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No matter how eloquent, words can never convey my sense of loss over Alison’s death.  It is true of every parent who has lost a child.  There is comfort in knowing that we are not alone.  Still, this is a personal experience, and not one I would wish upon even my worst enemy.  Alison is one of three children I have buried.  The loss of any of them is painful, but losing Alison has been the most sorrowful because we had nearly eleven years to get to know this sweet child.

Once I was asked what Alison’s handicaps meant to me.  I responded that I mourned the fact that she never would climb a tree; she would never ride a bicycle.  She never would have a boyfriend, enjoy a first kiss, get married or have children.  She never would live a natural life.  It saddened me.  Yet, Ali brought a sense of joy to my life…to all our lives.  A neighbor in LaPlace, LA, once commented that Ali’s mother and I must be saints to take such loving care of Alison.  I was quick to tell him that it was Alison who was the saint and that we were blessed to have her in our lives.  I told him that even if I knew ahead of time the tribulations we would experience with Alison’s medical problems, I would choose to experience them again because of the blessing she was to us.

Ali only asked for attention.  She didn’t beg for the latest toy, or to go to that popular fast food place with the arches.  She didn’t throw temper tantrums because she didn’t get a certain pair of shoes or a cute dress.  She simply wanted our love and attention.  In return, she offered an abundance of the same.  She was a gentle child.  One of my fondest memories is that she loved falling asleep in my arms, even at the age of ten.  How many fathers have that privilege?  Ali could have been a screamer.  Instead, she was a charmer…what a charmer!

I am a reporter of facts, not a poet.  I don’t have the ability to weave flowery phrases…but my family…Alison’s family…is talented in that way.  It is true that our family mourns Alison, yet we rejoice in her life.  Here is what her mother, Denise Boyd, had to say:  It’s been a little over 23 years since you came into our lives and a little over 12 since you left them, at least in a physical sense. The years since you departed seem to have rushed by yet they also seem to have dragged on, taking me kicking and screaming with them. 

Alison as we knew her - in her natural state

Despite her limitations, Alison was a warm and loving human being in every sense of the word.  She truly loved absolutely unconditionally, and never hated anyone.  She did fear the many nurses who had to draw her blood or give  her shots…but she would just as quickly give them a smile and a hug.

Ali was sight impaired.  We believe that she might actually have been able to see shapes, colors, and lights, because she responded to those stimuli.  Doctors diagnosed her as being “cortically blind”, meaning that the optical nerve and the eye were functional, but her brain couldn’t process the information.  She had a good sense of smell.  For example, she KNEW when she was in the doctor’s office.  Her demeanor completely changed.  She was fearful of what those folks did to her, and when she was frightened she had the strength of a weightlifter.  I remember a time when a nurse needed to draw blood.  At the time, I was in fairly good shape at around 200 lbs.  It took me AND the nurse to hold Alison’s arm out so the nurse could insert the needle.  She did NOT want her blood drawn, and she made it absolutely clear to everyone within earshot.

Alison had relatively good hearing.  She developed a broad range of tastes in music.  Her mother put a small “boombox” at the head of Ali’s bed, and Ali would listen to music for hours on end.  She loved listening to Bolero by Ravel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-4J5j74VPw).  It calmed her often.  As I listen to this piece, it brings tears to my eyes because I can see Alison quietly listening with a look of awe on her face.  Ali also enjoyed Celtic chants similar to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fab4hhIdjDc&feature=fvw).    On the other end of the musical spectrum, Ali absolutely was crazy for MACARENA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN62PAKoBfE&feature=related).  When Alison heard the first few beats of this song, she would squeal with joy, kick her legs and then would laugh.  If she had been able I am certain she would have been dancing to this lively song.

We tried to provide Alison with toys that would teach her and stimulate her.  She had a yellow ball with various shapes in it, including some bells.  Ali would lay for hours with her fingers entwined in the holes and shake that ball back and forth.  We got her a toy that had various farm animals on it.  When you pushed the horse, for example, it would produce a “neigh” sound.  Alison got hours of enjoyment from that toy.  Sometimes, it didn’t take a toy.  Ali loved to feel and crinkle certain kinds of paper.

Ali’s mother might have a different view, but I believe Alison was a “Daddy’s girl”.  When I would enter the room and speak to her, she would get excited and a huge smile on her face.  Sometimes I would call her “Girlie-Q”, and she seemed to like that name.  Many times, Alison would not go to sleep until I got home.  I would lay her on my chest as I sat in my recliner and she would go to sleep within about ten minutes.  She would chew on my fingers, never hurting me.  Ali seemed to be soothed by my voice.  For example, when she was upset and crying, I could start counting slowly “One.  Two.  Three…” and she would quiet and listen to me.  She also loved the “ABC” (alphabet )song.  Often I could calm her even during a seizure by using those techniques. 

