- Truck Parking Club
- Posts
- Tale Lites Issue 7
What is your Favorite East/West Highway |
Make Yourself Great to Make the Environment of Trucking Greater
by, ATBS Navigator and driver Jeremy Rhames
We often hear the expression that we’re “products of our environment”. Unconsciously, our environment influences our behavior, mindset, and bodies. So, becoming greater than the environment presented in every career, has its own obstacles. In trucking, drivers are required to sit for much of the day. This requirement has contributed to the stereotype of the obese driver. While we should be aware of the potential negative impacts the trucking environment has, the purpose of this blog is to highlight the benefits of the trucking environment and career. For starters, most of trucking is “over the road” (otr), which means that drivers are pulled away from their friends and family. Most of our friends and family are positive influences, but sometimes they can be negative influences, even though we don’t always realize it. The great thing about trucking, is that it's easy to avoid family and peer pressure when you’re 1,000 miles away. The point being, your friends and family influence your personality, but when the amount of association time is reduced with them, so is their influence. "You are the average of the top 5 people you associate with" is an expression that reinforces this idea. Which leads me to my next point: mental diet is possibly the single most influential ingredient that creates our world views. What we choose to focus on influences our thoughts, and affects the way we perceive the world. This is why, much like our regular diets, our mental diets can benefit from healthy content. People tend to eat fast food out of convenience because of the abundance of options, in spite of having a vague awareness of the poor nutrition it has, in most cases. (Convenience is a major contributing factor for the trucking environment). In trucking, you have the internet at your fingertips, and you can surround yourself with positive, uplifting, inspiring content, and get paid to do it.
The final example I’ll provide you with is mob mentality, (think of riots), group think (tribalism), and social conditioning. The latter has basically constructed our world view, mostly unconsciously. Trucking gives drivers the time to reflect on their own echo chambers and bubbles. Introspection is much easier when you’re not constantly engaging with coworkers or customers.
I leave you with these questions:
● Does environment control your thinking, or does your thinking control your environment?
● What are some of the benefits and limitations your career choice has had on your physical body, behavior, and mindset?
You can follow along with James’ trucking journey on his YouTube
I want to hear from you! For Driver Submissions, questions, and comments contact me at: [email protected] or Text me directly at 423-275-2444
DOT Compliance Corner
Hello all, my name is Santiago Talamantez, and I am proud to join as the newest contributor to the TPC newsletter in Mike’s section of Tale Lites! I am the owner of Safety Compliance & Training LLC, based in San Antonio, but specifically I am a DOT and OSHA Compliance Coach that helps companies and driver navigate the federal regulations. I spent 7 years in law enforcement, majority of it in the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Service with the Texas Dept of Public Safety, and in 2012 I was recruited by an oilfield trucking company to learn how compliance worked on the company side. This is where I quickly learned that there was a whole world to trucking, I had no idea existed!! I spent the next 8 years working with a few different trucking companies and finally started my own consulting business in the midst of the “pandemic” in May of 2020. During the last 5 years, I’ve spent the majority of my time presenting various DOT Compliance courses around the state, including at two different community colleges; Midland College in Midland, and New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs. I’ve had close to 100 CDL drivers that have attended my manager’s course, who are looking to make a transition from the truck into the office. I also hold the exclusive rights to award my students the designation of a Certified DOT Compliance Manager in the entire United States. If you’re interested in my courses, you can click the link below. You can also listen to my episode on the Lombard Trucking Show, where me and Mike discussed my journey and a few other topics. I also just finished developing a new “Level I DOT Roadside Inspection Course” that will provide drivers and companies the most comprehensive insight into the entire inspection process, including how combat errors made by DOT inspectors. That will be available starting next month! My Website and Training Courses: https://safetycomplianceandtraining.com/training/
Ok, now with my introduction out of the way, I asked Mike if I could provide a weekly DOT tip for the readers, and also I will answer a question each week that I will have Mike choose. This week’s guidance is regarding the use of sleeper berth. One mistake that is commonly made is the assumption that if my truck is equipped with a sleeper, that I am able to claim “sleeper berth” automatically to satisfy my rest period, which is not entirely true. 395.1(g) states that if you operate a property-carrying commercial vehicle equipped with a sleeper berth, “as defined in 395.2 (definition section)”, you can then claim it stand alone or combine with off-duty periods. The definition in 395.2 though states that it has to conform to the requirements of 393.76 (which is the actual equipment section requirements). In that section, you’ll read that a proper sleeper berth is one that:
meets the required dimensions (2 feet wide by 6.25 feet long)
is of generally rectangular shape
entrance and exit to/from the sleeper can’t be hindered (i.e. fridge other items in the way) However, a common violation and mistake is that it’s not properly equipped as paragraph (e) requires below:
(e) Equipment. A sleeper berth must be properly equipped for sleeping. Its equipment must include:
(1) Adequate bedclothing and blankets; and
(2) Either:
(i) Springs and a mattress; or
(ii) An innerspring mattress; or
(iii) A cellular rubber or flexible foam mattress at least four inches thick; or
(iv) A mattress filled with a fluid and of sufficient thickness when filled to prevent “bottoming-out” when occupied while the vehicle is in motion.
Why is it so critical to be missing items so simple such as a blanket and a pillow? Well, when the sleeper is not “properly equipped”, a roadside inspector can then void all the time used to satisfy previous rest periods and place a driver out of service until proper rest is obtained!! And of course, that could also be issued along with a monetary penalty, plus the time off the road which leads to those indirect consequences for your company and for the shipper/receiver.
Thank you, hope this helps out! 🙏🏽
You can also follow my socials, which is how Lombard and I first connected!
Health Tip of the Week
3 Ways to Wake up without Coffee!
Take a cold shower. Taking a cold shower in the morning can increase alertness, improve blood circulation, and reduce stress. When your body is exposed to cold water, you breathe deeply in response to the shock of the cold water, increasing how much oxygen you take in. With more oxygen, your heart rate increases, releasing a rush of blood throughout the body and making you feel more energized.
Drink water. Drinking cold water after waking up can fire up the adrenaline hormone, which gets the heart pumping and boosts blood flow to the brain.
Water also helps improve natural dehydration that occurs during sleep. When you wake up, try to drink at least 16oz of cold water.
Listen to music. A study by researchers at McGill University found that music helps the brain release the “feel good” chemical dopamine, which plays a role in motivation. To really get moving in the morning, choose songs with positive lyrics that have a strong bass or drum beat.
$10 towards your next booking!
Use promo code talelites7 (all lowercase - one time use) at checkout for $10 off your next Truck Parking Club booking at one of our 1400+ Property Member locations!
February Content Contest Winner!
Congrats to Blake Thompson for posting a gorgeous photo of his truck and tagging us on Instagram!
Truck Parking Club Partner Program
Do you create content for truckers, and want to help solve the truck parking crisis? Let’s work together! Click below to apply for Truck Parking Club’s Partner Program today!