Imagine getting a Commercial Driver License from a state Department of Motor Vehicles and not giving your name? No Name. That's right, you can get a CDL in some states without a name on it! 25% of over 500 drivers in a Oklahoma check station 3 day blitz were illegal. No Name CDLs!!! My jaw dropped when I read this. State Patrol and DOT did a 3 day blitz at a check station just east of the Texas border. I never heard the term No Name CDL before. Are you kidding me? I told myself "this is fake bullshit." Then I checked it out, it's all over the Oklahoma news but so far ignored by major news media. This has to end! Get these illiterate steering wheel holders off the road and shut down the damn illegitimate trucking companies now! During my professional driving career, I lived in two states, Wisconsin and Utah. Having to be issued CDLs from each, I wonder what they would have said if I refused to give them my name? As the famous Vince Lombardi once asked "What the hell is going on out there?
Having been a professional truck driver and trainer for more than 30 years (now retired), I find that you never, ever know it all. There are always new things to learn. My primary goal with this blog is to help other drivers (especially newer ones) with pertinent information and tips to enable them to work happier and more safely. Guest posts, contributors and feed-back are always welcome and wanted!
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
"No Name" CDL, Are you kidding me?
Imagine getting a Commercial Driver License from a state Department of Motor Vehicles and not giving your name? No Name. That's right, you can get a CDL in some states without a name on it! 25% of over 500 drivers in a Oklahoma check station 3 day blitz were illegal. No Name CDLs!!! My jaw dropped when I read this. State Patrol and DOT did a 3 day blitz at a check station just east of the Texas border. I never heard the term No Name CDL before. Are you kidding me? I told myself "this is fake bullshit." Then I checked it out, it's all over the Oklahoma news but so far ignored by major news media. This has to end! Get these illiterate steering wheel holders off the road and shut down the damn illegitimate trucking companies now! During my professional driving career, I lived in two states, Wisconsin and Utah. Having to be issued CDLs from each, I wonder what they would have said if I refused to give them my name? As the famous Vince Lombardi once asked "What the hell is going on out there?
Friday, August 15, 2025
Starlink on Standby - No More a Prisoner
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Previously, after a three year nightmare with CenturyLink/Brightspeed, we installed Starlink in 2023 and were extremely pleased with it. All was great except for the $120 per month cost. So, when they laid fiber in our neighborhood last year Spectrum offered us 1 Gig high speed internet for $70 per month, price guaranteed for one year. That year is almost up, so we’ll see how much they jack the rate up. I had left my Starlink equipment in place and paused service at no charge in case of Spectrum issues.
The last few weeks I’ve been getting notices from Starlink that they now offer standby service as an option on their plans for only $5 per month. (Since I first posted this, I have found out that Starlink has now discontinued the "Pause" option. Your choice now is to either cancel or go "Standby". Supposedly you can still cancel and resume your service at any time.) If you plug your equipment in, Starlink will be on and operational at very low speed 500 Kbps. That is enough to allow emergency messaging, software updates, and basic online functions. It also keeps your system updated.
Yesterday, I decided to give it a try and opened the app which I haven’t used since last year. It was easy to reactivate my equipment to standby and they took out about $3 for partial month going forward. Because the system had been paused and unplugged, it took about an hour to get all the system updates and the dish to orient itself to the satellites.
Once it was done, I switched my phone to Starlink to see how it worked. I was able to go on email and Facebook and while it was slow, it worked and was usable. So now, if Spectrum goes out I can switch in a few seconds and still be online. And if I decide to go back to full service Starlink, I can switch my plan with the app in a few seconds, go downstairs and switch the router from the Spectrum modem to the Starlink and should be good to go! Note: On the Gen II Starlinks you need an adapter to bypass the internal Starlink router. You can order one from Starlink for $17. But that makes it SO easy to switch as you don’t have to connect each individual device over again.
Update 8/21/25: I received the adapter from Starlink today, went downstairs and plugged it in. I then went to my phone and switched over, Starlink did a quick reboot and update and it's working fine.