Alison had a magnetic personality.  She charmed almost everyone who met her.  She loved going to church.  When the congregation sang, Ali would giggle and laugh, and everyone around here couldn’t resist doing the same.  Once, at a flea market, a shopowner gave her a porcelain doll because he thought she had such a beautiful smile.

This is woefully inadequate in letting you know this beautiful child.  She left an indelible mark on my life, and the lives of the various members of her immediate and extended family.  Limitations of this site prevent me from sharing the family’s feelings and thoughts in this blog, so I invite you to visit again in several days so that you can read, indeed feel what a positive impact she had on our lives.

I realize it is weeks after the fact, but I did promise an analysis of what went wrong with the Jason Pede misadventure through the mountains of Colorado in February.

To refresh your memories, Jason Pede took a so called “shortcut” through the mountains of central Colorado in early February.  He was trying to cut off over 200 miles of driving to get to Aspen, CO, to pick up an animal for delivery elsewhere in the country.  He used a route suggested by the GPS on his Verizon phone and confirmed by a local.  That route suggested that he take some mountain roads for the shortest distance to his destination.  That road nearly led to disaster.  Jason found himself trapped about seven miles off any paved highway for four days in snowpacked mountains northwest of Saguache, CO.  After he ran out of fuel on the fourth day of his ordeal, Jason saved himself by walking out of the woods on foot.  Fortunately, he suffered no injuries whatsoever.

Jason is blessed to be alive.  A series of events could have led to his death.  First of all, his phone GPS picked some bizarre route that took him off a paved highway and then would have brought him out of the mountains back onto that same highway.  Had Jason projected out his route before making that turn, he might have realized that.  Secondly, Jason did speak to a local rancher when he stopped at a convenience store in Saquache, CO, before heading up into the mountains.   The local told Jason that if he had four wheel drive, he could drive the suggested route.

 Armed with that endorsement, Jason took the suggested route.  It was a road that would have forced me to turn around after only a quarter of a mile.  Being a persistent and confident guy, Jason “hammered down” for nearly seven miles before the snow drifts were coming over the hood of his four wheel drive Lincoln Navigator.  As he tried to back out, he got off the road and stuck for four days.

During that time, Jason said he could hear truck drivers on I-70 (which was about 70 miles away),on his CB radio but he could not talk to them.  Later, we learned that the microphone on his CB radio was defective.  The second apparent technical problem was that Jason had not paid Verizon for a special service they provide that offers accurate phone tracking.  Because his phone didn’t have the appropriate software, the best Verizon could do was to report the last known contact with his cellphone within a hundred mile radius.  Law enforcement authorities told me that was not enough information for them to call out search and rescue teams to look for him.

In reviewing his situation, Jason mentioned that there should be an “emergency” button on his phone and on his laptop GPS system that sends out a coded emergency message.  Such a system could have led to a much faster rescue and possibly prevented a tragic death.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Hindsight is almost always 20-20.  First, let’s address the entire concept of going off a perfectly good paved road to get onto a snowpacked mountain road.  It just doesn’t make sense!  I have driven in the general area where Jason was and my GPS also suggested traveling along some mountain roads.  I am a big chicken…and when I saw the road the GPS was proposing I take, I chose not to go that way.  Even if I HAD gotten off the paved road, I would have turned around at the earliest opportunity after seeing the road that Jason took.

The idea of having some kind of “uplink” capability for his GPS or an emergency button on his cellphone is a good one, but there may be some technical challenges that we are unaware of.  It may take years to build in that type of capability in either his laptop GPS or his cell phone.  Here are a couple of practical things that might have made a difference.  First of all, if Jason had carried an extra microphone and had the presence of mind to change microphones, he might have been able to contact someone who could call for help. 

Secondly, if Jason had notified someone of his exact route, it would have made searching for him exponentially easier.  He was so far off the road in a completely unpredictable location that we never would have found him until it was much too late.  I propose that one should put their exact route into an email or Facebook message so that more than one person can see the route one plans to take.  There are some other possible solutions that I will suggest in the next couple of days.  Please tune in.

My friend Jason Pede saved himself over the weekend of Feb 7th, after being stranded in the snowy mountains of Colorado for four days.  He took a “shortcut” that his cellphone GPS recommended and was confirmed by a local resident.  It almost cost him his life!

Jason was transporting a rescue dog from southern California to its new home in Pueblo, CO.  He was going to pick up another animal for transport in Aspen, CO, while en route.  He was using two different GPS programs:  DeLorme Street Atlas on his laptop, and Verizon GPS on his cell phone.  Verizon’s GPS told him that if he took a shortcut down several county roads, he could save about 200 miles.  Jason stopped at a convenience store in Saguache, Colorado, and talked to a local who assured him he could travel those roads with his four wheel drive vehicle.

