My Origin Story (part one)

I don't know what my calling is, but I want to be here for a bigger reason. I strive to be like the greatest people who have ever lived.

-- Will Smith

Origin Story Part One

As a kid, I remember 2 times a year when a cattle truck would come early in the morning and we would load calves to ship to the sale barn.

I loved seeing those trucks and would just stare in awe of them with their lights, sleepers, stacks, shiny wheels, and the whole package.

When I turned 14, I joined our local volunteer fire department as a JR Firefighter. A JR Firefighter was awesome.

I got to ride in the trucks as we responded to wildland fires, helping bring the tools and supplies needed to support everyone. I dragged hoses, carried air tanks, and ran back out to the medical unit to grab needed supplies. Then afterward I had to wash the hoses, roll them up, and put them back on the trucks.

The best part though was riding in the trucks. Sometimes we would even get to run the sirens and adjust the light patterns.

It was AWESOME!

After I turned 18, I decided that I wanted to get my CDL so I could drive 18-wheelers.

I got the study book and read it cover to cover. Went to the DMV, took the written tests, and passed them. I officially had my Class A CDL Permit!

I was working for an awesome local agriculture company (Basin Coop) in their feed mill. They started sending me on deliveries and had one of their top drivers start training me.

On my first trip, I remember driving about 35 mph and feeling like I was flying. Driving that big rig was a whole lot different from sitting in the passenger’s seat. I was so scared, what did I just get myself into? Can I really do this?

Before long, I was grabbing gears up and down without any problems.

Then the day I took my CDL skills test, it was freezing but cold. Like -5*! I did my vehicle inspection and passed that section. Then we started driving out to the test site and my truck gelled up and wouldn’t run right.

Boy, I was so nervous that I thought I’d just failed the test. The tester was cool though, I remember him telling me, “No big deal brother, things happen. You’re a pretty good driver since your truck isn’t running right.”

We got the issue fixed and finished the test.

I PASSED!

Now I have my Class A CDL.

Little did I know I would spend the next 10 years trying to get back out of trucks? Lol

While I loved driving, I decided that I really wanted to operate machinery instead. Therefore, I changed jobs several times. Each time I changed, I was taking a position as an equipment operator. Each time the company realized that I was a great driver so I ended up in a truck! Just my luck.

After a while, I took a job working for the local county as an equipment operator II. I found that I was surrounded by people who were happy to be where they were. They were there and collecting a paycheck every 2 weeks. Really only three people would ever be promoted to a leadership position.

Therefore, I started looking for ways that I could help our community with the skills I had. I found that there was only one CDL tester in southwest Colorado. I know that God called me to start the process of becoming a tester.

When I first started the process the only person I told was my wife. I guess that way if I failed it wouldn’t be so hard to face everyone.

After doing research for about a week in every spare second, I had. I finally found the right number to contact for the CDL department in Colorado. I called them and miraculously got a hold of someone.

During that conversation, I found out that it wasn’t going to be easy to get this done. First, I had to find a CDL testing unit, get them to accept me as a potential tester. Then pay my own way to Denver and spend a full week in training.

My mind started running wild again. We didn’t have the money for this. We were making literally less than $35k annually for our entire household. To be frankly honest with you, I’m not sure how we were even surviving. I give full credit to my wife and God for keeping our noses above water.

Anyway, I didn’t give up on the idea though. I coordinated a meeting with the testing unit and then they had me meet with their other tester.

The only tester in the entire region.

The decision, if they would accept me, was entirely up to her. I was on my best behavior as we met for coffee.

What if she didn’t like me? Or what if she didn’t want anyone else to creep in on her business? Would she blackball me just because?

About 2 weeks and 20 calls to the CDL testing unit later, they said that they would accept me as a tester under their testing unit. All I needed to do was coordinate the training with the state.

I called and sent messages to the state of Colorado CDL testing department to get the rest of the details figured out.

Next was the detail of finding the money to get to Denver and take a full week off work.

Luckily, I had about 4 weeks of vacation stored up. So the time off wasn’t a huge issue.

We took out a loan from my parents so I could buy a one-way plane ticket to Denver. Then my family was going to drive up and we would all drive home together after the training.

The next thing to figure out was, where would I stay for the week? To get a hotel and rental car was going to cost us even more.

