White Rose Adventures

Riding into NYC

OK, call me crazy or as I prefer, adventurous, but I did something that many would probably cringeto do. I rode my Harley INTO New York City! Yes, you read that right. I rode my bike into NYC! Having been a truck driver for 18 years and having gone into the city in a big truck, I really thought that it would be easier for me on a bike then in a big truck. WORNG!!!! My brother and I had talked about me riding into the north side of the city and catching the subway down to the Sirius studios. I plotted sever routes including that one. I wanted to be prepared just in case I did miss something and had to go a different way. Well, I missed them ALL! I missed staying on I287 somehow and ended up on the Palisades Parkway. I was OK with that. It was one of the routes I had looked at. So I figured that I would just ride it down to the GW, cross into the city and catch 9A south. Well, that didn’t happen either. There were signs saying that cash toll had to exit. So I exited the parkway and looked for the signs for the GW Bridge. Some how I also missed that GW and ended up seeing signs for I95 south. I decided that I would grab that, go down to the next exit, do a flip and get back to the GW. Then I saw a sing for the Vince Lombardi service plaza. I pulled in there to take a look at the directions I had written out. A man sitting in a van asked me where I was trying to go. I explained and he said it would be easier for me to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. My dumb-ass decided to take the advice and cross into the city through the tunnel! What a mistake that was!

There was a big traffic jam getting to the toll both for the tunnel. Now I ride a Harley. All Harley’s are air cooled. All the stop and go traffic and sitting and idling for so long made my bike start to over heat! It started running funny. I made my way fro the far left lane to the far right lane in case it shut off on me, or I could find a place to pull off and let it cool! Let me tell ya, there is NO place to safely get out of the way and let a bike cool off. Since I was right at the beginning of the down hill to the toll booth, I shut if off and hope that I hate not over heated it so much that it would not start back up when I needed it to. The guy in the SUV behind me was laughing. He gave me a sympathetic look and laughed when I looked back at him. I just shook my head, shrugged my shoulders and continued to pushed my bike forward as the traffic moved. I pushed it forward and let it coast all the way to the tool booth. Luckily, it started!

I entered the tunnel and hoped that I could make it through without another back up. I knew it would not take much for it to over heat again. Yeah, you guessed it, the traffic slowed and then backed up about half way through. It didn’t take long and the bike was running funny again. I prayed that I could just get through the tunnel and find a place to let it cool off again. I knew I was going to be late getting to the show and I hate being late! I finally made it through the tunnel and started taking right hand exits til I found some place that I could safely park and let it cool off for a bit. I ended up on the corner of Dyer Ave and West 30th St, down by the post office.

I sat there a while, looked at my map and fired up Google Latitude on my phone. I knew where I needed to be, I just had to figure out what was the best way to get there and not over heat again. The Sirius studios are on the Corner of 49th and Avenue of the Americas. I had found a parking garage on 45th that I wanted to park my bike. I plotted the route on my phone and then looked around. I needed to get to 10th St and take a right. Because of where I had stopped, I was going to have to do one of 2 things, go around the block and deal with the traffic lights, or go the wrong way on 30th for half a block. Hummm….can you guess what I did? That’s right, I went the wrong way on 30th, hung a right and headed down 10th St.

As I was slowing at a stop light that had just turned green, a man started yelling, “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” I don’t know if he was yelling that becasue I was on a bike, had loud pipes, or becaseu I have my American Flag and PGR flag flying from the saddlebags. I also had on my PGR vest that has “Support the Troops” all over it as well. He could have been yelling at that. I just threw my right arm out and shot him the bird. Yea, it don’t take long to get into the “city” mode and give them their crap back at em!

I continued up 10th St till I got to 46th and found the parking garage that I wanted to park in. I pulled in, got my ticket and walked 2 block to Ave of the Americas, hung a left and walked another 3 blocks to the McGraw Building where the Sirius studio for Freewheelin is. I got through the security, hopped on the elevator to the 36th floor and was finally there!

I was escorted into the Freewheelin studio, got hugs from Chris T and Meredith and settled in for the show. We had lots of old friends from Road Dogs on Hogs call in as well as many other drivers that wanted to say hi or talk about their road trips with their family. (That was the topic of the show today.) It was a great show and I really enjoyed being back in the studio with them. During one break, Chris and I talked about the best way for me to get out of the city without frying my bike. Thanks Chris T, it was great! After the show Meredith walked me down to see Jermey Tepper and I gave all 3 of them Road Dogs on Hogs patches.

