The Blind Spot : A Truckers Talk show

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â??Can I carry a gun in my truckâ?? is one of the most frequently asked questions I get. Hereâ??s the truth: According to the U.S. Constitution, you have the right to bear arms and thereâ??s no rule in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) prohibiting you from carrying a gun in your truck. But, depending on what state youâ??re driving in, you may not be able to legally carry a gun in your tractor. Remember, simply having a concealed gun permit in your home state doesnâ??t exempt you from all other state laws. For example, say you have a valid permit to carry a gun in your home state. As long as youâ??re in your home state, itâ??s perfectly legal to carry your gun. But, once you leave your home state, your gun permit usually isnâ??t valid anywhere else. To make matters worse, not all states allow you to be in possession of a handgun at all and many consider carrying a gun a felony. Being convicted of a felony while operating a commercial vehicle will suspend your CDL for 12 months. Also, donâ??t forget to check with your company/lease company to see if they have a weapons policy. Violating an internal company policy can cost you your job regardless of whether youâ??ve violated a state law or not. Prosecutors opted against filing charges against a trucker who fatally shot a burglar entering the trucker's parked rig in West Knox County. "Our recommendation is not to charge that gentleman," said John Gill, special counsel to Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols. The trucker, Richard Vance Allen, 68, of North Carolina shot James Edward Hodges Jr., 34, of Loudon about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. Gill said he was unsure if the trucker had a permit to carry the handgun he used in the shooting while his rig was parked at a warehouse parking lot at 10720 Lexington Road. "We weren't concerned with that," Gill said. "We were concerned whether the homicide was justified or not. We determined that it was." Martha Dooley, spokeswoman for the KCSO, said Allen did not have a permit to carry the 9 mm semi-automatic handgun he used in the shooting. Because the District Attorney's General office did not recommend a charge against Allen regarding the weapon, Dooley said no charge will be lodged. Allen could not be reached Monday for comment. Authorities said Allen was sleeping in the cab of the tractor trailer when someone knocked on the door of the rig and tried to open the door. A few minutes later someone threw a rock through a window of the cab, smashing the glass. When Hodges tried to enter the cab a few minutes after the window was broken, Allen shot him in the chest, according to records. Allen suffered chest pains after the shooting and was taken to a hospital. Dooley said Allen spent most of the day in the hospital but was released later that evening. A woman described as Hodges' half-sister accompanied him on the criminal endeavor, records show. Kristin Lea Hodges, 27, told detectives she had driven Hodges to the scene. "The witness stated that she had driven the suspect on all three occasions to the semi-truck and that the suspect was intending to burglarize the vehicle," the report states. Dooley said Kristin Hodges was not charged in connection with the incident.

Nothing in life is easy. This episode is full of emotion as we pray for Eskimo Sean who has had to come off the road to care for his wife who has cancer. As well, I share some of my most recent heart ache. I too may have to come off the road to care for my children. I have been going through a lot of the last 4/5 months fighting for my kids. This is a really emotional show, If you have any advice for me please email me I need all the help I can get. [email protected]