Jason Pede digging his Lincoln Navigator out of a snow drift.

All of this took place on Thursday, Feb. 4th.  Jason took Colorado 114 northwest out of Saguache that morning and traveled about 27 miles before turning into the mountains for his “shortcut”.  He drove about seven miles before reaching snow so deep that it was going over the hood of his four wheel drive 2000 Lincoln Navigator.  He decided he should turn around, but the road was so narrow that he would need to back down the mountain for quite a distance.  Less than 100 yards later, the left front wheel ran off the edge of the narrow road…and Jason was stuck.  For those of you are are interested, the rough coordinates of his “stranded” location is 38.194N 106.490W.

Jason survived three full days and nights by scrounging in his vehicle for food and drinks.  He found some soft drinks left by his children and some sugar free cookies left by his wife.  When the drinks ran out, he attempted to melt snow and ice by putting it in a soft drink can and melting it by putting the can on the exhaust manifold of the engine.  He also ate ice.

During the day, he stayed warm by burning some bamboo chairs that he also was transporting.  His fire was located mere feet from the right side of his vehicle.  At one point, he realized the plastic moulding on the vehicle was warping and the paint on the right rear passenger door was blistering.  He told me about frantically trying to throw snow on the fire to cool it down, yet not put it out.  During the night, Jason ran the engine in his vehicle for warmth and put on several layers of clothes, and snuggled with the dog.

Throughout all of this, Jason could hear truckers talking with each other on I-70, which was roughly 90 miles away.  He attempted to use his Galaxy 88 radio to reach them, but no one responded, much to his frustration.  Later, as he and I were heading eastward toward Walsenburg, we discovered that his microphone didn’t work.  Jason was stunned to realize that he might have been able to contact someone much earlier if his mike had been working.  He monitored news channels on his XM radio in the hopes that he would learn that we were looking for him.  Although it didn’t happen in time for him to hear it, Linda Ramos (LinRon Pilot Cars) and Kaye Greene-Smith (Pilotcarz4U) had partnered together and were working the phones, contacting news media in Denver and Colorado Springs, as well as churches in the area.

On Jason’s third evening (Saturday, Feb 6) in the wilderness, he decided that he would need to walk out of the woods on his own the following morning.  Part of the reason he had delayed making this decision was that the only shoes he had with him were some walking shoes that got soaked in the snow.  In addition, he was concerned about large predators that might be in the woods.   On Sunday morning, the fuel finally ran out for the vehicle, so Jason’s decision was made for him.  He put on all the layers of clothing he could wear, covered the dog with blankets and his leather coat, and struck out.  Before leaving the vehicle, he wrote two letters:  one for anyone who might find him; and the other for his wife.

Jason had carefully looked at his GPS, so he knew that he needed to walk almost 7 miles back to Colorado 114.  He set some goals for himself.  For example, a particular fork in the road represented the halfway point.  Jason said there were many times when he would stop to catch his breath.  His body kept telling him that he needed to stop and rest, but his mind kept telling him to keep going.  Jason said he thought of his wife and children when he was so tired and out of breath that he wanted to stop.  He said he knew that if he did that, it was entirely possible he would fall asleep and never wake up.

It took only an estimated 2 hours for Jason to make his way back to the paved road.  When he got there, he looked one way down the road and saw no vehicles.  To his relief, when he looked the other way there were two or three vehicles coming his way.  He waved at them with his flashlight and basically collapsed on the road.  The first vehicle that got to him was a van of skiers from a church in Amarillo, TX.  They were doubtful about his story, and asked him if they could search him for weapons before they took him onboard.  All they found was a small pocket knife, so they transported Jason to the Sheriff’s Office in Saguache, CO.

MEANWHILE

I had heard about Jason’s plight Friday evening while enroute home from Houston where I had dropped a load.  When I got in at about 3:00 AM, I resolved to follow up on the latest news Saturday, and considered heading to Colorado to help in the search.  My plan was to try to organize pilot car operators from the area to actually drive a couple of hundred yards, stop and go to the edge of the road and look down the slopes for any sign of a vehicle having gone off the road.

Saturday afternoon, I called the Sheriff’s Office dispatcher in Saguache County, Colorado.  He assured me that there was an active search ongoing for Jason.  However, as he talked, I began to realize that their “active search” was being conducted from the windshields of the cruisers.  They would not call out search and rescue crews until they had a targeted location for where to search.  Mr. Pede had told his wife that he was heading from Dulce, NM, to Aspen, CO, but never gave her his route.  We had two clues to work with.  The first was that Jason mentioned that he was using the GPS on his cellphone for navigation.  The second was that Verizon reported that the last contact their system had with his phone was on a tower located in Center, CO, at about 2:30 PM on Thursday, the day he disappeared.

