Cleaning House Spring is right around the corner and along with the season brings feelings of new beginnings. Spring is also a time when people might do deep cleaning both at home and in the truck. Finally, Spring cleaning might also include looking within to get out of the Winter doldrums and find new life inside ourselves. How many of you find Spring to be a happy time, a time with more energy and a time to improve yourself and your surroundings? I know I find that I have m...

Year-in and year-out, I try to set goals (not resolutions) as I shift into each and every new phase of life. And as we’re already closing the book on the first two months of 2025, it seems a good time to assess just where we each reside in terms of our own personal goals and the sights we might set on our future. We all have responsibilities. We all have hopes and dreams of our own. But sometimes, the outside world can beat us down and, unfortunately, it often seems like th...

We would like to put this blog back up again this year.  We all just got done running in a very cold, snowy, icy, etc. winter.  With that we all know a lot of salt was put down and we picked it up on our trucks (locks). Something you probably do not think about is lock maintenance on your truck.  Well years ago, Stephen did not think about it and ran into a problem at a shipper.  He was running our previous truck as a solo and the lock on one of the barn doors rusted.  I...

This years Mid America Trucking Show (MATS) at the Kentucky Expo Center on March 27-29, 2025.  This show says they are the largest in the United States.  We could say it is.  We have been attending it since 2013 and it is our go to show for doing our research (hands on) on new products, technology, and other things.  It is a grueling three days of running and talking so bring some great and comfortable pair of shoes. Also, this year is a huge change.  The show will only ...

Every day truck drivers everywhere have to deal with any number of issues on the road. Everything from tailgaters to brake checkers. Merging traffic without regard for those already on the road to that one guy who just will not make the pass and just rides beside you for miles....

Are You Ready? It is that time of year again. The dreaded tax season is upon us. Are you ready? What do you do to prepare? Does your preparation happen throughout the year? Or does your preparation look more like receipts thrown into a shoe box and given to your accountant to sort out? Whichever method you prefer, have you been in contact with your accountant to have your business taxes prepared? In all honesty, March 15 comes up on me when I least expect it. While I keep tra...

Recently our current administration Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has asked for the publics input in help identifying waste, fraud and abuse at the federal agencies level.  If you know or heard of any of this you can contact DOGE directly using the DM function on the official DOGE X accounts by agencies. Here is your chance from the side of the trucking industry to point out waste, fraud and abuse. Here is a short list of agencies they are looking for input on a...

Meet Mr. DeBlank, everybody knows him as Phil. Everyone sees Phil. Everyone wonders about Phil, but Phil N. DeBlank seems to wonder about nothing....

Connections Recently, I was invited to join a ladies Bible study group. Now, before you start rolling your eyes thinking that I’m going to get all religious on you just hear me out. I believe that all of the ladies in the group are truck drivers; however, I cannot say for certain. All of the ladies that I know who are in the group are truck drivers. Being invited into this group got me to thinking about how truck drivers (both men and women) form connections in such an isol...

Love What You Do Last week many celebrated Valentine’s Day with those that they love. At least that is what I hope they did! We were home so we did what we do best… we went out to dinner. The holiday of Love got me to thinking about the old saying, “Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.” How many of you have worked at a J-O-B that barely paid the bills but you went in every day despite the fact that you really did not enjoy the work at all? I’...