I left the Sirius studios and started my walk back to 46th & 8th where I had parked my bike. I made a quck stop in the middle of Time Square to take a look around. There are LOTS of people milling around in a very small area there. I took a couple of pictures and headed on to my bike. When I got to the garage, I went to the cashier to pay for my parking. they charged me $34 for parking there 3 hours. Yes, you read that right. I was told it was $17 for one hour or $34 for all day…there was nothing for the in between length of time. I got on my bike and headed west to 9A, the Hudson PRKWY.

I had a straight shot with NO stop lights all the way to the GW Bridge! As soon as I came off the bridge I hopped on the Palisades PRKWY and headed north to US6 which brought me right back to the hotel. It was a nice ride back up here. I even stopped at one of the overlooks and had a bite of lunch. All in all it was a great day and now I can say that I have not only driven a big truck in NYC, I have now done the CRAZY thing of riding a motorcycle into NYC!

Things Are Getting Better

I do believe that Murphy is on his last leg now. After we left Bert’s bike in NC, we made it to Roanoke, VA. A friend of Dad’s owns a bike shop there.  We got him to fix Dad’s bike and go pick up Bert’s. Then we made our way to CT. My nephew, John was to graduate high school on Saturday and it looked like we WERE going to make it in the night before. YEAH!! When we got there Bert bought a new Harley! The old one was to be part of John’s graduation present, along with this trip.

Saturday I rode down to the Groton Harley shop to get a t-shirt and a cover for Bert’s new bike. I was a great ride! I made it back just in time to grab a show at camp and get ready for John’s graduation. Yea, we all went on the bikes. As you can see from the picture below, he is as big a cut-up as his dad and aunt!

John had told us about a pig roast that was being done by one of his friend’s parents. He told us that they were “rednecks.” Of course, we all laughed. I told him that I didn’t know that there were rednecks this far north, but I guess they could be redneck for CT! We all teased him about it. (Yes, I know there are rednecks all over!) Sunday we went to the “CT redneck’s” house for the pig roast. It was good food and good people! But most of the day was spent repacking the bikes and trailers. Since it rained on us several times during the day we got as much packed as we could that was not wet.

Bert also had John take his new bike out for a ride…by himself! John has been riding dirt bikes for a while, but they are a lot smaller and lighter than this big Ultra Classic that Bert had just bought. He gave him the keys and told him to be back in an hour. As he rode off, Bert turned to me and said, “There goes my baby boy!”

Monday morning, Bert and I wrote out the route for the roads that we would be taking that day. Some how Bert had formatted the GPS and it wasn’t working. Dad was totally lost without it! We finished packing the tents and chairs, loaded up and headed north.

The ride across MA was beautiful. We hit a couple of roads that were back to back curves and then hit a hair-pin curve. I watched John as he maneuvered this on that big bike. He went a little wide, but stayed between the lines. I think he did a great job! We rode on up to VT.

We weren’t in VY for very long but it was a very pretty ride. As we crossed back in to NY near Troy, Dad and Bert thought they could find a Best Buy and get a new GPS. There was a Harley shop on our way in and we stopped to take a look around. The people there were very nice and helpful. They gave Bert directions to the Best Buy and we were off. Some how either the directions we got were wrong, or Bert did follow them right, but we didn’t find the Best Buy. We pulled into the parking lot of a mall and he called them. They did not have the motorcycle model he wanted so we rode on. We got close to Cooperstown and stopped for the night.

Tuesday we spent half the day at the Baseball Hall of Fame and looking around Cooperstown. Wouldn’t ya know it, Murphy had to give us a dieing kick! It started raining as we were getting ready to leave. We put on our rain gear and headed south. It rained on us the rest of the day. By the time we got to where we were going to stop, my wrists were killing me. The cold from the night before, but rain and being tense just took it’s toll on me. I was very happy when Dad and Bert said we were going to get a room rather than try to set up a camp in the rain. A hot bath to soak my wrists was just what I needed.