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The state of PA jumps on the GREEN wagon as of Friday, most trucks and buses are no longer allowed to sit with their engines running for more than five minutes out of every hour. The enactment of statewide legislation was sweet and long-awaited news for members of the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania (CAB), which advocated such a bill for two years before it was passed in October 2008. â??We had our usual monthly public meeting on Thursday night, and we were celebrating,â?? said CAB board member Rev. Duane Fickeisen of Unitarian Universalists of Cumberland Valley. CABâ??s emphasis has been on reducing the level of PM 2.5, a fine air particulate that is produced by diesel engines and linked to a variety of heart and lung ailments, and Fickeisen said he thinks the new law will help but not cure the problem. â??There is still a lot of work to do,â?? he said. CAB member Tom Benjey agreed. â??It feels really good that it is finally in place,â?? Benjey said. However, he said, hourly air quality readings provided by a new partnership between CAB, Carlisle Regional Medical Center and The Sentinel have given observers a bit of a surprise, occasionally registering in the â??unhealthyâ?? range over the past month, even though the levels are supposed to be lowest in winter. CAB members arenâ??t the only people happy to see the new legislation go into effect. Jim Runk is president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association, and he said the group worked with CAB on the bill. â??I think right now, with the cost of fuel, most of our members arenâ??t idling anymore,â?? Runk said. Nevertheless, he said, he thinks the bill is a good thing, particularly as having the regulations uniform across the state will make the issue easier for drivers to figure out. â??If they just look at the state they know they donâ??t have to look at every location,â?? Runk said. There are some caveats, he said, including that until 2010 the ban doesnâ??t apply to trucks with sleeper compartments when temperatures are below 40 or above 75 degrees. Violators face fines of $150 to $300. â??We believe that we have to do our share to help maintain a clean environment, and weâ??ve been doing that for years with better engines and cleaner burning fuel,â?? Runk said, noting PMTA will continue its efforts in that regard. Fickeisen said CAB has had good cooperation from some major trucking firms in the area, both in crafting the bill and figuring out how to educate drivers. Some of those firms didnâ??t wait for the enactment date to start making changes to the way their fleets operate, he said, and Carlisle Area School District also deserves kudos for making efforts to educate its drivers about the dangers of idling. Asked if they think the legislation will lead to a lot of citations, both Fickeisen and Runk said they think once a few people are fined, word will spread quickly. â??Weâ??re really not interested in having citations written as much as we are reducing PM 2.5 levels,â?? Fickeisen said. However, Benjey said he appreciates the fines are substantial enough to make it worth a police departmentâ??s time to enforce the new law. He said he encourages citizens who witness trucks idling inappropriately to alert their local police departments. CAN YOU SAY GETTING BENT OVER? This time we are going to slide it in nice and easy tho.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Hustle & Flow" director Craig Brewer is double shifting. He has signed a development deal to write and direct "Mother Trucker," based on a Maxim article written by Steven Russell. The project is set up at Fox-based New Regency. Pegged as an updated take on "Smokey and the Bandit," the classic 1977 Burt Reynolds-Jackie Gleason chase movie that spawned two sequels, "Trucker" is an action comedy about a man who escapes from jail, steels an 18-wheeler and heads across the South to see his dying mother with police on his trail. After talking with several suitors, Brewer sold the pitch to New Regency, the studio behind "Bride Wars" and "Marley & Me." "Hustle & Flow" won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2005, and went on to take the Oscar for best song. Brewer most recently wrote and directed "Black Snake Moan." Reuters/Hollywood Reporter I am upset about this so we talk!

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As the bitch ass motherfuckers at google have posted! font size="2"As a strongcommunity/strong, we have come to count on each other to be entertained, challenged, and moved by what we watch and share on strongYouTube/strong. We've been thinking a lot lately about how to make the collective YouTube experience even better, particularly on our most visited pages. Our goal is to help ensure that you're viewing content that's relevant to you, and not inadvertently coming across content that isn't. Here are a few things we came up with:/font ul lifont size="2"strongStricter standard for mature content /strong- While videos featuring pornographic images or sex acts are always removed from the site when they're flagged, we're tightening the standard for what is considered "sexually suggestive." Videos with sexually suggestive (but not prohibited) content will be age-restricted, which means they'll be available only to viewers who are 18 or older. To learn more about what constitutes "sexually suggestive" content, click a href="http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=117432&topic=10551"here/a./font/li /ul ul lifont size="2" strongDemotion of sexually suggestive content and profanity/strong- Videos that are considered sexually suggestive, or that contain profanity, will be algorithmically demoted on our 'Most Viewed,' 'Top Favorited,' and other browse pages. The classification of these types of videos is based on a number of factors, including video content and descriptions. In testing, we've found that out of the thousands of videos on these pages, only several each day are automatically demoted for being too graphic or explicit. However, those videos are often the ones which end up being repeatedly flagged by the community as being inappropriate./font/li /ul ul lifont size="2"strongImproved thumbnails/strong - To make sure your thumbnail represents your video, your choices will now be selected algorithmically. You'll still have three thumbnails to choose from, but they will no longer be auto-generated from the 25/50/75 points in the video index./font/li /ul ul lifont size="2" strongMore accurate video information/strong - Our Community Guidelines have always prohibited folks from attempting to game view counts by entering misleading information in video descriptions, tags, titles, and other metadata. We remain serious about enforcing these rules. Remember, violations of these guidelines could result in removal of your video and repeated violations will lead to termination of your account./font/li /ul font size="2" The preservation and improvement of the YouTube experience is a responsibility we share. Let's work together to ensure that the YouTube community continues to thrive as a positive place for all of us./font font size="2"In this show we talk about the changes and what it means to your freedom of speech. Mind you this is not just about youtube, this is about your rights online! Please listen, if you feel like sharing your opinion right a comment to Trucker Steve by click on the tab below that says comment./font font size="4"a href="http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-43374/TS-173420.mp3" title="Mother fucker you sure are cool." target="_blank"FreeMP3/a|a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=268703329" title="Sum bitch!" target="_blank"Itunes/a/font img src="http://truckersteve.org/__oneclick_uploads/2008/12/youtube_pissoff01.jpg" alt="Piss off youtube you son of a bitches!" /embed src="http://www.bigcontact.com/feedplayer-standard.swf?r=4&xmlurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds%252efeedburner%252ecom%2Ftruckersteve" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" scale="noScale" wmode="window" salign="TL" flashvars="initialview=menu&autoplay=yes&standalone=no&share=yes&repeat=no" style="width: 400px; height: 380px" id="FeedPlayerAudioStandard"/embed a href="http://www.bigcontact.com/feedplayer-slim.php?r=4&xmlurl=http%3A%2%2Ffeeds%252efeedburner%252ecom%2Ftruckersteve" title="Put my show and this player on your website or your social network."img src="http://www.bigcontact.com/images/feedplayer-chicklet1.gif" alt="Put my show and this player on your website or your social network." style="margin-top: 10px" border="0" height="15" width="165" //a http://www.truckersteve.com