Doubt crept into my mind yet again. What am I doing? Why am I making my family suffer while I gain knowledge? Are you good enough to pass this course? Don’t waste your time you won’t succeed.

After stuffing those thoughts back where they came from. I reached out to one of my wife’s stepmom’s cousins that lived in the area. Shout out to Megan! You don’t know how much you helped us.

She was happy to pick me up at the airport and let me stay at her house for the week. She also asked me to use her car because she was flying out of town for the entire week for work.

This was a God sent for sure. Not her being gone, but everything she did for us.

After a grueling week of training and so many doubts that crept into my mind. Not to mention this was the most time I had ever spent away from my family since my wife and I were married. I was officially a CDL tester for the State of Colorado!

Little did I know just how much that step was going to change my life?

The story continues in part 2

Faith it until you make it!

 

How do you Faith it until you make it?  

We have all heard about Faking it until you make it.  Well, that wasn’t something that I could get behind.  

Spending money that you don’t have, wasting time that you could be using for something better. Making everyone think that you've already made it when actually you are just falling deeper and deeper. 

I’ve always struggled with faking something.  If you don’t like it, don’t do it.  

Have you ever heard the phrase that if you're not loving what you're doing then you must be doing something wrong?

So how is Faithing it until you make it any different than Faking it until you make it?  

When you faith it, you are placing your faith in God that he is going to give you what you need to make it happen.  You aren’t placing all that pressure on yourself to make it happen.  You are letting God take that pressure.  

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that you just sit back and say, “if it’s God’s will, then it will just happen” 

My grandma used to have a saying on her fridge that read, “all things come to he who waitith, as long as he worketh like hecketh while he waiteth.”  

When I was young I never really understood the saying.  Then as I got older and started watching others, in the world who wanted to make it big, it hit me.  If you don’t work for it God won't be able to bless you.  

No one ever won the race by sitting on the sidelines.  And no one ever hit a home run from the dugout.  

You see you have to play the game to even have a chance of winning. Or losing for that point.  

All too often we don’t jump because we are scared. 

When you Faith it Until you Make it, you have the faith to know that win or lose, at least you are in the game and trying.  

Here’s what I want to encourage you to do today.  Heck, do it right now.  Take a look at where you are in life.  Is this where you expected to be?  Do you have what you expected you would have? If the answer is no I don't have near much, or I really thought I'd be much further than I am right now.  

Take a step back and see where you didn’t have the faith that it would happen.  Look and the times you gave up when you could have kept going.  

Thomas Edison made over 9000 attempts before actually creating the lightbulb. 9000!  What would have happened if he gave up after attempt 1 or 100, or 1000, or even 9000.  What if he would have just stopped, threw his arms up in the air, and said, “I give up”? 

At first, he probably didn’t know where to start. Then he probably chased a few rabbits in directions that didn’t pan out.  After that he most likely thought at some point I just can’t do this.

But he never lost faith in his project, his mission. He knew that he was supposed to figure this out and he didn’t stop trying.  

Now that we’ve looked back on our past roadblocks, I want us all to look forward.  What projects are you working on right now? 

Any BIG, Scary, Hairy, Audacious, intimidating projects coming up?

If the answer is yes, like mine, then let’s Faith it until we make it, together.  

Before we start the project let's shoot up a quick prayer to make sure we have the right support team on our side.  

Then we are going to have faith that we are the right person for the job.  We were chosen because we CAN accomplish it.

Next, we stay strong when things don't work outright.  When the first video FLOPS hard, we get back in front of the camera and shoot it again.  Never give up!

Last, after we do succeed we pause for a moment to give thanks where it's due.  Thank our support system, thank those who picked up some of the slack where we dropped the ball.  Thank those who helped by giving us ideas. And last but definitely not least, thank the good Lord for giving us the faith to finish the project successfully. 

Let's get out there and Faith it until we make it!

Putting others first!

“It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it'.”
― Audrey Hepburn

Putting others first.

Why is it so important that we put others first?  

How do we do it without causing our own goals and ambitions to be put on the back burner?

Let’s start with my favorite book ever written, the Bible. 

In first Corinthians 10:24 Paul reminds the church in Corinth about this. He tells them directly, “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others”

Have you ever played the Game Catan before?

If you haven’t I'll give you a quick rundown.  You place your village at the intersection of 3 commodities.  (there are 5 total commodities on the board.) Then numbers are placed on each tile.  