Since we didn’t have Jason’s cell phone, I tried to estimate his route based upon my own laptop GPS programs.  Both the Streets and Trips and the DeLorme Street Atlas routed me from Dulce to Pagosa Springs eastward to Del Norte, then north on US 285 to Colorad 82 west to Aspen.  Jason’s wife Amanda had used internet mapping resources such as Google and Mapquest, and they suggested the very same route.  Since the cell tower in Center was located east of Wolf Creek Pass, I figured that he either was between Wolf Creek Pass and South Fork, CO, or north of Poncho Pass on US 285.  My thinking was that the roads from South Fork to Poncho Pass were relatively flat and someone would have spotted Jason’s vehicle by now.  By Saturday evening, I headed to Center, CO.

Before I ever left, John Boykin from San Antonio (CIS Safety Cars) called to offer to come along with me to assist in the search and with the driving.   Since John had lived in that general area, he would have a special knowledge and insight to the area.  In addition, he had some political connections that he might be able to use to generate an active search by authorities.  Unfortunately, he was almost 500 miles further away than I was.  I didn’t want to wait for him because I knew a new winter storm was coming into SW Colorado.  I felt that time was of the essence if we were going to be able to save Jason’s life.  Reluctantly, we decided that I needed to head out without waiting for John.  During this same time, Kaye Greene-Smith (Pilotcarz4U) offered financial support for the search.  Later, Steve Komlosi of Hudson Valley Pilot Cars in New York State, William Edwards of Diamond Flag Cars in NC, and Steve Barnes of Barney’s Pilot Car Equipment in Portland, OR, offered financial help with fuel and lodging costs.

Along the way, Kaye continued to communicate with me.  Linda Ramos also called several times late into the early hours of the morning.  Apparently Kaye and Linda partnered up.  Linda was contacting the news media in Denver and Colorado Springs.  Kaye was calling churches in the area.  Throughout this, they would ask me to forward information to the various TV stations.  Kaye asked me to talk to a Church of Christ minister headquartered in Pagosa Springs on the west side of Wolf Creek Pass.  I spoke with Brother Dorman Daller, who promised he would search from the top of Wolf Creek Pass to South Fork the following morning, weather permitting.  That allowed me to concentrate on the northern part of the route.

I got to Center, CO, at about 9:15 AM on Sunday after stopping by the State Highway Patrol office in Alamosa to drop off a flyer.  To my amazement, they did not have a flyer that Amanda Pede had prepared.  At about 9:15 AM, I stopped by a convenience store near Center to drop off a flyer.  They already had one.  As I got back into my truck, Amanda Pede called to tell me that Jason had been found alive and was being taken to the Sheriff’s Office in Saguache, CO.  I was just 23 miles from there!  I rushed there and found Jason still being checked out by paramedics and interviewed by deputies.

About an hour after I arrived there, we got a report that the Forest Service Law Enforcement officer had found Jason’s Lincoln Navigator, rescued the dog and handed it off to a Colorado State Trooper who transported the animal to her personal vet in Monte Vista.  Jason and I picked up the dog the following day (Monday) and headed our separate ways.

In my next post, I will examine what went wrong with this situation, how technology went wrong, and how technology could prevent something like this in the future.

So!!  You’ve decided to become an oversize load escort.  You’ve gone out and bought all sorts of lights and flags and signs and all the other stuff you need to escort.  I’ve got news for you!  Believe it or not, just getting your escort vehicle set up and your equipment set up is the easy part.

Actually, if  you’ve already done all that, you are putting the cart before the horse!  I mean to say that there are other things you need to consider before all the expense of equipping your vehicle.  After you read this, you may not want to get into this business.

This is NOT an easy life!  First of all, if you are the homebody type, you really need to think seriously about the pilot car industry.  There are some people who can stay at home and take short day runs or maybe one or two day runs, and make a decent living.  In my experience, those folks are in the minority.  On the other hand, if you like to travel, this might just be your special place.  Just don’t get the idea that this is a way to pay for a vacation.  If you want to earn a living, you must stay busy-always lining up a follow on load and then rushing to get there in time for the load to move.

If you want to make a good living, you’re gonna have to live like a truck driver-only without the sleeper.  Do the math:  let’s assume that your rate is $1.50 per mile.  Your actual out of pocket expenses (not counting vehicle payment, insurance, payment to yourself, etc.) is going to be about 40% of what you get paid.  In round numbers, that leaves you about $0.90/per mile in gross profit (that’s what you have left BEFORE you start paying your other expenses.  You’re gonna have to pay all those hidden expenses out of what is left.  That figure varies by person, based upon their credit rating, where they live, and lots of other variables.  You can figure that your cost per mile, counting all related expenses, to be in the range of $0.80-$0.90 per mile, leaving you with about $0.60 per mile as net profit.  So, you’ve got to decide how much net profit you want to make over a one year period.  If you want to earn $60,000 in net profit, then you are going to have to drive about 100 thousand miles a year.  That’s about what long haul truck drivers put in each year.  The point is that if you have a family at home that needs you nearby, this is not the business for you. 