Today should, but may not be better. Today I am going to ride down to NYC, to where the Sirius studios are, to be on “Freewheelin’.” Driving a big truck in the city is enough to turn your hair grey and I am ahve mixed emotions about it. Bert doesn’t think my wrists will hold up and I am not sure. they are still a little sore from yesterday. I have planed a couple of route down with one of them involving me parking my bike and catching the subway. I will see how my wrists are doing and how the traffic is when I get down there and decide on what I am going to do then. It could be a very adventurous ride

Workman’s Comp: Vocational Evaluation

Today I had to meet with a gal from Workman’s Comp for a vocational evaluation. This assessment was to see what my skills and limitations are. There were a lot of questions about my hobbies and activities before the fall and what of that I can do now. It is this lady’s job to take what learned from me today and the doctors notes and go out and look for me a job that I can do within those limitations. After an hour and a half I broke down and cried when telling her my frustration at not being able to do the things I did before and not being able to drive a truck anymore. Trying to explain to someone that has never driven a truck what it is like to do and then to loose it is not an easy task. I know many of you have heard and read me talk about how trucking in more than just a job, it is a way of life and a life style. The nomadic nature of drivers in ingrained in them so deep that it becomes part of who they are and of who I am. Over the last couple on months as I have started school and had to try to integrate myself into the “real world”, I have had days that I hate my life. I have had days that I am angry at the world. I have had days that I ask why me and want to crawl into a whole and hid from all these crazy people that just don’t get me. I try to hang on to that fact that now I am chasing another dream I have had for several years. If not for the fall I am not sure that I would have taken the step to go to school and try to start another career in radio. I remind myself that I am smart, personable, and that the only one holding me back from chasing this dream is me. But it doesn’t always work. Even though I am doing well in my classes, I think I have at least one A, several high B’s and a C, I get scared. I wonder if I can really do this. All of this came out when talking with this lady today. I think that this meeting is another slap in the face that this is really happening, I am not going to back to truck driving, and that hurts.

The thing that made it even worse was the meeting with my lawyer after the lady left the office. My doctor has give me a 6% medical impairment rating. To get a rough dollar number as to what that means for a settlement we have that the 200 weeks that are allowed for a scheduled member, multiply that by the 6% (which equal 12 weeks) and then multiply that result by what I am getting per week from AIG for workman’s comp. That comes to $4787 for each wrist. Shane, my lawyer, says that it what I can count on getting at the very least. But that total will be multiplied by 4 or 5 because of the impact the injury has had on my life. So if we go with the hopeful number of 5, that total is $23935 per wrist. That is a total of $47871. Does that seem fair for how much of my life has been impacted by this injury? These are just base figures. Shane say he is going to shoot for 100 week times what I am getting weekly to start off with. That still only comes out to be $39893 per wrist for a total of $79786. Of course, he gets 25% of what ever settlement I get. This news did not go over well with me. I was really expecting more. I don’t want enough money to live off of the rest of my life, I just want enough that I don’t have to worry about how I am going to live while I got to college the next four years. Shane told me that workman’s comp laws are really not set up to deal with severely injured people. they figure that if you are severely injured, you will be going on social security disability. when I asked him I qualified for that, he said that they really are not set up for a partial permanent disability. He says that I do have a winnable case, but it would be a fight to get it. When I asked him if a lawyer would even touch it is it was going to be such a fight, he said they would, but that I didn’t want to start that until after the workman’s comp case is done.

So, I sit in limbo once again, not knowing what is going to happen and how I am going to survive the next few years while I try ti finish college and start a new career. But as much as there are days that I really want to give up, I am just not that kind of person. I am a survivor and a fighter. One way or another, I will adapt and overcome!!

What Got Me In To Trucking

What is the only difference between a trucker driver story and a fairytale?

A fairytale begins with ‘Once upon a time’ and a truck drivers story starts with ‘You aint gonna believe this shit!’

Yea, I know that is a VERY old joke. I remember it being told to me 20 years ago when I first started driving. But there is a reason I tell the joke now. The other day a driver friend and I were talking and swapping truck driver stories, more like remembering the “good ole’ days”, and he suggested that I should write all these great stories down some place, before I get to old and can’t remember them any more! I thought it was a great idea. Since much time has passed and I can’t be thrown under the jail any more for some of the things I did back then, I thought it might be cool to share the stories with ya’ll. The thing is where do I start! Do I start with going to truck driver school back in 1990, or the first driving job I held, or maybe I should start with how I decided that I wanted to drive a truck. Yes, I think starting at the beginning is best.

