Trucks at Work Blog

“I lack small-muscle skills and have a mechanical IQ of 32, but I became adroit with all infantry arms. I had no choice. It was that or my ass.” -William Manchester, from “Goodbye Darkness,” a memoir of his service as a Marine in World War II

It‘s the little things about my dad that always got my attention. Growing up, I didn‘t get it: he made beds so well you could bounce quarters off them - literally. He ironed and pressed his dress shirts, slacks, even golf outfits better than any dry cleaning shop could. And the man could pack for any trip, for any length of time using any mode of transportation (luggage for the plane, the car for a ski trip) with almost unearthly skill - folding and stowing with precision.

The reason he can do all that - as he‘s told me many, MANY times over the years - is very simple: he served in the Marines. You learned to do everything - and by God, he literally meant EVERYTHING, even how you ate food - the Marine way. And you never, EVER forgot how to do it. He could probably still field strip his weapons today if he had to, so ingrained into his subconscious is his Marine experience. “When you‘ve got a drill sergeant the size of a mountain in your face, it‘s amazing what you can learn to do - and what you‘ll never forget,” he told me.

I started thinking about this yesterday, after the proposed $700 billion bailout bill failed in Congress and the stock market nose-dived over 700 points. [There goes the retirement fund - now, uh, WHY did we have 401Ks again? Because there‘s less in my fund now than at the beginning of the year.]

I keep thinking to myself … wouldn‘t it be great if we could gather all the financial wizards from Wall Street up and send them down to the Marine Corps boot camps for a few months, at Paris Island S.C. (for enlisted personnel) and Quantico VA (for officer candidates, where my dad went for his “time in the barrel” as he calls it back in ‘56). Maybe after a long stretch of weeks under the exacting tutelage of Marine drill sergeants the financial fools that got us into this mess could come up with some plans to get us out of it without the need for billions of taxpayer dollars. (Come to think of it - can we send ALL the members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, down there, too?)

Such “shock therapy,” of course, is only good for getting results in certain situations - such as creating Marines and other soldiers who go into harm‘s way and must be ready for anything. In the everyday business world, such drill sergeant tactics would send workers running for the exits and for good reason. But maybe, just maybe, we‘re at a point in time when the hammer needs to be applied to the executives in the suites of corporate America, to at the very least knock some sense into them.

That‘s one of the thoughts othat occured toProfessor Jerry Osteryoung from the college of business at Florida State University after watching the hideous reality show “Hell‘s Kitchen.” He couldn‘t stand the business practices of Chef Gordon Ramsay on the show … but, given the current economic crisis, these are times that perhaps call for a little of that sound and fury. Professor Osteryoung, the floor is yours …

“We frequently get called in to help a firm that is in crisis, and without quick action, the firm could easily fold. One such firm was preparing a large order for a very important customer, and the order got completely messed up. Management had to take quick and effective action to fill this order or their sales would fall by 30%. They had to use a different management style to get their staff to move quickly.

“One approach to quick crisis management can be seen on Chef Gordon Ramsay‘s three TV shows: ‘Hell‘s Kitchen and ‘Kitchen Nightmares‘ both on Fox and ‘Ramsay‘s Kitchen Nightmares‘ on BBC. ‘Hell‘s Kitchen‘ is a reality chef program where the winner gets a very prestigious job at the end. On ‘Ramsay‘s Kitchen Nightmares‘ and ‘Kitchen Nightmares,‘ Chef Ramsay goes into very sick restaurants and turns them around.

One day, my wife, who is a food TV junkie and a very good cook, said, ‘Jerry, you need to come and watch this program about Gordon Ramsay.‘ Well, I watched the program, and after seeing how he treated people, I wanted to vomit. It took me almost three shows before I could even watch the broadcast in its entirety.

For those who have not seen these shows, Chef Ramsay yells, swears, belittles and humiliates people to get the things he wants done. The abuse he doles out on these people is brutal, and they frequently end up breaking down in so many different ways. However, normally at the end of the show, the staff and management that he has berated seem to appreciate that this was the way to turn around their behavior and their restaurant.

What impresses me about Chef Ramsay is not the way he berates people, but the quickness with which he is able to change their behavior. In so many cases, he goes into a restaurant that has maybe two weeks to live and turns things around by changing the attitude of the staff and owners, and through his overall knowledge of the hospitality industry.

If he tried to be nice to get things done - clearly, not his favorite management style - it would take a long time to change behaviors. He needs to get into these sick restaurants and turn things around very quickly.

His management style is clearly not for everyone, and it goes against almost every management principle that I know of; however, it is similar to that of the treatment military recruits used to get at during basic training. I can still remember my basic training instructor at Lackland Air Force Base yelling at and humiliating me for my bed not being 100% perfect. This did make an indelible impression on me. I got the message pretty quickly, and the training instructor never yelled at me again.

In both the Chef Ramsay and the military situation, behavior was changed quickly, but it came with some risk. The risk is that the person whose behavior you are trying to change will just close down and give up. Additionally, it creates a climate of fear, which normally abates over time as staff gets used to these conditions. However, on the upside, both situations illustrate that this approach can change behavior rapidly.

Now, I am not even somewhat recommending the Chef Ramsay motivational approach. However, I am suggesting that there may be some situation that merits it. In a crisis situation, when there is not time to use the ‘warm fuzzy‘ approach, you might have to invoke a harsher methodology in order to get something done quickly.”

“Risky” of course is a VAST understatement when undertaking this kind of approach - and to conduct in the more typical “peace time” business environment would be suicidal I suggest. Still, desperate times call for desperate measures. Maybe a little shock therapy is just what we need.

[As usual, you can reach Professor Osteryoung by e-mail at jerry.osteryoung@gmail.com or by phone at 850-644-3372.]

“The really big thing is you don‘t know your driving a 2010 emissions truck.” -Jimmie Kissling, a 12-year veteran truck driver with general contractor Haines & Kibblehouse, based in Skippack, PA

So it‘s a little after six in the a.m. when Jimmie Kissling and I get rolling down the still-dark rural roads for the first job of the day - getting a load of asphalt “binder” for a parking lot expansion project at a shopping mall located some 40 minutes northwest of Philadelphia.

[And what‘s with all of these bleary early-morning stories anyways? Talk about a run of bad Karma on my part!]

It‘s a pretty routine job for Kissling. This is a guy that‘s driven trucks for over 30 years, everything from long-haul over-the-road routes for General Battery, local and regional driving for landscapers, to over a decade worth of tasks at Haines & Kibblehouse in Skippack, PA (a subsidiary of the H&K Group, an almost legendary family-owned firm in the construction world.)

[Below is Jimmie‘s take on his new truck and the SCR system in his own words.]

[Click here for more FleetOwner videos.]