If you are the kind of person who needs 8 hours of sleep, this is not the business for you.  Here’s why:  In most states, oversize loads can move from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset.  In the summertime, that means the load can be moving for 15 hours per day.  If you have breakfast before the load and dinner afterwards, you only have about 7 hours of the day left and you haven’t even gotten to your motel room.  What happens if you travel all day and then get to an area where you have to move at night…the SAME night?  The winter hours are shorter, of course.

If you need to go “potty” every hour, or stop to get a fresh drink and a snack every couple of hours, this isn’t the life for you.  It is not uncommon for the load to stop only for refueling during the day.  Many drivers will consider your needs, but you cannot plan on it.  What’s more, if the load has to stop often, you will get a bad reputation and no one will want to hire you to escort their loads.  Most drivers are like us, they make their money by putting on the miles.  Every time that load has to stop, it is the equivalent of cutting about 45 minutes out of the day (about 45 miles), according to some truck drivers.

If you are a timid or courteous driver, or sensitive to other four wheel drivers cursing you or flashing one fingered signals at you, you should reconsider getting into this business.  That was the hardest thing for me to change about myself.  When I got started in this business, when my driver said he needed the left lane, I would wait until there was a gap in traffic.  Sometimes the driver couldn’t wait for that, so I had to learn to be an assertive driver and claim that left lane almost immediately.  If the load needs to weave through railroad crossarms, or traffic signals, sometimes the escort must put themselves into the oncoming traffic to provide a safe avenue for the load.  It is a frightening and dangerous experience and very stressful.  So, you need to consider all of these things before you choose to enter this career field.

Now, let’s talk about training.  I know some people who just flagged up and went forth and escorted and did a fine job.  They have been successful in this business for years.  Those people are the exception, not the rule.  I’ve never asked them, but I would venture to say that they would not advise doing what they did.  Your best bet is to find someone near you who already has been in this business several years and is willing to let you ride with them.  I have trained a couple of people, and I required them to travel about 1000 PAID miles with me.  For the first several hundred miles, they sat in the right seat and observed and listened.  When I felt they had the general concepts in mind, I put them in the driver’s seat and I observed and made recommendations and suggestions.  All of this training only qualified them to lead or chase a “normal” oversized load.  It did not qualify them to operate with a high pole, perform route surveys, or escort “superloads”.  Those things require many many more miles before I would recommend a new person take on one of those loads.  Just how long varies from person to person.  There are some people who never will qualify for anything more than lead/chase for the smaller oversize loads.  I know others who have been capable of running high pole, superloads, and route surveys after only about three months on the road.  Even truck drivers who want to get into this business need to have at least SOME training.  They do have the advantage of having that “road sense” that is so important in this business, but it is an entirely different thing to “intimidate” other four wheelers with a big truck or another four wheeler with lights and flags.  When I trained other people, we shared motel rooms and they paid for their own meals.  It varies from person to person, but I don’t personally know of anyone who has paid a trainee during this time.

If you plan to take long haul oversize loads, you will need to get some certifications.  There is a growing trend among the states to require “best practices guidelines” certification training.  Generally, that entails taking an 8 hour classroom course.  This is not something you can do online.  You actually must physically go to the classes.  Currently the states that require that certification are Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Florida, and Washington.  At present, only one state-Utah-has traveling classes.  You can check uspilotcar.com to see where they will be and when.  Costs of these classes vary.

Other states require certifications in their states.  For example, New York state has a certification that is good ONLY in that state and they will not accept other state’s certifications.  In that case, you must go to the state of New York physically to take the test.  The only other state that does that is Virginia.  They do accept out of state certifications, but if you live in Virginia, you will need to take their test in person.  A couple of years ago, the VA certification was the “standard” and you could have a local official (teacher, librarian, police chief) administer their test, but it’s not that way anymore.  Kansas requires superload certification.  If you have a CDL it is no problem.  Even if you don’t have a CDL, it is simple to do.  All  you have to do is take the Defensive Driving Course from the National Safety Council and send them proof.  You can take the course online and then fax your certificate to Kansas DOT.  Generally they will fax your superload certification back to you within hours.

New Mexico and Louisiana have so-called certification programs, but they really are vehicle inspection programs.  Nevada and Georgia require amber light permits before you can legally operate amber lights, strobes,  light bars and etc. in those states.  They are inexpensive-maybe $5.00 each.  Nevada just recently has begun allowing you to get your permits online.  As far as I know, you still have to use snail mail for Georgia.

