August 13, 2024 • 19 mins
Balancing life on the farm with the demands of podcasting isn't easy, but I've made some changes to keep the Rolling 18 Podcast rolling smoothly! Join me, Walter Gatlin, as I dive into the generational perspectives in trucking, grapple with the high turnover rates, and tackle the urgent need for healthier food options at truck stops. I share my personal struggles with the allure of unhealthy snacks and explore how poor diet impacts truck drivers' health and mood. This episode, now on a new schedule of Tuesdays and Fridays, promises longer, more relaxed discussions in response to your feedback. So, get ready for some raw, unedited conversations on the crucial issues affecting our industry.
Truck parking safety is reaching a crisis point, and I recount a harrowing Trucker News story that underscores this reality. The Coalition of Trucking Organizations is pushing hard for the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, and I'm here to break down why this $755 million investment over three years is so vital. Between my home and Des Moines, Iowa, the lack of rest areas forces trucks onto interstates, risking lives. Imagine food trucks offering nutritious meals at these new parking spaces—it's a game-changer! With bipartisan support and 49 co-sponsors, now is the time to act. Tune in, get informed, and find out how you can help make trucking safer for everyone.
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Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Breaker 1-9.
Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast.
This 40-year veteran is herefor anyone wanting to stay up to
date in the trucking world.
Grab your coffee, hop on boardand let's get on down the road
with Walter Gatlin.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
Whenever you decide to listento this podcast, I'm your host,
walter Gatlin with Rollin' 18Podcast.
Yeah, I was off all week.
Last week we had somesituations at work that needed
to be taken care of.
Just to give you a smallexample, friday was almost a
20-hour day for me.
So how do I get away with that?
(00:39):
I work on a farm.
You know.
It's more than just drivingtruck.
We do all kinds of differentthings and boy, let me tell you,
when it gets busy, it gets busy, and towards the end of this
month, the beginning of nextmonth, they're going to start
harvest, so it's really going toget bad.
I'm hoping I'm not really in abig part of that because I can
keep my podcast going.
(00:59):
I am going to do a major change.
I'm going to put out podcastson Tuesdays and Fridays now
instead of Monday, wednesday andFridays.
That gives me a buffer zone,and I'm going to extend the
podcast to 20 minutes instead ofjust 15.
Also, I'm not going to do somuch editing because I've had
some comments saying hey, yourpodcasts are really great, but
(01:22):
you talk a little fast.
So bring this up.
That's good.
You know.
You get information from peoplethat listen to your podcast.
That's the number one thing youwant to do is listen to the
people that listen to you andthey explain to you what you can
do and what you shouldn't do.
And you know, some things justirritate people and it's
understandable.
(01:42):
We have a lot to talk about thisweek and you know, the sad part
is that some of these subjectsthat I'm going to bring up are
going to get it.
They're going to hit home andsome of you folks out there that
are new to driving, you're noteven going to know what I'm
talking about, other thanbecause you know what you know
right now and you don't know thepast because you wasn't there.
But there's a lot to talk aboutwhen it comes to you know, we
(02:07):
get changes and boomers.
We're always getting slammedbecause they say we don't like
change.
But you know, honestly, we do,because if things change for the
better, we appreciate that andthat's a good thing.
There are things that reallywork and you change and you get
rid of or you dismiss and, yeah,we get upset about that because
it's hey, look, you know thishas been tried and trued, it
(02:30):
works.
Why why do you want to messwith it why?
Why don't you just leave italone?
And I'll go to one example.
I know it's complicated to findemployees, especially employees
for the restaurant industry.
We have a couple of restaurantsin my local town that struggle
to keep good help and struggleto keep them around, and that's
one thing we're going to talkabout as far as the trucking
(02:51):
industry our turnover rate butwe'll talk about that in a
little bit.
But what I need to bring up isthe fact that all of these truck
stops and even your localplaces in town, are becoming
salt and sugar stores, and whatI mean by that is you go in to
buy something to snack on.
It's either chips or candy, orcoffee or soda.
(03:14):
You know, ladies and gentlemen,we got to get past all this.
We got to somehow figure out away to bring back the restaurant
.
We need to start eatinghealthier.
When I looked at the averagelifespan of a truck driver and
realized it had dropped to 61,that is not good.
I turned 61 this year, but youknow that's beside the point.
