June 12, 2026 • 34 mins
This week on That's Delivered Podcast, Trucking Ray sits down with Ana Hoaglund from Fairmount Memorial Association and Pacific Northwest Cremation & Funeral to discuss a topic most drivers never want to think about— what happens if a truck driver passes away while away from home.
Ana shares the realities families face when tragedy strikes on the road, including the emotional challenges, unexpected costs, transportation logistics, and critical decisions that must be made during an already difficult time.
🔗 Link for Sepio Guard
👇 Key Takeaways
✅ What happens when a truck driver passes away away from home
✅ Who gets notified first and what families can expect
✅ Why funeral homes are often involved before transportation can occur
✅ The hidden costs of transporting remains across state lines
✅ Required paperwork and legal considerations
✅ Common gaps in company policies and benefits
✅ Why life insurance may not provide immediate help
✅ The importance of documenting your final wishes
✅ Pre-need cremation and funeral planning options
✅ How repatriation services simplify the process for families
👇 Ana's Message
Most families aren't prepared for the emotional and logistical challenges that follow a death on the road. While nobody wants to think about these situations, having a plan in place can dramatically reduce stress, confusion, and financial hardship for loved ones during one of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Ana explains practical steps drivers can take today to ensure their families aren't left navigating complicated decisions alone.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of That's
Delivered.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray,and today we're going to be
talking about something mostdrivers never want to think
about.
What happens if a truck driverpasses away while away from
home?
Joining us today is Anna Holand.
She's from Fairmount MemorialAssociation and Pacific
(00:20):
Northwest cremation and funeral.
Through both her professionaland experience with her husband
recently entering the truckingfield, Anna recently realized
that drivers and their familiessimply aren't prepared for the
emotional, financial, andlogistical challenges that can
happen if a tragedy strikes onthe road.
(00:41):
This is a sensitiveconversation, but an important
one because preparation can makean incredibly difficult
situation a little lessoverwhelming for families.
Anna, we really appreciate youcoming on the show.
Anna, thank you so much forbeing on the show.
How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
I'm doing great.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
That's awesome.
I know you got an importanttopic to talk about, and we
can't wait to dive into it.
I mean, you're gonna do uh helpso many people with using this
information.
Yeah, you're gonna do great.
So a lot of times, you know,people talk about these topics
and they say, you know, it'sjust I don't talk about it, you
know, it doesn't really, reallyaffect me.
So why is that this topicmatter?
(01:23):
What's the first thing that youwould say that made you realize
that this conversation for thetrucking industry really needed
to be to be had?
SPEAKER_01 (01:32):
Well, my husband came into this, getting his CDL
driving, and I've been in thisbusiness for half a year now,
and I realized that I startedputting it together as a spouse,
realizing that he's away fromhome.
What if something happened tohim?
I'm in the business, so I knowwho to call and what to do, but
(01:54):
most people don't.
And I see that in our officeevery day.
People that walk in, and just aregular, just in town, and it's
just painful, it's sad, and ithurt my feelings because
thinking about this otherprofession, uh it has to be
incredibly difficult.
Because the legalities, it's alot of legalities.
(02:16):
If you pass somewhere else, iswho's who gonna who you're gonna
call?
Who's gonna take care of this?
Meanwhile, you're grievingbecause your spouse died, or
your son died, or your brotherdied, whoever's in charge of
taking care of this, and andit's it's it's it's not a good
feeling.
And we feel it because we dealwith it every day with all the
(02:38):
families that come in, andthat's why I figure out to reach
out because I would like morepeople to educate themselves.
And and just because you are preprepared doesn't mean you're
gonna die tomorrow.
It's just if an event issomething like that happened,
you have a plan B and yourfamily is protected
economically, and all the griefthat you have to be reaching out
(03:02):
to figure out who's gonna bringhim home.
SPEAKER_00 (03:04):
So, man, what is that like?
I mean, I know you're dealingwith uh a lot of those
situations on the day-to-day forsomeone there locally, if they
were to die in their hometown,what is that process like?
SPEAKER_01 (03:18):
So the process if you are well prepared, you pick
up the phone and call us.
We dispatch some uh a vehicle,uh a team, they go and retrieve
you and take it, take you to ourlocation where we do cremations,
or if you're gonna be veryfull-body, the same thing.
We'll take care of you, we'llput you in, you know, take care
(03:39):
of all those details.
As a cremation, you which ismore and more people uh turn
into it because of the cost, andit's way more effective in many
cases, so we do both, but thenyou family come in.
We have a group of funeraldirectors that will guide you
through the process becauseyou're grieving and you're you
(04:01):
know, you don't know what to do.
It's we're lost.
Even I the um I'm in thebusiness.
That's why my brain was like, Ohmy goodness, I'm in the
business.
If this happened to me, I'mgonna freak out.
I cannot imagine somebody that'snot aware of everything, they're
not prepared.
Now, if you're not prepared,that's when people have to pick
up the phone and start callingand see who's gonna.
(04:23):
We have people calling andsaying, I have a body in the
other bedroom.
I need somebody to come and pickhim up.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Yeah.
So you're saying you realizethat it's already difficult to
do locally.
SPEAKER_02 (04:37):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (04:37):
Then you think about truck drivers out there.
Now your husband's in thelogistics industry and he's
learning it, he's talking aboutit, and you're putting two to
two together, and you're saying,what happens if a person is
hundreds of miles away?
I guess what went through yourmind at that point.
SPEAKER_01 (04:54):
Well, it's terrifying.
unknown (04:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
It's terrifying, and it's gonna be and at the same
time when you start thinking,most people don't think about
the cost, but it is expensivebecause it's not as easy if you
pass, let's say you drive toFlorida and you die there, they
have to bring you all the way toWashington.
It's not an easy process.
You still have to somebody haveto recover your body, and
they'll most likely do anautopsy in some cases, you know,
(05:19):
it could be depending on thecircumstances, and then somebody
have you there, and then thatbody has to or be cremated at
that location, or we have tobring it back, and the cost is
incredible of that.
We we are in yeah, we're inSpokane, Washington, and from
Seattle, which is four and ahalf hours to here, is probably
(05:41):
around between two to fourthousand dollars to bring you
back home.
So imagine being out of thestate farther, and then it's all
those red tapes because youcannot just bring a body, you
have to send it.
There are steps for it.
It's not like somebody can justcarry you, bring you, they have
to have all the paperwork tobring you across borders.
(06:04):
It's all that kind of stuff,it's a lot of stuff they think
it is part of it.
Uh, and we deal sometimes withit.
We have families, they they'retheir dad, mom, whoever dies
somewhere else, and they want tobring him home in the cost of
that is expensive incrediblyfrom here to Seattle, less alone
from here, another state.
(06:25):
And worse, if you are at thestates, it's gonna be$25,000 to
bring somebody home.
unknown (06:31):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
Yes, I know you say your your husband was serving as
well, and you knew that that wastaken care of that way, but this
is different.
SPEAKER_01 (06:39):
That's correct.
And I find out I did a littleresearch on this, and some
companies, no, no, I don't knowall of them, I don't know which
ones, but it's somethingimportant to find out because
trucking companies have theirinsurance to bring their
equipment back if you diesomewhere else, but that doesn't
mean they're gonna bring youback here, and that's the cost.
(07:00):
They have their costs coveredfor their equipment, but you're
not part of that most of thetime.
It's something very importantthat people don't realize that.
So, because nobody thinks aboutdriving somewhere and something
happened, but it is apossibility, it happens quite a
bit.
SPEAKER_00 (07:16):
Is there a particular company that
specializes in it, transportingof the body?
SPEAKER_01 (07:22):
Yeah, we work with a company named Sepio Guard, and
they do that.
That's what they do everywherein the world.
So if you go on vacation orvisit family, I'm from Panama
originally.
