Driver to Driver - A Stokes Trucking Podcast
Episode #15 - Accidents happen
On this episode, we get to know Mike Larsen, dispatcher and customer service rep for N. CA and S. OR for Stokes Trucking. We also discuss what to do in case of an accident with Ty Walker. We also answer a question from the road about our steer axle weight ratings.
On this episode, we get to know Mike Larsen, dispatcher and customer service rep for N. CA and S. OR for Stokes Trucking. We also discuss what to do in case of an accident with Ty Walker. We also answer a question from the road about our steer axle weight ratings.
Welcome to driver, to driver, a Stokes trucking podcast on driver to driver. We will discuss everything related to trucking. And put a stokes trucking spin on it stokes trucking doing the right thing since 1979.
Mark:it's episode 15 of driver to driver is Stokes trucking podcast. I'm your host, mark. lover. I am joined again by. my. Part-time co-host full-time producer
Grace:grace.
Mark:Ah, She speaks Oh, nice
Grace:I talk a lot. I don't talk when I'm at work,
Mark:Well, Grace is gainfully employed at Frederico's pizza, close to the mouth of Logan canyon. if any of your board, she. usually is working, but not next week,
Grace:not next
Mark:because next week we are going to be back in the good light.
Grace:that's in Nebraska slogan.
Mark:Yes. on this episode, I didn't, uh, I was struggling with. the theme, So I invited Mike Larson over here at the last minute on Saturday night to do an interview. And that's going to be the first segment, Mike and Britain, his son who's he's either 19 or 20 works at the USU bookstore goes to Utah state. I've got man love for Mike. He's a really, yeah.
Grace:Um,
Mark:when the thought first crossed my mind to try and hire him as a dispatcher, I thought he'd be a good dispatcher. And he, he turned out to be, I think, better than me.
Grace:You're not the logistics king. You think you are?
Mark:shut up? So first segment's going to be Mike Larson, Mike and Britain joined me the other night in the famous Frankfurter studios To record his history, how he ended up at soaks trucking and a few things about dispatching that I think are going to be really informative for our drivers. So without any further ado, grace, let's roll. yay. Mike Larson, who dispatches for us, he takes care of Southern Oregon, Northern California, which is really, uh, probably a little more than a third of our total freight. I'm going to guess. I know when I look at load
Mike:I would,
Mark:by load
Mike:more like half
Mark:by load count. It is about half. If you look at total number of loads, um, but overall, overall, it's, I'm going to say you're right. 40% and Jimmy and Scott are split pretty, even 30 a piece. So you do a lot of the heavy lifting, do a lot. of the Assigning outbound and, you know, over and above just putting your, your rounds together that you do. So don't, you don't have to go in depth with us, but I want you to start at, I graduated high school and you don't have to get into all the gory details that I've heard. You can gloss over a lot of that cause this is going to be public.
Mike:Yeah. So, well, I graduated high school, joined the military, Got out of the military. After four years, came back home, went to work for Western zirconium. And then I worked there for five and a half years. And then I went to work for, I got married, my wife's from Treemont and I was from tree mountain and multimodal was just starting out. So by chance, I got a job there as a startup crew.
Mark:So when, when, what year would that have been?
Mike:Uh, oh one.
Mark:Okay.
Mike:Or, yeah, 2000 or 2001. And then while at Malta mill, I was like the, in the warehouse and I got my CDL just driving the, our dog back in
Mark:for moving trailers
Mike:Just from moving trailers around. So they paid for me to get my CDL and I never thought about going trucking, but. No I had my CDL, so my, I had a sister-in-law. That was interesting. And, well she worked for a trucking company, the hauled cars. So I got talking with her and me and my wife were going through issues and we had separated. And so I was just like, you know what? I just want to go. So she was talking about all the money. I could make hauling cars and driving trucks. So I went and hauled cars. I did that for about eight months. I want to say. And then my divorce was getting finalized and we had ended up with joint custody. So it wasn't like I could be gone as much as I was, because when I was hauling cars, I was probably gone maybe a week, seven to 10 days at a time.
Mark:so you had both, both children at the time. Didn't ya? So this had to be mid two thousands because what's Brooklyn 15, I guess she's 16. 16.
Mike:Yeah. So it was 2006 that I left or 2005, 2006 that I left and went and hauled cars. And then I had new Val cause mine was a friend of the family. And so I called him and he was like, yeah, we got a truck open.
Mark:So you said he was a friend of the family, both your family and Angie's right. Didn't Angie
Mike:the Angie's family?
Mark:She grew up next door
Mike:next door to them. Yeah. Yeah. So they see, she's known him her whole life and, uh, was raised with his girls and stuff. So anyway, I called him and he was like, yeah, I got a truck open And I showed up there. The first day on the job? Well, I had only been hauling cars. I'd never hauled briefers before or vans or anything. So I never backed into truck other than, other than, you know, I'm ultimately with the yard dunk. So I got there. I was supposed to have somebody, you know, I thought that put me with somebody and no, no. Jimmy's like, Hey, here, here's keys to the truck. It's, you know, a number of whatever out there and hook up to this trailer and be out in city industry. Yeah. Next morning. I was like, oh, okay. So I got out there. Yeah. And it, and it was one of those places where,
Mark:It's your time to shine.
Mike:yeah. So, uh, I drove out there and, uh, it was one of those places that opened right at six. So you get in line with all the trucks and then you pull around the other side and your back end and. I'd never ranked the truck. So I'm like trying like, hell the back of this thing in I'm like, I couldn't get it straight. Finally, one of the other drivers was like, Hey man, let me back your check-in. Where are you?
Mark:So, so they didn't give you no road tests? No, you were, you were a friend of the family. So Val
Mike:I assumed. well, Val wasn't there. It was, Rob was in there when I, when I got there. And, uh, so I was like, okay, so this guy, you know, he's like, he ain't got a dog and then I was like, no, and he's like, he just jumped in there and backed my truck in. But yeah, that was then once I got back, I practiced a little mint backing in.