Jimmie makes hauling and delivering several tons of asphalt look easy, with shifts and acceleration as smooth as silk with nary a hitch in the chassis. For nearly eight years, though, he pulled the company‘s big construction equipment - road pavers, bulldozers, you name it - on lowboy flatbeds behind the wheel of Class 8 tractors till he hurt his back. Now he pilots big four-axle dump trucks all over Chester and Elks County (to name just a few) for H & K, hauling a wide variety of materials - asphalt, construction debris, you name it. Rain or shine, plowing snow or hauling whatever, nothing rattles him.

That includes the selective catalytic reduction [SCR] system that‘s underneath the Mack Granite Axle Back four-axle end dump truck model we‘re sitting in, too.

[In this photo, what looks like a big black tank is the SCR catalyst. If you look closely, you can see the silvery shape of the DPF behind the steps.]

Under and along the passenger side of Kissling‘s 14,040-pound GVW beast rests the diesel particulate filter [DPF] - hidden cleverly behind the steps used to enter the cab - and the SCR catalyst, which looks like nothing more than a big black box, rounded at the edges. On the driver side, forward of the big 116-gallon steel diesel fuel tank, is a smaller reservoir holding 17 gallons of diesel exhaust fluid [DEF] - an ammonia-based liquid that reduces oxides of nitrogen [NOx] emissions when injected into the exhaust stream.

[The tank with the baby blue cap on it holds the DEF. Mack also plans to use a D-shaped fuel tank for its 2010 production models, with the straight edge of the D facing out. That will offer more fuel capacity while leaving room behind the tank for cable bundles, hoses, etc.]

Due for a new truck based on his years of service at H & K, Jimmie told me he jumped at the chance to be a “test pilot” in his own words. “The guys do rib me about being a ‘test pilot‘ but I always like to try something new,” he explained. “It‘s a great opportunity.”

[Jimmie Kissling is pleased as punch with his 2010 test truck.]

Aside from taking copious notes every day concerning mileage, type of operation, fuel consumed, etc., there hasn‘t been much to do related to the 2010 technology on board. “You don‘t even notice it,” Jimmie told me. “One thing that has changed, though, is I don‘t have to hit the ‘active regeneration‘ switch anymore. The filter [DPF] pretty much cleans itself all the time now.”

[The blue switch Jimmie is pointing to started and stopped active regeneration of the DPF. With the SCR system on board, however, he almost never needs to press it now.]

That‘s one of the big benefits Mack Trucks is noticing just five months into its 18-month SCR pilot test with H&K. “We‘re using less DEF than we thought and we‘ve reduced demand for active regeneration by 80% to 100% in some cases,” David McKenna, Mack‘s powertrain sales and marketing manager, told me. “We‘re also seeing up to an 18% improvement in fuel economy over pre-2007 engines and up to a 5% fuel economy improvement over our 2007 engine package, depending on the duty cycle.”

According to Kissling‘s numbers, that adds up to about a 5.4 miles per gallon average for his truck - across a day spent under load (over 60,000 pounds) and empty, puttering in stop-and-go traffic on local roads to roaring along at 60 miles per hour on the highway. “Think about this for a minute,” McKenna stressed to me. “This is what you‘re getting in a four-axle dump truck. Translate these kinds of fuel savings to an over-the-road environment, where the engines operate at a much steadier state more frequently, and you can see why we‘re excited.”

One issue that has some operators concerned is what happens to the DEF - and the SCR system as a whole - if the solution freezes. Vocational trucks, especially, operate in some pretty cold spots across the U.S. and at 12 degrees Fahrenheit, DEF first becomes “slushy” before becoming a waxy, paste-like substance as the mercury dips further, McKenna said.

[The monogram on the dashboard let’s you know whose baby this truck REALLY is.]

“The key thing to remember, however, is that DEF is there to neutralize NOx, which is created by high engine combustion temperatures,” he explained. “That means a COLD engine isn‘t going to produce NOx, so you don‘t need that DEF right away.”

Part of Mack‘s solution, then, is to make sure the supply pump runs after the engine shuts down, returned any unused DEF from the injectors to the tank to empty the supply line, so it doesn‘t get clogged with cold waxy fluid. Then, at start up, a tank heater warms up the DEF little by little so by the time the truck is ready to roll, enough DEF is ready for use. “It‘s really a non-issue in terms of proper SCR operation,” McKenna said.

DEF consumption is pretty much a non-issue as well. Dan Alderfer, fleet superintendent for Haines & Kibblehouse, told me that while they keep the DEF tank topped off for testing purposes, it could really go for two weeks before requiring a fill up. “Refilling the tank doesn‘t change our work practices either - it‘s not an imposition at all to our fleet,” he added

For Kissling, though, the real issue is power. With a 407 horsepower Mack MP7 engine under the hood married to a 10-speed Mack T-310MRL transmission with multi-speed reverse, Jimmie told me his Granite struggles on the road not a whit. “It‘s got excellent power - that‘s what you need in this job,” he said. “You‘ve got to get over the hills and up to speed on the highway under load. It does that with plenty of horsepower to spare.”

His truck also has lots of “gingerbread” as Jimmie likes to say - electric windows, remote-controlled side mirrors, a super-comfortable Bostrom Talladega mid-back air ride seat, and AM/FM radio with CD player (a radio he keeps tuned to a country-western and classic rock station that cranks out tunes from the 1950s and 60s.)

[One thing asphalt hauling requires is the driver to hop out and clean off the tailgate after a load is delivered, so the residue won’t gum things up. You always wear a hard hat, glasses, and gloves when doing it though, for fresh asphalt is delivered at 325 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.]

There are a couple of critical things this truck doesn‘t have, though. First and foremost, there‘s no diesel smell - period. Not at idle, not when the engine revs up to power the dump bed‘s hydraulics, not while accelerating on the road. No black smoke either - the exhaust pipes and areas around the pipe opening are free of any carbon deposits, even after 50,000 miles of hard operation.

[The faint cloud you may see around the truck isn’t exhaust — it’s steam from the super-hot asphalt.]

“You can literally put your face to the exhaust pipe opening while the truck‘s at idle and smell nothing. I know - I‘m the idiot that did it,” McKenna told me. “I don‘t think as an industry we talk enough about this - that the air coming out of the exhaust pipe is, in many cases, cleaner than what‘s going into the engine on these [2010] trucks. Shame on us - this is an incredible story. And by telling it, we hope to get everyone back off the ledge in terms of their concern about 2010 emission technology.”

“What lies behind and before us pales in comparison to what lies within us.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of my favorite characters in the great Greek saga “The Iliad” about the fall of Troy is Hector - the Trojan prince that valiantly leads the ultimately doomed defense of that great ancient city in Asia Minor. Hector - which means “holding fast” in English - is also known as one of the “nine worthies” as he‘s known not only for his great courage but also for his noble stature and humility.

Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like truck driver Lou Esposito.

[Lou Esposito, standing tall by his one-of-a-kind tribute to the heroes and fallen souls of September 11.]

I met Lou this past week at the “Truckers & Citizens United” rally in Washington D.C. They formed a convoy that drove around the U.S. Capitol to protest high fuel prices, followed by the truckers parking their rigs so they could visit their lawmakers in person.

Lou‘s rig caught my eye at the rally site (FedEx Field stadium in Maryland) due to its lavish graphics depicting the events of September 11 and the heroes of that horrible day. Every single one of the 9/11victims is listed alphabetically on one side of Lou‘s truck cab, with the top of the hood emblazoned with the images of New York City fire fighters: a testament to their bravery and heavy losses when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.

He calls his rig the “Trucker‘s Tribute” and it‘s a fitting title - for Lou himself gave up a good part of himself to help in the recovery efforts following the attacks.

Lou worked long hours at Ground Zero (as the trade center site came to be known) helping clear debris from area until his own moment of terror struck. A piece of steel rebar fell off one of the damaged buildings directly onto his head. The impact triggered nerves in his left arm, raising it up just in time to be pierced right through by that same piece of steel - then pinning him to the ground.

He doesn‘t remember any of it, but his rescuers later told him the steel hit with such force that they could not pull it from either his body or the earth - they had to use a welder‘s torch to cut him free.

[All the victims of September 11 are listed in alphabetic order on the side of Lou’s cab.]

A veteran trucker with 36 years under his belt, built like a heavyweight boxer with massive hands, the head injury from the steel caused a severe stroke that left Lou unable to walk or speak for a year. In time, he learned to walk again by literally forcing himself to stumble day after merciless day up and down the dirt road outside his home in Littleton, N.C. Later, he taught himself how to drive and shift gears all over again in the same grueling manner on that very same strip of red clay.

“It took a long time - but I got back on the road,” he told me.

In a way, though, it‘s not surprising Lou managed to beat what the Greeks called “the fates” - goddesses in charge of weaving an unalterable destiny for every man, woman, and child on earth. Much like a Greek hero, he‘s used to overcoming long odds - usually with a lot of laughs. Right now he‘s fighting cancer - he lost his prostate to this insidious disease, but not his sense of humor. “I named my dog ‘Chemo‘ after the chemotherapy pills I have to take,” he told me.

Lou and his family also care for a son afflicted with Down‘s syndrome, but it‘s much more than that - talking with him, you know instantly he‘s not only proud of his son, but shares a lot of joy with him. “He loves riding in my truck,” he told me.

Despite his own struggles, Lou - an owner-operator - always wanted to create a rolling tribute from truckers to the heroes and victims of the September 11 attacks. Finally this year he drove out to California to meet an artist that could take his dream and put it on his tractor. Lou told me they worked on his truck for a month despite wildfires that raged all around them in the California hills.

And here it stands - the “Trucker‘s Tribute” in all its glory. Special 3-D paint makes ghostly images of the two towers appear then disappear depending on the angle at which you view his truck. [Also, a loyal listener to the Glen “Jonesey” Jones show on Sirius satellite radio, Lou made a special point to have the legend “Jonesey‘s Road Dog” emblazoned over the driver door on his rig.]

It‘s a one-of-a-kind truck for a one-of-a-kind trucker - a man standing tall against whatever the fates may throw at him.

A PAUSE FOR KUDOS

Before I leave this particular post, let‘s pause for a moment for a big “thumbs up” to truck driver Dean Smith and his wife out of Clearfield, Pa. As you may have heard, several truck drivers attending the rally had their equipment towed and impounded by Henry‘s Wrecker Service in Hyattsville, Md. The company wanted $2,000 to release the three trailers and one tractor they scooped up from an area the truckers were told was OK to park in overnight.

Dean got a call for help from his fellow drivers, so he pulled $1,800 cash from his family‘s emergency fund and drove all night to reach them - all with his wife‘s blessing, despite the fact that she is suffering from cancer. “If this isn‘t an emergency, I don‘t know what is,” she reportedly said.

“Kudos” by the way is (you guessed it) a Greek word that means gaining fame or renown from an act or achievement. The Smiths certainly earned that and a lot more for helping their fellow drivers out in a time of need.

[You can view a news report on this incident below courtesy of ABC 7 News, our great local television news station]

“This place is about how highways, cars, and trucks all tie together in the transportation history of our country.” -Bob Martin, senior communications manager, Mack Trucks

Gearheads take note: if you love formula one racers, muscle cars, motorcycles and antique trucks, then you need to make the “America On Wheels” in Allentown, Pa., your next stop. Not only is this unique museum chock full of motor transport history, the building itself is a model of elegance and style. You simply can‘t ask for a better place to house the spectrum of vehicles that makes up America‘s past.

[The lobby of the “American On Wheels” museum provides visitors a quick synopsis of highway history.]

I got a special tour of “America On Wheels” - billed as “a museum of over the road transportation” - by Executive Director Linda Merkel, who probably loves this place more than anyone. I mean, the geiger-counter reading for her enthusiasm and passion concerning the vehicles under her care is simply off the charts - not that it takes much to get excited about what‘s on display.

[Gerry Kunkle’s silver ‘54 Jag — restored to perfection.]

Walk down the front hallway, for example, and the first vehicle you see is an immaculate 1954 silver Jaguar XK120, restored and owned by Gerry Kunkle. His Jag - like all the vehicles in the museum - is in tip-top working order. All you have to do is add gasoline (or diesel, where some of the vehicles in here are concerned), fire her up and off you go. Keep going and you meet a 1918 Mack AC fire truck - originally supposed to be shipped to the Western front in World War I, but which ended up being purchased by Baltimore‘s fire department.

[It’s hard to see, but to the right of this Mack 1918 AC fire engine is a perfectly restored children’s toy fire truck, complete with stuffed Bulldog at the wheel — donated to the museum by a local enthusiast.]

Turn the corner to the left and you‘ll find some alternatively fueled vehicles - including one of General Motor‘s EV-1 electric cars, which I test drove way back in the day. (I might add that it‘s more than a little depressing to figure out that you drove a museum exhibit when it was brand new - a big indicator that one is getting old!)

[The museum made sure the UPS lettering on this ‘79 Mack F-Series cabover tractor matched what the parcel delivery carrier used back in the day.]

Back into the hallway and go right, however, and you meet big trucks - like a 1979 Mack F-Series Model F785T cabover, a tractor model made famous by United Parcel Service (which allowed the museum to use the old-style UPS lettering on the vehicle to make it authentic.) A little farther over is a beautiful 1958 Mack B-70 Series dump truck, Model B753LS, restored in perfect detail by Irving Jensen, who owns a big construction firm out in Sioux City, Iowa.