So if I went to Panama and diethere, all they need to do is
pick up your phone, call them,and they'll do everything.
You don't have to worry aboutanything, no cost.
(07:44):
That's it.
The price that they charge youonce a one-time fee, is it
covers everything everywhere inthe world until you die?
And luckily you don't need it,but normally what happens in our
lives is we don't have somethingwhen we need it.
Yeah, you know, so it's betterto have it and not need it than
need it and not have it.
(08:04):
So type of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (08:06):
I totally get it.
Yeah, that's something that weneed to start thinking about
versus trying to put it off.
So who actually gets contactedfirst when someone's away from
home and they pass away?
SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
Most likely the spouse, the police probably will
call the if they are married, orwhoever contact, because most
companies, I'm will I'm assumingthey uh when you're a trucker,
you are signed up with yourcompany and they are on top of
their equipment, they know whereyou are and checking in and
things.
So they will be the first onesknowing that something happened.
(08:39):
And I'm assuming from there itwill be them who contact the
family to let them knowsomething happened.
Or, you know, if you have if youare prepared and you have all
your stuff set up, they cancontact your family.
But sometimes it depends.
It really depends where you are,you know.
SPEAKER_00 (08:55):
So, what type of uh logistical challenges do
families face when they'resuddenly hear about this news?
And I'm sure that everythingdoesn't always just work out
smoothly.
Correct.
What are some challenges theyface?
SPEAKER_01 (09:07):
Well, think about it.
If this happened to you, you'regonna start picking up the
phone, calling everybody thatyou know and see what you do,
where he at, how I what happenedis the first thing, and who is
gonna recover the body, who hasthe body, what you know, all
these different things.
And from there is how I get himhome.
(09:27):
And you know, and that's verydifficult because it's nothing
you can do about it.
You have no control, it's purelegality, is like whoever picked
up the body, normally themedical medical examiner,
somebody will have him untilthey can release it.
And normally they have to have anot the funeral home to release
it, they don't give you a body.
(09:48):
You have to have somebody likeour funeral home saying, Okay,
we'll receive the body, and theyhave a funeral home, they will
have that body to send to ourfuneral home.
It's it's a lot of illegalities,it had to be done right, it had
to be done correctly, just youknow, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
I mean, you want to make sure you have the right
address, you don't want thatexactly in the wrong place, and
then it's there too long whenpeople are waiting for it.
I mean, that could be I can seethat going really bad.
SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
Yeah.
And and and these things happenwhere it what if you're not
aware.
I had a person I worked with notthat long ago.
Her husband had a, I think was aheart attack, ended up in the
hospital locally, and he wasvery he couldn't even speak.
So she was desperate.
She was like, He, I, the lastthing we talk about, I thought
(10:36):
that he won a full burial body.
She had no money to do thisbecause it's expensive, it's
very expensive.
So she's trying to figure outhow to take care of her husband
if he died.
So now she's doing preparationand he's still alive connected
in the hospital, trying tofigure out.
And she's it's it's it'shorrible.
I had to deal with her trying tocalm her down and breathe.
(10:58):
It's okay, steps at the time.
And at that point, I we talkabout cremation, and she was
like, I don't know that hewanted cremation because we
didn't talk about this.
Luckily, her husband pulled gotbetter.
I don't know where overnight.
We all celebrating at workbecause she called me and she
said, He's getting better.
So we're all super happy.
(11:18):
Oh my gosh, thank God.
And then she told me after hewoke up and they were talking
that he said, Don't spend themoney that you don't have, do
cremate me.
And so she was very relievedknowing this, but it could have
been a catastrophatic thing forher economically because she had
no money, she don't make thatkind of money, and to get and
(11:42):
you're not prepared, and youdon't know what your spouse
wants, or your kids, or youwhoever in the family, your
friend, people like that.
They sometimes come up and theyare the ones doing adventures
for their friends because theydidn't have family, nobody
knows, and then it's it isexpensive once you get into it,
you know.
So that's why people don'trealize we always try to get
(12:05):
people the prepare, like makesure you have your stuff set up.
If you want to be fully buried,start working on your plots at
the cemetery, do take care ofthings because if you do die,
who is gonna be in charge of allthese things and the expenses
and the pain?
It's your family.
You're gone, yes.
SPEAKER_00 (12:24):
They got their own problems already.
I mean, that's a lot to put yourproblems on them, too.
So, how can a driver prepare?
You know, some what are somesimple things drivers can do now
to protect their families andavoid the confusion later?
Maybe some documents orinformation.
What would you say?
SPEAKER_01 (12:41):
I would say find a local reputable business.
If you want to do cremation,find somebody local in your
town.
You can do print, there's acouple of different ways that
you can print as if you want togo cremation.
You have plans that you can payat front because the cost is not
enormous as a cremation, notcrazy.
(13:04):
You can do payments.
Some places let you do payments,so you can do that and be
covered.
So have your stuff set upbecause if you do die, they will
and you want to be cremated,they can do it.
And it's already taken care of.
So that's number one.
Have you planned cremation planprepare, and then be protected
(13:25):
by having something like sepioguard at hand.
They give you cards, you keep itin your wallet, and if something
happened, it's all there,whoever is, pick up the phone,
call and say, We gotta recoverour body in Utah or whatever.
And they make everything easybecause instead of you trying to
figure out who's gonna take careof this, you already have it
(13:46):
all.
Your spouse, your dad, your mom,whoever, your brother can say,
He left us copy of everything,we know who to call.
It's all done.
It's just a phone call andthey'll do everything.
And so that's that's an easy wayto be prepared, proactive with
things like that.
And it's not about you anymore.
I know that, but it is about theyou loved ones suffering and
(14:06):
dealing with the economical andeverything, it's painful.
SPEAKER_00 (14:11):
Yeah, I mean, people talk about the fuel prices
changing, you know, thatprobably has an effect too.
We want to control that, but wecan't.
But all we can do is try tostart saving or have an
insurance policy that has sometype of writer in there.
I mean, make sure that you looklook over your policy, make
sure.
SPEAKER_01 (14:28):
Correct, yeah, that's too in life insurance.
But the thing is here, yes, lifeinsurance are really great, but
life insurance take a while andthey to kick in once you die.
So if you think about somepeople do say that, well, I have
life in my spouse have lifeinsurance.
Yeah, but the life insurancetakes weeks sometimes to pay
(14:49):
back to the wife, husband,whoever.
Yeah, meanwhile, you have a bodysitting in a fridge, they have
to be taken care of because thefamily is not gonna sit there
for weeks to wait for that.
So you have to bring that moneyfrom somewhere, and that's why
it's always recommendedpre-need, have your cremation if
that's where you want to go.
Have all just ducks in a roadset up.
(15:11):
If everything, if anything,anything ever happened, you
don't, you're good.
If nothing happens, you're stillgood because you eventually will
die and use it.
But it is so much easier having,like I said, you pre-need
cremation or your funeraldirective with somebody knowing
that if something happened tome, they'll take care of it.
It's all done.
SPEAKER_02 (15:31):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:32):
Because the life insurance, I have people with
life insurance, and they'relike, Well, the insurance still
had to kick in, and it can bemonths before they pay you.
So that's the problem.
SPEAKER_00 (15:42):
It's such a different mindset to have.
We're fighting to live, we'refighting to put food on the
table and and make ends meet,pay these bills, and all these
different things, and now yougot to think about what happens
at the end.
A lot of times we don't want tothink about the end, but you
know, it makes it a lot easier.
And you personally, you'veprobably seen individuals'
families more successful whenthey plan ahead.
(16:06):
Uh, what what difference haveyou seen when you when you
compare you know someone that'snot prepared versus someone who
is?
SPEAKER_01 (16:11):
Well, not prepared meaning you have to come in and
try to answer questions.
What is he wanting?
What did she want it?
