Ice Road Truckers....

      I saw the promotional announcements for the TV
series 'Ice Road Truckers' and it got me to thinking
about the industry that I retired from in 2009. The 
trucking industry is responsible for everything in
your home at this exact moment. From furniture, 
appliances, lawn equipment, plumbing, to the 
groceries in the pantry,..a truck brought it to the
store where you purchased it. I did my share of
general merchandise hauling all over the country,
but when I got the chance to drive for Wal-Mart
I jumped at the opportunity.  I joined the WM
Private Fleet in 1997 and retired in 2009.
Now to the ice storm part of this story..  When the 
TV weather guy calls for an impending storm, you
can bet the customers will clean out the shelves of
essentials. It is up to the distribution center to refill
those empty shelves, and more importantly, the WM
driver to get the merchandise and food to the stores.
Wal-Mart is annually rated the safest fleet of trucks
in the country...and the most dependable. Even with 
ice and snow on the highways and roads, it is rare
when the load does not arrive at the store on time.
The stores usually clean the loading dock area after
the rest of the parking lot has been cleared of snow
and ice. This becomes another problem for the drivers
to contend with, and usually it comes down to an
argument with store management before the dock area
gets attention. A loaded truck is easier to handle in
snow conditions than an empty truck as the weight 
works to give the truck more traction. The loaded
trailer is easier to put against the loading dock as the
driver can just let the truck slowly idle down into the
pit. Without any weight on the drive axles it is a lot
harder to pull the empty trailer away from the dock.
The safe course of action would be to just park the
truck but when a store is in dire need of re-supplying
the load must go through.

Will Rick Run for Prez ??

     With the field of Republican candidates already 

depleted of anyone with a real shot at defeating President
Obama, conservatives have turned their eyes to the 
State of Texas once again. Texas Governor Rick Perry
is seen as a candidate that can bring conservatives and
middle of the road Republicans together in an effort to
make Barack Obama another one-term President.
   Perry has already stirred the emotions of the Democrats
by saying 'he is considering a run for President.' The 
Liberals know their chances of winning against the 
current field of candidates is extremely good and they 
want to keep it that way. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, 
Sarah Palin, and the others are just re-cycled candidates
from the past with a lot of baggage. The liberals are 
already trying to label Perry as 'another George W. Bush.'
Perry spoke to a conservative group in New Orleans this
past weekend and left them standing and cheering. Perry
is definitely a more staunch conservative than George W.
Bush ever was. The economic downturn that has other 
states on the brink of bankruptcy has not even touched
Texas. Under Perry's guidance, Texas has accumulated a
treasury in the millions of dollars. The schools in Texas
have created a crisis by becoming totally depended on funds from the state. An educational system that wants more and more money each year, while turning out students that can't read or do simple math will not work. Now the teachers (read
that Educators) want to make the State of Texas the heavy by proclaiming, 'Texas is withholding funds from the school system.' The American Education Association (teachers union) has already endorsed Barack Obama for reelection and they don't even know who his opponent will be. IF,...Rick Perry becomes President...his first course of action should be...the elimination of the Department of Education,... the
Environmental Protection Agency,...and the Department of Human Resources. Let the independent State Governments
guide their own futures instead of having the Federal Government mandate what is good for them. With a blanket decree over the entire country, it cannot possible be right for fifty different states. Maybe Rick Perry IS the man for the moment in time.