(03:38):
The fact of the matter is do wereally want to be out there
busting our butts, you know,24-7, going through all the
hassles that we go through, justto eat ourselves to death.
With junk, I mean total junk.
Yeah, you know, they do putgrapes, and sometimes
strawberries and different typeof fruits and vegetables in
(04:01):
plastic cups, which makeeverything taste like oil or
petroleum by the time you buy it, because it's been sitting
there for a day or two and it'sabsorbed the fumes from the
plastic container that they use,which they probably buy from
China because it's a lot cheaperand we know where their
material is coming from.
(04:22):
Their soil has been saturatedwith toxins for, you know, 100
years or however long it is.
They became able to startmaking goods for the United
States, and we all know this tobe true.
This is nothing new.
A lot of people like to denythings because they don't want
the reality in their head, butthe facts are the facts, ladies
(04:45):
and gentlemen, and everythingthat we buy at the store is now
stored in plastic.
You can no longer go into atruck stop.
Walk into the restaurant, lookat a big sign that says truck
drivers only sit down,communicate with your fellow
drivers, order a meal from anice person that's there to
serve you, and then you know,eat a healthy meal, like a nice,
(05:09):
fresh, freshly made stew, ormaybe a steak and eggs or
something that's going toprovide you with some substance.
Now, everything is pre-packaged, pre-cookedooked, wrapped up,
stuck in some plastic containerthat was made overseas and,
honest to god, I taste petroleumevery time I eat out of one of
those containers, and I don'tcare what it is, and I believe
(05:32):
it's constantly making us sick.
And what?
What do you get when you getsick inside your truck or you,
when you just start not feelingreal well at all?
What do you get out of that?
You get an attitude, you getangry, and that anger projects
onto other people, whether it bedrivers, whether it be shippers
or receivers, whether it beyour wife, husband or kids at
(05:56):
home.
You know, all of that stuffprojects out into your world.
I don't think it's fair that weshould have to go through all
of this.
Okay and I've always said thisand you guys have heard me say
it before we are the largestindustry in the world.
Why don't we start acting likeit?
Why don't we take control ofthe reins of the many horses
(06:19):
that we're driving down the roadand say look, you, look, we are
the champions, we are the oneswe need more respect.
We're not asking for the moon.
We're asking for a slice ofheaven.
We're asking for you folks torealize that we work our butts
off and you think it's justturning the steering wheel.
Please turn this podcast off now.
(06:41):
Turn around and walk away andgo listen to the Simpsons or go
watch a cartoon or something andmaybe stick a binky in your
face because you don't get it.
You don't understand, unlessyou've been behind the wheel of
a semi and I would say, at leastsix months out there living the
way we do, and we try to do ourbest, we try to get all the
(07:01):
creature comforts we can.
But, man, we go out there andwe hurry up and we got to run
inside and what do we see?
We see a bunch of shells filledwith junk, everything from
sugar to salt, everything that'spreservative, everything.
It just breaks my heart.
And even driving local, I findmyself having to stop and you
(07:24):
know I'm probably going tochange this, to be honest with
you.
I'm probably going to changethe fact that I'm working local
now and I still feel like I gotto be the over the road truck
driver and get there, point A topoint B, and make it quick and
all this other stuff.
No, I need to start stopping ata restaurant, if I can find one
, because even four rollers arehaving a tough time finding a
(07:45):
good restaurant anymore.
But I need to stop.
Take that half hour or thathour, go inside, order me a nice
meal, relax gear down a littlebit and just fill my belly with
good, wholesome food.
Is that too much to ask?
I mean, would it be too muchfor us to get together and say,
look, hey TA, hey Loves, heyFlying J, hey Pilot, we need
(08:08):
restaurants back.
I don't give a crap what youhave to do to get them
restaurants back.
You need to add on to yourbuilding.
I don't care if it's only aroom for you know, 20 people.
Make it just for the truckdrivers.
Okay, Don't invite thefour-wheelers in there because
they're 20 minutes or 10 minutes, five minutes from home.
90% of them are fueling upafter or before work.
(08:30):
So why don't we just make itfor the truck driver and say CDL
holders only.
They're going to come in thereat their convenience and they're
going to sit down and they'regoing to get a freshly made meal
, whether it be scrambled eggs,whether it be bacon, whether it
be stew freshly made stew.
We got to figure this out.
We need to get a wholesome mealat least once a day.