I don't know.
We never talk about it.
Uh well, the cost, and sometimespeople over overcompensate
because you don't know.
So you're gonna spend on thingsthat you you you probably
yourself would have said, no,don't waste on that, but I want
(16:34):
this, or do that.
Instead, families don't know, sothey they start or spend too
much or they don't know where togo with this, they are lost
because your brain is somewhereelse.
You're trying to still grievesomebody you love.
Meanwhile, you have to makedecisions at a point that you
should make decisions.
Now, the people that we see alot of people that turn around
(16:56):
is when something you leavethat.
Let's say a friend of yours diedand you went through all the
pain helping the family figureout all these details.
That's the people that come tome after all that and say, I
want to print it, I want to makesure all my stuff is ready.
So that's what you see becauseof you just went through pain
and it was difficult and it wasmiserable, and you had to see
(17:19):
how hard it was.
Instead of taking the time to godo grief properly, you are doing
arrangements or somebody theyjust die.
So that's a big thing, rightthere.
SPEAKER_00 (17:30):
You know, you see it firsthand, correct to help
someone, you be it be there in atime of need, but then you're
like, Well, what about mysituation?
What about my family?
So, doing that is going to be agood way to help them not have
so much pain, um fusion.
So it is, yeah, that's great.
You mentioned programs likeCIPROGURD.
(17:51):
SEPIOGURD, yeah, okay, yeah, uh,to help coordinate those
logistics and transportation ifsomething happens there on the
road.
Um, let's talk about the humanside of the industry.
Working around both trucking anduh family services.
What have you learned about thetrucking lifestyle that people
outside of the industry oftendon't understand?
SPEAKER_01 (18:14):
One of the things is some of these guys are gone for
weeks and they come home for twodays.
They gotta be gone again.
And most of this to do thingsthat we need, all the the the
Walmart food, all the supplies,all the Home Depot, or whatever,
everything that we have isbecause they are kind enough to
(18:36):
put their life on the line andbe gone.
Be gone.
It's not fun to be gone.
I have seen it because as Isaid, my husband was deployed
many times during his militarytime, and it makes you tough,
and but it's hard because youhave to raise your kids half of
the time with them around, andsame thing with them, probably
more, because I don't know thatthey get paid as much either.
(18:58):
So, and the benefits, uh youknow, but it's a hard life, it's
a hard life to be gone all thetime from your family because
you want to support them and youwant to make the money to pay
for the food and school and kidssupplies, everything raising
babies, and and that's difficultbecause it takes away from the
guys that drive, being close tothe family, but they're doing
(19:20):
the right thing, but at the sametime, they're gone, so it's not
it's you know, it's a difficultlife, and and the family suffer
as well because you don't haveyour loved one next to you, you
know.
SPEAKER_00 (19:32):
Yeah, you miss out on a lot.
And if someone gets sick backhome and you're out there on the
road, too, yeah.
It can be the reverse actiontoo.
Someone can uh pass away whileyou're out there on the road,
correct?
I mean, it's unique stress thatthe drivers go through, yes,
that can oftentimes be, I guess,downplayed.
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (19:56):
All you're doing is holding the steering wheel, you
know, but all the other thingsthat uh you're they're putting
on.
So the job can be very easy butvery difficult at the same time.
SPEAKER_01 (20:04):
Yes, yeah.
I mean, it could be easier ifyou have your partner with you,
and I heard that too.
It's a lot of people they go asa couple on the on the road, and
that's awesome.
But you still have kids andfamily and parents and pets that
you can take.
We talk about this, it's like,well, I can go with you.
Well, no, we have pets, youcannot drag all these dogs and
cats in the car and theirtrucks, and you know, it's
(20:27):
things that you some peoplemanage to do well, and some
people you can't, it's not it'snot possible to do that.
Carry all the kids in the car togo in the truck to go trucking,
and you know, our kids finallythe last one went to college as
well, so he's gone.
But when you have little kids,you know, the responsibilities
(20:49):
they do the right thing, but yougotta be gone.
And if something happened toyou, that income is gone from
the family.
You might have good insurance,but like I say, insurance
sometimes helps so much, and youknow, some it's not uh it's not
a insurance, it's not a like apatch to fix everything.
SPEAKER_00 (21:12):
Exactly, it doesn't because you love the person you
love the most is gone, and nowyou have to deal with all that
and all the process which isyour husband seen anything
changed for his view of driversor entering and trucking
himself.
How is how is he dealing with uhthe change or the transition of
doing something different?
SPEAKER_01 (21:30):
He he enjoyed it, he liked the the the freedom that
he gets, so that's really nice,but it is a lot of betting
because he had to decide whatkind of jobs he can take to be
gone so long.
And you know, and the older youget, it's harder to be in the
road, too.
You know, when you're younger,it's easier.
So it's it's all those differentthings.
(21:51):
Loneliness, too.
You it gotta be very lonely tobe gone, you know.
Oh thankfully, today we havetechnology that we have back
when.
He used to deploy at thebeginning, it was when first you
it was 2000, it was no FaceTime,no you can call from anywhere or
anything.
It was just like if he called,it was uh 15 minutes once a week
(22:13):
from the Middle East.
If he was a deploy there, juston the regular phone, you had to
call, and now it's easiercommunication because we have so
many ways to do it, but it'sstill lonely, so it's a lonely
life, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
Yeah, I think the human touch or the ability to
feel uh has has so much goodthat it does for the body, and
when we don't have that contact,when we don't have someone that
we can hug and embrace, I meanthat's it's uh it's a plays a
toll on the body.
Yeah, some people they get realbusy working and workaholics,
(22:49):
right?
And they they do so much workand then they don't realize that
they're not coming in contactwith people, and they wonder why
they're they're feeling a littledetached.
SPEAKER_02 (22:58):
Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (22:59):
Never underestimate the power of, I think that's the
most dominant sense that we haveon as a body, the touch.
It's more so I feel like it'smore so powerful than our sight,
but that's my opinion.
SPEAKER_01 (23:13):
Oh, yeah.
When somebody gives you a realhug, you're like, Oh, that feels
nice.
They I feel love, you know.
I feel somebody's there for me,but on the road, I mean
loneliness, and it gets tiring.
I uh I have a different respectfor people that drive drugs
today, like all the the stuffthat we get gas, water, milk,
(23:34):
whatever, anything, everythingin the respect is huge because
they are putting their life inhole to take care of us.
SPEAKER_00 (23:42):
Yeah, and something you know, sometimes it feels
like we're just in the way.
Uh we try to we try to do alittle maneuver to pass.
It just seems like we're just inthe way.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
You know, my husband is he's he was always when he
started learning all thesethings, he's like, don't do this
because like sometimes peoplejust cut in through front of
truck.
You never do that, you know.
Like, you know, and I'm like, ohno, no, I won't do that either.
You know, it's it's these thingsthat he's like, and you you you
you feel like oh thank you, thisperson, because because of you,
(24:14):
things are taking care of whereI live.
I don't have to worry aboutwhere at whatever kind of meals
or food or everything, you know.
You just you realize thank youto this person, they are making
things happen.
And so, and I want to help makethings happen for them too.
Just knowledge.
If you don't want to do it, it'sokay, but know that it will be
(24:35):
so much safer, better for yourfamily, all this because you
you're taking away the extrastress, the extra grieving, the
pain.
And if we feel lost normallywhen something like just as a
pet, if you have a pet and thepet dies, not comparing, right?
But truly, if my cat died, Ilove my cat to death, you know,
(24:58):
we are broken up for so long andyou don't even know what to do
with them.
Imagine somebody uh the out todo the the love that we have for
you, my my husband, my children,my you know, friends, and
something happened, that's whenyou lose your head.
You cannot think about the rightthings to do.
What is the next step?
And so it's better to beprepared.