When anyone rolls the number on commodities that you ouch you get that commodity.  You use the commodities to build and get special cards.  

The goal is to build settlements, cities, roads, and eventually end the game when you have enough experience points.  Which you get from the building and a few other things.

Anyways, as we were playing this yesterday my daughter (10) was in a great place and she kept getting all kinds of commodities. 

She had so many a few times that the bank ran out of commodity cards.  She would always trade cards in on her turn so that it didn't happen again.

During the game, you can trade cards, but both people have to agree to the trade in order for it to happen.  

As we all started trading with her he was always glad to make the deal.  Even if it wasn’t always in her best interests.  

I'm sure that by now you're thinking, Dan, why are you teaching your daughter to make a deal if it doesn’t benefit her?

Get this, she always had more than enough. And was being nice not ending the game as soon as she could.  She wanted to be generous so that the game would continue on, just a little longer.

She was blessed with more cards and people continued to trade with her so that she could get the cards she needed.

The more she gave the more she got.

So what are some simple ways that we can put others' needs ahead of our own?

• It could be as simple as standing aside to let someone get in line ahead of us.

• It might be giving someone a ride even though it will make us late. (What if we’re on our way to church or work?)

• How about giving up a seat on the bus and standing?

• Perhaps this means mowing our neighbor’s lawn even though ours needs attention.

• Should we take the last piece of pizza or let someone else have it?

• What about walking so someone else can use our car?

• Even bolder, how about giving someone our car because he or she needs it more.

It may seem simple to put others first but it's not as simple as it seems.  As people, we are extremely self-centered.  If we can’t see how it will benefit us we have a hard time doing it.  

Why do we go to work? 

To earn money so we can live.  

Why do we buy vehicles? 

So we can go to the places we want to go.  

Why do we do anything? 

Because we think that it will cause us some sort of benefit from doing it.  

So why should we put others first if our every instinct is to do what benefits us the most?  How can putting someone else's needs ahead of our own make us succeed?

The example of the game is a great one, on a small scale of course.  If my daughter wasn’t willing to trade cards that she had to others, she would not have gotten so many of the other commodities that she had no other way of getting without trading.  

One more thing that we must remember

Just like in the airplane when they are giving instructions, “In the event of an accident, oxygen masks will fall from the ceiling.  Please be sure to secure your mask first before helping others around you.

This is the key.  

First off, if you are not able to help yourself how will you be able to help anyone else?

Here’s what this really means.  

It’s really hard and not very smart for others to take advice on finances from someone who is not doing very good with their finances.

Think about it.  Would you listen to someone on how to get out of Credit Card debt if they had piles of it themselves?

If someone is giving advice on how to grow a business, yet their current business is failing, will you listen to them?

Would you take advice on how to improve your company culture from a leader of a company when their culture is nothing like what you want?

The answers to all of the questions are,

NOT A CHANCE!

So we do have to make sure that we are on the right path before we start giving advice.  

That doesn’t mean that on the way to getting on the right path we can forget about everyone else.  There are still ways that we can help.

Tony Robbins says, “If you don't like money then you have never given enough away.”  I’m 100% sure that some of you just said, but he has so much money so he can give more away. 

In the book of Mark Jesus talks about this too.  Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 

They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:41-44

This amazing lady knew that God would continue to bless her.  She trusted that he would take care of her. 

Today I really want to encourage everyone to go out into the world and look for a way to help others.  

Look for a person who needs you, then offer to help them.  

Look for someone who you can help, then go out of your way to help them.

Get out there and start putting others first, then watch just how much further you are because you gave more than ever before.

 

 

What is a Non-CDL CMV?

"A Good Truck Driver Can't even Spell CDL.  Just kidding" Anonymous 

What is a Non-CDL CMV?  

Holy cow that was a ton of acronyms to have in the first sentence of a blog.  Lol

Let's start with what those mean. 

CMV = Commercial Motor Vehicle.  In layman's terms, a CMV is any vehicle that crosses state lines and is used in commerce that has a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) over 10,000 lbs.  Pretty much any vehicle that pulls trailers or is bigger than a ¾ ton pickup.  

*note that if you do not cross state lines then there are several states that do not consider a vehicle to be a CMV until it reaches 26,001 lbs.