Weary Democratic congressional leaders pushed to clear the final obstacles to a $15 billion bailout of U.S. automakers Tuesday night, but the rescue plan faced new snags as Republicans raised deep concerns. Also the teamsters union helped Yrc worldwide inc. out of what would have could have been the end of them. In this show we talked about not only the recent fall of many companies, bailouts and such, we talked about getting back to our roots as human beings. http://www.truckersteve.com

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and winter blues Animals react to the changing seasons with changes in mood, metabolism and behaviour and human beings are just the same. Many people find they eat and sleep slightly more in winter and dislike the dark mornings and short days and this is commonly referred to as 'winter blues'. For some, however, symptoms are severe enough to disrupt their lives and to cause considerable distress. These people are suffering from SAD. How does SAD affect people? Symptoms tend to start from around September each year lasting until April, but are at their worst in the darkest months. Symptoms include: * Sleep problems - oversleeping but not refreshed, cannot get out of bed, needing a nap in the afternoon * Overeating - carbohydrate craving leading to weight gain * Depression, despair, misery, guilt, anxiety - normal tasks become frustratingly difficult * Family / social problems - avoiding company, irritability, loss of libido, loss of feeling * Lethargy - too tired to cope, everything an effort * Physical symptoms - often joint pain or stomach problems, lowered resistance to infection * Behavioural problems - especially in young people Who does it affect? The standard figure says that around 2% of people in Northern Europe suffer badly, with many more (10%) putting up with milder symptoms (sub-syndromal SAD or winter blues). Across the world the incidence increases with distance from the equator, except where there is snow on the ground, when it becomes less common. More women than men are diagnosed as having SAD. Children and adolescents are also vulnerable. What causes it? The problem stems from the lack of bright light in winter. Researchers have proved that bright light makes a difference to the brain chemistry but why some people suffer and others don't is not clear. Nerve centres in our brain controlling our daily rhythms and moods are stimulated by the amount of light entering the eyes. As night falls, the pineal gland starts to produce a substance called melatonin that tells our body clock it's night time; bright light at daybreak is the signal for the gland to stop producing this melatonin. But on dull winter days, especially indoors, not enough light is received to trigger this waking up process.Light is also linked to serotonin (also known as or 5HT), a neurotransmitter in the brain. This makes sense because low serotonin levels can cause depression and if you're depressed it can be difficult to concentrate and complete what would normally be simple tasks. Evidence has shown that serotonin levels increase with exposure to bright light - SSRI drugs such as Prozac have the same effect. What treatment is there? As the cause is lack of bright light, the treatment is to be in bright light every day. Going to a brightly-lit climate, whether that's skiing or somewhere hot, will relieve symptoms but if that's not possible you can use a bright light. The preferred level of light is about as bright as a spring morning on a clear day and for most people sitting in front of a light like this for around 30 minutes a day will be sufficient to alleviate the symptoms. You don't have to stare at the light, so you can watch TV or read or similar, just make sure that light reaches your eyes. The light must be suitably bright. You need at least 2500lux (lux is the technical measure of brightness) which is roughly five times brighter than a well-lit office. Brighter 10,000lux lights take less time to use and allow you to sit further away. Simply using 'daylight' or 'full spectrum' lights at home will not work as they're not bright enough. We encourage SAD sufferers to seek the support of their doctor. We can also supply comprehensive information packs for medical practitioners. Please see your doctor if you believe you may be suffering from a depressive illness. On this show we talk about SAD and how to cope. Please visit my website http://www.truckersteve.com