Mark:time. Oh wow. That's um, I forgot kind of a similar story where friend of a friend, can you drive a truck? Yeah, even though I barely could. Your load go see you later. It was so different than, you know, so that was oh, 6 0 7.
Mike:and, and I had only, and I only drove for Val for maybe a couple of months. And then I went and then I got a job at ATK. So then I quit driving truck for like three years and went to ATK and then, got laid off at ATK and I was going to school. I was going to be a nurse and I was like halfway through and got my associates degree and I was contemplating like, what do I do? Do I keep going and keep spending money? You know what I mean? There's a little apartment now I'm unemployed. And I started working as a phlebotomist making like 14 bucks an hour or something,
Mark:What is that?
Mike:just drawn blood
Mark:Oh, Oh, okay. All right.
Mike:drawn, blood setting. People's IVs, stuff like that. Yeah. And so
Mark:you and Angie were still,
Mike:we were, yeah, we were divorced during that time.
Mark:Okay.
Mike:And so then I thought, well, how about if I go drive truck for a year, make some money so that I can pay some bills down and then continue going to school. So I called Val and he didn't have a truck open, but he was like, well, you know, have you haven't been driving for ever? And I was like, yeah, I've been working 80 K and Stephanie's like, well, go get some, some, we need some recent driving experience. So I went, I called prime. And they were like, yeah, we'll take it. So, because I'd never let my CDL go. So I went to pride and I rode with the trainer for like three months. And that's when I learned how to track.
Mark:Hmm.
Mike:I mean, we were, you know, I mean, I went through their whole training program and I learned everything. I mean, I learned a lot then. And so then after that three months, but then I called Val and he was like, Hey, I got a truck. And so they weren't happy about me leaving. But the thing about pride though, is like, in a lot of these places, you know, you go in and sign up for their school or whatever, and then you have to drive for so many, you know, like a year or whatever contract. Well with, uh, pride, they didn't make me sign anything. I went through their training program, but I wasn't locked into anything.
Mark:like remedial training. Cause you had your CDL. Yeah.
Mike:And now I think they do, like, if they're going to bring somebody on that doesn't have much experience, but it has their CDL, then you have to say, you'll stay at least a year or something. So anyway, I ended up back at Stokes and, uh,
Mark:so that was like 20 10, 20 11, right?
Mike:20 10
Mark:I think, I think you started, I was there when you started,
Mike:and that was 20, 20 10. yeah.
Mark:so DRO what'd you drive for us for four years.
Mike:For four years. Yeah. Four or five years. And then I left for like three or four months in the middle of that time. And that's when I went and drove for Mike Gotley and he was home commodities, like grain and, corn stuff like that.
Mark:I think I remember that leaning left for a little while and then he came.
Mike:yeah.
Mark:Were you guys living out
Mike:we were living in, yeah, we were living in house.
Mark:that's right.
Mike:Yeah. So I was delivering to all the dairies. That's how that took your family. Cause he was like, Hey, come drive a truck for me. You know? And uh, so I was like, okay, I'll be home every night. You know, I just go gone all commodities, but he, his equipment was older and it wasn't very good and it was always breaking down and um, and then Angie had a health scare or something, man. I think it was her gallbladder or something and
Mark:You're going to have to rewind here. When did you and Andy get back together?
Mike:Oh, God, when
Mark:that that's like the most, that's the most unique thing I know about you is you've been married twice, but it's been to the same woman. Yeah.
Mike:It was after I went back to Stokes. And so I was home. Yeah I would leave out Sunday. And then I was home Tuesday night and leave Wednesday. And then I was home on the weekends. Well, I was always, um, with her because she had the kids. Cause when I, when I left and went to go truck and I just moved all my stuff to my mom's and so I didn't have an apartment. I was just staying in my mom's basement. Well, it was easier just to see Angie and the kids and you know, when I come home to do stuff and then she would come with us. And so then it was just gotten to the point where it was like, why don't we just get back together? I mean, what do you know? We're out, we're together whenever I'm home. Anyway. So yeah,
Mark:Why do why do we split up?
Mike:Yeah, So, yeah, we got back together and we ended up moving back in together and then got married like a year later or something. But yeah,
Mark:it is, it's so neat. like, I think every couple goes through that. Especially the seven year itch. They call it, I suppose. That's about the time you guys split up and me and Becky did, but instead of splitting up, we moved to Missouri. but Like we just, we changed our scenery and that's probably why, why we never split up.
Mike:Yeah. And it, and it was easier because I was gone like most of the week. So, you know, she was like, cool, I get to spend your money and
Mark:get out there and
Mike:work.
Mark:All right. So, so you drove on and off for us for five, six years. What was it 2016? You went out to. Twilla.
Mike:Well, no, I'd quit. And I went to, to a capstone, right? Delivering boxes.
Mark:Yeah, that's right.
Mike:I was, I was just doing local delivery and Logan Monday through Friday or Monday through Thursday, I think I was just working 10 hour days, 40 hours a week. And uh, and then when my dad passed away, he works for the government for like 35 years. And when I was looking at all his retirement stuff that, you know, I hit my mom to that up pretty much. And I was like, man, maybe, maybe I'd get a government
Mark:Don't work for the government. Yeah.
Mike:So just on a whim, I put in, in for a job at hill for, you know, driving it. For a motor cable operator MBO. And I didn't get that job, but Twilla called me. And because they had an opening and wanted to interview me and I didn't even know there was a base out in Twila, it was a two alarm you Depot. So I was like, yeah, I'm only interviewed. So then I got the job. I remember I called you because I was like filled you. I needed a
Mark:a reference. Yeah.
Mike:And you were like, why would you want to move to, to hell on earth? I mean,
Mark:Utah
Mike:have you been a toilet?
