Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/305892
Voices 8 | Overdrive | May 2014 The Precious is wearing new vinyl. George spent a day at home put- ting the lettering on, and he did an awesome job. I, of course, helped by merely being present and occasion- ally handing him something, which is pretty much my function in life. It doesn't sound like much, but just wait 'til you're somewhere and need something handed to you and there's no one to do it. You'll wish you had a helper. The job of "official hander" comes with the unfortunate burden of having to know where everything is located. Not only do you have the responsibility of knowing where to find it, you have to keep up with all of it after you hand it to people. The following is a real conversation in my house. As the official hander of things, it wasn't unusual to me at all. "Mom, I need that piece of paper." "Which piece of paper – the green one or the pink one?" "The white one." "Oh. That narrows it down to the 9,000 pieces of white paper I current- ly have the location of cataloged in my head. Any other clues?" "It has writing on it. About the library. I showed it to you." And miraculously, like the guy on "Wheel of Fortune" who solved the entire puzzle with two letters, I know precisely what piece of paper he's talking about. "It's in the pocket of your black pants." "Where are my black pants?" This is where the handing part comes in, because I'm usually too busy to go through the "Who's on first" routine, so I find his black pants and hand them to him. With the piece of paper in the pocket, just like I told him. Bam. Never underestimate the value of good help. Who else is going to hand you stuff ? Helping hands are hard to find The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website, fmcsa.dot. gov, has gotten a facelift. Chief Anne Ferro, on the DOT's Fast Lane blog, called the comprehensive redesign putting "our best foot forward by fea- turing the pages visitors access most often. We've also restructured our content based on who you are – driv- er, carrier, or consumer – and what you're interested in – news, safety, registration, or regulations." However, in the Overdrive's Trucking Pro discussion group on LinkedIn, former owner-operator Joe Rajko- vacz, now of the California Con- struction Trucking Association, notes that he's "noticed some previously easy-to-find content is not so easy" to find any longer. Take a look and tell us what you think via any one of our social media channels. New FMCSA webSite: iMproveMeNt or exerCiSe iN Hide-ANd-go-Seek? Search "One truck to rule them all" on OverdriveOnline. com to find more photos of the 2004 Freightliner Coronado George and Wendy Parker started running ear- lier this year. For the recent vinyl additions, Wendy says, "Special thanks to our friends at The Graphics Company." Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her own- er-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline.com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. "As a kid, they called us what I thought was gophers, but what they really meant was go-for." — Kurt Keilhofer "It's tough not having a helper. For example, being on a trailer tightening a bungee and you need another one, have to get down, get one, climb back up. Lots of extra work. Maybe I need a 'Wendy.' " — Tamara Wilkie Voices_0514.indd 8 4/30/14 3:11 PM