Innovative ideas to save money on the road! This show was a lot of fun, we offered some great advice while cutting up at the same time. It was very unplanned and off the cuff. More so then normal!!! LOL

As most know, traveling for a living can be extremely dangerous. Not only with the fear of a vehicular accident but your own personal safety. In this episode of "THE BLIND SPOT" we will share information with you that just might save your life. As reported by: 2theadvocate "The delivery man walked outside to get another load of beer, witnesses told police the unidentified man asked him for money, Meadows said. The two men got into a verbal altercation, which turned into a fistfight, Meadows said. It started on the side of the building, near an ice machine, and moved onto the pavement in front of the storeâ??s front door, said the storeâ??s manager, who refused to give his name. â??We didnâ??t know anything,â?? the manager said. â??We were busy with other customers.â?? The men traded blows for 30 to 45 seconds before the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the delivery man." For more details to this store you can find the link here. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/suburban/34627059.html

At least 60 percent of heavy North American truck fleets use speed-control devices and as many as 77 percent of all North American trucks are equipped with them, the study said. In 2005, the Canadian Trucking Alliance asked federal and provincial governments to mandate speed limiters on all heavy trucks to no more than 105 kilometers per hour, or about 65 mph. American Trucking Associations supports required activation of electronic speed governors on big trucks built since 1992 at 65 mph or slower. What Is A DAC Report? The DAC employment report is a detailed summary of a trucker's work history in the trucking industry. Most trucking companies today participate in sharing this information about truckers. The DAC employment report contains items such as number of accidents, reasons for quitting or why they were fired, if they are eligible for re-hire, type of driving, commodities hauled, types of trailers pulled and MUCH more. They can also verify social security numbers, driver's license numbers, criminal reports, worker's compensation reports, and much more. How Do I Contact DAC To Get My Report? call the DAC Consumer Department: 1-800-381-0645 (m-f 8-5 central) visit website: http://www.usis.com/commercialservices/transportation/default.htm Note: Of Course, You CANNOT get a copy online, you must call OR write them to get a copy of your DAC report. OOIDA says it is ready to file a Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration for breach of Canadaâ??s obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement if it becomes effective. OOIDA accused Julie Boulet, Quebecâ??s transportation minister, of reneging on her word. On Dec. 13 Boulet had said Quebec would not implement the mandate until Transport Canada completed studies on effectiveness of speed limiters and all other provinces had agreed to similar mandates. Transport Canada released its studies last spring, which indicated the speed reduction would decrease greenhouse gas and save fuel, but that the actionâ??s safety implications were not as solid. Ontario has also passed the mandate. At least 60 percent of heavy North American truck fleets use speed-control devices and as many as 77 percent of all North American trucks are equipped with them, the study said. In 2005, the Canadian Trucking Alliance asked federal and provincial governments to mandate speed limiters on all heavy trucks to no more than 105 kilometers per hour, or about 65 mph. American Trucking Associations supports required activation of electronic speed governors on big trucks built since 1992 at 65 mph or slower. Visit my website for more details. http://www.truckersteve.com

img src="http://truckersteve.org/__oneclick_uploads/2008/11/mccaininpresocttaz.jpg" alt="McCain in prescott az" /del datetime="2008-11-05T07:10:34+00:00"/del Sen. John McCain with wife, Cindy, Nov. 4 2008 Prescott, AZ !--more--font size="2"John McCain has conceded that Barack Obama has won the election for president of the United States./font font size="2"Senator McCain told supporters in his home state of Arizona that he had called his Democratic rival to congratulate him shortly after most polls closed./font font size="2"McCain said he told Obama he admired him for his ability to inspire the hopes of millions of Americans. McCain said he would do whatever he could to help Mr. Obama to bring the country together and restore prosperity and defend America's security./font Into days show we the trucking community talk about the future of America. Discussing the issues that matter most to the "working man" the backbone of America. With frequent poll updates and heated conversation from both sides of the table. Today Nov 4 2008 history was made, but are the non-sheep-able happy about this?