Mark:Yeah. Utah's bad enough. Why would you go to the worst spot in Utah? Yeah.
Mike:Yeah. So that was crazy though, because I got that job. And then, I mean, it was a good job. It was good money. And I started commuting and my wife put in for a job and she got a job there. So it was like, Hey, this is meant to be. You know, we're we go down there and we sold the house. We bought a new house down there.
Mark:kids. We're moving to hell.
Mike:They were, they were all good. They were all on board. The kids are like, heck down, let's go. I'm ready. So we went and went to Stansberry. Um, Verkuilen was upset because she was in sixth grade. Well, she was in the middle school here in Treemont. And, and then when we went to Twilla sixth grade, still in elementary school. So she had to take step back since she wasn't happy. and Angie hated her job. She hated it. And I tried to go into it for something else, come down where I'm at. Cause I was, I would love in it.
Mark:She was working at the army Depot also.
Mike:Yeah, she was, she was, writing contracts or whatever her purchasing. So yeah, she worked in contracting doing purchasing and all that. And, but she hated it because it was so, um, like top secret and stuff. And so their offices were locked up. So not anybody could just walk back there and she had a little cubicle and nobody to talk to, and the people weren't very friendly that she worked with. And so she just hated it where her job that she's at now. I mean, they worshiped the ground. She walks on.
Mark:Well, she's pretty social too. I could see that like Beck, Becky couldn't, she couldn't work in a job where she was isolated all the time.
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:So,
Mike:Yeah. And she's been at that job for how long has the mom been there
Britton:15 years? 15 years longer.
Mike:And like, she, she was going to quit before, she got offered a different position at another metaphor, medical or mental billing fabrication plan or whatever, and, and, and, uh, She was going to take that, but then they were like, oh no. So then they threw a bunch of money on her with like, you're staying, we're not letting you go. So then when she moved to Twilla, then they knew it was for real, but when she was miserable, I mean, it was just like, I got tired of coming home and seeing her cry every night because she hated it, you know? And where we don't, you know, so we went out to dinner one night and I was just like, Hey, we can always go back. Nothing's keeping us here. You know what I mean? I thought we were going to think about it, you know, and we got home and she told the kids, Hey, we're going back.
Britton:I, so
Mark:that's Great. I thought we were going to think about it.
Mike:Yeah. So the next day she was, she called her boss up here and her old boss in a gym and he was walking around with open arms. He was like, come on back.
Mark:Hm.
Mike:So then, uh, she started commuting. Well, they moved her and the kids moved down here, back in and lived at her parents because It was just the start. It was just a start a winter. It was like October, November.
Mark:Yeah. All four of you only lived down there for like six months. Wasn't it? It was really short.
Mike:Yeah. And then, uh, her parents live in St. George during the winter, so their house is empty and so they went and stayed there and, Yeah. And then I ended up commuting again and we about the house and went well, we sold the house there and bought another house here in Treemont and then what, then I ran into you at spring, the following spring, game,
Mark:game of, 2017. Yeah. Yeah.
Mike:Yeah, because I was commuting back and forth. W, well, I had a friend down there that I stayed with her for like every other night I'd go down there and stay with her, come back, stay with my wife and kids and go back. And so it was different, but, Yeah. And then I ran into you and I was like, cause, cause they were cutting our overtime. Like I was working like Friday and Saturday to a lot of the time we worked four tens and then Friday and Saturday he was the big money. but they were cutting our overtime down. And so then I was like, man, I need something to do on my three days off. So that's when I, when I ran into you, I was like, Hey,
Mark:I think that's what
Mike:Hey, what'd you get? You got some weekend work.
Mark:That's so funny because that's how I ended up at Stokes to begin with too, is I was calling around looking for weekend trips. Work. That's what I was doing. Yeah. And we were. I was in need of another dispatcher pretty bad at the time.
Mike:Yeah. I don't know how you did it.
Mark:Um, Brett helped. So Brett was there at that point in time, you know, like right at that point in time. and he, he helped a lot through that. until was it September when you started, like that was the spring game would have been in April or maybe may? I can't remember, but
Mike:Yeah. And then I started that September after labor day.
Mark:Yeah. Yeah. It was right after the holiday, I think, And, Brett was kind of helping fill, fill the gap for me. that from, April. Of 2016 until you started in September of 2017, I was doing all your stuff and everything that Scott does today. Now it didn't amount to, as much as it is today at that point in time, we've, we've grown the stuff we do east. I think the stuff going out to the bay is still pretty much the same quantity, but, um, and Jimmy, Jimmy was doing a lot of the, um, assignment, you know, and I was never bothered with the local stuff at all. Like he, he he was sitting over at his desk and he knew I was just just swimming, just trying to keep up. So, but yeah, for about a year and a half, I remember every Wednesday and Thursday, Yeah I was there until at least seven o'clock
Mike:I'll bet. I'll bet
Mark:just trying to get all the, the appointments done and figuring out who needed to do what. And it sucked
Mike:I love bet. Yeah, because I mean, you're doing the work of all WellMed that me and Scott do, you know?
Mark:yeah. And now like filling in for one of you is like kind of no big deal. you know? Yeah. Yeah. Cause I used to
Mike:I set it up. Nice for you
Mark:usually. Yeah. I mean, you both do right.
Mike:Unless I go on there for a week during the holiday,
Mark:a half over a holiday. Yeah, fuck you. That was a bitch
Mike:Hey, we had fun in New York.
Mark:Um, um, I'm glad somebody had fun. while you were in New York. Yeah. Well, we're I'm all of us Valentine, Jimmy are all really happy. You're there. I'm super happy. You're there. you're great at dispatching and you're just a ton of fun to hang out with. That's the other thing, like we always kind of worry whenever we've hired somebody in the office is the chemistry, you know, how, how are they going to get along with everybody else? And, you can get along with about anybody. It seems like
Mike:I'm pretty easy going. Yeah.
