Driver Lifestyles
Ready for the road, again: A driver profile of Pam Slone
Pam Slone is a wife, mother, rental property manager and expediter.
She's also a determined woman who recently suffered serious injuries when she was struck from behind by a drunk driver. It was the type of collision that might cause another person to reconsider this vocation.
Not Pam.
"I'm ready to go as soon as the doctor gives me the word that I can drive again."
More about the accident later.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Pam, 55 years old, says that she has lived in Indiana (Warsaw, IN area) for so long, that she considers herself, "a real Hoosier". She's been married to second husband Levi for sixteen years and the couple has six grown children from previous marriages.
In her work history, Pam states that she has an associate degree in accounting and an associate degree in information data management.
She's done payroll and other office work, but she says her best paying job in previous years was in factory work.
Pam and her husband own 25 rental dwellings, split among 3 apartment buildings and single-family houses. "I manage these by phone and my husband checks on the rentals when I'm on the road."
"We have no problems with the people renting the houses, but apartment dwellers are different people; they don't have the same sense of responsibility about the residence."
Beginnings
"I began expediting in 1998 for the owner of a taxi service. He had a large account that used his company for trips to Chicago. I started with a car, then I moved up to a 1993 Ford Club Wagon van. I drove for him until 2002."
"Dave, the cab company owner, had connections with Express-1, so I was familiar with the company. His work slowed down so I started looking around for another driving job.
I went to the Expedite Expo in 2002 and talked to Dan Tilley (then with Freightliner of Knoxville) about the Freightliner Sprinter. I had already been pre-approved for a loan with another truck dealer but they didn't call me back, so I went with Dan and the Sprinter."
Pam says that she also had another motive for attending the Expo. "I was supposed to meet with an expedited carrier's recruiter, but he wasn't there."
"I was coming out of the restroom when I noticed the Express-1 booth, so I walked over to talk to them. I liked what I heard from Express-1, so I never did call that first company back. I called Dan Tilley and told him I need to get that van.
Pam's husband and a friend of his had rented a small plane to go to the NASCAR race in Bristol, TN, so Pam hitched a ride and made it to Knoxville to pick up her new Sprinter.
She says, "I took delivery of the Sprinter on a Monday at 4:00 PM, drove straight through to the house, jumped in the shower, got ready and made it to orientation that day. Talk about dragging butt the rest of the day!"
"Orientation was on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, and on Thursday, they called me at home with my first run. The run was headed to Panama City, FL."
"I'll bet I ran that same run twice a week for two months! I'd get down there, get unloaded and hot foot it back to pick up another one. After working for Dave at the taxi company, I was used to running without a back haul."
Pam says she was quite pleased with the income available in this business, even for a cargo van: "I started with Express-1 on August 26, 2002 and by December 31, I had made $27,000."
"In 2003, I did $77,000 and that's with some time off for some truck repair. During that time, my ex-boss at the cab company offered me a run to Spokane, WA and he said that if it would fit in my husband's pickup, I could have it. My grandson and I ran that out there and did some sightseeing. I like to keep busy."
"I really love Express-1, it's very family-oriented," states Pam. "They also keep me very busy and they know the kind of runs I like. Dispatch also knows that they can count on me to take some of those runs that are less than choice."
"The people at Express-1 are very fair, they try to accommodate everyone. I think they take care of the people who do a good job for them."
Pam's Sprinter
Her 2002 Sprinter 2500 was the 158" wheelbase model with a 73" high roof. At the time of the accident, Pam's van had accumulated 264,000 miles.
Although she's had an overall positive experience with the Freightliner product, Pam does note that the van is not perfect:
"I love the Sprinter except for the 3 EGR valves I've had replaced along with the injectors I've replaced as well as a $700.00 alternator (just the part, doesn't include labor).
"I didn't like the 15" wheel from the start, but now they have the 16's available. I've also replaced 3 windshields. When a stone hits them, they crack very easily.
This Sprinter had very few options available, says Pam. It has convex mirrors on the front and back for close-up visibility of front and rear, but the right side visibility is poor. There aren't enough storage areas, she notes.
She also notes that, "This van doesn't have the power when you stomp the pedal like a Ford V8; you have to let it work through the gears."
Pam declares that "I love the Sprinter, but every part has to be ordered."