[Bob Martin and Linda Merkel are working hard to raise the museum’s profile — and exhibits like Jensen’s dump truck behind them should help attract visitors.]

Obviously, Mack Trucks is a major sponsor and contributor to the “America On Wheels” museum - with Bob Martin, the company‘s senior communications manager, on its board of directors. But it‘s also a place that would never have existed without a lot of blood, sweat, and tears on Mack‘s part - in part because the concept for this museum dates back 17 years.

[Like racing? That’s a 1986 Penske PC-15 Formula One racer in the foreground, with a 2005 NASCAR Dodge Charger behind it, along iwth a 1967 McLeare M1C restored by Jack Thompson.]

Zenon Hansen, Mack‘s president from 1965 to 1974 and later chairman of the company, originally came up with the idea, though it fell to Jack Curcio, CEO after Hansen, to keep the dream alive. And it‘s a dream that became reality in April this year only after some unusual twists and turns. Originally part of a “Lehigh Landing” revitalization project, the building housing the museum is a former meatpacking plant - with part of the façade of that plant preserved in the current structure.

[You can see the remains of the old meatpacking plant’s facade to the right of the museum’s front door.]

Though almost none of the other projects of the revitalization project came to fruition, there are still hopes that the museum can spur future development of the area as it gains the attention of car and truck buffs everywhere.

[How about a little “muscle” with your sheet metal? That’s a gorgeous 1972 Oldsmobile 442 W-30, restored by Ken Maher, with a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Barracuda in the background.]

“We opened too late to host any 2008 classic car shows — they’d already set their schedules — but we‘re already on the calendar as the location for many of them in the 2009 season,” Linda Merkel told me. “We‘ve hosted two weddings here already, along with plenty of other gatherings, including car club meetings. It is a great place for things like that.”

[Here’s a rare bird — a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, restored by Ralph Barbagallo, powered by a 440 cubic inche V8 that cranks out 390 hp. Unpopular in its day, this model now fetches up to $500,000 at car auctions.]

The fact that many of the cars on display at “America On Wheels” are on loan from local enthusiasts speaks volumes about the museum‘s appeal. The facility is also rotating the vehicles on display and completely changing parts of the building‘s layout wholesale on at least a yearly basis, so visitors won‘t see the same thing twice for very long, Merkel added.

[Yes, that’s a 1984 racing lawnmower on the left, and a 2007 “Rocket Barstool Racer” on the right. Sometimes you just gotta have some fun!]

One of the best parts, however, is the attention paid to trucks drivers. Mack set up a special display area highlighting the valuable role truck drivers play in the U.S. economy, along with oral recordings of actual drivers talking about their experiences and their feelings about their profession. It‘s refreshing to see that much attention paid to a group largely ignored in the annals of our nation‘s past.

[Even Mack’s Bulldog logo has it’s own unique display case at the museum.]

Needless to say, if you ever end up near Allentown, Pa., make sure to drop in to visit “America On Wheels.” It‘s a blast from the past you won‘t soon forget.

“Being in trucking today is like playing Russian roulette. You‘re just spinning the wheel and waiting to see what happens.” -Charlie Claburn, northeast director for Truckers & Citizens United

So I‘m crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge at a bleary 5 a.m. the other day, barreling through the inky darkness towards FedEx Field in Landover, Md., home of the Washington Redskins football team.

That was the rallying point for a convoy formed by the group “Truckers & Citizens United” to drive downtown around the U.S. Capitol. They sought not only to speak out about the negative impact of high diesel prices, but also address a range of economic issues, from rampant commodity speculation in the oil markets to the tangled web of rules and regulations that are strangling small truckers across the country.

[Below is a short video of the rally in the hours before it left for the U.S. Capitol]

Arriving at the designated parking lot on the east side of the stadium, I wondered if anyone would be awake. Boy, did THAT turn out to be one of my stupider thoughts for the day.

[Media were out in force filming the trucker rally.]

Three television news crews were already set up and filming interviews, with almost all the participating truckers (some 14 brought their rigs to D.C.) up and about, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, trading laughs, commiserating about shared burdens and grief.

Daniel James “D.J.” Brown is a prime example. A dyed-in-the-wool trucker with 30 years under his belt, D.J. got dealt a heavy blow several weeks back. With his ailing mother in Kentucky just days away from her death, he asked his dispatcher for a load going her way. Instead, he found himself stuck at a dock in Dallas for five hours by a grumpy shipper, then held up in Little Rock, Ark., unable to get to his mom — with his dispatcher totally unsympathetic to his situation. In the end, D.J.‘s mom died on a Saturday morning without him. He couldn‘t get to her bedside until that night.

[The indefatigable D.J. Brown.]

“You know, driving a truck for me is a lifelong dream. I wanted to drive a truck since I was four or five years old. How many people do you know that get to live out their dreams? But now my dream is choking me out,” D.J. told me. “When my kids were growing up [he has two daughters] I‘d be out on the road five days and then back home for five days. Now, I‘m gone two or three months then home only two or three days. That‘s not enough time to see my grandkids.”

That‘s why he joined the protest convoy - deadheading from Arkansas on his own dime at the wheel of his long hood Peterbilt 379. “I‘m not over the coffee pot complaining, as my mom used to say - I‘m here trying to make a difference,” he told me. “We need to do something. We need to bring the cost of fuel down to where truck drivers can make a living, not just exist. And it‘s not just us - look at what will happen to people this winter. They‘ll have to choose between heating their homes and eating or taking their medicines to stay well.”

The general public‘s sheer ignorance about trucking motivated owner-operator Dennis Zylvitis and his wife Debbie to join the convoy. An owner-operator out of Midlothian, Ill. (with the awesome company name “Blondestar LLC”), Dennis told me he used to do all right, making decent money at the helm of his W900 Kenworth. But when fuel costs climbed to over $5 a gallon that all changed in a hurry. “It‘s killing us,” he said.

[Dennis Zylvitis and his wife Debbie — a retired 25-year veteran homicide detective from Chicago’s police force — share a moment with their beloved French bulldog Jack.]

More infuriating to him, however, is the public‘s perception of trucks and truckers. “Trucks move everything and if we go under, people will really hurt,” he stressed to me. “People also don‘t know their history. The highways weren‘t built for cars - they were built to move freight and military goods.”

What‘s even more frustrating to truckers like Billy Sutton, an owner-operator from Batavia, N.Y., is that you can do everything right from a fuel economy, business, safety, and freight delivery perspective - yet still go broke.

[The unstoppable Billy Sutton.]

“There‘s something wrong about that,” Sutton told me. A 26-year trucking veteran that operates under the wry name “BS Express,” he knows first hand how quickly the world can turn upside down for carriers and independents alike these days. For 16 years, he worked for Path Truck Lines of Dunkirk, N.Y., hauling oversized loads. When Path shut down earlier this year, though, Sutton suddenly found himself unemployed - and owed $12,000 by his former employer to boot.

