Speakout
8 OVERDRIVE JUNE 2009 Speak Out The Voice of the American Trucker I understand they wanna clear the air, but they're a little too strict. They've almost overburdened us with all the rules. Trucking company manager Dino Guadagni speaking to the Contra Costa Times on California's emissions laws E-mail your letter to the editor or Reflections submission about your trucking memories to LCoulter@rrpub.com or mail them to , P.O. Box 3187, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403. Include a photo of yourself if you can. Published Reflections submissions will receive a keychain pocketknife and hat, license plate and T-shirt. SH AR E W ITH OVERDRIVE I have both. I use the hand-held more often because some people say they can't hear me on the Bluetooth. EDDIE VIESCA San Antonio, Texas Tennessee Steel Haulers I still use hand-held. I'm going to be getting some sort of headset the next time I get a good paycheck. Freight's been slow. PETER KIRCH Monett, Mo. Crete Carrier I'm already using a hands-free set because it's safer and you hear better with a headset than a hand-held. ROBERT DYKES Pensacola, Fla. Coastal Bedding I don't talk on the phone at all. I see other drivers doing it and it looks danger-ous. I use it when I stop at the end of the day. ANTOINE PENDLETON Orlando, Fla. Swift I use both an earpiece and an overhead visor. I see enough weaving on the road with guys in cars using hand-held phones. JOHN CUNNINGHAM Paragould, Ark. King Service A headset. I can keep more attention on the road. CHRIS BARNES Selma, Ala. Covenant Transport Do you use a headset or hand-held device with your cell phone? When I read Randy Munson's letter, The Road Not Taken (SpeakOut, April), I recalled all drivers I know who had the same conflicts between career and family choices. I was that way to a degree, but when I became an independent owner-operator after eight years of demanding work for a feedyard, I decided that work would not take the place of any aspect of my first responsibility, my family. Being independent allowed me to adjust my work load for my family events. I coached my kids in Little League and managed to see all of their school events. I make time for church and my sixth grade Sunday school class. My wife and I have been married for 32 years and have a nice home. The many guys I know who let truck-ing ruin their lives have told me that they don't know what happened to their lives and their families. Some of their kids have gotten into trouble. Others lost their spouses. One of the worst consequences of the trucking lifestyle is poor health: Some of the guys who were about my age died because of infirmities developed while trucking. Others still liv-ing have lost most of their teeth. It seems that Randy's varying levels of job and family commitment through-out his career have worked out for him. I know that this is not the outcome for many who have let trucking destroy their lives. ZACH BEADLE Z.B. & Sons Transportation Devine, Texas The choices between job and family are tough No one returns my call. No one answers. I talk to a helpful assistant. What happens when you call government agencies? I'd rather try to contact a space alien. A person answers but is no help.