Mark:It's fun though. That was one of the things with COVID I kinda missed was just hanging out,
Mike:hanging out and being asked and now seeing everybody,
Mark:Yeah. It's sort of fun to hang out with Jimmy and listen to him, even though he's snoring half the time, but when he's not snoring, it's kind of fun.
Mike:Great breaks out some good
Mark:stories. So tell me, you've you've told me this story about an ice or ice fog in twin falls, Idaho, Can you set the stage and tell us about what happened?
Mike:Well, I just delivered up in twin and I come out there by a Traveler's Oasis. The garden of Eden got on the freeway, cruising along. I mean, it's a little foggy, but it's not like really thick fog.
Mark:Who, are you? who are you working?
Mike:for Mike Collie? That was the one I left for those few months. And, uh, I hear on the radio that there's a crash ahead and slowed down and the cop had passed. And he was up ahead. I could see him. And then this, this cattle trailer started coming up along the side of me. And, uh, we're both watching that cop and all of a sudden he's doing squirrels and went across the meeting across the other side and we didn't know what happened to him. He disappeared. So we're hearing on the radio, there's a crash ahead and just slow down and we're like, well, we just watch this guy spin out. And so we're both breaking down trying to slow it up, slow it up.
Mark:You're just off the throttle, right? Like
Mike:Just like easy, ease up, ease up.
Mark:you said you just unloaded. so you're
Mike:so I'm empty or they're freaking out. And so I'm like, okay. Okay. All right. The way we could see the wreck and we come up and it was a car hauler and he was just, he was halfway in my lane and halfway on the shoulder. So I got stopped. I'm not getting probably less enough. From the front of my truck to them and that the car, the cattle holler next to me got stopped right. In the same as me and I looked over at him and he looked over at me and he was like, whoa, holy shit. Right. And so then he starts creeping up and all of a sudden, a truck come around him and shot into the meeting, ended the meeting. Cause they couldn't stop. They were either going to slam into him. Yeah. They couldn't see us. And then all of a sudden I'm like, okay, let's calm for a second. So I called my wife and I was like, you ain't believe that home was guide right here. And all of a sudden I'm like, I don't know what to do. And just cars just started shooting right in between us, me and the truck that went in the median, just sliding slam and everything slamming into each other. It was, it was scary. Somebody slammed into the back of me. Luckily it didn't do much damage on my trailer. But yeah,
Mark:So how how, how many cars were involved when
Mike:I think it was, there was probably like 30 cars.
Mark:No kidding.
Mike:Big trucks and everything. It was
Mark:Oh no,
Mike:It was trippy.
Mark:So is that the scariest thing? in a truck. you've
Mike:was, yeah, for me it was
Britton:that's what
Mike:Like, I don't like driving without a radio because, you know, I don't like all the chatter, but at least I can hear if something's up ahead or something that slow down, it's not so bad during the summer. Cause you can see, but when you're in like winter, yeah,
Mark:we do need to put a CB. USU truck, I guess. So I've got one in my garage. I just got to put it.
Mike:I gave mine to true and we'll probably never see it
Mark:Oh, you'll never see it again. I heard Drew has hair now.
Mike:Shut up.
Mark:Yeah. He grew his hair out. Switch teams.
Mike:Oh boy. Oh boy. Where's the D where you going to invite him down here?
Mark:Um, drew is working for John Deere on construction equipment. So like the big skid loaders and dump trucks and things like that. But yeah, you're right. I do. I should get him down here. I'm afraid what he'd say about
Mike:premier
Mark:And I wouldn't really blame him
Mike:Well, I don't know. He doesn't have too many, well, I don't know. He wasn't too happy once the ownership switch.
Mark:Yeah,
Mike:I think that's like he was, I mean, he was all, it was all good until he could kind of see it slowly,
Mark:It is
Mike:his attitude changing as, yeah.
Mark:Um, that they're corporate, right. They're very corporate. And he took offense to that. The other people that were former Warner Warner people that are premiere people now and are making a go of it. They're kind of still acting like they're Warner, even though there's corporate involved. And and they're just going with it. Part of the, what upset drew so bad when that all went down was that's what he thought he was doing. He was just doing it the way that you would have done it in the past. And that's what he got fired for.
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:So
Mike:that's too bad.
Mark:Yeah. It's a, I don't know. I mean, I can kind of see both sides a little bit, but, and Matt Workman, the new guy, he's doing us a good job. but I miss my buddy. you know I miss my buddy drew.
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:I'm not saying Matt won't ever, I don't want to ever be as good of friends with Matt as I was, with drew, but I was really good friends with drew.
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:So that sort
Mike:it's not, I'm sure Brad is too, because Brad was pretty tight with him,
Mark:Brad, and him were really tight. Yeah. Yeah. And me and Brad. have had Like that's the exact same conversation, that we met. We missed her pal. You know, So,
Mike:Well, I hope he's happy.
Mark:Um, I think he is, I've talked to him a couple of times and you know, he's, he's back to turning wrenches, which I think he was headed that direction. anyway. Had he not been fired it within a few months? He was going to be back turning wrenches. It just hit, he he did find his management, but it wasn't for him.
Mike:Right.
Mark:You know? So any for everybody, some would say it ain't for me.
Mike:some might say that.
Mark:Okay. So now that you've been dispatching for four years, There'll be four years and
Mike:three years,
Mark:it was 2017.
Mike:Was it, is it four years?
Mark:I am. I'm paused. Unless you came to work for us a year after that
Mike:I came, how long have we been in the building? I came just
Mark:2018.
Mike:Yeah. So that's when I came.
Mark:Oh, was it a year after that? Was it,
Britton:it was 2018 because I started my sophomore year. Cause it was my first year at the high school at bear river, because then I graduated in 2020.
Mark:I really let that brew for a year and a half before we got you in there to put you to work.
Mike:Probably
Mark:Jesus I'm stupid.