In summary, the REALLY hard part is deciding if you can live up to the lifestyle that this career requires, and then you need to get some training!  Certifications also are an important component of your preparations for this business.

AT THE REQUEST OF ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING RANDY SORENSON,  I HAVE REMOVED CERTAIN SENTENCES AND PHRASES WHICH WERE STATED AS FACT.  I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT I AM EXPRESSING MY OWN OPINION ON THESE MATTERS, BASED UPON MY OBSERVATIONS OF A SERIES OF EVENTS.  I CANNOT SAY WITHOUT QUESTION THAT THESE ARE FACTS, BUT ONLY THAT THEY ARE MY OPINION.

FURTHERMORE, I WANT CLARIFY THAT I HAVE NOT EVER SAID THAT RANDY SORENSON IS RELATED TO DEBBIE KALLINIKOS WITH BW INSURANCE.  I DID CONFIRM THAT I HAD HEARD THE SAME RUMOR.  I STATE HEREBY AS CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE:  I DO NOT HAVE ANY EVIDENCE TO PROVE THAT RANDY SORENSON AND DEBBIE KALLINIKOS ARE RELATED IN ANY WAY.  I HAVE NEVER MADE SUCH A STATEMENT IN ANY PUBLIC FORUM.

Those of you who know me know that I have opposed the PEVOA (Professional Escort Vehicle Operator’s Association) leadership on the basis of an apparent conflict of interest on the part of PEVOA President and founder, Randy Sorenson.  For nearly three years I have been outspoken in my concern for the apparent conflict of interest.  I have refused, until recently, to join because I feel that Mr. Sorenson is using PEVOA and his position as its president to line his own pockets.  I am not saying he is taking PEVOA funds for his personal use.  (THIS SENTENCE WAS EXCISED AT THE REQUEST OF MR. SORENSON’S ATTORNEYS.)

It is my opinion that such an appearance tarnishes the image of PEVOA and limits its credibility to represent our industry.  I have suggested solutions that would remove the appearance of a conflict of interest, but neither the PEVOA board of directors nor Mr. Sorenson have accepted these proposed solutions.  Their attitude is that there is no conflict of interest:  therefore there is no need to remove the appearance of one.

Back in September of last year, I decided that I would be more effective as a member of PEVOA than as an outsider looking in.  I applied for membership in accordance with all of their rules, regulations, and by-laws (until this article was posted, PEVOA published their by laws online.  They have now decided to hide those bylaws and will make them available only by written request.  One can only assume they want to screen who actually receives them.  I WILL GLADLY PROVIDE A COPY OF THE CURRENT PEVOA BYLAWS TO ANYONE WHO REQUESTS THEM THROUGH PRIVATE EMAIL TO ME.)  Here are the requirements for Class 1 membership to PEVOA, according to their by-laws (summarized):

para. 4.  Class 1 members must be directly involved in the pilot car industry.

para. 4.1.  They must pay their dues and be elected to membership by the board of directors.

para. 4.2.  They must comply with the pilot car drivers best practices guidelines.

para. 4.3.  They must hold at least one state pilot car certification.

para. 4.4.  They shall have the right to vote on issues before the association.

The back of the application form (http://pevoa.com/class%201%20membership%20application_110308.pdf)  <if you click on this, you will go to the USPILOTCAR.COM site and view their application form.  You will need to press the BACK arrow to return to this article>has a block of text in red entitled PEVOA CODE OF CONDUCT AND CODE OF ETHICS.  It has four points.  Here they are in summary form:  (1) a member will agree to adhere to all the standards established by PEVOA including the best practices guidelines; (2) a member will not misrepresent his/her business; (3) a member will show due regard for other members and do nothing to harm other members’ business or reputation through misrepresentation or other means; (4)  a member will cooperate with other members in sound and lawful programs intended to improve the quality of the service of our business.

To my knowledge, I qualify under all of those requirements (except for the board approval part)…and yet the PEVOA Board of Directors rejected my application for membership.  I am unable to scan and present their original rejection letter, so I will summarize what they had to say.  (I have nothing to hide, unlike the PEVOA BOARD OF DIRECTORS.  I WILL BE HAPPY TO SEND A FILE COPY OF THEIR FIRST REJECTION LETTER TO ANYONE WHO REQUESTS IT BY PRIVATE EMAIL TO ME.)

They said that they can consider not only the information on the application letters, but also other sources of information.  They pointed out that I agreed to comply with the Association by-laws as well as the ethical conduct as described on the application form.  They then listed the items which they used to reach their decisions:  (1) the completed application form; (2) 30 internet posts that I made in which PEVOA was mentioned; (3) one private email that I sent to a member of the PEVOA BOD.  It concludes by saying that the Board voted unanimously to reject my application, but also encouraged me to appeal their decision.