Forced to go out and become a full-fledged owner-operator - spending $1,350 on new plates alone, while forking over more cash for N.Y. state‘s unique trucking insurance package, which includes a barcoded sticker - Sutton spent five weeks with no income waiting to be hired on by a new company, even fronting the money for fuel to get his first loads moving. Luckily, he finally got paid his $12,000, but it wasn‘t a happy time for him.

“It‘s so not easy to be in this business,” he told me. “Freight is moving seven days a week, 365 days a year and you have to follow the freight to make a living, like chasing a carrot just out of reach on a stick.”

To save up money to pay for the fuel he needed to attend the D.C. rally, Sutton worked for a solid month on the road - passing within a 100 miles of his home on occasion, yet unable to get there without a load to cover the cost of fuel. “That‘s just frustrating on many levels,” he said.

Even more so is the way truckers are treated. “The Department of Labor classifies us as ‘unskilled workers,‘ even though we need a license, are required to go to trucking school now, and must operate very complex equipment,” Sutton pointed out. “Do you know how that makes truckers feel, irrespective of the paycheck issue? A kid working at McDonald‘s can get paid more, as they get mandatory wage increases for overtime and extra work. We don‘t.”

Charlie Claburn - northeast director for Truckers & Citizens United and an owner-operator himself out of Hudson Falls, N.Y. - told me these are just of the issues his group is working to resolve, along with many others that not only plague trucking but U.S. society at large.

[The one and only Charlie Claburn, who lacks a CB handle of all things, if you can believe it.]

“We want to stop oil speculation; we want regulations that work; we want affordable truck insurance that doesn‘t eat up weekly settlements; and we want time with our families,” Claburn said - noting that it came as a shock to his own family, one boy and two girls, when he hit the road for three and half weeks straight this summer. “More importantly, though, we want the American dream back.”

Claburn grew up on a dairy farm and became a dairy farmer himself - his whole family treating his cattle like pets - until spending $18 per hundredweight to make milk didn‘t equate with the $16 per hundredweight the market paid him. He turned to trucking in 2000, figured it would be an easy way for him to make a living, since he‘d operated heavy equipment and trucks his whole life. “But I found out this industry was harder and more cutthroat than farming ever was,” Claburn said.

“But why is that? For example, why do we deal with fuel surcharges and all this other nonsense? Why can‘t we get paid a decent wage that covers all of this and let‘s us have a decent life? Why are we being dunned for higher insurance premiums when the government is bailing those same insurance carriers out for their bad investments?” he asks.

Then there‘s the more personal impact. “I can‘t take my wife out to dinner and a movie anymore - we eat McDonald‘s in front of the television. My kids are super-smart, but will we be able to afford college with what we make?” Claburn wonders. “I‘ll be OK - my wife works at a bank, so even if I fail in trucking we‘ll be able to support our family. But most truckers don‘t have that fall back. This is their one and only livelihood. And the way things are going now is not good for anyone anymore.”

“Ability is what you‘re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” -Lou Holtz, former head coach, University of Notre Dame football team.

Trucks are expensive - getting more so every year. While pollution reduction mandates imposed by the federal government are one of the prime reasons behind higher new equipment prices (the 2007 regulations alone added upwards of $10,000 to the base sticker of a Class 8 tractor) rising commodity costs for basic materials such as steel and aluminum are fueling further increases.

For example, back in July, Navistar International Corp. raised sticker prices on its models due to the DOUBLING of commodity prices in just six months - increases topping out at $1,600 per truck. Prices soared this year for commodities essential to truck manufacturing, such as crude oil, steel, aluminum, copper, and precious metals used in new emissions-compliant diesel engines, noted James Hebe, senior vice president of North American dealer operations for Navistar.

“Since the beginning of 2008, steel has increased 100%, aluminum by 22%, platinum by 32% and copper by 23% - while crude oil prices jumped by more than 40%,” he said. Though oil has dropped since July‘s historic high of nearly $150 per barrel, manufacturers are still feeling the pinch.

“We are acutely aware of the financial constraints that many truck customers are currently facing and have been working diligently to absorb as much of these costs as possible,” said Hebe. “However, global commodity spikes are affecting all manufacturing and we finally, regretfully, must now share those additional costs with the customer.”

So what‘s a fleet or owner-operator to do? Especially if they are in the market for new equipment? One option that is getting more consideration these days is going with used trucks - one that has less of a downside than in years past, as many used trucks today are aerodynamically shaped and spec‘d for the best possible fuel economy. Also, a range of new deals are giving buyers across the trucking spectrum more acquisition options.

I talked to Richard Holmes about this phenomenon recently (and being the consummate truck salesman, he asked me to make sure I printed his phone number - 1-800- 827-7692 - in case any readers wanted additional information or sales assistance) and how used truck dealers are adapting to it.

[Richard Holmes.]

Richard‘s company, Arrow Truck Sales Inc. (he works out of their Elizabeth, N.J., branch) is offering a “Zero Down” program on 2004, 2005 and 2006 Volvo VNL 670‘s with payments as low as $1,199 for the 2004‘s, $1,299 for the 2005‘s and $1,399 for the 2006‘s. Prices range from $43,950 for a 2004 model with 400,000-449,000 miles up to $61,950 for a 2006 model with 200,000-249,000 miles.

To make these used Volvo VNL 670s more attractive to fleets - trucks available in white, red or black with Cummins ISX or Volvo VED12 engines, with 250,000 to 449,000 miles on them - Arrow is offering a “Fleet Owner Assistance Program” for a limited time, extending not only favorable low interest plan but also a standard 30-day free warranty, with extended warranties available thru Arrow‘s partner National Truck Protection for three years or 300,000 miles.

The critical thing about these used trucks, Richard told me, is that their average fuel consumption is 6.63 miles per gallon (mpg). “The fuel savings achieved by replacing older less fuel efficient trucks with these smooth riding, comfortable, fuel efficient used Volvos can easily provide for the funds to make the payments for these trucks with money to spare,” he said. “In general, they provide for much needed fuel price relief in the form of increased fuel efficiency.”

There‘s another side to the used truck coin, however - something that applies to brand new trucks as well, actually. You must take care of the equipment properly in order to maximize the value you expect to get out of it. And when it comes to maintenance, there‘s just one guy you need to talk to: Darry Stuart, president of Wrenthem, Mass.-based DWS Fleet Management.

Past chairman of the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), Stuart‘s as old school as you can get. As a former fleet manager that‘s handled everything from refuse trucks to long-haul tractor-trailers over a nearly 40-year maintenance career, Stuart stresses that the key maintenance details remain pretty much the same for almost all commercial vehicles.