Mike:Well, I was, I was in 12 for two and a half years and she was only there for six months, but I was there for two and a half years. I was commuting before and then she got the job down there and we moved down there and then she moved back and then I stayed there probably for a number year almost.
Mark:So it was it was 18. Well, I guess you're coming on three years. What's one thing that you wish the drivers, what, what, what's one thing the drivers could do to help you do your job better? There's gotta be something.
Mike:I think our drivers are pretty good. Like they can let me know more like their preferences as far as where they like to run. Um, cause a lot of the things I'm dispatching and, um, trying to plan it from where they live. And a lot of times like they'll Swenson, you know, I mean, he's one of the few over here on in Logan that leaves on Monday. So he ends up doing the same run quite a bit. but you know, he doesn't ever complain, so I think he likes it, but
Mark:well maybe he doesn't,
Mike:Maybe he doesn't, maybe he wants me to mix it up a little bit. Like, you know, if, if there's something that I can change up to make it easier on them, then that's what I would like to know. But yeah, I, our drivers are pretty good
Mark:The crew we
Mike:and they usually, they're usually pretty good contact with me if they've got a problem or if they've got a question or anything in there, you know, they know my phone's always on that. Lowe's,
Mark:what's, what's the most surprising thing to you that you didn't realize when you were driving, working in the office now and dispatching
Mike:surprising thing to me.
Mark:Yeah. What's something where you're like, man. Okay. Now that makes sense. Why, you know,
Mike:I don't have to think about that.
Mark:I always thought before I ever dispatched, when I was just driving, I always thought that there was a lot more time spent on dispatching me than there probably actually was. I never realized but nobody's thinking that hard about it. Like they're thinking about it. Right. they're not sending you the load and then sitting there and going, okay, what should, it, what should we do next with mark for the next 10 or 15
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:It's like, load's gone onto the next thing. Cause, cause stuff's just moving so fast all the time. Yeah. There's this weird disconnect, you know, and we don't really have this cause we're smaller, but if you're a 50, 60 truck fleet, there's so many things going on, you spend five minutes a day on that truck and you're onto the next one. But from the truck driver's perspective, because he may, you know, the dispatch, maybe his only point of contact with the trucking company, he thinks like all the time is spent on him. and really, it's not.
Mike:Yeah. yeah, I'm always thinking about not necessarily look going out, but what I'm going to have him bring him back. That's always what I'm thinking about. I think, I think when I was driving, I kind of questioned like, why in the hell are they sending me here? Why, why, why would they be sending him there when I'm right here? Something like that. But there's always a reason of why. Okay. What, well, I need him to pick up here because he can get back and he might be able to leave earlier or, you know, he lives here. And so it's makes better sense for him to take this load. That's delivering the far west then to go all the way, Logan or something like that, Or,
Mark:or we were expecting that truck to be empty earlier. Right. Or, you know, that other guy is late now, all of a sudden what you're doing is changing. Yeah.
Mike:Yeah,
Mark:yeah. There's a. there's quite a bit of that If it goes on. Now when you were driving here before, I don't think things were planned out as well as they probably are today. Or thought through as much.
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:You know, it was one emergency to the next and like, really, it was bad. It was bad.
Mike:I remember I used to have to call a lot during my pickups for pickup numbers. Thank goodness. I don't know. You know, I don't deal with very many phone calls because they seem to have that info. Well, the software does helps that a lot
Mark:The software, the new software helps that a lot, the phone calls certainly have been cut substantially over the last six years. I'll say. Yeah.
Mike:Yeah.
Mark:See, I always prided myself here. and Back in the olden days when I worked at a different carrier, it was, I always figured the less phone calls I got, the better job I had done of doing my job.
Mike:Right, right.
Mark:Not that I didn't want to talk to the drivers or he didn't have time to talk to the drivers. It just meant that I didn't do a very good job of relaying the information to them the proper way if they were calling with some issues. Okay. six years ago. I don't know if you could say that about us. It was like, you know, it was kind of ragtag, I guess, is what I, would say.
Mike:well, I think you had it all lined up. Cause like when I started,
Mark:You were
Mike:I just,
Mark:I guess too,
Mike:like when I started dispatching though, when I came here and I didn't ever dispatch before you showed me everything the most conventional way to do it, the easiest way to get everything, how to put loads in everything. And so I tried to do that and everybody's different. Like I'm like Scott's a little different and then Jimmy's is a little different cause Jimmy still does paper. So I don't know. I think that. The way we were, we're a lot more efficient now because of how you've put your system in there. And then you taught me that system.
Mark:Yeah. And, and that's also, you know how I said, it's not that big a deal. If you were Scott, take a day off. Like it's kind of easy because you guys are pretty much doing stuff the way I'd do it if I was dispatching. And so I understand how to find. Things and I'm copied on everything, you know?
Mike:copy you and everything. Yeah.
Britton:There's
Mark:so much done over email, that, as long as I'm copied on the email, then I can go find the change. If I, if I got some
Mike:questions Right Um, maybe named that's what's most surprising to me about dispatch versed in the trucker because when I was trucking, I didn't know. You know, if the dispatcher, you know, I know they sent the load out here and I'm supposed to deliver it, but like I'm, I know other people that kids BS and other people at home are most of the places we deliver to. I have a rapport with them.
Mark:know
Mike:what's going on. Whereas a trucker, I probably didn't realize that the dispatcher was that in tune with, with the places that we deliver. Now, there's some places you can pick from a broker or something that I, you know,
Mark:don't know, nothing.
Mike:I'm sending my driver in there blind. So
Mark:you may know something, Right. Like, sometimes w we were like, oh yeah, this is going to suck. Yeah. Hang on, hang on your ass.
