41chevy
CDL Student Driver
MY B-61
Posts: 743
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Post by 41chevy on Apr 22, 2008 21:45:58 GMT -5
Hey Paul. In the City, there is a place you and I knew as Rockerfeller Center when we were growing up. I heard years ago that it was supposedly sold off. What do they call it now? Do you know? I wonder how many other landmarks in NY will have their name changed. I notice even sports stadiums around the country were getting corporate names. Do Yankee and Shea Stadium still retain their names? The one in St Louis was named after TWA, but they are a defunct airline now, so I'm not sure what they call it anymore. Rockerfeller center is owned by I believe A Japanese company. Ted Turner owns Madison Square Garden and Radio Center Music Hall I believe.There are even a few State Parks "sponsered" by Coke and Pepsi on L.I. Yankee and Shea are still team owned and are getting new stadiums....but every where you'll look will be nothing but ads. We even have a single dealer that sells Ford, Sterling,Volvo,K.W. and T-Line trucks and has a common ahop, part area and sales area! Paul
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78KW
Regional OTR Driver
Hard Time don't last...Trucker's do!
Posts: 2,467
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Post by 78KW on Apr 22, 2008 22:14:27 GMT -5
The stadiums are being replaced? Then again, it's happening everywhere else so I'm not surprised. LOL.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2008 7:59:44 GMT -5
What drives me nuts about sports stadiums, be it Yankee Stadium, Gellette Stadium, Fenway Park, whatever; is they use tax dollars to build them. Then they still charge you $50 a seat!
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78KW
Regional OTR Driver
Hard Time don't last...Trucker's do!
Posts: 2,467
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Post by 78KW on Apr 23, 2008 10:56:38 GMT -5
What drives me nuts about sports stadiums, be it Yankee Stadium, Gellette Stadium, Fenway Park, whatever; is they use tax dollars to build them. Then they still charge you $50 a seat! Speaking of tax dollars towards stadiums, I guess the St Louis Cardinals wanted a new stadium and a tax was going to be put in place a few years ago. I saw the coolest response to that idea on a billboard west of St Louis on I 70. It reads, "When the Cardinals build Interstates, we'll build a new stadium". I got a kick out of that one. I don't know if the tax went into effect, though.
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06impala
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Posts: 75
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Post by 06impala on Apr 23, 2008 16:35:25 GMT -5
When Veterens Stadium was in Philly, it was owned by the City. The Phillies and Eagles played there. Because it was "municipal" owned , we would get hired to work overtime for home games and Monday Night Football games. The money was great, got to eat for almost free, plus see the game. Now that the teams own the Lincoln Field and Citizens Bank Park, they hired $6.00 an hour security staff,and hired officers from outside the city, paying only $80.00 a game. After the game, we'd have to stand by the door where the players came out so they did'nt get mobbed by the fans. Fun stuff. Sheesh, where have the good times gone?
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Post by duster on Apr 26, 2008 20:19:28 GMT -5
Any validity to the rumor that I just heard that truckers are parking their trucks for 5 days & going on strike? that would work and make something happen about these gas and fuel prices. it would only take everyone to shut down for 1 day. problem is theres alot of people that wont. for every 1 that shuts down theres 5000 that will keep driving.
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06impala
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Posts: 75
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Post by 06impala on Apr 28, 2008 13:14:15 GMT -5
Another thing that must happen is the brokers stop getting most of the money on loads, and put more fuel surcharges in the O/O pockets. These guys collect all the money for doing nothing. If you complain about the load paying too little, they just hire Habib and his broken down Freight-shaker to haul the load for peanuts (or a bowl of rice & curry). This crap has to stop. I see it all the time on the piers. We got $65.00 for a loaded container from the port to the rail yard, a distance of about 3 blocks. We got $35.00 for an empty container from the rail yard to the port, again a 3 block ride. I rarely got out of fifth gear either way. If you hustled and the port was running smoothly, the truck could make $390 a day. Not too shabby for a part-time job. Now here comes the non-Americans who will haul the loads for half of what we got paid. If you were the company owner, who would you go with...Yep, the non-Americans. I was at the port on Saturday and about 15-20 tractors were sitting with no drivers. Sad day, a good job gone, under bid by dirt bags who would run you off the road for a dollar.
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06impala
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Posts: 75
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Post by 06impala on Apr 28, 2008 16:49:43 GMT -5
In NO WAY do I mean to offend our fellow drivers across the big pond or from down under, or where ever you're from by using the term "non-American". But I think we know who were're talking about if you've been on the road for any lenght of time.
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78KW
Regional OTR Driver
Hard Time don't last...Trucker's do!