As reported by: outsourced logisitcs "Today's economy is driven by a global supply chain. As the supply chain grows more complex, so does the ability to secure it. One of the biggest challenges affecting businesses today is cargo theft and the resulting potential disruption of the supply chain. How large is this problem? It is difficult to quantify because cargo theft is not always categorized in the same manner and often goes unreported. According to some observers, loss estimates range from $10 billion to $30 billion a year. However, this figure does not capture the indirect costs associated with theft such as lost sales, production down time and missed deliveries. In addition to the financial losses, certain industries such as alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals face the risk of their products being sold to minors or being counterfeited. What's in it for cargo thieves? Well, the obvious answer is the value of the cargo. However, there is another element affecting the dynamics of cargo theft: a relative lack of downside risk. Cargo moves anonymously across the nation's roads and highways, through jurisdictions with varying resources and abilities or willingness to prosecute if apprehended. Cargo thieves know that law enforcement and prosecutors are less likely to give cargo theft a high priority when the cargo's owners, transporters and thieves are from another jurisdiction. If there is an apprehension and prosecution, the sentences are often less than other types of crimes such as drug trafficking. Because of the relative ease of hijacking and lenient punishments, cargo theft continues to grow larger year after year. High-tech, high-value products, specifically consumer electronics, are particularly attractive targets. The criminal element responsible for cargo theft is more sophisticated than ever. A well-executed cargo theft is preplanned and highly coordinated. The stolen goods are often moved quickly to a warehouse, off-loaded, repackaged, re-manifested and placed on another vehicle, often before the theft is discovered or reported to law enforcement. This "illegitimate supply chain" is managed by organized crime operations that know what they are targeting and have the ability to move, transload and distribute stolen goods within hours. Today's virtual economy often works against legitimate businesses by facilitating the distribution of stolen goods through online marketers and auction sites." Can GPS and Telematics prevent cargo theft? Advances in technology, such as GPS tracking, have improved a fleet manager's ability to monitor vehicles. Onboard telematics technology significantly improves the vehicle recovery process and may deter a less sophisticated criminal. While there have been many success stories with onboard tracking systems, GPS and other common tracking technologies are frequently defeated as criminals adapt to a hardening of the transportation network. Technology alone is not the magic bullet against cargo theft. An effective security program must be well planned and combine technology with robust security procedures and fundamental security practices. So in this weeks show we are going to discuss how to prevent cargo theft from a drivers perspective Please visit my website for more info and to check out my other FREE content. http://www.truckersteve.com

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Life on the road can be a tough one. Not only are the drivers suffering and sacrificing there life for the road. Their family's are as well. Many of family's have lost everything to this occupation. As a man who has dealt with these struggles, first as a little boy when my mother would be home and my father on the road but also as a driver inflicting the pain. Part of why i got divorced was do to this very topic. Lets understand one another, lets help each other heal! http://www.truckersteve.com

There are a lot of good drivers out on the roads, sadly not all of them are so good. A driver this coming up Thursday is being sentenced for a crime that haunts most drivers. This same driver was previously convicted of vehicular homicide, killing a innocent pedestrian. How could some one with one death already on recorded and fifty three moving violations get his CDL back? We discuss this and more on this show. http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=6406361

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that should not be taken lightly. In this show we talk about recent discussion in sleep apnea testing. And offer health advice for those that are suffering! Please visit the website of this show at http://www.truckersteve.com

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Many,many men enjoyed the music and films with JERRY REED. Many of us even started driving truck because of JERRY REEDS music and movies. JERRY REED passed away on September 1st, in this show we are going to celebrate JERRY'S life if you want to join all of us on the show dial 724 444 7444 id:43374 at 10 pm eastern 7pm pacific or join in the chat room and chat with truckers and friends from around the world http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=43374&cmd=tc http://www.truckersteve.com http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=43374&cmd=tc

With the industry in what some would call a down turn many drivers are not feeling the love. This weeks is drivers appreciation week, do you feel appreciated? Join in on the call at 724 444 7444 id: 43374 every Tuesday night at 7 pacific 10 eastern. or join in the chat room at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=43374&cmd=tc Be sure to hang out with me on my interactive website at: http://www.truckersteve.com

Every one has a story about what they get out of being a part of the internet community, the love, hate, and everything in between. Why did you become part of your social SET? Who was your inspiration? And what is in the future for us? http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=43374&cmd=tc The number to dial is 724 444 7444 id: 43374 the show starts at 10pm et 7pm pacific. every Tuesday night. Don't be a lamer hang out with me and the gang on my live and interactive website at http://www.truckersteve.com

The world is all fucked up around us, and many think it is time for revelations. Is this the end? Are you a punk with no input? Are you going to let this whole thing implode? Tonight on the show we will talk with Chad Aaron the legendary blogger from http://www.road82.com Visit my website or i will smack my momma! http://www.truckersteve.com

Come on in and join truckers from around the globe as they bullshit and catch up on old times, completely open forum no moderation. Come hang out with us as we randomly babel on about anything and everything. Show is at 7pm pt 10 et 7/29/8 and every Tuesday some time and place. This show is hosted by the legendary video maker TRUCKER STEVE visit my website http://www.truckersteve.com