Britton:But I usually try to give them,
Mike:You know, somebody had
Britton:that they're running
Mike:to, that
Mark:It is thought out a lot more like the whole plan and, and there's a lot more overall 30,000 foot view looking at the plan today than there was a few years ago. know? I mean, I'm pretty proud of how efficient we are, how many miles we can get and how little time our drivers spend is wasted. Right. We just, we don't pay much attention. You know, we, we don't, our guys really just don't sit around that much and, um, And it's it's work. It's a lot of work on the dispatch side to make sure that all happens. we've done a really good job of that, I think.
Mike:Yeah. Yeah. I think it's, uh, we've we've we've uh, got it down to a science almost now.
Grace:That was a really good segment with Mike and Britain, Britain, Britain, Britain. Do they, do they do a glottal stop with the team? Utahns do it a lot. Like Mount mountain,
Mark:Britain, tin
Grace:Britain. Did you know what that was called? It was a glottal stop.
Mark:I have zero idea what you were talking about right now. Like I understand you're talking about the different ways his name could be pronounced, but I didn't know. that there was
Grace:Glottal but all stop.
Mark:glottal stop. But it's not like Britain like the country it's Britain.
Grace:Yeah, but the Utah accent, a lot of the, when the tea is in the middle of the word, there's a glottal stop.
Mark:I didn't ask either of them to introduce themselves the other night. Mike goes with that introduction. I mean, almost everybody who listens to this has met Mike. I think even some of our family members. cause Mike's, a family friend. He was over here for your graduation. And, I'm glad he came over to, join me. It's great to get to know him a little better, and I'm sure our drivers are going to enjoy that. segment. So next up, we have tie Walker's safety minute.
Grace:He talks about what to do. If you get in an accident while driving,
Mark:Yes. We have a specific. Checklist of things that we need our drivers to do. If they have an accident, we go through that checklist and we talk about a few scenarios in this. Um, it was a great segment again. I had him come over and he recorded right here in studio. I think we talk about if I remember, right. Ty Walker has finally watched smokey and the
Grace:you guys do. Yes.
Mark:Was that in the segment? Did you listen to
Grace:part one? Um, it may have been in part one. It could have been in part two it's in one of them.
Mark:Yeah. So we actually recorded three segments when he was here and I'm going to try and play them in order over the next three episodes. Cause they there's kind of a running theme through these segments with Tom. he talks a little bit about the Frankfurter studios. He's quite impressed by the studio by the way, but his wife really wasn't. That hip on smoking in the back.
Grace:but more of a dude.
Mark:Uh, smoking in the bandit is a dude movie. It probably also doesn't help, that it's 40 plus, years old, you know, so it was made long before either of them were ever even born. So, uh, back to the regularly scheduled podcast, here comes a segment with Taiwan soccer for Taiwan Walker's safety minute. Ty Walker. Welcome to the studios. Frankfurter studios. basement office
Ty Walker:I'm honored to be here. I'm here in the flesh. It's amazing.
Mark:I didn't, I didn't give you the grand tour of the whole complex
Ty Walker:that's okay. You know what? I'm here. I'm looking on your walls. You got all your little model trucks. It's pretty, pretty sweet setting. You've got here.
Mark:we've got American truck simulator for the, for the racing rig. Would you like to do a little truck driving?
Ty Walker:We could, we could just say to heck with this podcast.
Mark:I may have been, I may have driven a little bit last night,
Ty Walker:Yeah, that's pretty official. So you get your gear shift or there, that looks like a six speed does, but will it actually, you know, can you shift through all 18 if you want to
Mark:you can, but you've got to do, like, you got to set up button on the wheel to do the high, low,
Ty Walker:to split them.
Mark:And it's really confusing and problematic. So I just use the pedal shifter. on the steering wheel. I've actually, so I I've created a truck. My dream truck is what it is and it's got a seven speed in it.
Ty Walker:Oh, nice. Nice.
Mark:and a Cummins.
Ty Walker:Yeah. I'd be interested to see what your dream truck looks like.
Mark:I'll show you after we're done. You'll you'll be like
Ty Walker:eight inch pipes.
Mark:Nope. Nope.
Ty Walker:That's pretty good. Pretty good mark. I remember how to do this whole podcast thing. It's been a few days,
Mark:It's kind of like riding a bike Ty. When was the last time was it February?
Ty Walker:It probably was. Yeah. And we actually, I just stayed in the office. Did it remotely. So, so the quality, you know, it'll be a little
Mark:sound a little better. That, you know, I was telling you about how much you can hear, like when we're editing. I noticed today. I usually, so there's only a couple podcasts I listened to every week. And one is Dale Jr's podcast. He has he has an actual studio, but it's at his race shop. And usually when I listened to his podcast, I'm in the truck or in my pickup, you know, I'm always on the road.
Ty Walker:Right.
Mark:I was listening to it this morning while I was going through our second quarter numbers in my good headphones that I use editing. And I could hear Like work going on in the shop in the back. I could hear it. grinders go in and yeah. wow, they really are. a new shop.
Ty Walker:Yeah. They're not BS. And you know,
Mark:but if I would have been in my pickup, I don't,
Ty Walker:you don't know if you'd pick that up? Oh yeah, that's true. Yeah. You can definitely hear everything with these. It's a pretty sweet setup.
Mark:All right. So. What is the topic you'd like to cover today?
Ty Walker:Well, mark, today, I would like to talk about what to do if you're in an accident. So obviously we don't want this to happen. Nobody wants to get in an accident, but if it does happen, it's best to be prepared. Have a good idea of what you can do to make the situation go as smoothly as possible. So specifically. A driver, that's working at Stokes, we've got a little checklist. Um, I've got a bunch of them in my office if anybody needs, when they can stop in there and grab one. it just goes over some of the, uh, the things that you should do if you are in an accident. So I figured we could talk about it today. Um, it's not a huge subject, but there's some, some value there and, and I'm sure you've got some. Some things that you could add to it as well. So the first, I guess, topic or section of this, if I'm in an accident, what should I do? The first thing would be securing the scene. any thoughts from you mark on what that means to you to secure the scene?
