Category Archives: Trucking

Diet Update Week 2

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I lost another 4 lbs for a total of 11 lbs lost so far.

My walking has been going great, I really like getting out in the morning before it gets hot. I picked up a really sweet pair of Nike running shoes. Nike Free Run 3‘s the uppers are so soft it’s like having a glove for you foot or like their site says its like running barefoot.

Walking recap starting Monday May 7th: 2.22 miles 35:24 minutes, 2.29/35:14, 2.95/48:01, 3.12/46:37, 3.27/51:11, 3.38/1:08:54, 4.10/1:05:43

Some great fast food meals I like:
Chipotle Mexican Grill, I get the bowl with brown rice, black beans, chicken, mild salsa, corn salsa and no cheese. It’s about 560 calories. If you want it as a burrito add 190 calories for the tortilla.

Wendy’s I get a chili no cheese large 340 cals/small 210 cals. And I get a side salad and pomegranate dressing 25 cals for the salad & 60 for the dressing.

Taco Bell I’ll get a Chicken supreme burrito, fresco style 330 calories and a soft chicken taco fresco style 150 calories

McDonald’s the Southwest chicken salad with grilled chicken and the recommended dressing is 390 calories.

Snacks I picked up Weight Watchers String Cheese 2/100 calories, hard boiled eggs 2/ 156 calories, Fiber One Bars 140 calories, Sliced Apple from Walmart 80 cals.

That’s it for now, I’ll post more meals later.

Later fellow Travelers, God Speed.

Diet Update Week 1

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Good news for week 1 update, weight loss 7 lbs.

Starting weight 334, updated weight 327…

Using the “my fitness pal” iPhone App to track my daily calorie intake. Plus walking everyday at a fast pace for 30 minutes a day. I used the “RunKeeper” iPhone App for tracking my walking time, mileage and pace. I also used FitBit Ultra digital step tracker to count daily steps, calories burned, distance traveled and floors climbed. The FitBit also tracks your sleep patterns. More about these Apps in future posts.

Starting May 1st my daily walking: 1.70 miles in 00:30:05, 2.20 in 00:34:57, 2.01 in 00:31:43, 1.92 in 00:30:13, 2.71 in 00:42:17 and resting on Sunday

Later my fellow travelers.

Ambitious Goals

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So as I’m a Truck Driver, I sit on my rear a lot. Driving long hours, eating at either fast food places, truck stop that offer big portions or buffets. Unlike other driving jobs I have had, I don’t do any unloading. Some days involve multiple drops and hooks that are good for some activity. At the end of a long day all you want to do is hit the bunk. Then on the weekends lately its been major couch potato time watching way to much TV. Recently I have notice that I’m getting sore and have joint pain from doing nothing or just sitting to much. Not to mention I just turned 55, as we age our metabolism slow down. Have you ever heard the saying “getting old suck”? Well it does, if you let it. As you may have read my last post, I have high BP and I’m consider obese for my height and weight.
Time to get off the couch, put down the fork, push away from the table and turn off the tv. Get up and move, move and move some more. So I have decided to start walking at least a half hour each day. Depending on where I may be, walking in the morning maybe be the best option. Before it gets hot, depending on the time of year. For some the afternoon or evening might be best.
I have found a few good websites where we can get more info.

http://www.thewalkingsite.com/ says: “You know you want to begin a fitness program, but don’t know where to start. It’s easy! Walking is one of the easiest, most enjoyable, and most profitable forms of exercise. All you need is a good pair of shoes, comfortable clothing, and desire.”
They even have info on walking a Marathon. Now that’s really ambitious!

I have also found some great Apps for my iPhone that are helpful in tracking my workouts. I will be doing reviews on any of the Apps I use, so please come back soon.

Along with exercise, I have start watching what I eat, also using Apps to count calories and track what I’m eating. I have been successful in the past counting calories or points like the weight watchers program. I have also purchased a digital pedometer called a FitBit that I will be reviewing also.
My ambitious goal is to lose 20 pounds in about 2 months. I will post frequent updates, another ambitious goal! if the walking goes well I may even try some running, we’ll see.

Wish me luck and/or join me on my adventure. Come back soon for updates and reviews…

Later my fellow travelers.