(08:52):
Even if you only ate once a dayand snacked on healthy products
like nuts and berries andthings like that, you'd be much
better off than what we're doingnow.
And a lot of guys are going todismiss what I have to say
because they know I'm right andthey're feeling guilty and
they're going to be like no,that's just not the case.
I mean, if you get plenty ofexercise and all that, you'd be
able to squeeze all that saltand sugar out of you.
No, that's not how it works andit's affecting everybody's
(09:16):
attitude.
I'm sitting here on the radiothe other day listening to these
people just go off about thestupidest stuff and it's getting
to the point you can't eventalk on the CB anymore.
And you're listening to thisrambling going on and as you
listen and with my experience,I'm not hearing them complain
about anything.
I'm hearing them complain abouteverything.
(09:37):
I'm hearing the sickness thatis within their body pour out of
their mouth because they aredisgusted with the way they feel
.
And if you're not happy withinyourself, there is no way that
you're going to be happy withanybody else or anything else
that is happening in your lifeand it's going to affect your
friends.
It's going to affect yourfamily.
(09:59):
It's going to affect your life,and we know how much happier we
are when we are happy.
Do you understand what I'msaying?
We know how good we feel whenour body feels good, and the
only way that's going to happen,ladies and gentlemen, drivers,
you know this to be true is ifwe are well taken care of with
(10:21):
our body.
I'm not trying to be a healthnut.
Believe me, I'm a truck driver.
I'm furthest thing from ahealth nut, but I'm noticing the
difference.
Even in our small town, it'shard to keep employees working
at a restaurant.
It's hard to keep getting agood meal.
Even the restaurants arestarting to order from these
places that pre-package andpre-cook everything, and it's
(10:41):
like my God, can't weconcentrate on our town locally?
Can't we concentrate on, youknow, making good food?
Don't you really want to be arestaurant, or are you only in
the business to make a buck?
When you open a restaurant,your heart's supposed to be into
it.
When you make pies or cakes,your heart is supposed to be
into it.
It's supposed to be somethingyou love to do.
(11:02):
You love to produce a productthat's going to make people so
happy they're just going to comeback.
Isn't that the truth?
And I'm speaking from the heart.
So, whether you appreciate whatI'm saying or not, just
remember I'm speaking from theheart.
I'm speaking because I want tobe happy and I'm speaking
because I want to be able tocommunicate happy things with my
(11:24):
fellow co-drivers all the otherdrivers out there on the road.
Half the time you call people onthe radio, go in the opposite
direction, you give them areport or whatever, and they
just ignore you, even if they'relistening.
You see they've got $60antennas on their truck.
You know they're monitoringtheir radio, but they're not
talking to you.
Why are they not talking to you?
(11:45):
Because they're not happy withtheir self.
And why are they not happy withtheir self?
Because they don't feel good.
Do we not deserve, out of allthe hours and all the months and
all the years that we put inthese rigs, do we not deserve at
least a healthy meal?
We are working our butts off tomake as much money as we can,
and who do we take care of theleast?
(12:06):
The person that's making themoney.
Now, come on, you can't stopand afford a $20, $30 meal.
Because of what reason afford a$20, $30 meal?
Because of what reason?
Because you need every dollaryou can to squeeze into your
electric bill or your rent oryour mortgage.
You know you got five kids athome, whatever.
Bull crap, bull crap.
You come first and I don't care, you know, I know we do our
(12:31):
best for our families and I knowwe do our best for our friends,
but we have to come firstbecause if we don't, we die, and
if we die, we don't make apaycheck, and if we don't make a
paycheck, nobody gets nothing.
So why not let them get alittle bit less and do a little
bit more for yourself, make aliving and eat well, be happy,
(12:54):
and let's start commanding thatthese truck stops start taking
care of us.
I want to start a nationwidepetition to get these
restaurants to startconcentrating on our food and to
make our food fresh and to helpus be better to ourselves, and
that includes a place to sitdown and have somebody make us a
(13:15):
hot, fresh meal.
And if nobody can understandthat, then I think the rest of
the world is crazy, because Iknow for a fact that that's what
we need.
Break one nine.
This is Rollin' 18 Podcast.
We're switching gears.
Now, this next few minutes, Iwant to talk about a story that
broke on August 5th and it's attruckernewscom.
(13:37):
So if you want to look at it,go look.