No more a prisoner of ANY internet service provider. And that's great relief after the insane, customer abusing Brightspeed days! And, I would have no hesitation to switch back to Starlink if Spectrum starts gouging us customers.
Thursday, August 7, 2025
My (One Week) Project Car
Within a month or two a guy at work told me he knew somebody with a car (1953 Dodge) that was free to take away. Well, the words car and free rang in my ears as I perked right up. I asked him if it ran and he said yes, all it needed was the brakes fixed. So we went over to his house to take a look. It was a kind of ugly brown and kind of beat up but the body was in OK shape. I didn’t care what it looked like and I said if it runs, I’ll take it. He said “OK it’s yours for a dollar to make it a legal sale” and asked how I was going to get it home. I replied that I’ll drive it and get it there and he signed off on the title while I gave him a dollar. I also didn’t tell him I was only 16 and underage to legally buy a car.
After getting a ride back to his house, I got the keys and jumped in. It had a straight 6 motor and 3 on the tree manual transmission. It started up and I drove it slowly home and when having to stop would leave it in gear and turn the engine off. The hand parking brake didn’t work or I would have tried using that. It’s funny how hearing the word “free” kind of caused me to neglect looking very carefully at the car. I noticed as I was poking along Silver Spring Dr. at a few miles per hour a blue haze behind me from burning oil coming through the tail pipe. Getting back home I parked it in the driveway and started to look the car over a bit more, finding two tires nearly bald. Opening the hood there was smoke and fumes caused from oil getting on the exhaust manifold. Looking underneath there were some wet spots on the motor from oil leaks already dripping on the asphalt. Not exactly a chick magnet. I had to keep telling myself “it was free”.
Well, then dad gets home from work. “What’s that car sitting out there?", he asked. I told him and said I got it for free, all it needs is the brakes fixed. He asked “How did you get it here with no brakes?” I told him how. My dad could be a man of few words, especially with me. I remember these, “Get that thing out of the driveway!". He was not happy and I went out and parked it on the street in front of the house.
So, there it sat for about a week. I imagine dad went out and looked the car over after I went to work, but he didn’t say anything or tell me. I was still young and knew nothing about fixing cars. Although I was reading every Hot Rod and Car & Driver magazine I could get my hands on, I had no idea of brake systems and how they work. As I started to realize that I may have made a foolish decision, I kept a low profile around the house, made myself scarce and stayed quiet.
The following Saturday, my dad came in and asked “What are you going to do with that car?” I told him I wasn’t quite sure and he said “Don’t you think that the reason the car was free was because it isn’t worth fixing?” I said “Yes, I suppose so.” He then said “Then get the car title and start heading down to the junkyard and I’ll come pick you up". And, that was the second trip for me to Larry’s junkyard in Butler, with many more to come! I wasn't having very good luck buying cars.
A couple days later mom came up to me and said she was going to stop driving for the time being. She was pregnant with her last child, my sister Karin, and was content to just stay home and didn’t have a need to go anywhere. Altough, knowing mom, I knew she was sacrificing her freedom for my benefit. So, I took over the 1957 Chrysler New Yorker after that and my car shopping was over for a while. And I was a happy guy! That car had a 392 hemi motor and could easily bury the 120 mph speedometer needle!
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Old Car Stories and Life Lessons
I obtained my driver’s license when I turned 16 years of age near the end of 1968. Being in my junior year of high school, I had a motorcycle for transportation but had to borrow one of the two family cars when needed due to weather. My parents had two cars, one a 1957 Chrysler New Yorker that I ended up with later. I usually had access to one or the other but I longed to have my own vehicle.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Team Driving: "Not for the faint of heart!"