(25:21):
You won't go in the road withoutroadside assistance.
I won't.
If I have a flat, I probablywon't be able to change the
attire.
So I have it.
So if I go somewhere, I'mprotected.
It's the same scenario.
You don't go somewhere withoutbeing with your tools and your
extra tire, and you have to bealways prepared with everything
(25:43):
that's gonna make things easier,not only for you, but your
family.
SPEAKER_00 (25:47):
So, real talk, some story.
You know, we can you can tell ussome stories of about what you
would do or what you wouldsuggest, but what's one thing
every tracking family shoulddiscuss this week?
SPEAKER_01 (25:59):
I think the reality of the fact that we can die
anywhere, and what are the nextsteps economically too?
What are we gonna do?
What do you wanna be?
Do you actually wanna be buried?
Some people will say, Yes, Iwanna, I don't wanna be
(26:19):
cremated.
So have all those details andsay, Okay, I know what you want.
If something do happen, I willnot have to make the wrong
choice because I wasn't aware ofthis, and just the the fact that
we talk about it doesn't meanthis something's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00 (26:35):
Yeah, I don't want to be superstitious, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:38):
That's exactly because that is superstitious,
and a lot of times it's becausewe have somebody dying in our
life, so we refuse to talk aboutit.
We don't want to be sad thinkingabout you know, it can be
anybody, the your grandma oryour mother or your dad, doesn't
matter, it's pain.
We don't want to talk aboutpain.
SPEAKER_00 (26:57):
You start to get a little superstitious when you're
trucking.
I think uh I think they got theS word, you know.
Yeah, you say snow, man.
SPEAKER_01 (27:05):
Be like, man, why are you talking?
No, I I exactly get it, youknow.
SPEAKER_00 (27:11):
You need to bring your chains, you need to make
sure you have uh exactly you'resafe not to gel up.
You want to make sure you knowyou just driving around, just
not talking about it doesn'tmake it not happen.
SPEAKER_01 (27:21):
So every year exactly, and and it's two things
we know for sure.
We don't know where we're gonnadie and when.
Yeah, that's for a fact, it'sgonna happen, but it's just the
make sure that you are prepared,like you guys prepare, truckers
prepare with doing the check ofmy husband.
You have to check all thelights, and you gotta make sure
everything is, you know, thepre-check or everything, he's
(27:43):
very good about that.
I have to make sure this is goodand the chains are good, and I
have my all these detailsextensive because I have heard
him and I don't remember half ofthe stuff that you guys have to
make sure legally to do beforethe vehicle actually gets out of
the wherever you're going everyday.
And same thing, just because youtalk about I forgot my chains
(28:05):
doesn't mean that something'sgonna happen, but you are aware
of it, and you're gonna makesure your chains are packed next
time, just to be make sure youare a cover.
Same thing with this, you justwant to make sure your family is
taking care of if somethinghappens, and you talk about it,
it doesn't have to be a darktalk, it's just hey, let's talk
about this.
I wanna be prepared.
(28:26):
You and you never know, prepareeverybody.
I have a funeral director, andshe has everybody in her family,
including her children, takingcare of.
So if anything ever happened,it's just a funko.
SPEAKER_00 (28:39):
What's the biggest misconception that people have
about funeral planning?
Superstitious or something?
SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
Oh, if I do it, that means I'm going to die.
You know, if I and I hadsomebody that told me that they
told me to focus in life, yes,yeah, it is magnificent to do
that.
We all want to do that, but thereality is it can be anybody,
right?
We have people they are superyoung dying.
(29:07):
It can be drugs, it can be justan accident.
You can cross the road, somebodyhit you, hit and run, and that's
it, you're done.
So it happens.
You look at look at it, but it'sjust the superstition of the
fact that we take care of ourbusiness before it happened,
it's just being responsible andcaring.
That's that's what I take out ofit because you are trying not to
(29:31):
let your what happened to you,somebody else dealing with until
the last second.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:39):
So that's just something I think you know,
people are gonna really be ableto think about, let it resonate,
let it sink inside their heartsand say, I gotta do the right
thing.
Yeah, you know, you can have anadult conversation and just take
care of these matters, make achecklist and make sure you get
these things accomplished so youdon't have to do them later.
You're gonna make the checklistbefore or after, so you might as
(30:00):
well do it before, right?
SPEAKER_01 (30:01):
Correct.
Yeah, and before is it's easy,it's not a difficult process, it
doesn't take that long.
And I can answer lots ofquestions.
If anybody reach out to me, I'llbe happy to answer.
But like I said, principle findsomebody local that you can get
your your business taken care ofonce if something ever happens.
Because that facilitates thefact that your family have to
(30:21):
start picking up the phone andcalling, not knowing who to call
and what to ask.
It's all done.
Once it happens, all you do ispick up the phone, somebody go
take care of you.
If you are away, SEPOGAR willit's$495 for the cost one time.
And if anything ever happened,it's the same thing: a phone
call, they'll deal witheverything, take care of
(30:43):
everything.
It's no easier than that forthat.
So yeah, yeah.
So and I recommend that toeverybody, not necessarily only
truckers, but anybody that is anadult because we don't know
what's gonna happen, you know.
So it's better safe than sorry,you know.
SPEAKER_00 (31:04):
I'd rather be safe, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:06):
Correct.
SPEAKER_00 (31:07):
So you know, no one no one likes somebody that says,
Oh, how come he didn't think ofthat?
Well, I don't I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
It's like meh, it is the fear, I think.
Sometimes people have the fearthat, oh my goodness, if I do
this, I'm gonna die.
I'm thinking, I got a lifeinsurance.
If something happened to me, myfamily is gonna be fine, but
that's gonna take a while untilthat cat kick in, you know.
Yeah, so we do things like thatbecause a lot of guys do the
(31:34):
same thing, they have lifeinsurance, so your family is
well taken care of once ifsomething happens.
But it's in between that peopledon't realize that it's another
step they are missing, and itcan make things easier for
everybody, especially if youtravel anywhere, just go
anywhere.
You can just drive a couple ofhours away from home and
something happened.
You still lost you your family,still have to pay thousands of
(31:58):
dollars sometimes just to bringyou back home.
SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
So this has definitely been encouraging and
enlightening, not a notsomething that's you know that
we want to shy away from.
So I appreciate you coming onthe show talking about it, Anna.
SPEAKER_01 (32:12):
Yes, of course.
I'm happy that you have me.
And uh, like I say, anybody thathave questions, I'll I'll be
happy to pass you all thatinformation if anybody ever
wanna reach out and just havequestions in general about how
should I do this or what do youthink?
Or I if they want SEPU guard,they can always contact me as
well, and I can set up all thatfor them just so they are
(32:33):
prepared.
So it doesn't take that much andit's not that long to take care
of things like that.
So, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:39):
This conversation has been uh one that's been
informative, it may beuncomfortable at times, but it's
it's also practical andimportant because preparation
can protect families even more,relieve a lot of stress during
the time that can be the worstmoment of their lives.
So your honesty and yourstraightforward talk about how
we should sit down and have thisreal conversation, I think it's
(33:02):
what we needed.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (33:03):
You're welcome.
Yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (33:05):
Yeah, and honestly, I think conversations like this
remind drivers that looking outfor our families goes a lot
further beyond than what justhappens behind the wheel.
SPEAKER_02 (33:14):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (33:15):
So let everybody know that people out there can
learn more and reach out to you.
And if they have any questions,I'll put the link in the notes
for the show.
And we really appreciate youcoming on and talking about
this.
And anything else you wanted tosay before we go?
SPEAKER_01 (33:29):
I think I'm here.
If anybody, like I said again, Ihave questions.
I think this is an importantsubject, and the older we get,
the more important it is, butit's always important because
just because we're young doesn'tmean we're gonna live forever.
And this just gonna make thingsso much easier in the family.
