Dot officers bend the rules, everybody bends rules.

Speaker 2:

But we've got all these people out there and it's a small group and I had to remind myself of that. We have this small group of total freaking idiots out there that want to make the rest of us look horrible. And then we have us, the good drivers, the real truck drivers, the ones out there breaking our fingers to the bones uh, you know, trying to make a living, doing things the right way for the most part, and literally, literally just creating such a good reputation for ourself personally and for the trucking industry. And then we've got these people, the small group, like I said, and they're trying to. Well, we got to put a stop to that. We got to. You know, I come up with an idea we're going to. We are real truck drivers. We are drivers out there that are doing the right thing. We like nice equipment, we like being able to, you know, go a little bit faster than the speed limit, we like to be able to get out there and put as many hours as we can in in order to make our mark in our life and make enough money. So when we go home, we're proud of what we do, we're proud of our job and we're proud of who we are as a person.

Speaker 2:

If we let these, these people the, the few idiots that don't know how to drive, the few idiots that don't want to learn how to drive, the few idiots that get on the radio and act like total ass nines and try and make the rest of us look like we're them and we're not them. When somebody calls out on the radio and you've got your radio on and you hear them calling out, and you hear them calling out in a professional way you answer them. You get on that radio and you answer them. If you want this industry to change back to what it once was, you need to realize it can be done. Number one, number two it isn't going to happen if you don't at least try. End of story. You hear somebody calling out on the radio break one nine radio check. You answer that person. You hear somebody asking a legitimate question about traffic, you answer that person. If you know what, even if you don't know them, let them know. You're out there, look at them in the eye and the truck stop. Look at them. You know when they ask a question, a truck stop. Talk to them, don't talk down to other people.

Speaker 2:

I know that people are discouraged, but it doesn't change the fact that we are the largest industry on the planet and the fact that the corporations know that we're down. They don't give a crap about the turnover rate. It's been over 90% since God knows when, probably the late 80s, early 90s and we've got to take our industry back. We need to be proud of what we do Now. If you don't mind going out there and being on the road several weeks at a time, even if you work day shift, you know you're home every night and off on weekends, or you work, night shift, home every day, vice versa. You want to be proud of what you do, you want to enjoy who you are as an individual and the only way to do that is to break down and say, okay, enough of this bull crap, let's start getting along, let's start working together and let's start following the rules again.

Speaker 2:

And you know, I've seen a video of a guy that was sitting behind another driver for almost 30 minutes and he gets out and he goes up to this foreigner dude and he says, look, could you please move your truck? And the guy gives him two birds, knowing that he can't pull him out of that truck and beat him to a pulp, or can he? I don't know what it's going to take to get back to where we were, but we're up to a point where there's no fear. Nothing can be done. But I tell you what I'm going to do I'm going to be a foot soldier for all of the truckers in America and I'm going to start working with my legislators and I'm going to get a bill passed in the United States Senate and Congress that says, if you are on that fuel island longer than you were supposed to be, to fuel and to check your oil to do the normal things, which takes anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes, you will be fined $200. You will be written a citation right there on the spot and fined. And here's what I suggest you drivers do.

Speaker 2:

Most people have cameras now. The minute you pull up behind a truck especially if it does not have a driver out there fueling in that truck and it's just sitting there, you go into that fuel desk and you raise hell. You tell them to get that truck off that fuel island, you start up your camera, you start filming it and you let the entire world know what truck company that is the license plate number. You can call DOT, you can call anybody and their mother, and if they're getting thousands of phone calls a day, eventually they're going to do something. We need to raise hell and since we can't legally pull them out of their truck and beat them to a pulp and then move their truck for them and let them drive off after they regain consciousness, then maybe we can do the next best thing, which is make a lot of noise, just like these freaks do, and then we can tell them to piss off and when they start getting these $200 tickets every time, they turn around because they're parked on the fuel line for their 30-minute break, maybe they'll start getting off the fuel line. That's the only way I know of to take care of that situation.

Speaker 2:

Now you guys are either with me or you're against me or you're not anything at all. But if you want to straighten out this trucking industry, I'm going to go on with Roland podcast, roland 18 podcast for a little while longer. But if I don't start getting some response from you people and start helping me, help you and help all of us, help each other in order to get some of these problems solved, like the freight rates and the fuel island problems and the truck stop problems and things like that, there ain't no use going on with you guys. I can just go ahead and just back off and realize there's no salvaging the largest industry in the world because we've got a bunch of pansies out there thinking they're truck drivers and they're not. Now, if you're a real truck driver, you stick with me. You're a real truck driver, you work with me.