It was either 1996 or ’97, our regional director received word that seasonal extra help was needed for a national account customer. Their business involved transporting fresh cut floral greens and wreaths from their production "farms" throughout the country to retail outlets. The Christmas season was their busy season and they were asking for volunteer drivers to spend six weeks running team to support their operation. The drivers would be guaranteed $1,000 per week minimum to those that would commit. I had just completed the orientation of a new young driver named Dave. I was going to be riding with him for two weeks training anyway so I asked if he was interested and he said yes, without hesitation. He was trying to save up cash so he could move his wife and kid to Salt Lake City from Grealy, Co. He had left them at their apartment to come to Utah for a decent job as she was still employed at a meat packing plant in Colorado.
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Driving Miss Daisy? No, it's Mrs.Pritzker
Every time I heard or read the name Pritzker for the last couple of years, it seemed so familiar. That name is often in the news as the current governor in our neighboring state of Illinois is JB Pritzker. Now, the governor and I are on very opposite sides of the political spectrum, as you would correctly assume. But his name seemed so familiar, like I heard it before. The name is distinctive. But why? It’s been bugging me for a long time.
I was thinking last week about my late father. He retired in 1979 after 30 years at Chrysler/AMC and he and mom moved to Florida with my three youngest siblings. During the 1980’s mom would work part time for a firm that provided services for the elderly. I remember my dad telling me that he would occasionally drive a woman around on errands and appointments when she needed him. On the couple occasions he talked to me about it, he would always refer to her by name, Mrs. "So-and-So". He had also mentioned she was a wealthy widow from Chicago and said the family was in the hotel business. Suddenly, it clicked, Chicago? Illinois? Distinctive name? Wealthy family? Could she have been a Pritzker? Last week, I even asked my younger siblings if they remembered the name of the woman that dad used to drive around. They all said no.
That made me even more curious and led me to look up the Pritzker family. Well, I’ll be! I discovered a Rhoda Pritzker that had lived 10 miles from my parents home. She had married Jack Nicholas Pritzker, who was a great uncle to the current Illinois governor JB Pritzker. The family indeed built the Hyatt hotel chain and family members still have a large holding in the company. Jack and Rhoda bought the home on Casey Key in Florida in 1970. Her husband died in 1979, the year my parents moved To Sarasota.
So, my dad had his little “Driving Miss Daisy” job helping a Pritzker widow. He would drive over to her house when she called. She also wanted her car “exercised” as she didn’t drive. So dad would get her big station wagon out of the garage and off they would go. Mystery solved!
Rhoda Pritzker died in Casey Key in 2007 at the age of 93. Her funeral was held in Chicago. The latest sale of her old house was in 2016 for $1.75 million.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Sobering News on the State of Trucking in the US
This Texas crash occured in March, reported by The Gateway Pundit:
"A Travis County judge on Tuesday slashed the bond for Solomun Weldekeal-Araya — a foreign national and 18-wheeler driver — from $1.2 million down to a jaw-dropping $7,000, despite his role in a tragic crash that left five people dead, including a child and a baby.
The deadly pileup occurred last month on Interstate 35 in North Austin, involving 17 vehicles and 17 people, resulting in fiery devastation and multiple injuries.
Adding fuel to the fire, Araya, who is reportedly on a visa from Ethiopia, was previously cited for going 63 in a 30 mph zone, an offense that should have jeopardized his CDL. Records show he had a court date scheduled just a week after the fatal crash.
Independent journalist Sarah Fields reported that Araya is an asylum seeker on a work visa who barely speaks English and is employed by a network of questionable LLCs currently under investigation by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that according to public records and whistleblower claims, Araya was driving under a Texas-based company called ZBN Transport LLC. The company shares a physical address—9180 Forest Lane, Apt. 202, Dallas, TX—with at least a dozen other transportation LLCs registered in the same North Dallas apartment complex, each under slightly different names or unit numbers.
One of those names, Bay Area Lines LLC, even appeared on a truck inspection record just a day after ZBN was flagged—suggesting a pattern of companies swapping names daily to dodge regulatory scrutiny.