“You use the same basic maintenance philosophy, altering it slightly depending on the needs of a particular application,” he‘s told me on many an occasion. “All trucks have batteries, tires, engines, and other components that need to be maintained. The use-pattern of a truck‘s particular application just dictates what components you look at first and how often.”

For that reason, he uses a rough “rule of thumb” list covering the critical components any fleet needs to keep on top of day in and day out from a maintenance perspective. I‘ve run his list before, but it‘s worth bringing it up again. In no particular order, his basic maintenance rules are:

Batteries: If the battery charge is low, the truck may not start and so doesn‘t even get out of the gate, he says. Stuart stresses that battery cables have to be disconnected and cleaned to make sure a full charge is getting through. Of particular concern: low voltage batteries, though they may get a truck started, put a lot more pressure on the truck‘s alternator, leading to a shorter life cycle.

Cooling systems: Truck engines today generate a lot of heat - so the cooling system has to be in top shape, for not only can corrosion over time lead to leaks in the cooling hoses, the high temperatures generated by the engine and other systems can evaporate any traces of coolant leaks, making a problem that much harder to find. So regular pressure testing of the cooling system is a must.

Tires: This is probably one of the most expensive areas for truck maintenance, especially as tire damage from scuffing curbs or punctures from highway debris can increase tire costs in a hurry. Stuart says the key is to keep tires properly inflated and make sure the front axle is aligned properly to minimize abnormal tire wear. “I stress that you check the front axle “toe” at every PM, because it takes just 5 minutes to check,” he says. “If the toe is out of alignment, you have to fix it, because that is what wears tires out the most.”

U-bolts/fasteners: Stuart is fanatic about the need to re-torque chassis and axles u-bolts and fasteners at every PM because all the twisting and turning plus heavy loading and unloading refuse trucks endure forces a lot of vibration thru those connections every day. “They are holding your truck together so you have to watch them,” he says.

Oil and grease: Stuart is a big believer in buying the best engine oil and component grease available, simply because they can help add life to your equipment. “Front ends, clutch linkages, and especially u-joints need the best grease you can buy,” he says. “If you don‘t grease a u-joint regularly, it‘s going to blow out on you, and when that happens you have to tow the vehicle in - that‘s expensive. That‘s why paying attention the small details helps you avoid the big problems in the long run.”

It all basically boils down to taking care of business on the front and back end when you buy a truck - whether it‘s new or used rolling stock. For in this day and age, when even the sticker price on a used truck can run into the high five - if not six - figures, you can‘t afford to ignore the basics.

“Thought, like all potent weapons, is exceedingly dangerous if mishandled. Clear thinking is therefore desirable not only in order to develop the full potentialities of the mind, but also to avoid disaster.” -Giles St. Aubyn

Beware becoming a commodity - that‘s a critical piece of advice many transportation experts tell me truckers must internalize. I‘ve heard this warning for years and it‘s spot-on. Just look around this industry today - it‘s littered with bankrupt fleets and owner-operators not so much because diesel prices set new records earlier this year (above $5 a gallon in many parts of the U.S.) but because truckers could not get shippers to pay adequate fuel surcharges to cover the increased cost of fuel.

The reason for that is simple - many shippers believe a truck is a truck is a truck, for freight capacity is a commodity to them, like sacks of wheat. One sack will do just as well as another, especially when they think cheaper is better. That‘s why truckers need to re-think how they communicate with their freight customers, especially in terms of communicating the value they provide shippers and receivers.

[Helping truckers — especially small carriers — demonstrate that value to their customers while charging enough to be profitable is what our stalwart Contributing Editor Tim Brady does all the time. He’s a great resource and should be on your short list of contacts when you have business issues to deal with.]

It‘s not just about having a truck and trailer in the right freight lane at the right time. It‘s about recognizing the value of providing safe, damage-free, and consistent delivery of freight on time, almost every time. It‘s about providing shippers with drivers that are polite, knowledgeable, and above all safety conscious. It‘s about maintaining safe equipment that passes inspection and doesn‘t break down. It‘s about being a leader in all facets of the business - able to use FAST lanes at the border, offer Internet-based updates due to tracking and tracing technology, and being paperless.

All of these qualities are valuable to a shipper - and shippers must learn to recognize and appreciate them for what they provide in terms of improving their own business and service to their customers.

Mike McCarron, a managing partner at the MSM Group of Companies that specializes in transportation and logistics service between Canada and the U.S., touched on these very same issues his excellent July column “Stick to your Guns” (which he writes for the print edition of FleetOwner) so you should check it out for his perspective.

Also, as usual, Professor Jerry Osteryoung from the college of business at Florida State University has some thoughts on this topic that I‘d like to share. Professor Osteryoung, the floor is yours:

“Deciding what a customer needs in terms of products and services is by no means easy. Clearly, every business is capable of providing many more services than a customer might need. In a like manner, a business can give a customer less than what they really need as well. Finding the balance between what the customer needs and what they can afford lies at the heart of a business‘ profitability as well as its ability to meet the needs of its customers.

One client we worked with was struggling with profitability. They were having trouble increasing profits. After extensive discussion, we ascertained that this firm was giving the customer what they thought was a competitive price for a number of additional services. While in theory this sounds good, the firm was incurring the cost of these additional services in a market that just did not value them. Consequently, their profits suffered simply because they were not really aware of what their customer really needed.

The idea of cutting back on their services was particularly difficult for this firm to accept. They felt that this was who they were and their integrity would be at stake if they were to discontinue providing the services that they thought the customer needed.

After repeatedly beating them over the heads [figuratively, of course!] we were able get them to understand, and they came around. The firm has now aligned its service offerings with its prices, and its profits are doing very well.

As illustrated by this example, knowing what customers need is critical to profitability, and one of the best ways to find out is to talk to them frequently. I know one bank CEO that keeps his office very close to the lobby so that he can meet and talk to his customers as much as possible in order to ascertain what their real needs are. Other CEOs periodically go out and visit both large and small customers to find out how their firm is doing and to make sure that the firm is really servicing its customers.

A great way to make sure that you are not under or over-servicing customers is to send out a questionnaire asking them to comment on the products or services that you provide. The more input you can get about your customers‘ needs, the better you will be able to develop products to service them.”

As always, you can reach Professor Osteryoung by e-mail at jostery@comcast.net .

“I look at these trucks as big sculptures - a huge artistic canvas - and it‘s my goal to create and publish the definitive coffee table book about custom trucks from around the world.” -Roger Snider, photographer

Roger Snider wants to change the way people think about heavy commercial trucks - and this reporter is pulling for him to succeed in his quest in a big BIG way.

[Roger has a soft spot for retro cabovers, such as this one proudly displayed by Bill Rethwisch.]