(33:52):
That's the main thing, is yourfamily.
Because yes, we we live, we'regone, doesn't matter, I'm dead,
right?
But it's my loved ones who isgonna the ones dealing with
this, and you know, this is animportant, important step for
everybody, not only truckers,like I said, but everybody they
just make sure that if somethingever happened, you're covered in
(34:13):
your family.
SPEAKER_00 (34:15):
Very nice, nicely put.
And we really thank you forcoming on and all the listeners
out there.
Thank you for listening.
Uh, this has been anotherepisode of Dance Delivered.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray.
And until next time, stay safe,stay prepared, and keep rolling.
Welcome back to another episode of That's
Delivered.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray,and today we're going to be
talking about something mostdrivers never want to think
about.
What happens if a truck driverpasses away while away from
home?
Joining us today is Anna Holand.
She's from Fairmount MemorialAssociation and Pacific
(00:20):
Northwest cremation and funeral.
Through both her professionaland experience with her husband
recently entering the truckingfield, Anna recently realized
that drivers and their familiessimply aren't prepared for the
emotional, financial, andlogistical challenges that can
happen if a tragedy strikes onthe road.
(00:41):
This is a sensitiveconversation, but an important
one because preparation can makean incredibly difficult
situation a little lessoverwhelming for families.
Anna, we really appreciate youcoming on the show.
Anna, thank you so much forbeing on the show.
How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
I'm doing great.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
That's awesome.
I know you got an importanttopic to talk about, and we
can't wait to dive into it.
I mean, you're gonna do uh helpso many people with using this
information.
Yeah, you're gonna do great.
So a lot of times, you know,people talk about these topics
and they say, you know, it'sjust I don't talk about it, you
know, it doesn't really, reallyaffect me.
So why is that this topicmatter?
(01:23):
What's the first thing that youwould say that made you realize
that this conversation for thetrucking industry really needed
to be to be had?
SPEAKER_01 (01:32):
Well, my husband came into this, getting his CDL
driving, and I've been in thisbusiness for half a year now,
and I realized that I startedputting it together as a spouse,
realizing that he's away fromhome.
What if something happened tohim?
I'm in the business, so I knowwho to call and what to do, but
(01:54):
most people don't.
And I see that in our officeevery day.
People that walk in, and just aregular, just in town, and it's
just painful, it's sad, and ithurt my feelings because
thinking about this otherprofession, uh it has to be
incredibly difficult.
Because the legalities, it's alot of legalities.
(02:16):
If you pass somewhere else, iswho's who gonna who you're gonna
call?
Who's gonna take care of this?
Meanwhile, you're grievingbecause your spouse died, or
your son died, or your brotherdied, whoever's in charge of
taking care of this, and andit's it's it's it's not a good
feeling.
And we feel it because we dealwith it every day with all the
(02:38):
families that come in, andthat's why I figure out to reach
out because I would like morepeople to educate themselves.
And and just because you are preprepared doesn't mean you're
gonna die tomorrow.
It's just if an event issomething like that happened,
you have a plan B and yourfamily is protected
economically, and all the griefthat you have to be reaching out
(03:02):
to figure out who's gonna bringhim home.
SPEAKER_00 (03:04):
So, man, what is that like?
I mean, I know you're dealingwith uh a lot of those
situations on the day-to-day forsomeone there locally, if they
were to die in their hometown,what is that process like?
SPEAKER_01 (03:18):
So the process if you are well prepared, you pick
up the phone and call us.
We dispatch some uh a vehicle,uh a team, they go and retrieve
you and take it, take you to ourlocation where we do cremations,
or if you're gonna be veryfull-body, the same thing.
We'll take care of you, we'llput you in, you know, take care
(03:39):
of all those details.
As a cremation, you which ismore and more people uh turn
into it because of the cost, andit's way more effective in many
cases, so we do both, but thenyou family come in.
We have a group of funeraldirectors that will guide you
through the process becauseyou're grieving and you're you
(04:01):
know, you don't know what to do.
It's we're lost.
Even I the um I'm in thebusiness.
That's why my brain was like, Ohmy goodness, I'm in the
business.
If this happened to me, I'mgonna freak out.
I cannot imagine somebody that'snot aware of everything, they're
not prepared.
Now, if you're not prepared,that's when people have to pick
up the phone and start callingand see who's gonna.
(04:23):
We have people calling andsaying, I have a body in the
other bedroom.
I need somebody to come and pickhim up.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Yeah.
So you're saying you realizethat it's already difficult to
do locally.
SPEAKER_02 (04:37):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (04:37):
Then you think about truck drivers out there.
Now your husband's in thelogistics industry and he's
learning it, he's talking aboutit, and you're putting two to
two together, and you're saying,what happens if a person is
hundreds of miles away?
I guess what went through yourmind at that point.
SPEAKER_01 (04:54):
Well, it's terrifying.
unknown (04:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
It's terrifying, and it's gonna be and at the same
time when you start thinking,most people don't think about
the cost, but it is expensivebecause it's not as easy if you
pass, let's say you drive toFlorida and you die there, they
have to bring you all the way toWashington.
It's not an easy process.
You still have to somebody haveto recover your body, and
they'll most likely do anautopsy in some cases, you know,
(05:19):
it could be depending on thecircumstances, and then somebody
have you there, and then thatbody has to or be cremated at
that location, or we have tobring it back, and the cost is
incredible of that.
We we are in yeah, we're inSpokane, Washington, and from
Seattle, which is four and ahalf hours to here, is probably
(05:41):
around between two to fourthousand dollars to bring you
back home.
So imagine being out of thestate farther, and then it's all
those red tapes because youcannot just bring a body, you
have to send it.
There are steps for it.
It's not like somebody can justcarry you, bring you, they have
to have all the paperwork tobring you across borders.
(06:04):
It's all that kind of stuff,it's a lot of stuff they think
it is part of it.
Uh, and we deal sometimes withit.
We have families, they they'retheir dad, mom, whoever dies
somewhere else, and they want tobring him home in the cost of
that is expensive incrediblyfrom here to Seattle, less alone
from here, another state.
(06:25):
And worse, if you are at thestates, it's gonna be$25,000 to
bring somebody home.
unknown (06:31):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
Yes, I know you say your your husband was serving as
well, and you knew that that wastaken care of that way, but this
is different.
SPEAKER_01 (06:39):
That's correct.
And I find out I did a littleresearch on this, and some
companies, no, no, I don't knowall of them, I don't know which
ones, but it's somethingimportant to find out because
trucking companies have theirinsurance to bring their
equipment back if you diesomewhere else, but that doesn't
mean they're gonna bring youback here, and that's the cost.
(07:00):
They have their costs coveredfor their equipment, but you're
not part of that most of thetime.
It's something very importantthat people don't realize that.
So, because nobody thinks aboutdriving somewhere and something
happened, but it is apossibility, it happens quite a
bit.
SPEAKER_00 (07:16):
Is there a particular company that
specializes in it, transportingof the body?
SPEAKER_01 (07:22):
Yeah, we work with a company named Sepio Guard, and
they do that.
That's what they do everywherein the world.
So if you go on vacation orvisit family, I'm from Panama
originally.
So if I went to Panama and diethere, all they need to do is
pick up your phone, call them,and they'll do everything.
You don't have to worry aboutanything, no cost.
(07:44):
That's it.
The price that they charge youonce a one-time fee, is it
covers everything everywhere inthe world until you die?
And luckily you don't need it,but normally what happens in our
lives is we don't have somethingwhen we need it.
Yeah, you know, so it's betterto have it and not need it than
need it and not have it.
(08:04):
So type of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (08:06):
I totally get it.
Yeah, that's something that weneed to start thinking about
versus trying to put it off.
So who actually gets contactedfirst when someone's away from
home and they pass away?
SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
Most likely the spouse, the police probably will
call the if they are married, orwhoever contact, because most
companies, I'm will I'm assumingthey uh when you're a trucker,
you are signed up with yourcompany and they are on top of
their equipment, they know whereyou are and checking in and
things.
So they will be the first onesknowing that something happened.
(08:39):
And I'm assuming from there itwill be them who contact the
family to let them knowsomething happened.
Or, you know, if you have if youare prepared and you have all
your stuff set up, they cancontact your family.
But sometimes it depends.
It really depends where you are,you know.
SPEAKER_00 (08:55):
So, what type of uh logistical challenges do
families face when they'resuddenly hear about this news?
And I'm sure that everythingdoesn't always just work out
smoothly.
Correct.
What are some challenges theyface?
SPEAKER_01 (09:07):
Well, think about it.
If this happened to you, you'regonna start picking up the
phone, calling everybody thatyou know and see what you do,
where he at, how I what happenedis the first thing, and who is
gonna recover the body, who hasthe body, what you know, all
these different things.
And from there is how I get himhome.
(09:27):
And you know, and that's verydifficult because it's nothing
you can do about it.
You have no control, it's purelegality, is like whoever picked
up the body, normally themedical medical examiner,
somebody will have him untilthey can release it.
And normally they have to have anot the funeral home to release
it, they don't give you a body.
(09:48):
You have to have somebody likeour funeral home saying, Okay,
we'll receive the body, and theyhave a funeral home, they will
have that body to send to ourfuneral home.
It's it's a lot of illegalities,it had to be done right, it had
to be done correctly, just youknow, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
I mean, you want to make sure you have the right
address, you don't want thatexactly in the wrong place, and
then it's there too long whenpeople are waiting for it.
I mean, that could be I can seethat going really bad.
SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
Yeah.
And and and these things happenwhere it what if you're not
aware.
I had a person I worked with notthat long ago.
Her husband had a, I think was aheart attack, ended up in the
hospital locally, and he wasvery he couldn't even speak.
So she was desperate.
She was like, He, I, the lastthing we talk about, I thought
(10:36):
that he won a full burial body.
She had no money to do thisbecause it's expensive, it's
very expensive.
So she's trying to figure outhow to take care of her husband
if he died.
So now she's doing preparationand he's still alive connected
in the hospital, trying tofigure out.
And she's it's it's it'shorrible.
I had to deal with her trying tocalm her down and breathe.
(10:58):
It's okay, steps at the time.
And at that point, I we talkabout cremation, and she was
like, I don't know that hewanted cremation because we
didn't talk about this.
Luckily, her husband pulled gotbetter.
I don't know where overnight.
We all celebrating at workbecause she called me and she
said, He's getting better.
So we're all super happy.
(11:18):
Oh my gosh, thank God.
And then she told me after hewoke up and they were talking
that he said, Don't spend themoney that you don't have, do
cremate me.
And so she was very relievedknowing this, but it could have
been a catastrophatic thing forher economically because she had
no money, she don't make thatkind of money, and to get and
(11:42):
you're not prepared, and youdon't know what your spouse
wants, or your kids, or youwhoever in the family, your
friend, people like that.
They sometimes come up and theyare the ones doing adventures
for their friends because theydidn't have family, nobody
knows, and then it's it isexpensive once you get into it,
you know.
So that's why people don'trealize we always try to get
(12:05):
people the prepare, like makesure you have your stuff set up.
If you want to be fully buried,start working on your plots at
the cemetery, do take care ofthings because if you do die,
who is gonna be in charge of allthese things and the expenses
and the pain?
It's your family.
You're gone, yes.
SPEAKER_00 (12:24):
They got their own problems already.
I mean, that's a lot to put yourproblems on them, too.
So, how can a driver prepare?
You know, some what are somesimple things drivers can do now
to protect their families andavoid the confusion later?
Maybe some documents orinformation.
What would you say?
SPEAKER_01 (12:41):
I would say find a local reputable business.
If you want to do cremation,find somebody local in your
town.
You can do print, there's acouple of different ways that
you can print as if you want togo cremation.
You have plans that you can payat front because the cost is not
enormous as a cremation, notcrazy.
(13:04):
You can do payments.
Some places let you do payments,so you can do that and be
covered.
So have your stuff set upbecause if you do die, they will
and you want to be cremated,they can do it.
And it's already taken care of.
So that's number one.
Have you planned cremation planprepare, and then be protected
(13:25):
by having something like sepioguard at hand.
They give you cards, you keep itin your wallet, and if something
happened, it's all there,whoever is, pick up the phone,
call and say, We gotta recoverour body in Utah or whatever.
And they make everything easybecause instead of you trying to
figure out who's gonna take careof this, you already have it
(13:46):
all.
Your spouse, your dad, your mom,whoever, your brother can say,
He left us copy of everything,we know who to call.
It's all done.
It's just a phone call andthey'll do everything.
And so that's that's an easy wayto be prepared, proactive with
things like that.
And it's not about you anymore.
I know that, but it is about theyou loved ones suffering and
(14:06):
dealing with the economical andeverything, it's painful.
SPEAKER_00 (14:11):
Yeah, I mean, people talk about the fuel prices
changing, you know, thatprobably has an effect too.
We want to control that, but wecan't.
But all we can do is try tostart saving or have an
insurance policy that has sometype of writer in there.
I mean, make sure that you looklook over your policy, make
sure.
SPEAKER_01 (14:28):
Correct, yeah, that's too in life insurance.
But the thing is here, yes, lifeinsurance are really great, but
life insurance take a while andthey to kick in once you die.
So if you think about somepeople do say that, well, I have
life in my spouse have lifeinsurance.
Yeah, but the life insurancetakes weeks sometimes to pay
(14:49):
back to the wife, husband,whoever.
Yeah, meanwhile, you have a bodysitting in a fridge, they have
to be taken care of because thefamily is not gonna sit there
for weeks to wait for that.
So you have to bring that moneyfrom somewhere, and that's why
it's always recommendedpre-need, have your cremation if
that's where you want to go.
Have all just ducks in a roadset up.
(15:11):
If everything, if anything,anything ever happened, you
don't, you're good.
If nothing happens, you're stillgood because you eventually will
die and use it.
But it is so much easier having,like I said, you pre-need
cremation or your funeraldirective with somebody knowing
that if something happened tome, they'll take care of it.
It's all done.
SPEAKER_02 (15:31):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:32):
Because the life insurance, I have people with
life insurance, and they'relike, Well, the insurance still
had to kick in, and it can bemonths before they pay you.
So that's the problem.
SPEAKER_00 (15:42):
It's such a different mindset to have.
We're fighting to live, we'refighting to put food on the
table and and make ends meet,pay these bills, and all these
different things, and now yougot to think about what happens
at the end.
A lot of times we don't want tothink about the end, but you
know, it makes it a lot easier.
And you personally, you'veprobably seen individuals'
families more successful whenthey plan ahead.
(16:06):
Uh, what what difference haveyou seen when you when you
compare you know someone that'snot prepared versus someone who
is?
SPEAKER_01 (16:11):
Well, not prepared meaning you have to come in and
try to answer questions.
What is he wanting?
What did she want it?
I don't know.
We never talk about it.
Uh well, the cost, and sometimespeople over overcompensate
because you don't know.
So you're gonna spend on thingsthat you you you probably
yourself would have said, no,don't waste on that, but I want
(16:34):
this, or do that.
Instead, families don't know, sothey they start or spend too
much or they don't know where togo with this, they are lost
because your brain is somewhereelse.
You're trying to still grievesomebody you love.
Meanwhile, you have to makedecisions at a point that you
should make decisions.
Now, the people that we see alot of people that turn around
(16:56):
is when something you leavethat.
Let's say a friend of yours diedand you went through all the
pain helping the family figureout all these details.
