Ask The Trucker "live" W/allen Smith

Throughout a 20-year career as an Emmy Award-winning television producer, Pam Whitfield produced programs including medical and science documentaries for CBS, ABC and PBS.  She is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) with a Master's degree in Nutrition Dietetics.  Don Jacobson has been involved in the materials handling industry for over 20 years and is the author of four books and has also penned articles for Transport Topics, Outside, Boy's Life and Adventure West magazines. Together they work with Over The Road truck drivers and have authored the first health and nutrition book focused specifically on the OTR Lifestyle:  Roadcooking: A long haul driver's guide to healthy eating.   They also appear regularly  on Sirius/XM 106, The Lockridge Report.  They join us as our special guests to discuss their use of trucking social media and how they are helping truck drivers to decrease their bad food habits in order to increase their quality of life.  ** As a special promotion for our

We continue our series talking with current, professional truck drivers who are active in trucking social media and industry issues.  Our guests:  Kari Fisher uses trucking social media to share news regarding the industry and is founder of the Missing Truck Driver Alert Network.  Jason Haggard is a veteran driver with 18 years as an owner-operator with over 1 million safe miles.  He utilizes social media as a way to share crucial trucking issues and encourages other professional truck drivers to become involved with industry issues and discussions.  We will also discuss the public image of truck drivers and how this perception can be changed through the use of social media.  

In this first of a new series, we talk with current, professional truck drivers who are active in trucking social media and industry issues. Sandy Long began her driving career in 1972 and is author of Street Smarts and Arriving Alive in which she shares her expertise to help others in the area of maintaining personal safety while living life on the road.  She is highly active in issues where she shares her voice through her trucking blog, Just a Lady Driver. As a published poet and freelance writer for six International websites and the Canadian Trucking Magazine, we will discuss major issues within the industry such as EOBR's, sleep apnea and truck driver fatigue, all from the view of a lady trucker with 40 years of driving experience.  

Considering professional truck driving as a career begins with choosing the best CDL truck driver training school.  The wrong decision can ruin your career before it even begins.  Ken Howell is the founder and President of Trainco Truck Driving Schools.  Highly reputable and recognized as one of the best CDL training facilities in the country, Trainco works in partnership with Owens Community College and currently operates six locations throughout Ohio and Michigan. Considering a career in commercial truck driving?  Want answers to your questions?  Ken Howell joins us as our special guest to discuss this make-or-break career decision.  We will be giving away a COBRA 29 LX CB Radio during the show, courtesy of COBRA Electronics.  Tune in to learn how you can win.   SHOW NOTES:  Congratulations to "Lee F." - winner of the Cobra 29 LX give-away!

Latin America News Media describes the Mexican Judicial System as a system in crisis, estimating that as many as 96,000 people are being illegally detained in Mexican prisons. Jabin Bogan, a truck driver with Demco Transportation, took a wrong turn and accidently crossed over the border into Mexico when he was unable to turn around on the bridge. Carrying a legally documented semi trailer load of ammunition, he is being held by Mexican authorities, facing up to 30 years in jail.  Mexican officials never asked to see the bill of lading or any paperwork and they immediately reported it as the "largest cartel seizure" in Mexico history. Joining us are his mother, Aletha Smith and Jabin's attorney, Carlos Spector.  Also as guests, we have Dennis Mekenye, owner of Demco Transportation and Howie Glazer, owner of United Nations Ammo, the intended recipient of the load.  Learn how you can help to free Jabin Bogan as we discuss his story from those closest to the case.  Also please visit the Free Jabin website.

The Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP),allows motor carriers and individual drivers to purchase their driving records, including serious safety violations. Motor carriers may request PSP records only for the purpose of conducting pre-employment screening and only with the driver's written consent.  The PSP record only contains MCMIS inspection and crash information that is uploaded to MCMIS by FMCSA federal staff and state partners.  How do you go about having false truck driver information removed from their PSP record?  Commercial truck drivers may obtain their PSP record either through the pre-employment screening program (PSP) or via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) website.  But which way is best?  And what assurance do drivers have that inaccurate violations will be removed?  Special guest, Rickey Gooch of the Legal Benefits Group joins us as we discuss the many issues raised by the CSA and DataQ System.