Posts: 2,467
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Post by 78KW on Apr 28, 2008 19:02:44 GMT -5
Any validity to the rumor that I just heard that truckers are parking their trucks for 5 days & going on strike? that would work and make something happen about these gas and fuel prices. it would only take everyone to shut down for 1 day. problem is theres alot of people that wont. for every 1 that shuts down theres 5000 that will keep driving. I do agree with you, but a large number of the drivers who aren't participating are company drivers. Since, they don't own the trucks or pay for the fuel, they think they're immune. Right now, they think it won't affect them, but it will in some way, eventually. The examples I give are things I've seen happen when I was still driving company trucks. To me, high costs coupled with low rates affect every driver. Some of the little bonuses that drivers get start to disappear(or become much harder to earn), and for many, whatever chance they had at getting a pay raise may be gone also. The new replacement trucks they were hoping for won't get purchased. Some of the toll roads you were allowed to take before are off limits now. Where you can and can't fuel and how much you can buy becomes more micro-managed. Benefits start getting lowered or cut altogether. Sometimes, the corner-cutting that goes on with maintainence gets much worse(it's bad enough when they are already doing it). When that starts to happen, then we might see growing participation from company drivers. Personally, I always have sort of a mixed feeling about protests. Beyond fuel costs, I think rates, and our ability to make a living without increased regulations are important things, too. I feel the pain and support the movement, but when it's nothing more than a couple of guys slowing down traffic and horn-honking, it doesn't help matters any. If a majority of us shut down(without going to the media first and announcing it), and just stood home and caught up on those chores, ran those errands that we never have time for, etc, it may work. The people will get their wish of "Get those trucks off the road!", but after a few days, will they like it? Will the Utopia of truck-free roads be what they want when the factory they work at shuts down, or there's no milk(or anything, really) at the grocery store? After the shelves start to empty at the store, then maybe, people might see that we are what keeps the economy going. Every time one of these protests gets announced, we all end up getting laughed at and told to quit whining, as the Great Trucker Strike that was promised ends up being 7 guys in, say, Pennsylvania, parked in a parking lot with a couple of signs, and having what looks like a cookout, while 3 guys in Chicago hold up traffic on I 55. I'm not attacking any of the protestors, as it has to start somewhere, but you have to understand how it looks at the end of the day. I heard this morning on the news that another protest is going to occur, this one in Washington, DC. As the announcer said,"If you're going to DC tomorrow, be ready for some horn-honking and slow moving trucks again." See my point? Anyway, that's Ray's rant for the day. I wish the protestors luck, as any big movement has to start with one little voice.
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Post by 1modelnut0 on Apr 28, 2008 20:20:29 GMT -5
I don't know too much of whats going on but it seems to me some thing needs to be done. I do know these fuel prices for diesel have to be hurting the drivers. I know Ray and me have touched on it. I also think our government needs to get off it's butt and try to do something too. The truck drivers are as valuable as the farmers. Thats my 2 cents. jim
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78KW
Regional OTR Driver
Hard Time don't last...Trucker's do!
Posts: 2,467
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Post by 78KW on Apr 28, 2008 21:57:04 GMT -5
I guess some of the protest went on 2day from a report I heard.
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06impala
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Posts: 75
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Post by 06impala on May 2, 2008 14:13:55 GMT -5
I do agree with you, but a large number of the drivers who aren't participating are company drivers. Since, they don't own the trucks or pay for the fuel, they think they're immune. Right now, they think it won't affect them, but it will in some way, eventually.
They just don't have to hunt for fuel like an O/O does. Linehaul drivers go from terminal to terminal, where the fuel flows like wine. However, the fuel increases have affected the bigger companies. Yellow Freight has about 4,000 people laid off system wide.
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b s express
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Keep smiling it will drive your wife crazy wondering what you are up to !
Posts: 207
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Post by b s express on May 3, 2008 7:12:35 GMT -5
I recently heard that the cash crop of the century will be CORN !!!!! Everybody is growing it. A guy in Lonoke ,Arkansas where I pick up my fish load, said he never saw so much corn being grown down there,replacing the cotton and rice. Here in Indiana the farmers are clearing the range lines out and cutting down the trees around their fields to yield more crop out of the acres they farm. And the people that need the corn for feed are really upset cause now corn will be sky high. Where is this going to end. AND WHY ARE THE "GREEN" CARS THAT ARE SO GOOD ON GAS SO EXPENSIVE !!!!!!!
I was not out on the days of the strike. But as it goes there were some out driving cause they had a load to deliver and would not get that money they needed so badly if that load was given to someone else if they stayed home. You got to do what you got to do. But yes some drove to leave it to someone else to fight.
This gas thing has got to stop with these companies saying they are making so much !!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS !!!!! Where do they live ? We could camp on their front lawns.
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Post by plastictrucker on May 3, 2008 7:33:02 GMT -5
Soon only the rich will be abe to drive or eat a cob of corn.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2008 7:42:44 GMT -5
I recently heard that the food shortage this summer is being blamed on the bio-fuel industry and their ise of cash crops like corn & soy beans for research into bio-fuels. Has anyone out there used that bio-diesel? I wonder how the research into hydrogen fuel cells is going?
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