Industry insiders claim that while occasional business name changes aren’t unheard of, daily swaps signal red flags. “This kind of name-flipping is used to reset inspection scores, hide violations, and continue operating dangerous equipment with impunity,” one trucking compliance expert noted."
This infux of illiterate steering wheel holders working for illigitimate trucking companies has been going on for years! It's about time something is done!
I've gotten responses from a state trooper and a current Illinois DOT officer. They both included their names but I won't post them here:
"I'm an a Illinois DOT officer and have been since 2008 i agree 100% . Then we have state law which is even more ridiculous. All CFV (commercial farm vehicles) farm plated are exempt with 150 miles from CDl, D & A testing,medical card and HOS, everything but maintenence. Had a farmer tell me he hires alot of people from Somalia. They then come here work for him for dirt cheap with no qualifications at all and need nothing. Makes you feel really safe on the roads. I deal with it daily people can't speak English even worse laying under their 80000 pound truck yelling for them to brake only hoping and praying they don't run you over. Even when we could put them OOS for non speaking they would get a relief driver get down the road and switch back anyways.
News Credit: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/outrage-travis-county-judge
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Automotive Backup Cameras - Early Aggravation to Tolerance
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2022 Ford Escape |
I guess this post certainly shows my age (72). It’s been getting close to ten years now since I first started driving a car with a rear view camera.
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2016 Nissan Altima |
So, on to 2019 when we bought a new Ford Escape SE. We didn’t have all the bells and whistles on it and it came with an eight inch LCD screen. The rearview camera was a big improvement especially at night. I didn’t notice any problems seeing out the windows after dark with the camera on. Still without sensors for audio warning, I seldom used it except in rare parallel parking scenarios.
In 2023, we traded for an unsold new 2022 Escape that the dealer made us a great deal on. This one featured many more options, including a large eight inch high definition display for infotainment and backup camera viewing. Included with the camera is cross traffic audio alert to warn of pedestrians and cars crossing as your backing, in addition to a fixed object warning. I haven’t really noticed any issues seeing out the windows at night with the camera on. I must say it’s a vast difference from what I had in 2017!
We've had this car for about two years now. But, thinking about it, I still hardly use the camera! After 56 years of driving I just can’t make myself use that camera to back out of a parking space or back down a driveway. Other than quick glances at the screen, I use my mirrors and keep my head on a swivel while backing. Previously, driving trucks for 37 years, using my mirrors is too instinctive. Looking forward at the center of the dash while backing is just so unnatural. So, I guess, that’s the way it’s going to be until I’m gone. I do appreciate hearing the audio warnings of cross traffic however. It does have a reassuring effect. It’s such a different world these days since I first got my driver’s license in 1968.
Happy Easter!
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Crime Story TV Series - Vintage Las Vegas and Cool Cars!
Do you like to see Las Vegas the way it was in the late 1980’s? Or, how about seeing the really cool cars of the late 1950’s and early 60’s?
We ran across this TV series starring Dennis Farina called Crime Story that ran for two seasons starting in 1986. The series setting starts out in Chicago in the early 1960’s. Farina plays a Chicago Lieutenant cop chasing down mob figures and transfers his team to Las Vegas after a few episodes. Before Dennis Farina started his acting career he spent 18 years in the Chicago police department advancing from a patrol officer to detective.
In Las Vegas, a lot of scenes were shot inside the old Bob Stupak’s Vegas World that eventually became the Stratosphere, now named The Strat. About 1989, my wife and I went to Vegas World using one of Stupak’s promotion club deals. They would give you $1200 in slot play tokens, vouchers for table game play with a room and meals for 3 days for $400 per couple. We actually broke even on one trip out there from Wisconsin. Since the series was shot in the late 80’s, it was cool seeing all the original decor, layout and even the same carpeting in the TV show! Lots of action on Old Fremont St. downtown before all the changes and great scenery.