It was 1990 and I was confused about many things that was going on in my life at the time. In debt, living in the “system” with my 3 boys, I was a basket case. Looking back I wonder if I should not have been locked up in a little rubber room some place. On the edge of being suicidal and feeling that my boys would be better off without me, I sent them to their Dad. I had just started dating a truck driver that went by the handle ‘Bruiser’. He had been driving about 5 years at the time I met him. I went on the road with him for several months and during that time I got the idea, “Hey, I can do this!” The thought was that I would learn to drive a truck, get out of debt, get my head straightened out, and then get my boys back. As many of you know, that last part didn’t happen. I wont go into all the whys of that, other than to say, that learning to be a truck driver the way I did, the diesel smoke gets in your blood and you can never get it out! It wasn’t that I didn’t want them, I felt they really were better off with me at that time. If you can’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of your kids? By the time I had my head on my shoulders better, I had fallen in love with driving. To come off the road would have meant a massive drop in pay and I felt I would have been right back where I started, living in the welfare system. I didn’t want that for my boys. So I kept on trucking and did my best to see them as much as I could.

I bugged Bruiser to teach me to be a truck driver. He made a comment that sticks with me to this day, “It’s a living, but it’s not a life!” I didn’t understand that in the beginning. It took many years for me to really get what he was saying, but by that time, I was hooked! I remember sitting in the jump seat one day as we were headed south on I75 in Florida. Bruiser was having a hard time getting a bear report (cop report) so he handed the mic to me. “They will come back to a woman before they answer a man.” he said. So I asked for the bear report and got it…..and I got a whole lot more.

Now remember this is 1990, there were not that many women on the road and many men back then thought that women did not belong in a truck as a driver. So along with the bear report, I was treated to a few crude comments. One even called me a bitch and a lot lizard (prostitute). I looked at Bruiser, started handing him the mic and asked him if he was going to take care of that. He looked at me and told me that if I wanted to drive a truck, I should learn to deal with that kind of stuff or take my ass back home. So I keyed up the mic and let that driver have it! Bruiser was a great inspiration and a great teacher, even thought he never put me under the wheel. His pushing me to make sure that driving was what I really wanted to do and teaching me that because I am a woman, I am going to have to work harder than any man out there, is probably why I became as good a driver as I was and lasted as long as I did.

I have had many drivers ask me how I got into truck driving. I tell them that I dated a truck driver once upon a time, went with on the road and got hooked. They ask me if I want to kick his ass now? I always respond with the same answer. “NO! It was a very tough time for me back then. Truck driving saved my life and in that, the guy that got me into driving, saved my life. I owe him!”

I know it hasn’t been perfect, I have made some mistakes along the way and done some things that I am not very proud of, but I would not be who I am today, or where I am today, if not for becoming a truck driver. With your indulgence, I will relate some of the stories I have in my head from 20 years on the road as a female truck driver. I hope that it will help those outside of the industry better understand the people behind the wheel of those big rigs they see going up and down the road. For those that want to get in to trucking, maybe they will have a more informed view of what it really takes to be a truck driver. And for those that have been there and done that, maybe we can swap some stories of the “good ole’ days” before we forget them in our old age!

Former Arrow driver now officially ‘missing’

This is from Land Line magazine. Please take a look, keep an eye out for this driver and pass it along to others you know are traveling the roads. There is a phone number at the end of the article if you have any information on Mr Eischens.

SPECIAL REPORT: Former Arrow driver now officially ‘missing’

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010 – A missing persons report was filed last night by the family of John M. Eischens Jr. of Mabank, TX, a former Arrow driver.

The family reportedly has not heard from the trucker since before Christmas, when the Tulsa-based motor carrier suddenly shut down operations and stranded nearly a thousand drivers on the road.

As volunteers were trying to locate those drivers and get them home or to a safe place, the driver of truck number 6325 emerged “unaccounted for.” After two weeks, he remains missing.

According to Iowa driver Eric Mende, a volunteer working to help stranded drivers, Qualcomm reported no activity on the truck that Eischens was driving for Arrow. Mende said the “last ping was to a tower in the Butte, MT, area.” Mende began calling truck stops in the area and that’s how he found truck number 6325 abandoned at the Pilot in Butte, with keys in it.

Mende told Land Line Magazine that he asked the Pilot security guard to check the lot. The guard found the Arrow truck and reported that the driver’s belongings were gone. The guard told Mende the truck had been there since Dec. 25. There was no sign of Eischens.

Volunteers who have talked to Eischens’ family in Texas report that his mother is worried that he’s not contacted them for several weeks and “it’s not like him to fail to call on Christmas.”

Det. Steve Williams of the Anna Police Department told Land Line that the report was filed last night and going “into the system” Wednesday morning. Williams said because it was a new investigation, details were not available.

If anyone has information on whereabouts of Eischens, please call Det. Williams of the Anna, TX, Police Department. The office phone is 972-924-2848; after 5 p.m. calls will be handled by dispatch at 972-547-5350.