Mark:Well, I suppose the first thing to do is do a, kind of an analysis of the severity of whatever happened. Obviously, if the vehicles are drivable, they need to be removed from the lane of travel. Right. And then it's a matter of checking on if there was someone else involved. Are they okay? If it was just you, are you okay?
Ty Walker:Right. Yeah. Perfect. You've pretty much nailed all those, those first points. So like you said, if the vehicle is still able to drive, get out of the road, you know, you don't want to sit there and cause another accident because. You're in the lane of travel. So if you can move over, do that, at that point, you want to do anything that you can to make yourself and your vehicle as visible as possible. Right. So let's make sure we've got our flashers on trying to warn people that are. You know, upon the scene that there's been an accident or something that they need to move over for. Um, the next thing which I think is a really good point is just trying to take a breath, you know, once you've kind of analyze the situation, like you mentioned, take a breath, try to breathe and try to relax as much as you can saying that, you know, I know it's way easier said than done. a little story for you. I, I got in a little fender bender in my, I think it was my senior year of high school and it wasn't anything serious. Nobody got hurt, but I was like in a panic shortly after, right. This happened and I couldn't even think of what, what to do next. so just trying to stay calm, that's going to help you handle the situation and handle the things that have to happen next a lot better. Um, then, like you said, obviously checked for injuries. If somebody's been injured, let's call 9 1 1. Let's get somebody there to help. So that would be the next step is just notifying authorities. Um, when you do that, try to have, or be able to provide a good location for them. Right? So whether that's a, uh, a mile marker, you know, if you have an idea of where you're at, maybe some landmarks, um, this wouldn't really apply for us, but if you were home, Like hazmat materials. You'd probably want to have that information ready for them as well. So along the list of who you're calling, I would say so for drivers at Stokes trucking, we want to know, so it gives safety, a call, whether it's myself or Tyler. Give us a call so that we can work with you and talk you through the situation and see what needs to happen next. I'm sure any company out there would feel the same way they want to be notified as soon as possible if something's happened. even if it's two o'clock in the morning, you know?
Mark:So when they call you guys, you'll, you'll probably go over what we just discussed to make sure all those steps have been followed.
Ty Walker:Yup.
Mark:One thing that's really hard for anybody, a truck driver just in the car, whoever to keep in mind is because the first thing everyone wants to do is analyze what happened and what went wrong. Let's not go there.
Ty Walker:Yes,
Mark:The time For that is later on in the immediate. do these things that Ty just listed we'll decide later where the fault lies and where if there was a mistake made, but whatever you. Don't get out and say, oh man,
Ty Walker:I'm so sorry. This was my fault. Yeah.
Mark:blaming the other party. Right. It's Are you okay? Okay. Let's work together to handle this and solve it as best we can right now. And especially if the other party is upset or angry now is not that that is not the time to discuss it. Try and secure the scene. And, and get the vehicles out of the lane of travel. If they're drivable.
Ty Walker:Yeah. Yeah. Emotions are going to be high and it could be, it could be really easy to. Get in a fight right there. So like you're saying, just leave that behind, figure out what needs to be done. Um, but yeah, don't, don't, uh, say that it was your fault right off the bat
Mark:or, or blame the other party. Yeah, Yeah. It's It's not the time. Right then is not the time to decide to do the analysis on the accident Decide who was in the, in the
Ty Walker:Yup, exactly. Glad you brought that up. so like what you're saying. Be sure to call safety, call us at the office, let us know what what's going on so we can help you. we're going to help you with the process of filing a claim or whatever needs to happen in that area. It would be best if we could walk you through that.
Mark:If it's after hours, I would imagine. So if it's outside of Monday through Friday eight to four, first call should probably be your cell phone And then, and then Tyler's cell phone. If you don't answer.
Ty Walker:Yeah. And I'm pretty confident all of our guys have, have got our cell phone numbers. Right. We've put it out there enough.
Mark:I'm positive. All of our guys have her cell phone numbers.
Ty Walker:So, so anyway, let's kind of move on to the next little, uh, topic of this or the next step. Would be to document the accident, right? let's say that we have an accident that happens at a truck stop or a shipper or receiver, right? Somebody backed into us this, this is pretty common. This type of stuff happens. this next step is really important. Just trying to document the accident and document who was involved as much as you can getting as much information from that other party, whether it be their driver's license. Maybe even take a picture of it. So we've got that information, phone numbers, uh, a good email, just a good contact so that we can, you know, commute or communicate with that person and figure out what needs to be done. Like you said, you can be caught up in the moment and forget to do these things, but it's going to make the process a lot smoother. If we've got good contact information for anybody that was involved, maybe even, um, a third party, somebody that saw what happened. If you're talking to them, snag a phone number from them, just so, so we've got that later on down the road. and along with that, Documenting any damage that's occurred, right? We all pack around these awesome little things with the camera. So take a picture of whether it be damage to the vehicle damage to the property, the other parties, party's car, truck, whatever it might be.
Mark:And you want several pictures of the the scene, quote unquote, right? From All different angles and directions so that we can get a really good, accurate picture. Perhaps what occurred, how it occurred.
Ty Walker:Absolutely. So even with that, maybe you're trying to get a picture of, um, let's say there's skid marks on the road, take pictures of those. Those can, uh, give us a lot of details of what actually happened and, and how we reacted to the accident, or even maybe landmarks that are around that accident. So just trying to document it as the best that you can, it's going to make the process a lot smoother. That's kind of the list, just in a, in a nutshell, like I said, we've got this in the office, I'd recommend all of our drivers to, you know, check their, their little binder made sure that they've got that in there. If they don't come see me and we can get them
Mark:So this, this page you're reading off of that should be in everybody's registration book in all that, every truck's registration book
Ty Walker:Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. I think it just makes it easier. Cause like we've talked, if you're in the mood. You can forget these things, but if you've got a checklist it's going to help you out. So.