"I was in Baltimore one time on a Friday night when I realized my turn signal wasn't working. After a young man at a service station diagnosed it as a faulty relay switch, I found a Freightliner dealership. I was told that it had to be ordered and it would take two weeks to be delivered."
"I told them that they had twenty Sprinters right on the lot and I didn't think that they would sell all twenty trucks in two weeks, so pull one off a truck and sell it to me. And, they did!"
On the positive side of the ledger, Pam tells us that she was getting anywhere from 23-28 mpg. "If you can stay at the speed limits, you'll get good mileage."
"I love the standup height of the Sprinter; I feel free and it's like my little home on the road. I had a fold-down bed that worked very well because I could still put it up and out of the way of the cargo."
"I had up to 4200 pounds in it, but I don't like to carry that much weight. My average load has been from 1600 pounds to 3500 lbs."
"If there was another van that rides like the Sprinter along with the standup height of the Sprinter, I would consider it."
"On the next truck, I want an XM radio. I want heat/air conditioning in the back that is run by a generator so I don't have to idle and save the EGR valves and also because of the anti-idle laws popping up."
"I've thought about a Sprinter with a sleeper because of the storage room and a bulkhead, but I don't know that I want to give up the ability to carry a twelve-foot load. I want to be as versatile as I can be and those long loads pay more."
Fun with expediting
"I enjoy seeing the country. I love to say that I was in Florida last night and I'm in Minnesota today.
"It's unbelievable the amount of ground you can cover in a 24-hour period. If you want to talk to people you can, and if you don't feel like it, you don't have to."
Pam says, "I don't go into a whole lot of truck stops, I like to go into family-type restaurants. With the van, if I want to go sightseeing at Niagara Falls, I can do it. I had thought about going with like an FL70, but I'm so glad I didn't do it."
"I like to drive in the southern areas of the US - North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi. I also like to run in Canada and it's getting easier to cross the border with the FAST card."
Pam says that there was that one exception, however: "One time, US Customs made me stand outside in zero degree weather while they ran an X-ray machine along my van. They wanted to make sure I hadn't concealed any drugs in the insulation in the truck."
"I don't have any problems with Canada; I like the people and money exchange is not a big deal, I'll use credit cards. The only problem I have is when you have to go to an off-site customs location."
She continues, "The most irritating thing is those cocky US Customs people! It makes me mad the way they act, especially to a US citizen. I am grateful though, that Express-1 will pay for the sticker that gets me out of paying the $5.00 charge to come back into the States."
Pam offers these tips on border crossings: "Have your paperwork in order before you arrive, fax the PARS and make sure you call to find out if the paperwork is there . If I can avoid Customs hassles, I will."
Keys to success
"Be as sweet and as nice to your dispatchers as possible. Don't take your anger out on them because that's where your money comes from. I think that's why I did well - I think they like me."
"The dispatchers know that if they call me, they can sweet talk me into a less than great run. I just laugh at them and tell them I know this is a con job and they laugh along with me."
"As an example, I drove 90 miles one night to pick up a load that ran 35 miles the next morning. It was supposed to pay 100 dollars, but they paid me 150 dollars!"
She continues, "I think you have to take most runs, I've probably only turned down 3 or 4 runs in the last 18 months. I've even refused loads, only to call the dispatcher back a couple of minutes later and accept the run because I felt guilty."
"After those short loads, I just suggest to them that the next load should be headed to Texas or Florida."
"I figure I'm doing something right if I generated that kind of income last year."
Larry Larson, Express-1
"Pam is very dependable and she's always on time. She's a good-natured person who you can joke and have fun with."
"But," he says humorously, "you can't get her past a casino without her stopping in."
"Pam is also a very hard worker. We can cajole her into the short loads; she'll take most every load for us."
A bit of wisdom
"I would advise any expediter to take at least 10-15 percent out of every paycheck and put it in a truck fund for repairs. When times are slim, you've still got money."
The accident
"At about 12:20 AM on May 6," Pam begins, "I was northbound on I-75, headed to Clawson, MI for a pickup. I was just about to take the exit when I heard a loud noise and I thought to myself that someone just hit me."
"I can't believe that the impact didn't throw me forward. The Sprinter veered left towards the median and the next thing I knew, I was sitting in the passenger seat! I looked over at the driver's seat and the safety belt was still buckled, so I had slipped out of the restraint somehow."
"I remember when the van was headed towards the median, I asked God to save me, I must have said that a few times."