DOT Physical “FAIL”

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So I went to get my yearly Dept. of Transportation required year physical about a month ago. Truck drivers are required to get a physical every 2 year, or every year if you are on any medicine. I take blood pressure medicine, so I go every year. Last year my company started using a new clinic in Redding, Ca. My visit last year wasn’t much better, BP reported around 130/99. So they made me sit in the room for awhile, each time they came back it was higher not lower. They end up giving me my DOT card for a year. They should have only given me 3 months, be cause of my elevated BP. 140/90 is the limit, below is ok, above requires a shorter time between physicals. So this year it’s the same story BP 150/100. The Doctor, a man I’d say in his 80′s comes in and tells me I’m fat and that if I don’t loss weight, I’ll have a stroke and be drooling out the side of my mouth. Well I am fat I’m 6 foot tall and weigh 234 by my scale at home, 245 on their scale fully clothed. My BMI or body mass index is 31.7 which by standard is OBESE. So long story short, I get a 3 month pass. Now worried that I maybe severely Ill, I head straight to my Doctors office to get my BP checked. They say my BP is fine, in the normal range anyways.
So what’s the deal. Is it White Coat Syndrome, which is when you nervous around Doctors. Then why was I ok at my doctors office, with the stress of all the above facts? Is it faulty equipment at the clinic? Maybe they are not using a big enough BP cuff? I’m going to try to use our companies old Doctor for my next check up. Plus I’m now going to get serious about dropping my weight and upping my activity level, I have been quite the “couch potato”. More to come on these soon!

See ya soon fellow travelers!

Here’s what the medical report looks like: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/safetyprograms/Medical-Report.pdf

Recent post on TruckersVoice.com

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 When I started driving, trailers were 45 or 48 feet long and were allowed to gross weigh 73,280 pounds. Even then, people were complaining about us running over their curbs, landscaping and other obstacles due to the long trailers. States were hollering that we were tearing up their roads and bridges. Many warehouses and factories were not meant for any trailers over 40 foot and were difficult to get into their docks or facilities.
 First of all, a huge thank you to the state of Mississippi, Teamsters, and OOIDA, among others, for standing with the majority of truckers as we fight the battle that is ensuing.

It amazes me when I mentioned I’d be doing a piece on this that many were clueless that the heavier weight proposal was still being battled out. It’s scary how many things can slip under the rug when everyone is only worried about final rulings on hours of service and cell phones. The heavier weight limit proposal is a key issue in the economy of many, it is a key issue in highway safety for everyone on the road. We, today, together, will explain it all. Then, hopefully, you can walk away with an understanding of why it’s so important to pick up your phone, especially with this year being an election year, call your congress person, and sayDO NOT PASS THIS!!

Gone but not Forgotten… 2011

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2012 is here and I hope everyone has a wonderful new year.

I had some great times in 2011

In early May I reached my goal of 2,000,000 miles safe driving…

In May I got to go to Wal-marts Home Office for a Drivers Grass Roots Meeting. Sunday night they put me up in a motel in Woodland, CA as my flight left very early on Monday morning.Monday was a travel day to Bentonville AR. They had some Vans rented for the drivers and I got the pleasure of driving to the motel. I shared a room with Gary Martin aka Turkey Neck a driver from Porterville CA, we were on our own for dinner that night. Tuesday and Wednesday we had our meeting. We also got to tour home office and the Wal-mart airport where they keep all the wal-mart jets, it was all pretty neat stuff to see. We also went to the original Walton’s 5 & 10 which is now a museum. They had a great BBQ at the Transportation Shop where they shared some of the new technologies with us. After the Wednesday meeting we where on our own again. Thursday was a travel day home and I took Friday off to get some rest. It was a really good experience and I’m glad I was picked to go. It nice to know that they care what we think and to see all the support that goes in to making our job so much easier.

Pictures from Walmart Grassroots Meeting: http://www.flickr.com/photos/richberry/sets/72157628783702853/

August 3rd was my seventeenth year anniversary with Walmart.

In August we took our family vacation to Florida. We had a great time visiting with the relatives. We also layed Judi’s dad Pete’s ashes to rest at the Veterans Cemetery in Sarasota. Pete was 98 years old when he passed and had what I consider a great life. Before we left we spent a day at the Mouses House aka Disney world.

The holiday season and all it craziness when by smoothly and now we are on to a New Year and new adventures…

A New Look and A New Blog…

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I have finally gotten around to creating my New TruckerRich site. While renaming and moving the old site on Free Audio Books to truckerrich.com/freeaudiobooks, and also creating a new site for Safety at truckerrich.com/safety, I still have quite a bit of work to do on all of my sites, but a least I’m off to a good start. I’m missing links to all the photo’s on the old site, so I have to replace them.  I need to build the safety site from scratch.

Two new sites I have started are:

ModMyJeep.com  I will be posting mods to my Jeep, and looking for manufacturers to showcase their goods.

BecauseofBob.org  for my daughter-in-law to post her non-profit charity site. Because of Bob, who passed away at the young age of 33 from a heart attack, will feature articles on Heart health, and to also raise money for a college fund to help families that have lost their parent due to premature heart attack..