That's the people that come tome after all that and say, I
want to print it, I want to makesure all my stuff is ready.
So that's what you see becauseof you just went through pain
and it was difficult and it wasmiserable, and you had to see
(17:19):
how hard it was.
Instead of taking the time to godo grief properly, you are doing
arrangements or somebody theyjust die.
So that's a big thing, rightthere.
SPEAKER_00 (17:30):
You know, you see it firsthand, correct to help
someone, you be it be there in atime of need, but then you're
like, Well, what about mysituation?
What about my family?
So, doing that is going to be agood way to help them not have
so much pain, um fusion.
So it is, yeah, that's great.
You mentioned programs likeCIPROGURD.
(17:51):
SEPIOGURD, yeah, okay, yeah, uh,to help coordinate those
logistics and transportation ifsomething happens there on the
road.
Um, let's talk about the humanside of the industry.
Working around both trucking anduh family services.
What have you learned about thetrucking lifestyle that people
outside of the industry oftendon't understand?
SPEAKER_01 (18:14):
One of the things is some of these guys are gone for
weeks and they come home for twodays.
They gotta be gone again.
And most of this to do thingsthat we need, all the the the
Walmart food, all the supplies,all the Home Depot, or whatever,
everything that we have isbecause they are kind enough to
(18:36):
put their life on the line andbe gone.
Be gone.
It's not fun to be gone.
I have seen it because as Isaid, my husband was deployed
many times during his militarytime, and it makes you tough,
and but it's hard because youhave to raise your kids half of
the time with them around, andsame thing with them, probably
more, because I don't know thatthey get paid as much either.
(18:58):
So, and the benefits, uh youknow, but it's a hard life, it's
a hard life to be gone all thetime from your family because
you want to support them and youwant to make the money to pay
for the food and school and kidssupplies, everything raising
babies, and and that's difficultbecause it takes away from the
guys that drive, being close tothe family, but they're doing
(19:20):
the right thing, but at the sametime, they're gone, so it's not
it's you know, it's a difficultlife, and and the family suffer
as well because you don't haveyour loved one next to you, you
know.
SPEAKER_00 (19:32):
Yeah, you miss out on a lot.
And if someone gets sick backhome and you're out there on the
road, too, yeah.
It can be the reverse actiontoo.
Someone can uh pass away whileyou're out there on the road,
correct?
I mean, it's unique stress thatthe drivers go through, yes,
that can oftentimes be, I guess,downplayed.
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (19:56):
All you're doing is holding the steering wheel, you
know, but all the other thingsthat uh you're they're putting
on.
So the job can be very easy butvery difficult at the same time.
SPEAKER_01 (20:04):
Yes, yeah.
I mean, it could be easier ifyou have your partner with you,
and I heard that too.
It's a lot of people they go asa couple on the on the road, and
that's awesome.
But you still have kids andfamily and parents and pets that
you can take.
We talk about this, it's like,well, I can go with you.
Well, no, we have pets, youcannot drag all these dogs and
cats in the car and theirtrucks, and you know, it's
(20:27):
things that you some peoplemanage to do well, and some
people you can't, it's not it'snot possible to do that.
Carry all the kids in the car togo in the truck to go trucking,
and you know, our kids finallythe last one went to college as
well, so he's gone.
But when you have little kids,you know, the responsibilities
(20:49):
they do the right thing, but yougotta be gone.
And if something happened toyou, that income is gone from
the family.
You might have good insurance,but like I say, insurance
sometimes helps so much, and youknow, some it's not uh it's not
a insurance, it's not a like apatch to fix everything.
SPEAKER_00 (21:12):
Exactly, it doesn't because you love the person you
love the most is gone, and nowyou have to deal with all that
and all the process which isyour husband seen anything
changed for his view of driversor entering and trucking
himself.
How is how is he dealing with uhthe change or the transition of
doing something different?
SPEAKER_01 (21:30):
He he enjoyed it, he liked the the the freedom that
he gets, so that's really nice,but it is a lot of betting
because he had to decide whatkind of jobs he can take to be
gone so long.
And you know, and the older youget, it's harder to be in the
road, too.
You know, when you're younger,it's easier.
So it's it's all those differentthings.
(21:51):
Loneliness, too.
You it gotta be very lonely tobe gone, you know.
Oh thankfully, today we havetechnology that we have back
when.
He used to deploy at thebeginning, it was when first you
it was 2000, it was no FaceTime,no you can call from anywhere or
anything.
It was just like if he called,it was uh 15 minutes once a week
(22:13):
from the Middle East.
If he was a deploy there, juston the regular phone, you had to
call, and now it's easiercommunication because we have so
many ways to do it, but it'sstill lonely, so it's a lonely
life, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
Yeah, I think the human touch or the ability to
feel uh has has so much goodthat it does for the body, and
when we don't have that contact,when we don't have someone that
we can hug and embrace, I meanthat's it's uh it's a plays a
toll on the body.
Yeah, some people they get realbusy working and workaholics,
(22:49):
right?
And they they do so much workand then they don't realize that
they're not coming in contactwith people, and they wonder why
they're they're feeling a littledetached.
SPEAKER_02 (22:58):
Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (22:59):
Never underestimate the power of, I think that's the
most dominant sense that we haveon as a body, the touch.
It's more so I feel like it'smore so powerful than our sight,
but that's my opinion.
SPEAKER_01 (23:13):
Oh, yeah.
When somebody gives you a realhug, you're like, Oh, that feels
nice.
They I feel love, you know.
I feel somebody's there for me,but on the road, I mean
loneliness, and it gets tiring.
I uh I have a different respectfor people that drive drugs
today, like all the the stuffthat we get gas, water, milk,
(23:34):
whatever, anything, everythingin the respect is huge because
they are putting their life inhole to take care of us.
SPEAKER_00 (23:42):
Yeah, and something you know, sometimes it feels
like we're just in the way.
Uh we try to we try to do alittle maneuver to pass.
It just seems like we're just inthe way.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
You know, my husband is he's he was always when he
started learning all thesethings, he's like, don't do this
because like sometimes peoplejust cut in through front of
truck.
You never do that, you know.
Like, you know, and I'm like, ohno, no, I won't do that either.
You know, it's it's these thingsthat he's like, and you you you
you feel like oh thank you, thisperson, because because of you,
(24:14):
things are taking care of whereI live.
I don't have to worry aboutwhere at whatever kind of meals
or food or everything, you know.
You just you realize thank youto this person, they are making
things happen.
And so, and I want to help makethings happen for them too.
Just knowledge.
If you don't want to do it, it'sokay, but know that it will be
(24:35):
so much safer, better for yourfamily, all this because you
you're taking away the extrastress, the extra grieving, the
pain.
And if we feel lost normallywhen something like just as a
pet, if you have a pet and thepet dies, not comparing, right?
But truly, if my cat died, Ilove my cat to death, you know,
(24:58):
we are broken up for so long andyou don't even know what to do
with them.
Imagine somebody uh the out todo the the love that we have for
you, my my husband, my children,my you know, friends, and
something happened, that's whenyou lose your head.
You cannot think about the rightthings to do.
What is the next step?
And so it's better to beprepared.
(25:21):
You won't go in the road withoutroadside assistance.
I won't.
If I have a flat, I probablywon't be able to change the
attire.
So I have it.
So if I go somewhere, I'mprotected.
It's the same scenario.
You don't go somewhere withoutbeing with your tools and your
extra tire, and you have to bealways prepared with everything
(25:43):
that's gonna make things easier,not only for you, but your
family.
SPEAKER_00 (25:47):
So, real talk, some story.
You know, we can you can tell ussome stories of about what you
would do or what you wouldsuggest, but what's one thing
every tracking family shoulddiscuss this week?
SPEAKER_01 (25:59):
I think the reality of the fact that we can die
anywhere, and what are the nextsteps economically too?