Pam states that the van wound up on it's right side with her head on the window and she says that she thought the van was still moving because the engine was running.
She continues, "My head was on the passenger side window and my left arm was on the back of the seat. I couldn't move to touch the steering wheel because of the strange angle I wound up in."
"It wasn't long before I heard a man's voice asking if they could help me.
I said, "Please, help me!" The man told me to shut my engine off, but I told him I can't reach it."
"I became aware of another man who must have been standing on the driver's side and he asked me to unlock the driver's door, but I told him I couldn't get to that, either. I tried kicking at it, but I'm only 4'11", so it was out of my reach."
"Somehow, the two men pried the back doors open and when he got up to me, I asked him how the people in the other vehicle were, and he told me there was no other vehicle around. After I insisted that I had been hit from behind, he told the other man to go look for another vehicle. The other man ran across the highway and found a deserted car."
Pam concludes that after the other driver hit the Sprinter (her husband says after examining the Sprinter, the other driver hit her from behind and to the right), he must have lost control of his car, and careened off the road to the right side.
It turns out that the driver had left his car and ran approximately a quarter mile to the next exit where he found a motel. At the motel, he called a cab to take him home.
Once home, the driver called a wrecker to go after his car, but luckily, the police were still at the accident scene when the wrecker arrived. Of course, the tow truck driver had worked with the Michigan State Police before, so he told the police of the driver's address.
Pam says the police arrested the driver a few hours later, a 25-year old man who had been driving a 2004 Mazda. A breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol level of twice the legal limit. "He had alcohol in his system, but no drugs," relates Pam.
Pam continues, "I don't know anything more about the other driver, except that the police told me that he has insurance. He also told law enforcement that he thought that he had hit a "big truck". Despite the fact that he doesn't care about me or what I'm going through, I feel sorry for him because he's ruined his life at that young age and if he has kids, they'll suffer because of this."
"A friend of mine knows someone from MADD in Michigan. This lady checked into the case and reported to me that she had talked to the prosecutor on my behalf and she had no idea of the extent of my injuries."
"They were going to charge the other driver with OWI and leaving the scene. I talked to the prosecutor myself and after she gets my medical records," states Pam. "She will try to get the charges changed to personal injury which is a felony."
Pam's injuries included a left arm that was broken in four places (towards the rotor cup) and the rotor cup was shattered in nine places. This resulted in Pam receiving a total left shoulder replacement. Pam is left-handed.
Her doctor says that her recovery is promising, but that she will probably never regain full use of her arm, i.e., she will be unable to raise her arm above her head or lift anything with the arm.
"As long as I can drive and as long as I still have the arm, I'm happy," says an optimistic Pam. "Even if I lost the arm, as long as I'm alive, it'll be alright."
At this point, Pam can move her left arm out to the side about forty-five degrees, but is still unable to eat with that arm. She says that it doesn't hurt her to move it, but it has been difficult to sleep at times.
"I'm not really in a lot of pain right now, but the weather changes do effect the metal implant in the bone."
She's undergoing therapy three days a week and at home, she uses a pulley on a door three times a day. "I'm not building any muscle yet, just limbering it up," she says.
The money side
Pam says that, financially, it's been a little difficult without the truck's revenue to rely on, but says, "I've been off work since May 6 and if the income from the truck were all I had to live on, it would be real tough. Fortunately, we have the properties to generate some revenue."
"I'll do a lot of things differently the next time around. For example, I don't think most of us out here are adequately insured. We all need better accident insurance - combined insurance and disability. And, most of us need a gap policy to cover the difference between the insurance settlement and the price of a new truck."
She also singles out the man who sold her the Sprinter van, Dan Tilley, who at the time was the expediting truck salesman at Freightliner of Knoxville.
"Dan was so helpful when I bought my Sprinter, and even after the accident, he has been there with advice about insurance and financing a new truck. Dan will help people because he's a caring person."
Pam expresses her appreciation of her company as well: "Express-1 has been very caring and concerned. At our Christmas party, Mike Welch paid tribute to three drivers who had passed on. He got choked up when talking about them because in a company the size of ours, you know everyone."
At the time of this writing, Pam was hoping for a return to expediting in August or September, depending upon her recovery progress and her doctor's OK.
Pam concludes, Levi doesn't want me to be out on the road like I used to, but that's his problem, not mine. He knows that I love driving, and as long as I don't make him go with me, he's OK with that."