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Jim Buwalda
Trucker Buddy of the Month
February 2011

The students at John Brown Elementary School in Rathdrum, Idaho, are fortunate to have Jim Buwalda as their Trucker Buddy. His nomination, lauding him as being a driver who enjoys spending time, money and effort on their class, led to his recognition as February 2011 Trucker Buddy of the Month.

“Jim has been VERY generous with my students,” says Angela Milks, a John Brown Elementary School teacher.  “He sends postcards, letters, boxes of holiday treats, and money for my students.  I know that he spends BIG bucks on my students every year, and he always wants to know what else he can do for my class.”

According to Milks, Buwalda sends educational materials such as a digital camera, case, photo printer, atlas, pencils, chalk boards, toothbrushes, McDonalds gift cards, and $10 per student every Christmas, as well as lots of fun things for the kids like stickers, toys, books, hats, gloves, toys, and candy. “The kids get very excited when they see that we have a box from our Trucker Buddy,” Milks adds.

Buwalda, who lives in Mountain Home, Idaho, and drives for Team One, has been a Trucker Buddy for over 16 years and has made a lasting impression on the students as well as his teacher.  Jim and his team driver/wife Linda Lou have become personal friends with Milks.  Not only do they send cards, letters and gifts to the class but they take time to talk to the class on the phone from time to time.  This really encourages the students as well as Milks, too.

Milks went on to say, “Through Jim and the Trucker buddy program, my students have learned valuable life skills: letter writing, handwriting, spelling, reading, map-reading skills, math and the importance of each. For example, they incorporate our math lessons when they get to go to the store and spend the money sent to them from Jim and Linda!  They have learned social skills, turn-taking when Jim and Linda come to visit, phone skills for how to have a conversation, how to dial a number, how to give back and say ‘Thank You’ when someone gives you something. The list just goes on.”

Because of the benefit of having the Buwaldas as the class Trucker Buddy, Milks decided to nominate him for Trucker Buddy of the month.

“I cannot express in words how much Jim and Linda mean to me personally, professionally and to my students.  They are so very generous, caring and loyal,” she said. “My students have benefited from the Trucker Buddy program and the Buwaldas.  I feel very blessed for them.  I feel that they deserve to be the Trucker Buddy of the month.  This is something that I should have done long ago.”
 
Listen to the Jim Buwalda Interview
 
Trucker Buddy International, an independent, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, often called the number one trucking image campaign in North America, has helped educate schoolchildren and introduce educators to the trucking industry.  This gives them the world through the eyes of a professional truck driver.  The Trucker Buddy program helps to educate and mentor schoolchildren via a pen pal relationship between professional truck drivers and children in grades K-8 as supervised by their teachers.
 
After an extensive screening process, the professional truck drivers are matched with a class and as directed by the teacher, drivers share news about their travels with their class. Students write letters and send pictures to their drivers. Students' skills in reading, writing, geography, mathematics, social studies, and history are enhanced and learning is made fun.
 

Since 1992, Trucker Buddy International has helped educate over a million schoolchildren and introduced them to caring, compassionate men and women, professional truck drivers.  The on-going success of the program is due to driver volunteers, participating teachers and the contributions of sponsors.  There is no cost to the drivers or teachers to participate in the program. The Trucker Buddy of the Month is sponsored by Daimler Truck Products and includes, Freightliner Trucks, Western Star Trucks and Detroit Diesel Engines.  The Trucker Buddy program is funded entirely by sponsorships and donations.


TruckDriver.com
Carrier of the Month
Trimac Transportation

From its inception in 1945, Trimac Transportation has consistently sought and achieved industry leadership, and has a proven reputation for safe and reliable service.  Trimac provides highway transportation of dry, gaseous and liquid bulk commodities to industrial customers throughout North America, with an extensive branch network of over 120 terminals.
With over sixty-five (65) years of continued internal growth and expansion, Trimac is the premier bulk transportation and logistics provider in North America. Trimac is in the business of providing truck transportation as well as related distribution and management services throughout North America.