It's called TruckingOrganizations Call on House
Leaders to Set Vote on ParkingBill.
And this is important because Ihave been negotiating with my
local elected officials, becausewe need parking, we need a
place.
I mean I've got two rest areasbetween where I live and Des
(13:57):
Moines, iowa, two rest areas andone on each side, so one on the
east side, one on the west side, so that's four rest areas and
they are constantly full andthey are running out, spilling
out into the interstate, whichis not safe to begin with.
But the story says theCoalition of Trucking
Organizations is calling onCongress to take action on
(14:18):
legislation that would allocatefunds to create new and
much-needed truck parking.
Now, if they do this and back tomy original story before this
part if they do this, you guysout there that love food and you
want to own a food truck, go tothe government.
I'll let you attend to one.
They'll give you a grant.
You can make us some reallynice fresh food in these truck
(14:41):
stops or these truck parkingareas, you could make us some
really nice, fresh food everynight.
Not this junk that you slaptogether and stick in plastic,
but real, honest, wholesome foodso we can eat good.
If we can't make it to a truckstop because they're full, we
can pull good.
If we can't make it to a truckstop because they're full, we
can pull into one of these restareas and have us a truck there
and we can get us somethingreally good to eat before we lay
(15:01):
down and take our nap.
Now, on Monday, july 29th, 18organizations sent a letter to
Speaker of the House, mikeJohnson, and Minority Leader
Hakeem Jeffries asking they takeaction on the Truck Parking
Safety Improvement Act, whichhas been languishing since being
approved in committee since Mayof 2023.
(15:24):
This is how important we are tothese elected officials.
So if you're a truck driver andyou're out there arguing about
one candidate or another, justremember they could give a hoot
about you.
They wouldn't take five secondsto spit in your face, let alone
to shake your hand.
So please stop.
Unless you're writing them acheck, they don't care about you
.
So quit putting all your beansin one basket.
(15:47):
Quit protecting these fools.
Just remember that they'rethere as our servants.
They're there to do a job.
May of 2023, drivers May of2023 is how long we've been
waiting.
And guess what?
They look at that and they gotruck drivers.
They can park anywhere theywant to.
It says here the legislationwould earmark $755 million over
(16:10):
three years for projects toexpand truck parking.
It has 49 co-sponsors 25Republicans and 24 Democrats.
Now, if that isn't bipartisan,I don't know what is.
In part, the letter said toJohnson and Jeffries we
encourage you to work togetherto schedule a vote for this
important legislation that wouldbenefit countless men and women
(16:32):
who make their living behindthe wheel of a commercial motor
vehicle.
That's all well and said, butlet's see what else it says.
It added access to safe andample truck parking has been a
top safety priority for Americantruck drivers for more than a
decade.
By increasing capacity, we canensure that truck drivers do not
have to choose between parkingin a potentially unsafe location
(16:56):
, such as a highway shoulder oron-ramp, off-ramp, or continue
to drive while they feelfatigued and are out of
available driving hours underfederally mandated hours of
regulations.
So, ladies and gentlemen,drivers, get on board with this.
Find out who your locallegislators are that work
nationally and get a hold ofthem, write them a letter, send
(17:17):
them an email, call them everysingle day and let them know
that we need something done.
This is not a catch-22.
This is a bipartisan situation.
We can all agree that we needsafe parking.
We can all agree that we needfresh food, fresh, good food.
We can all agree on a lot.
(17:38):
There's a lot of things we canargue against.
You know, and I can tell youwho I am, but I'm not going to
get into this podcast everpolitically, because I know
where that goes.
That brings in half thepopulation of the United States
and the other half walks awayfrom you and I don't want that.
I want to give all of you a big, big hug.
And you think, oh, wow, that'skind of weird.
(18:00):
No, it's not.
I mean, shouldn't we be happy?
I mean there were times I'dpull into the truck, stop over
there in Ontario, california,80s, 90s, whatever, even the
2000s, because I ran LA up toabout four or five years ago.
But I'd go out there and wewould sit at them tables out
front while we're just relaxingbefore we go to bed.
(18:21):
And you know, sometimes I wouldstay in my truck and chit chat
on the CB for a while, but othertimes I would go out there to
the, where the front entrance isfor truck drivers.
There was such a thing andthere would be tables set up for
all of us drivers.
We'd sit there and have acigarette and talk and and talk
about all kinds of differentthings and, man, we would
(18:42):
collaborate on all kinds ofthings.