Speaker 2:

And I want you guys to write your legislators, I want you guys to write your congressmen and women, your senators, and say look, we need two things right now we need a law against parking on a fuel island and citations issued. That'd be a good way for a city to make a lot of money and we need more parking spaces for the trucks out there that are out there over the road. Now we either take this industry seriously or we don't. So I'm going to give it one more try and I'm going to do some episodes and I'm going to talk about things that are important in the trucking industry. But I guarantee you, if most of you truck drivers do not pull your heads out of your ass, we ain't going nowhere. So you're either with me or you're against me. I don't care. If you want to be a lazy, be a lazy, and then I'll just end this program here in a couple of months and you guys can go about your business, because I'm working part-time anyway. I'm basically working local during the day. But I thought I'd start this podcast for all of us Because I spent a lot of years out over the road.

Speaker 2:

I started driving in 84. And I get really discouraged. When this podcast first started, it was going gangbusters and all of a sudden everything started fading off, it's like. And then I started talking to other people and they're like, yeah, they're just not interested in correcting the wrongs of trucking today, but they're more than happy to bitch about it on the CB. And that's bullshit. We really don't need that. We need to start getting along, and I know there's enough good ones out there that have given up and they're like you know what? I'm not even going to deal with it, no more. I'm going to keep my radio off. I'm not going to talk about it, no more. I'm just going to do my job and live my life the way I am. Well, that ain't going to work for the majority of it, and it's still going to. You're still going to have headaches every single day with the same issues because you're not standing up and fighting for what is right. So let's do the right thing. Let's start a Roland 18 club, let's start working together and let's start being friendly again towards each other, and let's bring our company back to us, to us, the proprietors of this industry, just like we're the proprietors of America.

Speaker 2:

It seems like Americans have given up on liberty, on freedoms and things like that, and they're just willing to go along with whatever the government wants to do. Well, that's bullshit. We don't need to do that. What we need to do is do the right thing. What kind of legacy are we going to leave our children and our grandchildren if we just be pansies the rest of our life, be weak little men and women who don't give a crap about nobody but themselves?

Speaker 2:

I know that's not who you are and I know for a fact that's not who I am. I have a lot of passion for my industry. I have a lot of passion for my country. I have a lot of passion for my family, for my friends, and you know I'm having a hard time believing that Americans have given up on what's right. Why? Because some jerk-off in office told you to. Because some jerk-off in a truck told you to, because some jerk-off in a truck company told you to. No, you got balls, damn it. And if you ain't got balls, you got brass. I'm referring to you women out there, of course. And the thing of it is, we've got what it takes, we've got the strength, we've got the courage, we've got the honor. We've forgotten how to use it.

Speaker 2:

And if we all stick together, you got 20 people saying one thing and one little weak-ass, wine-titty, crybaby, bullshit truck driver says another he's going to back down or she's going to back down, that's enough. Going to back down, or she's going to back down, that's enough. We don't need this anymore. We don't need any of this garbage anymore. We need to bring our industry back. I'm going to give this one last shot and I'm going to say okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to start the Roland 18 Club and we're going to get together. My email and everything is on my podcast. Shoot me an email, let me know you're on board. Let's get millions of us together.

Speaker 2:

And I'm going to start getting a hold of my legislators next week and I'm going to start with the state of iowa, where I live, and I'm going to say what's it going to take to put it, to put together a package that would say you sit on that fuel line longer and takes you to fuel, even if you go inside, unless you have taken emergency crap, you go inside without moving that truck forward. You're getting a $200 fine, just like they do in Wyoming, in Montana, I believe. Also. Now you're either with me or you're not, and at this point I don't know what to think. But I almost gave up completely because I'm getting sick and tired of the attitude. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing these videos of these jerks that are out there driving truck who should not be in a truck. Out there weaving all over the place, crashing into other trucks, forcing good drivers off the road, acting really, really belligerent on the fuel island to the point where you just want to yank them out of that truck and put them in a chokehold. I mean, enough's enough. It's time for us to set our foot down and take this freaking industry back, and that's exactly what we're going to do. So let me know if you're with me, send me an email. If you're with me, we're good. We're good to go, and I get enough of you folks behind me. We're going to get some laws changed in this country. We're going to get some things going to where we can be happy with our industry again. We need the.