I talked to Roger recently by phone after I‘d luckily been forwarded a link to his one-of-a-kind website, “Ultra Rigs of the World.” To say I was blown away by his photography is an understatement - to characterize his photographs as “gorgeous” doesn‘t do them an ounce of justice.

This is a guy that‘s held four ART GALLERY shows to display his work - the kind of shows one usually associates with snobby New York City faux-intellectuals, looking all kinds of bizarre nonsense being passed off as art whilst nibbling on foo-foo food. And do you know what Roger did? He brought not one but TWO of the custom trucks and their owners pictured in his photographs to those shows, so the people could see these rigs live and in living color and get the owners to expound on their craftsmanship in detail.

[He also got his truck shots featured in the counter-cultural hip art mag Swindle this year as well … not the place you’d expect to find a feature on custom trucks, let me tell you!]

“I want to take this custom truck culture out of its niche and bring it to the public at large,” Roger told me. “And I want a couple of the truck owner‘s there because I don‘t like to speak on their behalf - I am not nearly as intimate with these artistic creations as they are. I want the public to connect with THEM through my work, not just with me.”

How COOL is that philosophy, I ask you? Bringing custom truck owners to ART GALLERY shows about big rigs? Not hiding them away out of sight and out of mind, but getting the public to mingle with them?

“To me, these are the coolest, most amazing works of art - and it‘s WORKING art, too,” Snider said. “These people literally live in these trucks - they don‘t just sit in a museum somewhere.”

A native of Miami, Roger fell in love with trucks at a very young age after numerous road trips to the outskirts of Roanoke, Va., to visit family relatives in the late 1970s. He badgered his parents into taking him to the truck stop down the road every night so he could look at all the glistening steel and chrome for hours on end it seemed - cementing in his mind the desire to be one of those truck drivers when he grew up.

Yet another passion intervened - photography. Bitten by the shutter bug in college in the mid 1990s, he became a fashion photographer, leaving Florida for San Francisco, then eventually New York and finally Los Angeles. Trucking had receded into the dim memories of his brain until fate, leavened with grief, intervened in August 2005.

[Roger Snider.]

“My father was dying of cancer and I was on a plane back to Miami - needless to say, in no frame of mind to talk with anyone. I just wasn‘t in a good place,” Roger told me. “So on the plane with me is a group of three people I immediately peg as a film crew. And while waiting for our bags, the director comments on my cool shoes - which were the same brand he was wearing. One thing led to another and we started talking.”

That director was none other than Doug Pray (who‘s been in this space before), at the time on the final leg of a five year effort to make the documentary “Big Rig” about the trucking industry. As luck would have it, that conversation eventually led Pray to hire Snider to take some still shots of the last leg of their nationwide tour in May 2006 to find truckers willing to let Pray film their stories. That re-awakened the long-dormant trucker inside of Snider, leading to his dramatic shift from fashion to trucking photography.

“For me, I‘m focusing on the worldwide phenomenon of custom trucks - it‘s not just about the trucks here in the U.S.,” he explained to me. “In Japan, they have these exquisite ‘art trucks‘ - mirrored by similar creations in countries like Australia, Pakistan, even Switzerland.”

[Custom trucks are not just a U.S. phenomenon.]

Snider‘s gone to Japan and Europe to photograph custom rigs and hopes to line up sponsors to allow him to travel to Australia and photograph the mighty road trains plying the Outback, to Asia, Latin America, and who knows where else.

“My goal for the next four years is to go all over the world, take pictures of all these different custom trucks, and put together the ultimate global coffee table book about them,” he said. “I‘m really coming at this from an eight year-olds sensitivity, trying to capture that level of excitement, passion, and wonder in my work. As I meet more custom truck owners and they learn to trust me, I‘ll keep expanding my work, too.”

[Roger makes sure the owner — not just the custom rig — gets highlighted in his work.]

Snider‘s over-arching goal, though, is to change how people think about trucking, truckers, and the rigs they drive. And so far, he thinks it‘s working.

“After my gallery shows, the people attending told me they viewed trucks differently - in some cases actually began ‘seeing‘ them for the first time ever,” he told me. “Trucks used to be almost invisible to them on the highway, merely part of the background. Now, they noticed them, respected them, treated them differently. That‘s what I want to achieve.”

[Roger and his wife touring Japan to record images of that country’s venerable “art truck” culture.]

If he keeps taking pictures like the ones you see here, let me tell you, Roger will have no problem doing it. Here’s to you, Roger! Keep at it man!

“This is a brand new way to price car insurance that allows drivers to pay based on how they actually drive.” -Richard Hutchinson, general manager for the new “MyRate” program at the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies

Here‘s an idea that should be readily applied in the trucking industry: give insurance discounts based on good driving data. It‘s a concept now being applied to the car-insurance world, but one easily applicable to truckers, since the technology being used is already onboard many commercial vehicles already.

It‘s called “behavior-based insurance” and it relies on data recorded by a small device at attached to the vehicle that records vehicle speed, hard braking incidents, following distance, and other metrics, along with when the vehicle is being operated (specific time periods during day and night. Data that indicates good driving habits equals a lower risk profile for a crash - and that means lower premiums for those drivers, says Richard Hutchinson, general manager for the new “MyRate” program at the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies.

“Are you the poster child for safe driving, always leaving plenty of space between you and the car ahead? Or a business traveler who parks your car at the airport or train station several days a week? Or maybe you have a car that you only take out for a spin on warm summer days. If so, your car is probably less likely to be involved in a crash - so shouldn‘t you pay less for car insurance?” he notes in a press release announcing the new program.

MyRate offers lower rates on vehicles that are driven in less risky ways - giving car drivers a customized rate based on how, how much, and when their car is driven. It‘s now available to drivers in Maryland, Alabama, and New Jersey that purchase polices directly from Progressive online or by phone though it‘ll become available through independent insurance agents beginning Sept. 26 this year.

“MyRate is designed for consistent and safe drivers,” Hutchinson says. “It‘s for people who drive at low risk times of day and who keep alert for others on the road. They don‘t make fast lane changes or follow too closely behind other drivers so they don‘t have to over-react or slam on the brakes.”

The small wireless device Progressive plugs into a port in their car allows the company to “see” see how cars are being driven, how much they drive, and when it‘s being operated, he explains. Cars driven less often, in less risky ways and at less risky times of day can receive a lower premium - a first-term discount of up to 10% just for signing up. Then, upon policy renew, they could get a 25% discount or more based on their driving habits. There is also a $30 technology expense each policy period for the cost of the device and data transmission, Hutchinson adds.

“Customers can also access their driving data on a secure, password protected Web site and get an up-to-date view of their driving habits and how those habits are affecting their rate,” he says. “Customers who don‘t like what they see can modify their driving behaviors in ways that can lead to a discount, such as driving more defensively, driving less, and driving at less risky times of day.”