As trucking regulations become more focused on medical  issues such as sleep apnea and the body mass index (BMI),  truck drivers are now needing to pay better attention to their heath.  Regardless of the lifestyle that truckers face, better health can be accomplished but both professional driver and motor carrier must play a responsible role.  Special guest, Jeff Clark has been in trucking for 30 years and is a member of the Driver Health Council with the Trucking Solutions Group. Having faced his own health problems while driving over the road, he is now an avid runner, completing eight marathons and believes that the truck driver health issues in the industry can be solved with drivers and motor carriers working together. He has been featured in Road King, Truckers News, Challenge, Landline, and Runner’s World magazines and currently writes a monthly health column for Truckers News Magazine.  We will take a look at the importance of truck driver health and what you can do to protect your CDL over impend

Keeping medical appointments to maintain good health, both physical and mental, can prove to be very difficult for the professional truck driver living life on the road. Buck Black, MSW, LCSW, LCAC is a licensed health therapist specializing in helping truckers maintain a good and positive mental health, with Anger, Stress, and Relationships being the primary focus of his private practice, Trucker Therapy. By developing a unique session program for truckers, using the phone, SKYPE and email services, he helps truck drivers on a daily basis to cope with the many health issues that come with the trucker's lifestyle including the feeliing of isolation, stress and depression. His practice is located in Lafayette, Indiana with the Heartland Clinic and his professional status is verified by Psychology Today. We will discuss truck driver health and how Mr. Black is able to bring the help to the professional truck driver living life on the road.

The Fighting Fraud in Transportation Act of 2011 proposes to raise the amount of the surety bond from $10,000 to $100,000 with the reasoning being that the increase would combat against fraudulent freight broker business.  Our special guest, Dan Metully of Transport Watch and co-owner of TFI Logistics, Inc., believes it will put more good brokers than bad, out of business. Also joining the conversation is James Lamb, President of the Association of Independent Property Brokers & Agents and Richard Wilson, regulatory expert with Trans Products & Trans Services. Good or bad idea?  We'll debate it.

Having attended the recent MCSAC/FMCSA meeting and listening to the recommendations from the Medical Review Board on sleep apnea, Richard Wilson, safety and compliance expert, and Todd Dills, senior editor for Overdrive Magazine, joins us as our guests.  Using Facebook and Twitter to provide "live coverage" of the meeting to thousands of professional truck drivers, our guests will discuss what took place and how social media is providing drivers the opportunity to have their voices heard at MCSAC meetings, even without being present. Discussion also included EOBR's and harassment issues and the long-haul trucking pilot project.

Every day in the United States, 2,300 people are reported missing and professional truckers are no exception.  Because of their mobility, truck drivers are much more difficult for law enforcement to locate, even with the GPS technology used within the trucking industry.  Special guests, Kari Fisher and Hal Kiah, foundersof The Missing Truck Driver Alert Network are working to change that. Together, they are using the power of social media, currently through FaceBook, to launch this newest tool in assisting law enforcement, family members and the trucking industry as a whole, to help find missing truck drivers and to unite an industry to come together in helping their own.

Every year, thousands of truck drivers are injured on the job, yet motor carriers and their insurance companies rarely pay injured truckers the workers’ compensation benefits they are owed.  Attorney, Charles Buchanan has practiced personal injury and workers' compensation law for 37 years and is host of Hurt Trucker, the official personal injury and workers' compensation site for truckers. Graduating with top honors from the law school of the University of Missouri, Mr. Buchanan has the highest rating (AV Preeminent) for ethics and legal ability given by Martindale Hubbell, which is the most prominent attorney rating service.  Representing injured truck drivers for over 30 years, he joins us as our special guest to discuss the legal rights of truck drivers, pertaining to personal injury and workers' comp laws.  Open lines to take your calls.