We just have a great time.
Drivers, tuesdays and fridaysare going to be my days for
podcasts, so I hope you join me.
Visit me at roland18podcastcom.
Let your friends know.
I really appreciate yoursupport.
And next show I'm going to talkabout the driver retention
(19:04):
problem, because we really needto get to the bottom of it.
God bless, be safe and, asalways, keep it between the
lines.
Driver.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast.
Please visit Walter's podcastsite at Roland18podcastcom or
his social media sites such asInstagram, facebook and TikTok.
All links are in thedescription.
Breaker 1-9.
Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast.
This 40-year veteran is herefor anyone wanting to stay up to
date in the trucking world.
Grab your coffee, hop on boardand let's get on down the road
with Walter Gatlin.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
Whenever you decide to listento this podcast, I'm your host,
walter Gatlin with Rollin' 18Podcast.
Yeah, I was off all week.
Last week we had somesituations at work that needed
to be taken care of.
Just to give you a smallexample, friday was almost a
20-hour day for me.
So how do I get away with that?
(00:39):
I work on a farm.
You know.
It's more than just drivingtruck.
We do all kinds of differentthings and boy, let me tell you,
when it gets busy, it gets busy, and towards the end of this
month, the beginning of nextmonth, they're going to start
harvest, so it's really going toget bad.
I'm hoping I'm not really in abig part of that because I can
keep my podcast going.
(00:59):
I am going to do a major change.
I'm going to put out podcastson Tuesdays and Fridays now
instead of Monday, wednesday andFridays.
That gives me a buffer zone,and I'm going to extend the
podcast to 20 minutes instead ofjust 15.
Also, I'm not going to do somuch editing because I've had
some comments saying hey, yourpodcasts are really great, but
(01:22):
you talk a little fast.
So bring this up.
That's good.
You know.
You get information from peoplethat listen to your podcast.
That's the number one thing youwant to do is listen to the
people that listen to you andthey explain to you what you can
do and what you shouldn't do.
And you know, some things justirritate people and it's
understandable.
(01:42):
We have a lot to talk about thisweek and you know, the sad part
is that some of these subjectsthat I'm going to bring up are
going to get it.
They're going to hit home andsome of you folks out there that
are new to driving, you're noteven going to know what I'm
talking about, other thanbecause you know what you know
right now and you don't know thepast because you wasn't there.
But there's a lot to talk aboutwhen it comes to you know, we
(02:07):
get changes and boomers.
We're always getting slammedbecause they say we don't like
change.
But you know, honestly, we do,because if things change for the
better, we appreciate that andthat's a good thing.
There are things that reallywork and you change and you get
rid of or you dismiss and, yeah,we get upset about that because
it's hey, look, you know thishas been tried and trued, it
(02:30):
works.
Why why do you want to messwith it why?
Why don't you just leave italone?
And I'll go to one example.
I know it's complicated to findemployees, especially employees
for the restaurant industry.
We have a couple of restaurantsin my local town that struggle
to keep good help and struggleto keep them around, and that's
one thing we're going to talkabout as far as the trucking
(02:51):
industry our turnover rate butwe'll talk about that in a
little bit.
But what I need to bring up isthe fact that all of these truck
stops and even your localplaces in town, are becoming
salt and sugar stores, and whatI mean by that is you go in to
buy something to snack on.
It's either chips or candy, orcoffee or soda.
(03:14):
You know, ladies and gentlemen,we got to get past all this.
We got to somehow figure out away to bring back the restaurant
.
We need to start eatinghealthier.
When I looked at the averagelifespan of a truck driver and
realized it had dropped to 61,that is not good.
I turned 61 this year, but youknow that's beside the point.
(03:38):
The fact of the matter is do wereally want to be out there
busting our butts, you know,24-7, going through all the
hassles that we go through, justto eat ourselves to death.
With junk, I mean total junk.
Yeah, you know, they do putgrapes, and sometimes
strawberries and different typeof fruits and vegetables in
(04:01):
plastic cups, which makeeverything taste like oil or
petroleum by the time you buy it, because it's been sitting
there for a day or two and it'sabsorbed the fumes from the
plastic container that they use,which they probably buy from
China because it's a lot cheaperand we know where their
material is coming from.
(04:22):
Their soil has been saturatedwith toxins for, you know, 100
years or however long it is.