This isn‘t the first time Progressive has dabbled in information technology to find ways to lower insurance premiums for customers and risk exposure for themselves. The company‘s initial foray into usage-based insurance started in 1999 with a program in Texas called Autograph, followed by a pilot program in Minnesota, Michigan, and Oregon using “TripSense” back in 2004. Now, MyRate is stepping to the fore, with plans to roll it out nationwide pending regulatory approval by the states.

Needless to say, a program like this would be an easy slam-dunk in trucking‘s corner of the world, I think. For starters, devices capable of detailed data capture and transmission already exist onboard many commercial vehicles from many different vendors - Qualcomm, PeopleNet, and Xata, just to name a few. Insurers could easily tap into these systems for the data they need and offer safe drivers - from owner-operators up to the big fleets - insurance discounts.

Of course, it can‘t be done overnight, but the benefits seem clear. Any independent or fleet willing to share data proving they drive safe and professionally at all times deserves an opportunity to save money on their premiums - for that, in turn, gives the insurance carrier proof of a lower risk profile. This is a pretty clear-cut win-win for truckers and their insurance providers, courtesy of technology. Let‘s hope someone picks up this ball and runs with it.

“Have you ever heard the story … of mister faded glory … say that he that rides the pony must some … day … fall …” -Mother Love Bone

You‘ve just got to shake your head and wonder these days. I mean, how does a supposedly astute financial behemoth like Lehman Brothers Holdings end up in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings from its portfolios of MORTAGE LOANS? Lehman Brothers, a company founded by two cotton brokers in Montgomery, Ala., in 1850! Cripes, that‘s before the Civil War!

There‘s a couple of reasons I think we‘re racing pell mell over the edge of reason and financial ruin right now in the U.S. (the federal government just loaned American Insurance Group over $80 billion so it could stay in business - an INSURANCE company in need of a loan to stay afloat! There‘s some rich irony)

The main one is pretty simple, though: we‘ve forgotten what we‘re supposed to be doing in this great country of ours. We used to be a country that made things, both in terms of inventing and manufacturing a whole bevy of history-changing products (The Model T, the telephone, personal computers, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems) and scientific knowledge. People came from all over the world - and STILL do! - to learn and grow in our university system. Free top-notch education used to be a gold standard in this country - a public schooling system unrivaled by anyone. And we used to keep the nation‘s ledger book balanced, too.

Now look at us. For 42 of the last 47 years, we‘ve had federal deficits. Many of our schools are crummy - we spend billions to shore up the facilities, yet the kids learn squat. One L.A. high school is struggling with a 58% drop out rate. School systems across the nation have resorted to PAYING students (and parents) to GO TO SCHOOL and LEARN! Our most precious resource - the knowledge and works skills of our people - is dissipating before our eyes.

The financial pillars of our nation are crumbling, because the supposed “Wizards of Wall Street” are more interested in gaming the system for dollars than investing in innovation. Mortgage loans to people with poor to non-existent credit histories is a Finance 101 no-no. Just like Enron‘s balance book sleight of hand to hide red ink, recent commodity speculation, and the Internet investment bubble in the late 20th century, all were shell games played with retirement account monies, pension funds, etc. No one at all seems interested in Warren Buffet‘s solid strategy of investing long-term in companies that DO things, that MAKE things, that IMPROVE the world.

I mean we‘re bailing out financial schemers and insurance misers (the kind of companies that DON‘T pay out claims to folks who‘ve faithfully paid their premiums for years), yet I am sure we‘ll snub our own automakers and their request for $25 billion in loans. Now, sure the former “Big Three” - General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford - all made HUGE mistakes in product planning and labor relations, but good lord, they MAKE things, and make them all over the world. State governments gave loads of tax breaks and incentives to Honda, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, and others to build car factories in the U.S. Why can‘t we help our OWN folks?

Finally, there‘s our larger fiscal mess - the nearly $10 trillion worth of federal debt, a current annual federal budget projected to be $500 BILLION in the red, and a general unwillingness among corporations and individual taxpayers to pay their fair share. We‘ve totally forgotten what we‘re doing here.

This is not a Democrat, Republican, Green, Purple, or whatever party problem - this is an EVERYONE problem. As I said before, for 42 of the last 47 years we‘ve had federal deficits - since 1961, our national government‘s books have only been in the black FIVE times. A lot of White House administrations and Congresses have come and gone over half a century, but NONE of them are addressing the big problems. Even saving $125 billion by winding down the Iraq war - a highly optimistic estimate, says noted Economist Robert J. Samuelson - wouldn‘t erase the deficit

Andrew Yarrow notes in his book “Forgive Us Our Debts” that outlays for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - which already totals nearly two-fifths of the federal government‘s $2.9 trillion spending this year - are ballooning rapidly. By 2030, federal taxes could rise 50 percent if all spending programs are kept on automatic pilot, he says.

“The mismatch between the government‘s existing spending commitments and the present tax base is so great that we cannot simply tinker a little with government,” says Samuelson in one of his columns. A frequent contributor to the Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine, Samuelson pulls no punches.

“People complain about governmental gridlock. But what often obstructs constructive change is public opinion,” he said in a recent column. “We avoid messy problems; we embrace inconsistent and unrealistic ambitions. We want more health care and lower health costs; cheap energy and less dependence on foreign energy; more government spending and lower taxes. The more unattainable our goals, the more we blame ‘special interests,‘ ‘lobbyists‘ and other easy scapegoats.”

We need to look in the mirror a lot more if you ask me. I mean, our superb local radio news channel WTOP found that the 449,531 current and retired federal workers owed some $3.5 BILLION in unpaid taxes for JUST last year! The Smithsonian and Postal Service had the highest delinquency rates out of the bunch - 5.5% and 4.16%, respectively, according to data compiled by the Internal Revenue Service. Then there‘s the U.S. business community, which continues to hone its tax evasion skills into a fine art. Companies skipped out on $32 billion worth of taxes in 2001 alone, according to the IRS — and as the agency only audits 1% of corporate returns, expect such shenanigans to rise.

Finally, we get to the presidential election this year - one with history in the making. Either the first African American ever will be president, or we‘ll elect the first former prisoner of war ever to the presidency, along with the very first female vice president. Yet both campaigns are ignoring the big issues - and this will cost all of us dearly.

“In this campaign, we have a candor gap,” says Samuelson. “By and large, Americans want to be told what government will do for them - as individuals, as families, and as consumers - and not what it will do for the country‘s long-term well-being, especially if that imposes some immediate cost or inconvenience. Grasping this, our leading politicians engage in a consensual censorship to skip issues that involve distasteful choices or that require deferred gratification. They prefer to assign blame and promise benefits. So elections come and go, there are winners and losers - and our problems fester.”

Let‘s hope, then, that we stop forgetting what we‘re supposed to be doing - then go do what needs to be done.