Speaker 2:

Now I want to talk to you guys about the top four hours of service areas carriers should be concerned about. This is a story that FreightWaves put out and I thought it was extremely interesting. You can go to FreightWavescom and you can check out this story and, if you need to search it, just put in top four hours of service areas carriers should be concerned about, and I will put the link down below in my podcast description. But the four things they're talking about is most ELD exempt carriers fall into one of five categories and what they're referring to is things that carriers should be concerned about, which is, if you're exempt, log auditing, which gives out a list of things potential supporting documents that you need to have, understanding, exemptions and exemptions, litigation, and it's a really good article for you guys to read. Now it's brought to you by JJ Keller, which is they've been producing logbooks for years. They know the laws left and right, inside and out, but it says here for a little part of it, because I don't have a lot of time left, I got about four minutes left but it says carriers and drivers are governed by federal hours of service hos. Of course, we know that regulations on a day-to-day basis. These rules dictate schedules and often determine whether a shipment will be delayed. Now, basically what they're trying to say here. There are four HOS area carriers tend to be particularly concerned about, and for a good reason. Most violations occur in these areas and understanding the rules is the first step to following them. Now, compliance tracking Electronic logging devices ELDs have simplified compliance tracking for the majority of carriers. For companies that qualify for an ELD exemption, however, compliance tracking can be less clear-cut. Most ELD-exempt carriers fall into one of five categories.

Speaker 2:

Exemptions due to short-haul status, which is what I fall in because I pull for a farm. We stay within 150 miles of the crow flies. Special exemptions such as hauling livestock. You've seen them livestock trailers go up and down the road at a good rate of speed. A lot of them do so. They're legally allowed to go a little bit faster than most. Most DOT officers will tell you no, but they let them go anyway because it's an unwritten rule. Exemption for the 30-minute brake policy due to load type, which could be quite a few loads fall under that category. It could be because of hazmat, could be because of livestock, a lot of different things. Exemption due to participation in driveway tow away services. Exemption due to the age of the truck, manufactured before 2000. And there's a lot of things there, and I know some states like California has banned trucks manufactured before 2000 from coming in. We were unable to get around that ban because most people bought new trucks and most people can care less about the drivers that drive trucks prior to 2000. So there's no help there, but it says here.

Speaker 2:

It is important for carriers that fall into these buckets to understand that being exempt from electronic logging does not make them exempt from fatigue management. If a tired driver contributes to an accident, a lack of electronics logs will not protect the carrier during litigation. In fact, not having documented proof of fatigue management in some form can be detrimental. So here's what we do in that case I write down the time that I leave the shop. I write down the time that I get to the customer, because I go to the same customer twice a night. I write down the time that I got there. I write down the time that I left and I write down the time that I left and I write down the time that I get to where I'm taking the trailer.

Speaker 2:

Now it says for drivers who are exempt from the ELD mandate but not exempt from logging in general, some kind of logs need to be kept and updated, which we do. We do a timesheet, which is fine for us, and then you've got log auditing. Carriers should review their driver's logs regularly to identify any potential signs of record falsification and ensure HOS compliance across the fleet. As a safeguard against falsification, all logging drivers, whether via ELD or manual should submit log-supporting documents to their carriers. These documents fall into several categories and that would include bill of laden, dispatch record, uh expense receipts, you know, fueling whatever, eating, electronic mobile communication records, payroll records, anything like that would help out to keep your carrier for being responsible, especially if you work for a small outfit like I do in a farm. So go to freightwavescom. Read this article about top four hours of service areas carriers should be concerned about, because you think, well, that's for carriers, it's not for drivers. Yes, it is, because it can help you. This article can help you maintain not only a great logging and logging in and logging out area, but it can also give you an idea of what you can do to save time, and time is always money for you guys.

Speaker 2:

But I appreciate you guys tuning back in to Rollin18 Podcast. Keep an eye out, for I'm going to be on Tuesdays and Fridays, as usual, tuesdays and Thursdays I think I moved it to, but anyway, this episode will come out Tuesday. And then you guys, I'm going to keep it going for a few more months to see what kind of attraction I get with it. But I'm also going to be very aggressive on us sticking together. So let's do that Now. Remember, keep it between the lines. You guys be safe out there. God bless and I'll catch you later.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to Roland 18 podcast. Please visit Walter's podcast site at Roland18podcastcom or his social media sites such as Instagram, facebook and TikTok. All links are in the description.