Here is the body of the email I sent to Randy Stirrett on September 25, 2007:

Randy Stirrett <randystirrett@yahoo.com> wrote:

Elton,

 

I have been reading the posts on the groups. You say you support the concept of PEVOA in principal, but have a problem with a certain individual in the PEVOA leadership. May I ask who this individual is, and what the problem is? I very interested in knowing what the problems are.

 

Thanks

Randy Stirrett

I am home this week, following nearly six weeks of being involved in moving a 21foot oversize load from Rodeo, NM, to Houston, TX.

This load was far more problematic than any with which I have been involved, and apparently the problems began LONG before I got involved.  They began moving this load back in September from Torrance, CA, through the state of Arizona.

I first got involved around the first of November when the dispatcher called to ask me to perform a route survey for this load.  I was in Las Vegas at the time, having just dropped a load there.

Typically, when I do a route survey, I make personal contact with the various utilities along the route.  That is time-consuming, so my rates reflect that.  It involves stopping and getting pole numbers, circuit numbers, etc., and then researching to find out who owns the utilities.  Then, I contact the line supervisor or operations manager for each utility, and if possible, meet nose-to-nose with that person.  If I believe we will need traffic control help while going through various communities, I personally contact the appropriate law enforcement agency.  During this process, I develop a contact list in the order we will need to call them.

The dispatcher asked me if I would give her a break if I let her do all the utility contacts.  She assured me that she would deal with them and they would know where all of their low road crossings were located.  Not having to do all that I normally do would have cut the time required to do this survey by half.  Since the load already was sitting because of the lack of NM permit, I was willing to accept her offer of help.  LITTLE DID I KNOW!  That will be the recurring theme of this blog.

On the first and second days of the survey, I broke my pole.  That should have been adequate warning to me.  After repairing my pole, I completed the survey and submitted it to the trucking company.  Later, they called and wanted me to research another potential route that involved 75 miles of dirt, rock and gravel road.  If it had worked out, it would have saved about 500 miles for the trucking company.  It took me five hours and two rear tires to survey that route, only to learn that it wouldn’t work because there were about a dozen cattleguards that were about 8 inches too narrow for the load.  I saw only three vehicles during that five hour period.

Days later, the permitting company called me and wanted me to run the route again, marking every low wire, about how high it was, and what type of wire (fiberoptic, telephone, power, etc.).  They said THEY would use that information to contact the various utilities along the way.  I did as they requested at my own expense, since I should have done it in the first place.  Unfortunately for me, I had relied upon the dispatcher to take care of that side of the survey.

Throughout this process, the dispatcher was contacting the utilities she could identify along our route, seeking letters of approval for the route from them.  In one specific case, a large telephone company responded in writing that they had no overhead wires along our route and there would be no problem.  I immediately saw that was erroneous and contacted the company representative myself with specific information.  After he went out and reviewed our route in person, he called me back to say that there was one particular fiberoptics line that was already as high as he could move it, and it was too tight to be lifted three feet by our bucket trucks.  That meant I had to review another route around that section of road.

Finally, we got our permit, letters of approval and a private bucket truck and began our move on December 3…one whole day.  On the second day, the lineman for the power company showed up to let us know that there was NO WAY we could travel the approved route because of multiple high voltage low wires.  So, we spent the entire day looking for a new way to get around El Paso.  Ultimately we had to have the El Paso police department shut down four miles of a four lane divided highway so we could get through El Paso.

On day three, we moved along quite well, until we neared the Ruidoso, NM, area.  About ten miles from Ruidoso, the head of the NM DOT permit office called me personally and said there was NO WAY we were going to get through Ruidoso, and to get the load to the nearest safe place and shut down.  Remember that we already had a permit approved by her office.  She informed me that we could not go through Ruidoso, despite the permit, because we had completely missed notifying a major telephone provider.  They had four low and tight fiberoptic lines that they would have had to cut to get us through on that day.  The director of the state permit office said that I needed to perform a route survey for a new route around Ruidoso and to request a new permit.  That process took another seven days and numerous phone calls on my part to work out varioius problems.

In the meantime, the trucking company repowered the load.  In other words, they replaced the initial driver with another one because he had lost his wallet, including CDL, medical card, fuel card, cash in various currencies, and etc.  The new driver had brought along his own escort.  Somehow, the state permit office thought I was going to be pulled from the load, and they were going to refuse to let the load move without either me, or a new route survey.  We got all that worked out and moved the following day with two high pole escorts.  We also picked up a new rear escort, an executive with the shipping company.