And then, the cars! So many late 50’s and early 60’s pristine classics! Farina had the best set of wheels, a jet black 1957 Chrysler 300C convertible. It had a factory 392 hemi engine with 2 four-barrel carburetors producing 375 hp. In some scenes you can clearly hear the powerful engine as the car accelerates. No wonder Farina wanted to drive that car for both seasons. It's like watching a vintage car show. They didn’t abuse the car too much in chases, as I’m sure the owner would have had a problem with that. Too many cars to list from an early 60’s Corvette to T-birds, Cadillacs, late 50’s Fords and so many others.
With the TV show produced in the 1980's I was unaware until finding it on Amazon Prime a few weeks ago. There’s about 40 episodes over two seasons and we just started the second and final season. The show has enough action to be entertaining. There were quite a few guest stars in the first season including Debbie Harry, Paul Anka, Gary Sinese and Julia Roberts among others. It’s available to stream on Amazon, Tubi, Peacock and others.
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
My Truck Driving Life
In 1980, I didn't just need a job, I needed a new career. Throughout the 1970's I was a franchised gasoline station dealer for Clark Oil and Refining in Milwaukee, WI. After a long legal battle, which we won in court, the oil company's main mission became forcing the dealers out and taking back control of the stations with salaried managers, thereby eliminating franchised dealers.
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Pioneer QX-949 Quad Receiver - The Cat's Meow in the 1970's
For a few years in the early 1970's 4 channel quad stereo receivers became all the rage. in 1973, Pioneer came out with their top of the line QX 949 that was capable of Discrete 4 quad. I was young, single and able to purchase one around that time. The receiver was huge and weighed about 50 pounds, costing around $800 without extras like speakers and turntable. Of course, if you wanted the ultimate quad experience, you also had to buy albums that incorporated the technology. I think that's what ultimately led to failure in the marketplace, as the equipment needed was quite expensive back then. Also, you would certainly lose some of the advantage unless you were seated near the center of the surrounding four speakers.
But that set could put out amazing sound at 40 watts per channel, 160 total. I bought a reverb, and 4 big speakers, having that setup for more than 30 years! Those were the party days!
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Where Would We Be Without Drug Companies? Consider This!
I know a guy. Well, it would be more accurate to say that I know of a guy, or that I used to know a guy. I didn’t request permission to identify this guy, so I won't. But this guy's story should be told. Why? Read on.
This guy, in his mid-teens in the 1980s, was at a crossroads. Grades were not that great in school. He, and his entire family, had an extremely traumatic experience earlier in his life. He kind of grew distant and quiet. But he picked the right friend, who had a great family that surely helped inspire him. He became a really good athlete in high school football. Got a summer job at a cheese factory but seemed to quickly figure out that was not what he wanted to do with his life.
Soon after, there was an amazing change when he hit the books in school and his grades came way up. After high school, he and his buddy went off to college. He received a Bachelor of Science Chemistry degree at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1993 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1998 at the University of Utah. After earning his Ph.D., he accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Utah with Prof. Gary E. Keck.
While studying in Utah, this guy met his future wife, a great gal from Ohio, who also got her Ph.D in chemistry. They have successfully raised two daughters.
After his education, this guy was hired by Pfizer Pharmaceutical with he and his wife moving to Connecticut, where she was also hired. He began his industrial career as a Research Scientist at Pfizer Inc. and was promoted to Research Fellow in 2012. He then was promoted to Drug Discovery Design Lead. During his time at Pfizer he received numerous awards; the most notable was the W.E. Upjohn Award for innovation. He has over 90 patents, publications and external presentations including two most cited articles, one in the journal of ACS Chemical Neuroscience (2010-2014). He has authored nearly 40 scientific papers. Beyond developing new medicines targeting Alzheimer's disease, this guy has developed compounds to treat Schizophrenia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy and allergic rhinitis.
After Pfizer cut back funding of his department, he was hired away by a competitor, Aquinna Pharmaceutical, as Vice President of Research for a couple years. In 2020, this guy and a fellow Ph.D friend from Pfizer co-founded a new company Rgenta Therapeutics, Inc. with his title being Chief Scientific Officer and his partner Chief Executive Officer. They currently have a new drug, a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in Phase 1 of a clinical trial.