Workman’s Comp insurer, AIG

I am an editor and have been writing over on “The People’s Journal” about the PGR, “Road Dogs on Hogs” and workman’s comp. Yesterday the site published a story from a good friend of mine, Walter Twohorses, about his dealings with Trimac‘s workman’s comp insurer, AIG. I have to say that being friends with Walter over the last two years I have seen and heard of the difficulties he has gone through in trying to get non-invasive medical treatment and other benefits due him.

In July 2007 I started training where I learned how to run the pumps, measure the oil and several other required duties. After two weeks I was turned loose with my own truck. It was a ‘96 Freightliner FLD that was originally an OTR truck and had been converted to run the oil fields. It was probably the biggest piece of crap I have ever driven and should have been “retired” a long time ago. I suspect that instead of buying new equipment, they would purchase older, worn out trucks from other branches of the Trimac company to show a profit and saved the company some money.

I drove this worn out Freightliner for a year with the air-ride seat bottoming out an average of 3 to 4 times a day. The impact to my spine took it’s toll over that amount of time.

One day I got out of the truck to hook up my hose. When I stepped down it felt like someone had stuck a very sharp knife in my back and I went down. I could not move. Other drivers at the pumping station helped me get up because I could not do it on my own. I have never experienced pain like that before and it scared the hell out of me. It was about half an hour before I could move. The other drivers helped me get back into my truck and I drove myself the 35 miles back to the yard. Good thing I know how to float the gears because I could not push in the clutch due to the pain and weakness.

Sadly this is a common problem with some trucking companies. Trucks that are deemed “safe” by DOT standards are not always in the best shape when it comes to the drivers body. Truck drivers spend hours upon hours sitting behind the wheel bouncing down the roads of this great Country. These are not always the best roads and can give a very rough ride. These roads take a toll on the trucks. the suspension gets weak and any air-ride equipment no longer works as it should. I don’t know what regulations are for running in the oil fields as Walter did, but I know that any road truck, even if it is new, is NOT set up to be running off-road. They need a much heavier suspension as well as many other beefed up parts to keep the truck from falling apart.

Whereas I have had a rather easy time in dealing with AIG, my injury was a very obvious one, Walter’s is not. The damage to his spine was incurred over the course of a year. I realize that can make a case harder to settle, but if he has the documents to prove that this damage was done while driving for Trimac, why are they not taking care of him? Is AIG to fault for this or Trimac? I know that any time I had a problem with AIG I could call my company and they would get in touch with my adjuster and get things straight. Trimac has not done this for Walter. They have left him swinging in the wind, fending for himself.

You can read Walter’s full story, “Difficulties with Trimac’s Workman’s Comp insurer, AIG” on “The People’s Journal”.

Arrow Closes Doors: Drivers Stranded

The times are tough for everyone these days. But for many Arrow Truck Lines drivers, it got worse yesterday. All I ask is read the story below and look into your hearts and help how ever you can. Living on workman’s comp right now I can’t afford to help with money, or a ride, but I can offer a place to stay for a few days.

I am sure that many of you have seen the white and green Arrow trucks rolling down the road over the years. Yesterday they closed their doors and left their drivers stranded all over the country. According to “Tulsa World“, the 61-year-old Tulsa-based flatbed company, closed it’s door without any notice to the office staff or the drivers.

After closing down the company phone system Tuesday morning and not accepting cell phone messages throughout the day, the company issued a statement from CEO Doug Pielsticker at 6:21 p.m.

“The company has been in negotiations with its principal lender,” Pielsticker said. “Those negotiations are continuing, but the lender has elected to proceed with securing its collateral. The company is communicating with several interested parties and continues to seek a prompt resolution.”

Beginning just before noon Tuesday, callers to Arrow’s west Tulsa offices were greeted with a recorded message: “Drivers, if you’re in Freightliner KW, please take your truck to the nearest Freightliner shop. Call this hot line number to Daimler, (877) 294-9679. They will arrange for you a bus ticket home.”

“I’m shut down near Cheyenne, Wyo.,” Arrow driver Denny Carter said by phone. “They asked me to bring the truck and load into Tulsa, but I don’t have fuel to do it. I’ll be taking the truck to a Kenworth dealership in Cheyenne.”

“I haven’t heard nothing and haven’t been able to get ahold of anybody,” driver Ruben Bradley said by phone. He shut down his rig at a truck stop in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Monday night when other drivers phoned to tell him their gas credit cards weren’t working.