They became able to startmaking goods for the United
States, and we all know this tobe true.
This is nothing new.
A lot of people like to denythings because they don't want
the reality in their head, butthe facts are the facts, ladies
(04:45):
and gentlemen, and everythingthat we buy at the store is now
stored in plastic.
You can no longer go into atruck stop.
Walk into the restaurant, lookat a big sign that says truck
drivers only sit down,communicate with your fellow
drivers, order a meal from anice person that's there to
serve you, and then you know,eat a healthy meal, like a nice,
(05:09):
fresh, freshly made stew, ormaybe a steak and eggs or
something that's going toprovide you with some substance.
Now, everything is pre-packaged, pre-cookedooked, wrapped up,
stuck in some plastic containerthat was made overseas and,
honest to god, I taste petroleumevery time I eat out of one of
those containers, and I don'tcare what it is, and I believe
(05:32):
it's constantly making us sick.
And what?
What do you get when you getsick inside your truck or you,
when you just start not feelingreal well at all?
What do you get out of that?
You get an attitude, you getangry, and that anger projects
onto other people, whether it bedrivers, whether it be shippers
or receivers, whether it beyour wife, husband or kids at
(05:56):
home.
You know, all of that stuffprojects out into your world.
I don't think it's fair that weshould have to go through all
of this.
Okay and I've always said thisand you guys have heard me say
it before we are the largestindustry in the world.
Why don't we start acting likeit?
Why don't we take control ofthe reins of the many horses
(06:19):
that we're driving down the roadand say look, you, look, we are
the champions, we are the oneswe need more respect.
We're not asking for the moon.
We're asking for a slice ofheaven.
We're asking for you folks torealize that we work our butts
off and you think it's justturning the steering wheel.
Please turn this podcast off now.
(06:41):
Turn around and walk away andgo listen to the Simpsons or go
watch a cartoon or something andmaybe stick a binky in your
face because you don't get it.
You don't understand, unlessyou've been behind the wheel of
a semi and I would say, at leastsix months out there living the
way we do, and we try to do ourbest, we try to get all the
(07:01):
creature comforts we can.
But, man, we go out there andwe hurry up and we got to run
inside and what do we see?
We see a bunch of shells filledwith junk, everything from
sugar to salt, everything that'spreservative, everything.
It just breaks my heart.
And even driving local, I findmyself having to stop and you
(07:24):
know I'm probably going tochange this, to be honest with
you.
I'm probably going to changethe fact that I'm working local
now and I still feel like I gotto be the over the road truck
driver and get there, point A topoint B, and make it quick and
all this other stuff.
No, I need to start stopping ata restaurant, if I can find one
, because even four rollers arehaving a tough time finding a
(07:45):
good restaurant anymore.
But I need to stop.
Take that half hour or thathour, go inside, order me a nice
meal, relax gear down a littlebit and just fill my belly with
good, wholesome food.
Is that too much to ask?
I mean, would it be too muchfor us to get together and say,
look, hey TA, hey Loves, heyFlying J, hey Pilot, we need
(08:08):
restaurants back.
I don't give a crap what youhave to do to get them
restaurants back.
You need to add on to yourbuilding.
I don't care if it's only aroom for you know, 20 people.
Make it just for the truckdrivers.
Okay, Don't invite thefour-wheelers in there because
they're 20 minutes or 10 minutes, five minutes from home.
90% of them are fueling upafter or before work.
(08:30):
So why don't we just make itfor the truck driver and say CDL
holders only.
They're going to come in thereat their convenience and they're
going to sit down and they'regoing to get a freshly made meal
, whether it be scrambled eggs,whether it be bacon, whether it
be stew freshly made stew.
We got to figure this out.
We need to get a wholesome mealat least once a day.
(08:52):
Even if you only ate once a dayand snacked on healthy products
like nuts and berries andthings like that, you'd be much
better off than what we're doingnow.
And a lot of guys are going todismiss what I have to say
because they know I'm right andthey're feeling guilty and
they're going to be like no,that's just not the case.
I mean, if you get plenty ofexercise and all that, you'd be
able to squeeze all that saltand sugar out of you.
No, that's not how it works andit's affecting everybody's
(09:16):
attitude.
I'm sitting here on the radiothe other day listening to these
people just go off about thestupidest stuff and it's getting
to the point you can't eventalk on the CB anymore.