Tony Justice is a second-generation truck driver and in 2002 was endorsed by NASCAR legends, Rusty Wallace and Roger Penski, of which his album "Rockin' Rusty" was recorded.  His most recent album, "On The Road" was recently released and is available at all Pilot Travel Centers nationwide, with the title track written by country superstar, Kenny Chesney and legendary songwriter, Kim Williams.  His song, "Bring Daddy Home" was written in support of the U.S. military service personnel and their families and has received radio play. Now, Tony Justice has been invited to perform at the 2012 Pre-Grammy Awards Party in Hollywood, California in February.  Tony joins us as our special guest to discuss his long, struggling road from professional truck driver to upcoming Nashville recording artist.

Regulatory expert, Richard Wilson of Trans Products Trans Services returns as our guest to discuss the FMCSA's newest hours of service rules that will take effect July 1, 2013.  Having recently attended the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Subcommittee Meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Wilson will also bring us up-to-date on current and possible new mandates concerning future sleep apnea testing and regulations for truck drivers.   

For our final show of 2011, Lynsay Caylor joins us as our special guest to disuss her role as the Social Media Marketing Manager for the Pilot Travel Centers.  Working to increase the transparency of the company, we'll discuss how social media is used to build relationships between her company, its employees and with America's professional truck drivers, making the Pilot/FlyingJ Travel Centers one of the nation's most successful truck stop chains.

Kylla Leeburg is co-founder of the Truckers Against Human Trafficking organization and author of My Life Crazy.  Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book details her missionary work from 1996 to 1998, while living among Salvadoran gang members.  My Life Crazy is the story of how a young, blonde American women, existing on the streets ruled by the two most powerful gangs in El Salvador, was able to form a friendship between two completely different worlds and how her own personal convictions and experiences led to her co-founding of Truckers Against Trafficking. 

By the 1960s, when Overdrive Magazine was founded, many opportunities for owner-operators had become limited. Through the next 60 years, the magazine played a key part in advocating for enhanced hauling freedom in its early days.  After deregulation, Overdrive became more focused on operator business management as leased truck drivers became more prominent within the trucking industry.  From Overdrive Magazine, our special guests are Lucinda Coulter, Managing Editor and Todd Dills, Senior Editor.  Lucinda is the head editor behind Overdrive Retro where she has curated items from the past 50 years of trucking news coverage, features, ads and more. Todd is also host of the Overdrive Online Channel 19 blog and for the 50th-anniversary issue wrote the "Breaking Free" history of the owner-operator business in trucking, and Overdrive's part in helping shape the model through the years. Join us for a look back through the history of the truck owner operator with Overdrive editors in the year of the magazine's 50

David Hancock, CEO with Hodyon, Inc., manufacturer of the Dynasys APU, discusses the benefits to the ownership of an Auxiliary Power Unit.  As anti-idling laws and environmental protection regulations become more prevalent, Hodyon,  a two-time award winner for growth, has taken the lead within the APU industry by producing energy-efficient products and systems that reduce the magnitude of climate change and assisting professional truck drivers and trucking fleet owners with an anti-idling alternative.

Dan Metully of Transport Watch joins us as our special guest to explain how his company is working to fight back against fraud in the transportation industry, as well as promoting your company's good name and reputation.  Transportwatch.com  is dedicated to promoting and protecting those companies who operate with honesty and integrity, as well as exposing those who ruin the reputation of others by dealing in identity theft, double brokering, fuel advance schemes and other fraudulent work ethics.  Whether you operate a trucking company or as a freight broker, joining the Transport Watch community will take your ability to verify your potential business partners to a new level, and provide a powerful, effective tool to help you protect your company's reputation and revenue.

Don't tell Fred Schaffner of The American Driver that you can't change legislation, because he's done it.  Fred is responsible for the removal of the two hour limit parking signs from the Virgina rest areas.  He recently attended the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee meeting in Arlington, VA in order to make comments and address concerns of professional drivers.  The major topics of discussion during the committee and sub-committee meetings were EOBR'S and the cross border trucking agreement.  As our special guest, he will share his thoughts and insights regarding the content of the discussions and specifically the impact on American trucking jobs, as well as his comments during the public session.