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Dear {FName}, December 1, 2011


We hope you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend and that you were where you wanted to be when you wanted to be there


The results from the first holiday shopping weekend are in and according to reports shoppers spent $11.4 billion on Black Friday and $52.4 billion over the entire weekend.  A record-breaking total of 226 million people took out their wallets spending an average of $400 each. The top items were boots, denim, corduroy, fine jewelry, and flat-screen TVs.

Makes you wonder about the reason for the season, doesn’t it?

Natalee Schmidt Awarded
Trucker Buddy Teacher of the Month
July 2011

Natalee Schmidt, a second grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary in Scotts Bluff, Neb., has been named July 2011 Teacher of the Month following her nomination by Trucker Buddy Bob Longmeier, a driver for Wal-Mart stores.  Longmeier wrote. “As a participant in the Trucker Buddy Program for many years, I have had the privilege of corresponding with Mrs. Schmidt's third grade class in Scottsbluff for the past five years. Mrs. Schmidt is a wonderful, caring person who inspires all of the children to rise to their fullest academic potential.”

According to Longmeier, Schmidt’s classroom walls are decorated with pictures, charts, maps and other items to make learning fun and exciting. Each spring, she brings in her poultry egg incubator so the children can see first-hand and experience the thrill of the hatching of baby ducks.

“Mrs. Schmidt has one portion of the room reserved exclusively for my cards and letters and other correspondence,” says Longmeier. “I am proud to say that she makes the Trucker Buddy program a large part of the students' overall learning experience. I receive a packet of letters from each student, not monthly, not bi-monthly, but each and every week!  Each school year, I see vast improvement in their letter writing and their thought process as the year progresses.”
There are many wonderful teachers in the Trucker Buddy program who worthy of recognition. Longmeier says he nominated Schmidt for the honor of Teacher of the Month because he feels she stands out among the very best.

“Thank you [Trucker Buddy International] for all you do in continuing the Trucker Buddy' program. I believe it's good for the young people and it's good for America,” says Longmeier.

Natalee Schmidt’s Announcement on the TBI Website with Pictures

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 program is funded entirely through sponsorships and donations.

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Social Security Number Issuance Changes
Derek Hinton -www.dotjobhistory.com

With identity theft so much in the news, drivers frequently ask me why trucking companies insist on obtaining their social security numbers so early in the process. Trucking companies have good reason to obtain these numbers, but some reasons are going away.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is changing the way Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are issued. They call this change "randomization." The SSA is developing this new method to help protect the integrity of the SSN. SSN Randomization will also extend the longevity of the nine-digit SSN nationwide.

The SSA began assigning the nine-digit SSN in 1936 for the purpose of tracking workers' earnings over the course of their lifetimes to pay benefits. Since its inception, the SSN has always been comprised of the three-digit area number, followed by the two-digit group number, and ending with the four-digit serial number. Since 1972, the SSA has issued Social Security cards centrally and the area number reflects the state, as determined by the ZIP code in the mailing address of the application.

Trucking companies have always asked early in their recruitment for your social security number for several reasons. First, many attempt to validate your number using several methods because they know it is the hinge around which the rest of the investigation revolves. DAC reports and other information require a social security number to obtain and if the SSN is no good, the results of their search will be no good.

The randomization means that several tools for validating the SSN will fade away.

In the past, the first three numbers of the SSN were referred to as an “area number”. These numbers were allocated to the states for assignment to individuals applying for a SSN in their state. So employers would look at the state of issuance. If a driver said they had lived and worked in Florida their whole life, but they had a SSN from Alaska, it would prompt questions. The randomization will eliminate this geographical significance.

The second two numbers of your SSN, called the “group number” have also been issued in a specific sequence. There was a fairly complex algorithm used and if the first 5 numbers of the SSN were out of whack, the number could be flagged as invalid. The number sequence could also provide a range of dates for when the SSN was issued. So, if you were 50 years old and provided 10 years of employment history—but you provided a SSN issued a year ago, there would be questions. With randomization, this group number significance will also fade away with time as new numbers are issued.

So will trucking companies stop asking for your SSN? No—for two reasons

1. Motor carriers are required by federal motor carrier safety regulations to obtain the Social Security   Number (SSN) on the employment application. Section 391.21 says:

“…a person shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless he/she has completed and furnished the motor carrier that employs him/her with an application for employment [and each application] must contain the following information: The applicant’s name, address, date of birth, and social security number;…”

2.  They are still able to check the number to see if it has been reported to the Social Security Administration as belonging to a person who has died. The Social Security Administration keeps track of that kind of thing and if you use a number that belongs to a person who has been confirmed as deceased, questions will be raised or the National Enquirer will be phoned.

In short, even with randomization, employers will ask for your SSN and probably early in the process. They do this because they are required by federal law and they, for the immediate future will still check some aspects of the number to guard against mistakes in transcribing numbers and prevent applicants from hiding their past by falsifying their SSN. Identity theft and identity confusion is a growing concern, not only to individuals, but to companies. Companies want to make sure they don’t hire someone who hides past history by changing identifiers. They also don’t want to refuse employment to a good driver whose good history has been tainted by someone with similar identifiers.



Well, we gathered up some stats for the sales guys with the TruckDriver.com How Long Survey

How long have you been a professional truck driver?

Less than 1 year - 23%
1 to 2 years - 4%
2 to 5 years - 5%
5 to 10 years - 19%
10 years plus - 49%

We’re not sure what they will do with them, but they wanted us to follow up with the TruckDriver.com Time for a Change Survey. Sales guys, go figure!

Until next time, keep on truckin’ and please drive safely!

* * * * *

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