As North America's premier provider of services in highway transportation of bulk commodities, Trimac is looking for people with a commitment to excellence and a focus on their corporate vision.

Trimac selects only the best candidates to join their team and challenges every team member to perform at their best. Their training programs ensure everyone has the tools they need to be successful. They are committed to helping their workforce through a long-term career plan with many benefits, educational opportunities, projects, and adventures. Trimac has a policy to internally promote staff to other positions such as Safety Managers, Traffic Supervisors, Shop and Wash rack Managers, Branch Managers, Head Office Support all the way to executive positions. You may never have to work for another company to get promoted to your dream job!

If you think you have what it takes to be part of Trimac Team please give them a call!

Canada: 866-487-4622  canrecruiting@trimac.com

United States 888-799-4374  usrecruiting@trimac.com

Great West Truck Show


How Long Do Various Employment Negatives Remain on Your Record?  
 
My Mom (a good ole Old Testament Mom) was fond of quoting Numbers 32:23 to me as a kid; “your sin will find you out.” Fair enough I guess, but I always scratched my head and wondered how long the dadgum sin would follow me around. 

I’ve had many questions recently on how long negative information will stay on various reports potential employers may order. This depends on the information, how it is obtained and even varies by state, but let’s use a broad brush, not get too technical and review four primary areas of information employers review on potential drivers; Employment, Driving, Criminal and CSA2010 PSP reports—and how long negatives can stay on these reports. 

Key timeframes to remember are 3 years, 5 years, 7 years and indefinitely. 

3-year Information  

  1. DOT Drug and Alcohol Violations stay on your record for 3 years. (Keep in mind; a company may not report the positive or refused test longer than 3 years, but still report that the driver was terminated and is not eligible for rehire due to a company policy violation longer than 3 years. A positive or refused test can ruin your driving career for a long time.)
  2. Many moving violations will fall off your driving record (MVR) in 3 years. However, the information found on MVRs can no longer be reliably classified as 3-year information. Many states have passed laws that alcohol violations remain on the record for 10 years. Some states show even regular moving violations for 10 years if the violator is a CDL holder. Other states just mess up the whole scheme. For example, one state reports moving violations for 5 years. DWI, no insurance and drug-related violations are reported indefinitely, while SR judgments are reported for 11 years.
  3. Roadside Inspection Data on CSA2010 PSP Reports obtained from the FMCSA MCMIS system fall off after 3 years.

 
5-year Information  

  1. Crash data obtained from the FMCSA MCMIS system.

 
7-year Information

  1. Employment information obtained from a consumer reporting agency (CRA) that will be used to help decide if you get a job, could negatively affect your chances for getting a job for 7 years. The most common CRA agency of this type for truck drivers is HireRight (formerly known as USIS or DAC Services), the company that provides “DAC Reports.” After 7 years, the CRA may report basic information such as dates of employment, but not information such as job performance, reason for leaving, eligibility for rehire, etc., that could be negative. This includes incident/accident information. (After 10 years, even the basic information falls off.)

 

  1. Criminal record arrest information that does not have a conviction may be reported for 7 years only. If there is a conviction, the information may be reported indefinitely in the majority of cases.

 
No time limit

  1. The most common type of information that doesn’t expire is a criminal record conviction data. However, as mentioned above, some states have indefinite reporting periods for driving violations.

 
One thing to keep in mind for most of these negatives is that timing, even within reporting periods, matters. In other words, a criminal conviction from 11 years ago matters less than one which happened a month ago. A negative employment reference from 5 years ago with satisfactory work experience since then matters less than one from your immediate past employer. 

If you are looking for a job or thinking about looking for job, you should obtain all your information and know when any negatives will drop off. Needless to say, if there are negatives that should not be on your reports in the first place, you take steps to correct them before they affect you. 

Derek Hinton is the CEO of TIES, LLC, better known as www.DOTJobHistory.com. DOTJobHistory allows drivers to obtain and verify their employment (DAC), driving and criminal records. They may then make this information available over the web to employers who can access the information instantly.  

Contact information for Derek can be found at
www.dotjobhistory.com


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April 15,
2011














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