It's a Team's Life

Personal Safety / Street Smarts

The world of trucking was a shock compared to my office job and Bob’s shop foreman of diesel shop.   We had our set routine of how we went to work and also the shops we frequented.   Being from a small town we were familiar with the police as well as the shopkeepers.   We had what we considered normal hours and were not often up and around between the hours of midnight and 6am.

 

Bob was in the truck as a driver for US Xpress for several months by himself before I joined him and he had learned about the bad side of towns…   I was in for a surprise at the scarry areas of large cities that had the warehouses.   I was ignorant of the ways of city dwellers and that not all people were friendly and nice.   Elizabeth, NJ was my first wakeup call when we delivered there with US Xpress.   The place was locked up tight and the guy running the docks was one of the most paranoid people I have ever met.   Bob backed the truck into a chain link fenced area and to the dock and the employee immediately locked the gate.   He then instructed us to come inside after locking the truck.   As we went inside the dock area he locked those doors, all the time explaining how dangerous the area was.   I looked at Bob and said “I do not think we are in Kansas anymore.”

 

We also learned about truck stops and areas to park as well as walk after dark.   I wish at the time we started we had read the book “Street Smarts” by Sandy Long.   The book would have given us much needed information on keeping us safe and what to look for.   Some of the discussion in Sandy’s book we learned from listening to others and some we learned the hard way other information I gained from reading both of her books.

 

I have gotten to know Sandy this year and I am impressed with her knowledge of the trucking industry as well as what all she has accomplished as a solo “big” truck driver.   Sandy covers a lot of sensitive issues in her book about running team with someone besides your spouse and training issues between men and women.   Sandy has been a driver since 1972 and has pulled flatbed to reefer freight all over the United States.

 

After reading her books I felt as if anyone new coming into the trucking industry as a second career choice should consider these books mandatory reading.   Not all pertains to expediting but the entire book relates to staying safe on the road while enjoying a new career.  

 

Seeing a need for personal safety for truckers to be addressed Long wrote her first book in 2010, Street Smarts:  A Guide for a Truck Driver’s Personal Safety.  From the response to that book, Long wrote Arriving Alive, Personal Safety and Driving Tips for Motorists to assist the non trucking driving public (both books can be found at Amazon.com )

Bob & Linda Caffee

Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical 


TeamCaffee


Saint Louis MO

Expediters 6 years been out here on the road 11 years

[email protected]

 

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle; 


Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;


Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;


Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.