Bradley was hauling a load of steel pipe for delivery in northern New Mexico. He had three-quarters of a 240-gallon tank of diesel fuel he thought would take him to his delivery but not enough to return the truck to a terminal or Tulsa.

And with no working fuel card, he didn’t have $500 to $600 of his own money to fill the tank.

“I’m not going to move the truck. I’m not going to get stuck way out in New Mexico without fuel and no way to get home,” Bradley said. “I can’t get ahold of anybody, not even extended operations or the fuel desk.”

Doug Evans was in similar straits early Tuesday.

“I’m not in a very good mood,” the Arrow driver said by phone, his fuel gauge at a quarter tank as he motored west toward Little Rock with a load of steel tubing.

“I’m fixing to be out of fuel. I can’t get any answers. I got a message to take the truck to the nearest Freightliner dealer. We haven’t gotten any paychecks, either.”

By Tuesday evening, Bradley was driving south to a Freightliner dealer and a new job he’d just been offered in Houston. He had just enough fuel to make it, he said.

Evans, whose load was bound for Houston, had run out of fuel. He was parked in a truck stop 60 miles east of Little Rock.

“I’m waiting for somebody to send me some money — Western Union so I can get enough fuel to get the truck to the Freightliner dealer in Little Rock,” Evans said. “And then I’m going to have to walk home to Monroe, La. There are seven drivers I know about — from North Carolina to Arizona — who are walking home.”

Carter, who was stranded in Cheyenne, almost 2,000 miles from his home in O’Brien, Fla., was nearly alone among the drivers in that he will have a merry Christmas.

“Friends out here, people I met on the road, pooled together and bought me an airplane ticket home,” he said.

“I’m flying Cheyenne to Gainesville on Wednesday.”

Land Line Mag reported the story yesterday with the following statement:

Stephanie Ortega, who works in the Fleet Services department at Daimler, said she found out when she arrived at work Tuesday morning that Arrow Trucking was shutting its doors and about the company’s plan to help get Arrow’s drivers home.

She was instructed to tell drivers to drop their vehicles off at the nearest Freightliner dealership and to leave their keys with an attendant there or at a truck stop if they are out of fuel.

Ortega said drivers are asked to then call Daimler at 877-294-9679 and she and others there “can get them a bus ticket through Greyhound or the company will reimburse up to $200 for alternative transportation costs.”

However, one drawback to the plan is that drivers are on their own to find transportation to a local Greyhound station once they have surrendered their trucks.

“If they can get themselves to a local Greyhound station, we will get them a bus ticket and get them home,” Ortega told Land Line.

The trucking world is coming together to helps it’s own. There has been a Facebook page created with the sole purpose of helping drivers connect with people that can help. Weather it is with money, a ride home, or just a place to stay till someone can get them home, any help a person can give would be greatly appreciated by the many drivers left standing in the cold.

“CDL of it” also have a list going in their Christmas Group Forum of drivers that need help and people that are willing to help. According to a message felt on the Facebook page, there are 2 lists there, one with drivers needing rides, fuel, help. another with a list of folks that can provide rides, help, etc. you can also call 866-929-9627 or 417-200-4411.

4 State Trucks – The Chrome Shop Mafia also made a statement on their Facebook page:

All of us at CSM certainly feel for these Arrow drivers that may end up stranded. If someone knows of a driver that needs a lift home for the Holidays, please contact us at customerservice@chromeshopmafia.com and we will try our best to hook them up with one of our customers, fans or friends to get them back home. We all agree that the trucking business can be tough, but things like this shouldn’t happen.

Wrists: Good News/Bad News

I saw Dr. Waguespack last Thursday. It has been 2 months since my last appointment and I have been in the bone growth stimulator’s for about 5 weeks of that. She did the usual x-rays and told me that the right wrist is doing great, but the left wrist still has some delayed union. I don’t have to wear the wrist braces all the time any more, only when I am using my hands a lot or if picking up any weight.  I still have to use the bone growth stimulator on both wrists though. She says that we wear them for 3 months total, so I have another 2 months of that. Even though the right wrist is doing good and no longer has any delayed union, I still have to use it on that one as well. “We can’t over heal the bones” she said.

She did give me permission to ride my motorcycle again. Course showing up to the appointment on it may have had something to do with it. I did ask her if I should continue to wear the braces while riding. She said that I didn’t have to but to be careful. I am still in danger of re-shattering both wrists if I fall and hit them. I have found that as long as I am on the open road and not having to use the clutch much, I am OK without the braces. But if in town, on wet roads, or any where that I have to use the clutch a lot, I really feel better wearing at least the left brace.