And you're listening to thisrambling going on and as you
listen and with my experience,I'm not hearing them complain
about anything.
I'm hearing them complain abouteverything.
(09:37):
I'm hearing the sickness thatis within their body pour out of
their mouth because they aredisgusted with the way they feel
.
And if you're not happy withinyourself, there is no way that
you're going to be happy withanybody else or anything else
that is happening in your lifeand it's going to affect your
friends.
It's going to affect yourfamily.
(09:59):
It's going to affect your life,and we know how much happier we
are when we are happy.
Do you understand what I'msaying?
We know how good we feel whenour body feels good, and the
only way that's going to happen,ladies and gentlemen, drivers,
you know this to be true is ifwe are well taken care of with
(10:21):
our body.
I'm not trying to be a healthnut.
Believe me, I'm a truck driver.
I'm furthest thing from ahealth nut, but I'm noticing the
difference.
Even in our small town, it'shard to keep employees working
at a restaurant.
It's hard to keep getting agood meal.
Even the restaurants arestarting to order from these
places that pre-package andpre-cook everything, and it's
(10:41):
like my God, can't weconcentrate on our town locally?
Can't we concentrate on, youknow, making good food?
Don't you really want to be arestaurant, or are you only in
the business to make a buck?
When you open a restaurant,your heart's supposed to be into
it.
When you make pies or cakes,your heart is supposed to be
into it.
It's supposed to be somethingyou love to do.
(11:02):
You love to produce a productthat's going to make people so
happy they're just going to comeback.
Isn't that the truth?
And I'm speaking from the heart.
So, whether you appreciate whatI'm saying or not, just
remember I'm speaking from theheart.
I'm speaking because I want tobe happy and I'm speaking
because I want to be able tocommunicate happy things with my
(11:24):
fellow co-drivers all the otherdrivers out there on the road.
Half the time you call people onthe radio, go in the opposite
direction, you give them areport or whatever, and they
just ignore you, even if they'relistening.
You see they've got $60antennas on their truck.
You know they're monitoringtheir radio, but they're not
talking to you.
Why are they not talking to you?
(11:45):
Because they're not happy withtheir self.
And why are they not happy withtheir self?
Because they don't feel good.
Do we not deserve, out of allthe hours and all the months and
all the years that we put inthese rigs, do we not deserve at
least a healthy meal?
We are working our butts off tomake as much money as we can,
and who do we take care of theleast?
(12:06):
The person that's making themoney.
Now, come on, you can't stopand afford a $20, $30 meal.
Because of what reason afford a$20, $30 meal?
Because of what reason?
Because you need every dollaryou can to squeeze into your
electric bill or your rent oryour mortgage.
You know you got five kids athome, whatever.
Bull crap, bull crap.
You come first and I don't care, you know, I know we do our
(12:31):
best for our families and I knowwe do our best for our friends,
but we have to come firstbecause if we don't, we die, and
if we die, we don't make apaycheck, and if we don't make a
paycheck, nobody gets nothing.
So why not let them get alittle bit less and do a little
bit more for yourself, make aliving and eat well, be happy,
(12:54):
and let's start commanding thatthese truck stops start taking
care of us.
I want to start a nationwidepetition to get these
restaurants to startconcentrating on our food and to
make our food fresh and to helpus be better to ourselves, and
that includes a place to sitdown and have somebody make us a
(13:15):
hot, fresh meal.
And if nobody can understandthat, then I think the rest of
the world is crazy, because Iknow for a fact that that's what
we need.
Break one nine.
This is Rollin' 18 Podcast.
We're switching gears.
Now, this next few minutes, Iwant to talk about a story that
broke on August 5th and it's attruckernewscom.
(13:37):
So if you want to look at it,go look.
It's called TruckingOrganizations Call on House
Leaders to Set Vote on ParkingBill.
And this is important because Ihave been negotiating with my
local elected officials, becausewe need parking, we need a
place.
I mean I've got two rest areasbetween where I live and Des
(13:57):
Moines, iowa, two rest areas andone on each side, so one on the
east side, one on the west side, so that's four rest areas and
they are constantly full andthey are running out, spilling
out into the interstate, whichis not safe to begin with.
But the story says theCoalition of Trucking
Organizations is calling onCongress to take action on
(14:18):
legislation that would allocatefunds to create new and
much-needed truck parking.