What are we gonna do?
What do you wanna be?
Do you actually wanna be buried?
Some people will say, Yes, Iwanna, I don't wanna be
(26:19):
cremated.
So have all those details andsay, Okay, I know what you want.
If something do happen, I willnot have to make the wrong
choice because I wasn't aware ofthis, and just the the fact that
we talk about it doesn't meanthis something's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00 (26:35):
Yeah, I don't want to be superstitious, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:38):
That's exactly because that is superstitious,
and a lot of times it's becausewe have somebody dying in our
life, so we refuse to talk aboutit.
We don't want to be sad thinkingabout you know, it can be
anybody, the your grandma oryour mother or your dad, doesn't
matter, it's pain.
We don't want to talk aboutpain.
SPEAKER_00 (26:57):
You start to get a little superstitious when you're
trucking.
I think uh I think they got theS word, you know.
Yeah, you say snow, man.
SPEAKER_01 (27:05):
Be like, man, why are you talking?
No, I I exactly get it, youknow.
SPEAKER_00 (27:11):
You need to bring your chains, you need to make
sure you have uh exactly you'resafe not to gel up.
You want to make sure you knowyou just driving around, just
not talking about it doesn'tmake it not happen.
SPEAKER_01 (27:21):
So every year exactly, and and it's two things
we know for sure.
We don't know where we're gonnadie and when.
Yeah, that's for a fact, it'sgonna happen, but it's just the
make sure that you are prepared,like you guys prepare, truckers
prepare with doing the check ofmy husband.
You have to check all thelights, and you gotta make sure
everything is, you know, thepre-check or everything, he's
(27:43):
very good about that.
I have to make sure this is goodand the chains are good, and I
have my all these detailsextensive because I have heard
him and I don't remember half ofthe stuff that you guys have to
make sure legally to do beforethe vehicle actually gets out of
the wherever you're going everyday.
And same thing, just because youtalk about I forgot my chains
(28:05):
doesn't mean that something'sgonna happen, but you are aware
of it, and you're gonna makesure your chains are packed next
time, just to be make sure youare a cover.
Same thing with this, you justwant to make sure your family is
taking care of if somethinghappens, and you talk about it,
it doesn't have to be a darktalk, it's just hey, let's talk
about this.
I wanna be prepared.
(28:26):
You and you never know, prepareeverybody.
I have a funeral director, andshe has everybody in her family,
including her children, takingcare of.
So if anything ever happened,it's just a funko.
SPEAKER_00 (28:39):
What's the biggest misconception that people have
about funeral planning?
Superstitious or something?
SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
Oh, if I do it, that means I'm going to die.
You know, if I and I hadsomebody that told me that they
told me to focus in life, yes,yeah, it is magnificent to do
that.
We all want to do that, but thereality is it can be anybody,
right?
We have people they are superyoung dying.
(29:07):
It can be drugs, it can be justan accident.
You can cross the road, somebodyhit you, hit and run, and that's
it, you're done.
So it happens.
You look at look at it, but it'sjust the superstition of the
fact that we take care of ourbusiness before it happened,
it's just being responsible andcaring.
That's that's what I take out ofit because you are trying not to
(29:31):
let your what happened to you,somebody else dealing with until
the last second.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:39):
So that's just something I think you know,
people are gonna really be ableto think about, let it resonate,
let it sink inside their heartsand say, I gotta do the right
thing.
Yeah, you know, you can have anadult conversation and just take
care of these matters, make achecklist and make sure you get
these things accomplished so youdon't have to do them later.
You're gonna make the checklistbefore or after, so you might as
(30:00):
well do it before, right?
SPEAKER_01 (30:01):
Correct.
Yeah, and before is it's easy,it's not a difficult process, it
doesn't take that long.
And I can answer lots ofquestions.
If anybody reach out to me, I'llbe happy to answer.
But like I said, principle findsomebody local that you can get
your your business taken care ofonce if something ever happens.
Because that facilitates thefact that your family have to
(30:21):
start picking up the phone andcalling, not knowing who to call
and what to ask.
It's all done.
Once it happens, all you do ispick up the phone, somebody go
take care of you.
If you are away, SEPOGAR willit's$495 for the cost one time.
And if anything ever happened,it's the same thing: a phone
call, they'll deal witheverything, take care of
(30:43):
everything.
It's no easier than that forthat.
So yeah, yeah.
So and I recommend that toeverybody, not necessarily only
truckers, but anybody that is anadult because we don't know
what's gonna happen, you know.
So it's better safe than sorry,you know.
SPEAKER_00 (31:04):
I'd rather be safe, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:06):
Correct.
SPEAKER_00 (31:07):
So you know, no one no one likes somebody that says,
Oh, how come he didn't think ofthat?
Well, I don't I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
It's like meh, it is the fear, I think.
Sometimes people have the fearthat, oh my goodness, if I do
this, I'm gonna die.
I'm thinking, I got a lifeinsurance.
If something happened to me, myfamily is gonna be fine, but
that's gonna take a while untilthat cat kick in, you know.
Yeah, so we do things like thatbecause a lot of guys do the
(31:34):
same thing, they have lifeinsurance, so your family is
well taken care of once ifsomething happens.
But it's in between that peopledon't realize that it's another
step they are missing, and itcan make things easier for
everybody, especially if youtravel anywhere, just go
anywhere.
You can just drive a couple ofhours away from home and
something happened.
You still lost you your family,still have to pay thousands of
(31:58):
dollars sometimes just to bringyou back home.
SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
So this has definitely been encouraging and
enlightening, not a notsomething that's you know that
we want to shy away from.
So I appreciate you coming onthe show talking about it, Anna.
SPEAKER_01 (32:12):
Yes, of course.
I'm happy that you have me.
And uh, like I say, anybody thathave questions, I'll I'll be
happy to pass you all thatinformation if anybody ever
wanna reach out and just havequestions in general about how
should I do this or what do youthink?
Or I if they want SEPU guard,they can always contact me as
well, and I can set up all thatfor them just so they are
(32:33):
prepared.
So it doesn't take that much andit's not that long to take care
of things like that.
So, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:39):
This conversation has been uh one that's been
informative, it may beuncomfortable at times, but it's
it's also practical andimportant because preparation
can protect families even more,relieve a lot of stress during
the time that can be the worstmoment of their lives.
So your honesty and yourstraightforward talk about how
we should sit down and have thisreal conversation, I think it's
(33:02):
what we needed.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (33:03):
You're welcome.
Yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (33:05):
Yeah, and honestly, I think conversations like this
remind drivers that looking outfor our families goes a lot
further beyond than what justhappens behind the wheel.
SPEAKER_02 (33:14):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (33:15):
So let everybody know that people out there can
learn more and reach out to you.
And if they have any questions,I'll put the link in the notes
for the show.
And we really appreciate youcoming on and talking about
this.
And anything else you wanted tosay before we go?
SPEAKER_01 (33:29):
I think I'm here.
If anybody, like I said again, Ihave questions.
I think this is an importantsubject, and the older we get,
the more important it is, butit's always important because
just because we're young doesn'tmean we're gonna live forever.
And this just gonna make thingsso much easier in the family.
(33:52):
That's the main thing, is yourfamily.
Because yes, we we live, we'regone, doesn't matter, I'm dead,
right?
But it's my loved ones who isgonna the ones dealing with
this, and you know, this is animportant, important step for
everybody, not only truckers,like I said, but everybody they
just make sure that if somethingever happened, you're covered in
(34:13):
your family.
SPEAKER_00 (34:15):
Very nice, nicely put.
And we really thank you forcoming on and all the listeners
out there.
Thank you for listening.
Uh, this has been anotherepisode of Dance Delivered.
I'm your host, Truck and Ray.
And until next time, stay safe,stay prepared, and keep rolling.
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