Mark:Excellent. Well, great Ty, Thank you so much for coming over to the Frankfurter study.
Ty Walker:You bet. Mark. I'm I'm happy to be here, so hopefully you'll have me over again. We can do it again.
Mark:I'm sure I will. we can, we can hop on the SIM rig and you can drive around in my dream truck now.
Ty Walker:Okay. Sounds like a plan. Thanks mark.
Mark:that was an awesome segment with Ty Walker. I can't wait for everybody to hear the next one part two. And I think part two is on use of personal convenience. We'll get more into that.
Grace:I don't understand that at
Mark:You'll understand it after you listened to
Grace:I have, and I don't understand it.
Mark:You'd understand it more if you were a truck driver? All right, grace. we had a question from the road
Grace:this week. Okay. The question from the road comes from bill Parsons and trucks. 7 0 0.
Mark:Yeah. We're in the seven hundreds now. Wow. Yeah,
Grace:his question is my tires are rated for 13. That was 13,500 pounds or something like that, but I can still only run 12,000 pounds up there. Right.
Mark:So he's talking about us steer tires. Okay. So steer tires on a semi there's, just two of them, right? One on each side, back at the back. Now your duals. So you can carry more weight. That's why you have more tires historically. on steer axles, the steer axles were only rated for 12,000 pounds. Okay. So like your little Hyundai probably weighs about Hmm, 3000, maybe 3,500 pounds. A semi would carry about 12,000 pounds. So 300 days on it, just those two tires up front as things have evolved. At first, we got spread axles and the DOD looked at that and said, okay, those axles, a single axle, you can put 20,000 pounds on that. If you've got, if the axles rated for the weight, which means it can carry it. And the tires are rated for the weight as well. So pretty soon truck manufacturers figured that out. and. Realized they could build steer axles that were rated for higher weights and the tire manufacturers could make tires rated for higher weights also. So when I first started driving, it was pretty common to see 12,000 pound steer axles. And pretty soon they started coming out with like 12,400 pounds to your axles because the tires at that time, Each tire was rated for about 62 or 6,300 pounds plus two, right? 6,200 times two equals 12,400. Well now because emission systems on trucks have gotten heavier and heavier over time, truck manufacturers are making axles. They actually make steer axles that are rated for up to 20,000 pounds. We don't order them that heavy because we don't have a use for it. That'd be more like a heavy haul application or a cement truck. You've seen the cement trucks there. Their Steer tires are these great, big, huge fat things. Those are 20,000 pound axles, but our trucks we've started ordering with axles rated for 13,300 pounds. And the steer tires are rated for 14,600 as a pair. 7,300 individually. The one condition for that is they have to have 120 PSI cold pressure, which means before you've driven it in the morning, when it's cold, if you check the PSI it needs to be at least 120, I've had some drivers questioned me about that. Their rims are rated for 130 PSI. They're very much within limits. If they set them thirsty retires in 120 tire and rim manufacturers understand that tires are going to heat up as you drive, and the pressure is going to go up. So if you're at 120 PSI cold, that pressure may get up like into the one forties and one fifties, even. But as long as you started at one 20, you're good to go. It's not a problem. Start there. You can carry more weight on your steer axle and it gives you more flexibility on your drive and your trailer axles. That's why we've started to do that. So you can carry you're still limited to 80,000 pounds total, but you can carry an extra 1300 pounds up front, which is 1300 pounds you can play with on the tandems for the truck and the trailer tandem. That's why. we've. So that's the answer to the question. You're not limited to 12,000 pounds. You're limited to 13,300.
Grace:Cool.
Mark:Did any of that Makes sense?
Grace:No,
Mark:that's the look I usually get from you,
Grace:I'm not a truck driver,
Mark:good. You're so good at nodding nodding. like I understand. Yes. Yes. I understand. Steer axle weights. Absolutely.
Grace:Hey, well, you don't understand half the stuff I say to you. Yeah, but
Mark:what was it about Britain
Grace:glottal? Stop
Mark:glottal stop. Yes. So everybody's homework for everybody's homework for the next episode in two weeks is to understand what a glottal stop is. And we will try to use it in the next podcast. once again, everybody thank you for, downloading and listening to another episode of driver to driver, a Stokes trucking podcast. Tell your friends we've got a few stickers. If you want a sticker, I can hook you up with a, with a sticker. Stop by the office.
Grace:can put it on your water bottle.
Mark:Yep. They're four by four inch by four. So they're Perfect for water bottles, laptops, you could put one on the side of your truck. If you really want to. We also have Travis mills foundation stickers. So if anybody wants a Travis mills foundation bumper sticker, we've got a few of those in the office as well. Those are right by Val's desk. If you're a driver here, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you're from Canada, you probably don't have it. And maybe don't care, but thanks for listening anyway. All right, everybody. We will catch you on the next episode in a couple of weeks, please drive safe. Chops tried calling and I, I shouldn't have ignored it. I just thought it'd be on the podcast. what's up. You're on the podcast. Hold on. Hello. Me and grace are recording our segments for episode 50.
Grace:Oh, let me talk to her. Well,
Mark:well you are talking, I've got the phone up by the microphone and you're talking. Great. Hello. Stokes family My name is Corey herring and I drive a pickup. I'm a guy that You guys all cuss about. I'm the one that turns around you and says, get in my way. You may or may not make the podcast. We're just recording, We'll put recording then, or call me when you're done. recording. Oh, okay okay. All right. Bye. Lifelong friend, Cory Berry. He's a good. dude.
Thank you for listening to driver to driver. Uh, Stokes trucking podcast. For more information on Stokes trucking, please visit our website Stokes trucking.com. You can also learn more about us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at Stokes trucking. The intro and outro music is I can't keep still. The bumper music between segments is fetch me another one, Both performed by the caffeine creek band Driver to driver is a frankfurter studios production