Now, if they do this and back tomy original story before this
part if they do this, you guysout there that love food and you
want to own a food truck, go tothe government.
I'll let you attend to one.
They'll give you a grant.
You can make us some reallynice fresh food in these truck
(14:41):
stops or these truck parkingareas, you could make us some
really nice, fresh food everynight.
Not this junk that you slaptogether and stick in plastic,
but real, honest, wholesome foodso we can eat good.
If we can't make it to a truckstop because they're full, we
can pull good.
If we can't make it to a truckstop because they're full, we
can pull into one of these restareas and have us a truck there
and we can get us somethingreally good to eat before we lay
(15:01):
down and take our nap.
Now, on Monday, july 29th, 18organizations sent a letter to
Speaker of the House, mikeJohnson, and Minority Leader
Hakeem Jeffries asking they takeaction on the Truck Parking
Safety Improvement Act, whichhas been languishing since being
approved in committee since Mayof 2023.
(15:24):
This is how important we are tothese elected officials.
So if you're a truck driver andyou're out there arguing about
one candidate or another, justremember they could give a hoot
about you.
They wouldn't take five secondsto spit in your face, let alone
to shake your hand.
So please stop.
Unless you're writing them acheck, they don't care about you
.
So quit putting all your beansin one basket.
(15:47):
Quit protecting these fools.
Just remember that they'rethere as our servants.
They're there to do a job.
May of 2023, drivers May of2023 is how long we've been
waiting.
And guess what?
They look at that and they gotruck drivers.
They can park anywhere theywant to.
It says here the legislationwould earmark $755 million over
(16:10):
three years for projects toexpand truck parking.
It has 49 co-sponsors 25Republicans and 24 Democrats.
Now, if that isn't bipartisan,I don't know what is.
In part, the letter said toJohnson and Jeffries we
encourage you to work togetherto schedule a vote for this
important legislation that wouldbenefit countless men and women
(16:32):
who make their living behindthe wheel of a commercial motor
vehicle.
That's all well and said, butlet's see what else it says.
It added access to safe andample truck parking has been a
top safety priority for Americantruck drivers for more than a
decade.
By increasing capacity, we canensure that truck drivers do not
have to choose between parkingin a potentially unsafe location
(16:56):
, such as a highway shoulder oron-ramp, off-ramp, or continue
to drive while they feelfatigued and are out of
available driving hours underfederally mandated hours of
regulations.
So, ladies and gentlemen,drivers, get on board with this.
Find out who your locallegislators are that work
nationally and get a hold ofthem, write them a letter, send
(17:17):
them an email, call them everysingle day and let them know
that we need something done.
This is not a catch-22.
This is a bipartisan situation.
We can all agree that we needsafe parking.
We can all agree that we needfresh food, fresh, good food.
We can all agree on a lot.
(17:38):
There's a lot of things we canargue against.
You know, and I can tell youwho I am, but I'm not going to
get into this podcast everpolitically, because I know
where that goes.
That brings in half thepopulation of the United States
and the other half walks awayfrom you and I don't want that.
I want to give all of you a big, big hug.
And you think, oh, wow, that'skind of weird.
(18:00):
No, it's not.
I mean, shouldn't we be happy?
I mean there were times I'dpull into the truck, stop over
there in Ontario, california,80s, 90s, whatever, even the
2000s, because I ran LA up toabout four or five years ago.
But I'd go out there and wewould sit at them tables out
front while we're just relaxingbefore we go to bed.
(18:21):
And you know, sometimes I wouldstay in my truck and chit chat
on the CB for a while, but othertimes I would go out there to
the, where the front entrance isfor truck drivers.
There was such a thing andthere would be tables set up for
all of us drivers.
We'd sit there and have acigarette and talk and and talk
about all kinds of differentthings and, man, we would
(18:42):
collaborate on all kinds ofthings.
We just have a great time.
Drivers, tuesdays and fridaysare going to be my days for
podcasts, so I hope you join me.
Visit me at roland18podcastcom.
Let your friends know.
I really appreciate yoursupport.
And next show I'm going to talkabout the driver retention
(19:04):
problem, because we really needto get to the bottom of it.
God bless, be safe and, asalways, keep it between the
lines.
Driver.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast.
Please visit Walter's podcastsite at Roland18podcastcom or
his social media sites such asInstagram, facebook and TikTok.
All links are in thedescription.
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