Posts Tagged “Paacar”
For owner operator Ruben Velez, nothing has been given to him. He has worked hard all his life.
“I didn’t finish high school because I grew up working to help my mother pay the bills,” Ruben says.
HaulProduce caught up with the resident of Orlando, FL several weeks ago at The Polish Shop, located at exit 2 along I-75 at Lake Park in far southern Georgia. Ruben has his 2012 386 model Peterbilt polished here about three times a year. This blue beauty, with only 90,000 miles, houses a 455 h.p. Paacar diesel, featuring a 13-speed tranny, and a 242-inch wheelbase. He pulls a 53-foot Utility trailer mounted with a Carrier reefer unit.
Ruben primarily hauls tomatoes out of Southern and Central Florida. He had recently delivered a load of Florida tomatoes to New Jersey. He was returning to Florida with a load of dry freight. It had six drops. He’d already unloaded some of the freight in Atlanta, with further drops set for Lakeland and Deerfield, FL. Then he planned to pick up more Florida tomatoes to haul back north.
Ruben, 43, started trucking as a company drive at age 18. He’s been an owner operator for the past 18 years, owning nothing but Petes. Although he hauls a lot of tomatoes, his favorite loads are with frozen foods. He cites no particular reason, except, “I’ve always hauled it.”
Among his concerns as a small business owner, is the high cost of diesel fuel. “The high price of diesel is hurting me and everyone,” he notes. As for fuel surcharges, the trucker says he receives them, primarily on dry freight, but it is often too little and lags behind the increasing cost of fuel.
Ruben states trucking is becoming more difficult, not only for new entries into the profession, but the veteran drivers as well.
“This (trucking) industry has ate up a lot of guys,” he says. “If you’re entering this industry, go to work for a carrier where you have the benefits. The fuel, tolls, insurance, etc.; all of these costs are very high.”
Asked about his biggest challenge as a trucker, Ruben cites dealing with the inexperienced drivers on the road, both four wheelers and operators of the big rigs. “A lot of them are out there driving while texting, talking on their cell phones; not paying attention.”
His favorite aspect of trucking is a very common answer among long haul drivers — being on the road, enjoying the scenery and just seeing a lot of different things.
As for keys to surviving and making a living in trucking, Ruben cites not only being willing to work hard, but to deal with good, honest shippers, brokers and receivers. He uses his own operating authority to get most of his dry freight hauls, while using reliable, honest truck brokers to obtain his produce hauls.
Tod Taylor has been trucking off and on for over 25 years, but it’s the onlyprofession he’s known for the past seven years. He has 
pretty much done and seen it all during his career and is thankful the equipment has improved immensely.
He still has vivid memories of his first job trucking in January 1986 when he was driving for a company with a 1982 cabover. “They left me in New York City for three weeks, mainly to pick up and drop trailers. I vowed I’d never go back there,” he recalls.
He hasn’t strayed much from those feelings today. A company driver for Professional Services Transportation Inc. (PSI) of Huntsville, MO, Tod says he refuses to drive inside of Interstate 287 in New York. He, as well as PSI pretty much also avoids trucking in California because of the rules, regulations and gridlock.
“You can’t make any time in California or New York. You are dealing with too many things that eat the clock up,” he states.
While hauling meat is the primary focus for PSI, the company also transports its share of fresh produce. In fact, he finds some similarities between the two categories of loads.
Tod had just hauled a load of meat from Milwaukee and made two drops inAtlanta. Now he was parked at an Atlanta truck stop and in 14 hours (3 a.m.) was scheduled to make his first of three more drops. Sounds a little like some produce hauls, in which he also aired some opinions.
“If the produce people would get their act together, it wouldn’t be bad (hauling fresh fruits and vegetables). You wait three days to pick up two skids. You wait for those skids because the product has to be harvested. Trucking just don’t pay enough to do that. When I get lucky and finally get loaded, then they don’t want to pay you anything to haul it,” he reflects.
Tod believes a minumum of two dollars per mile is needed to haul produce out of California and many other places, “but most guys aren’t getting that. They want you to drive 3,100 miles for $2,800. You can’t do that, especially when you are there three to four days waiting for a load. It’s not worth it.”
At age 50, Tod has never owned his own truck, although he has considered it from time to time. However, he has always decided against being an owner operator “because I don’t need all of the extra headaches.”
Tod drives a beautiful 2012 Kenworth T-660, which had only 37,000 miles on it. He loves the truck that is powered by a Paacar 455 h.p. engine, 15-speed automatic transmission, and pulls a 53-foot Great Dane holding a Carrier refrigeration unit. The truck is a light oak leaf color with an 84-inch studio sleeper. The cab has a lot of modern features including a GPS system built into the dash.
He concludes, “Trucking has come along way from that ’82 cabover freight shaker I used to drive.”
Tod Taylor has been trucking off and on for over 25 years, but it’s the only profession he’s known for the past seven years. He has pretty much done and seen it all during his career and is thankful the equipment has improved immensely.
He still has vivid memories of his first job trucking in January 1986 when he was driving for a company with a 1982 cabover. “They left me in New York City for three weeks, mainly to pick up and drop trailers. I vowed I’d never go back there,” he recalls.
He hasn’t strayed much from those feelings today. A company driver for Professional Services Transportation Inc. (PSI) of Huntsville, MO, Tod says he refuses to drive inside of Interstate 287 in New York. He, as well as PSI pretty much also avoids trucking in California because of the rules, regulations and gridlock.
“You can’t make any time in California or New York. You are dealing with too many things that eat the clock up,” he states.
While hauling meat is the primary focus for PSI, the company also transports its share of fresh produce. In fact, he finds some similarities between the two categories of loads.
Tod had just hauled a load of meat from Milwaukee and made two drops in 
Atlanta. Now he was parked at an Atlanta truck stop and in 14 hours (3 a.m.) was scheduled to make his first of three more drops. Sounds a little like some produce hauls, in which he also aired some opinions.
“If the produce people would get their act together, it wouldn’t be bad (hauling fresh fruits and vegetables). You wait three days to pick up two skids. You wait for those skids because the product has to be harvested. Trucking just don’t pay enough to do that. When I get lucky and finally get loaded, then they don’t want to pay you anything to haul it,” he reflects.
Tod believes a minumum of two dollars per mile is needed to haul produce out of California and many other places, “but most guys aren’t getting that. They want you to drive 3,100 miles for $2,800. You can’t do that, especially when you are there three to four days waiting for a load. It’s not worth it.”
At age 50, Tod has never owned his own truck, although he has considered it from time to time. However, he has always decided against being an owner operator “because I don’t need all of the extra headaches.”
Tod drives a beautiful 2012 Kenworth T-660, which had only 37,000 miles on it. He loves the truck that is powered by a Paacar 455 h.p. engine, 15-speed automatic transmission, and pulls a 53-foot Great Dane holding a Carrier refrigeration unit. The truck is a light oak leaf color with an 84-inch studio sleeper. The cab has a lot of modern features including a GPS system built into the dash.
He concludes, “Trucking has come along way from that ’82 cabover freight shaker I used to drive.”