Which brings me around to the point of this story. This doctor worked his way through advanced degrees on his own. Whatever grants, scholarships, loans he could get, he would also work. His education took him until he was close to 30 years old before he started making real money. I don't know how long it took him and his wife to pay off their debts.
The survival of their new company is dependent on investors paying to fund their research, which is ongoing. Research and development costs are enormous. With drugs in clinical trials, if successful, could be life saving to many. Researchers and scientists need to be paid for what they do. Their investors take risks and need to be compensated if and when their products get to market.
Drug companies? Of course, there’s bad actors out there, as there are in any business or profession. The opioid scandal involving some drug companies was shameful. But, also shameful, was the lack of oversight from the Federal Food & Drug Administration and their failure to safeguard the public. There needs to be oversight, but, come on, thank God for the good they also do.
The many thousands upon thousands of dedicated guys/gals that work hard every day trying to cure disease. Many spend a third of their lives before their education is complete, which it really never is, as they have to continue to study throughout their working lives. Which is what they do, like this guy. And we should appreciate all the great work that these guys and gals do every day, for all of us.
Thursday, January 2, 2025
A Landmark Moment in Motorist Advocacy
I am a member of The National Motorists Association, believing in their cause for more than 50 years. Having written several posts about them, I am re-publishing this info I received in their New Year's email. I hope you would consider joining the fight against the war that is still being waged on the motoring public.
On January 2, 1974, President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act into law, which included a key provision: the National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) of 55 mph on interstate highways. The stated goal of the law was to conserve fuel during the oil crisis of the early 1970s, but it soon became a source of frustration for American drivers. While the government aimed to reduce energy consumption, the NMSL quickly proved ineffective, leading to longer travel times, massive ticketing, and more driver frustration without achieving the desired results. And so was born the Citizen’s Coalition for Rational Traffic Laws, eventually to be renamed the National Motorists Association.
As people who are deeply committed to motorists rights, we take great pride in the role that the NMA played in the effort to repeal this unworkable and unpopular law. Under the leadership of Jim Baxter, the NMA launched a tireless campaign to overturn the NMSL. Jim understood that speed limits should be determined by road design, safety conditions, and reasonable drivers’ decisions—not by a one-size-fits-all federal mandate. The NMA worked relentlessly, organizing grassroots campaigns, reaching out to lawmakers, and rallying the public to join the cause.Our message was simple: speed limits should be based on rational principles, such as the 85th percentile speed, not arbitrary rules that make the vast majority of reasonable and safe drivers into violators.
Our efforts culminated in 1995, when the National Highway System Designation Act was signed into law, effectively repealing the NMSL. This victory was a monumental step forward for the NMA and for all Americans who believe in the freedom to drive responsibly. By returning the authority to set speed limits back to individual states, we were able to restore common sense to the way we manage our highways and roadways. States could now set speed limits based on engineering, road design, and local driving habits—factors that made more sense than a blanket 55 mph limit.
The repeal of the NMSL was not just a win against a bad law—it was a victory for the principle of rational traffic policy. It demonstrated the power of grassroots advocacy and the importance of organizations like the NMA in protecting the rights of drivers. And we couldn’t have done it without the tireless efforts and financial support of our members and donors.
But our work didn’t stop there.
Since the repeal, the NMA has remained vigilant, advocating against unnecessary restrictions on motorists and continuing to fight for fairer, safer, and more reasonable road policies. Whether it's pushing back against speed traps, opposing unjust traffic enforcement measures like red-light cameras, or advocating for better highway infrastructure, the NMA has always been at the forefront of protecting motorists' freedoms.
As we look back on January 2, 1974, and the signing of the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, it's important to remember the legacy of the NMSL repeal and the ongoing fight for motorists’ rights.
The road ahead may be long, but together we’ll keep pushing for common-sense policies that protect the freedom of the open road.