After that, we moved along fairly well.  I ran in front with the two bucket trucks (the executive ordered a second one for us).  When I hit a low wire, I stopped and one or both of the bucket trucks would pull up under the wire to lift it.  The second high pole came forward and stopped under the wire to let the bucket truck know how far up they needed to lift it, while I moved on to the next low wire.  We repeated that process for about 1400 miles.  Throughout this process, I was on the phone trying to identify the next utility company (primarily power companies) and notify them that we would need their help.  I also was calling the next community or political entity (county sheriff’s office or city police) to alert them that we would be coming through their area and would be having a negative impact on traffic.  It was a slow process.  We were averaging about 140 miles per day, and taking about ten hours to do that.  Do the math:  we were averaging about 14 mph.

Finally with the help of an outstanding Houston police motorcycle escort team, we delivered the load shipside at a Houston port late on December 16th.

As a result of this experience, I will NEVER EVER allow the customer to do the utility contacts.  Under about 18 feet, there are few problems, but for loads higher than 18 feet, prior coordination is critical!  I have found that if I give the utility companies adequate advance notice, they generally do not charge the trucking company to move their wires.  After all, it is in their interest that we notify them and involve them in the process.  That way, they do not suffer damage to their equipment by some company that sneaks through with an OD load, tears down wires and then disappears down the highway.  For those companies that DO charge, that is a reasonable expense of moving the load that the trucking company should expect to pay.

Here are the other problems we encountered:  there is no single source of information for identifying the above ground utilities that might be impacted by our load route.  There are “one call” centers in all the states, but their systems are not set  up to handle requests for above ground utilities.  For one to issue a list of utilities, their systems apparently automatically send out notices to every single utility, underground as well as above ground.  The end result is that we wind up getting letters of approval from everyone from private pipeline companies to city water departments and beyond.  During our second permit request in NM, the permit office abruptly changed the rules and REQUIRED us to go through the “one call center”.  I think they may have backed off of that requirement for the time being.

We also encountered utilitiy companies, and even some political entities (such as the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation), who approved our routes without actually traveling or at least specifically reviewing the requested routes.  The Mescalero reservation very quickly found us a new and better route through their area.  As I mentioned before, in some cases, the “worker bee”, that linesman who had to escort us, let us know that we couldn’t use those routes, despite letters of approval and permits.  That is the problem when dealing with the desk drivers and not directly with the “boots on the ground”.

I learned a lot of valuable lessons from this experience, and will apply them to all future route surveys for high loads.

We dropped our load this afternoon at the Climax Mine on top of Fremont Pass, north of Leadville, CO.  Now I am in Pueblo, CO, heading home.

Our load was 27 feet wide.  That means that on a typical two lane road, the load hung over each shoulder.  We ran with four escorts-two up front and two in the back.  The lead escort was out forward about 1/2 mile, while I ran about 200 yards directly in front of the load.  The other two escorts trailed the load, holding off traffic when we were approaching narrow sections, skinny bridges and the like, and advising the driver when traffic got too backed up.

Being the second front escort in a situation like this is VERY stressful.  As vehicles would approach, I weaved into the oncoming lane of traffic to get their attention and then moved back into our lane of travel.  As the vehicles got closer, I waved a bright orange flag out the driver’s door window and waved them to the shoulder.  Some of the bridges we crossed were so tight that there couldn’t have been more than one foot on either side of the load.  In those cases, I raced ahead and then pulled completely into the oncoming lane of traffic and stopped traffic or attempted to do so.

Occasionally, vehicles would go around me but very quickly came to a stop once they saw the load.  In one case, I could see that the woman driver was going to try to go around me, so I inched forward and forced her to stop.  Let’s just say she was QUITE demonstrative in her unhappiness with me, until her daughter pointed out that our load covered the entire bridge.  As I passed her, she was smiling at me and saying “thank you”.

We had one incident in which a little blue haired lady was on her cell phone as she passed me.  She actually drove UNDER the load.  I am not sure she ever saw it.  If her car had been just four inches higher, it would have become and instant convertible.

Then, there are the folks who absolutely hate escorts and oversize loads.  One guy flipped off every escort and the truck driver.  Several miles down the road, we were stopped by a highway patrol officer who said they had reports that our load was travelling without escorts or a permit.  It actually helped us because he provided us with police escort the last 30 miles of the trip and arranged for city/county escort through a couple of small towns along the way.

We have spent the weekend in Colorado Springs, Co.  Our load is 27′ wide and therefore too wide to be allowed on the highways over the weekend.

Tomorrow, we have to drive about 50 miles back to where we left it, and then we take it up into the high mountains southwest of Denver.  That area got some snow today, but according to the radar, it didn’t last long.  Colorado will not let OD loads move if they impose the chain law for trucks.  Hopefully it has not been imposed for the area where we are going.  We should be able to drop tomorrow (Monday).

Incidentally, I hope to have my site repaired soon.  Another family member also is highly talented in software and web hosting.  I am hoping he will be able to resolve these issues so that you and I can have full use of this site.