CDL = Commercial Driver License.  A CDL is required to operate any Hazmat vehicle that carries a placardable amount of material, any vehicle with a GVWR over 26,000, or any vehicle that was built to transport 16 or passengers including the driver. 

Hopefully, that helps to clear up some confusion that might be around those.  

A Non-CDL CMV is any vehicle that crosses state lines and is used in commerce that has a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) over 10,000lbs.  

Pretty much any vehicle that pulls trailers or is bigger than a ¾ ton pickup.  That is used for business.  

A great example would be a mechanics service truck where you work in Louisiana but live in Texas. Let's say that it's an F550 and has a GVWR of 19,500 lbs.  

Since it’s GVWR is under 26,000 then no CDL is required to operate that unit.  But the driver is still considered a CMV driver since it is rated over 10,000 and you are crossing state lines.  Therefore you would need to meet all of the requirements for FMCSA for a CMV driver.  

What does a CMV need to have to be legal? 

• Company logo or name on both sides of the truck

• USDOT Number legible from 50’ in a contrasting color on each side of the truck

• 3 Reflective DOT triangles

• 1, 10 lb Fire extinguisher

• Spare Fuses

• Annual DOT Inspection

Since a CMV driver is not required to have a CDL to drive a Non-CDL CMV what do they need to be legal?

• Valid Driver license

• Valid DOT Medical Card

• Valid Driver Qualification File (see our blog on DQ files)

• Up to date HOS (Hours of Service)  Yes all CMV drivers CDL or Non-CDL are required to abide by FMCSA’s HOS regulations. (for more watch our Blog Webinar on HOS)

We sure hope this was helpful.

If you need any help getting your DOT program straightened out or have questions about DOT please don’t hesitate to reach out to our experts.  info@eclipse-dot.com

Birthday

"Life isn't about your age. Life is about living. So when your birthday comes be thankful for the year that has just past and anticipate with a happy heart what the coming year will bring." 

Catherine Pulsifer

Today I get the amazing opportunity to celebrate my 35th Birthday.  

What an amazing life I have had so far.  

I have a wonderful wife that I have blessed to have by my side for now almost 16 years.  

4 kids that for the most part are great kids.  They play hard and push the limits way toooooo much.  (to be honest, I'm glad to push the limits, which means that when they get older they will continue to push themselves to new levels).  

I’m blessed to be able to raise my kids on our family's homestead and they are the 5th generation to be raised here.  

My parents are supportive of me, even when they probably should have told me how crazy my ideas are.  

Our business is doing great. Shameless plug, www.eclipse-dot.com

We started a nonprofit to help serve God, Shameless plug www.godfirstlifenext.org

I am truly living a blessed life

One thing that I learned early was that I couldn't compare myself to anyone other than the person I was yesterday. 

As a youngster, I was constantly trying to compare myself to my older brother.  He was 4 years older than me and gosh darn it I was just as big as him (in my eyes). I could and should be allowed to do everything that he did.  

I’m sure that he looked at me a nuisance most days, but he still made time to spend with me.  He let me hang out with his friends and I started comparing myself to what they were doing.  

I never felt as though I had accomplished anything.

Then one day it hit me.  How can you compare yourself to anyone?  No one has had the same life therefore there is no real way to compare your lives.  

Today I want to encourage everyone to take a good look at your lives.  Look hard to see where you have had success, and look even harder at your failures to see what you learned.  

One of my major successes is writing these blogs.  

When I was in school I did not like reading and definitely did not Like to write.  Now I write a devotional and blog every week. If I look back over the past 2 years I'll bet that I have written a couple of books.  Lol

What was once a failure, is now a success!  

How amazing is that?

Another pretty massive failure in my life was when we were in pretty major debt.  At one point in our lives we had several credit cards maxed out, were having a hard time paying our bills, and just surviving. 

We weren’t really making too much money and supporting a family of 6 was tough.  

My wife and I worked out a budget though and stuck to it. And in doing that we were able to get out of over 35K in debt in less than 2 years.  

That may not seem like much, but to a single income family of 6, that's a ton!

It was amazing what we learned from that experience.  

When we were in the middle of the storm it was tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  There were days I wasn't sure we would ever be able to say that our only debt was a mortgage. 

Now it seems like in the blink of an eye that I felt like we might just drown.  

The point is that we all have things that we have worked through.  

I know that we have been blessed to live the life we have and that God will continue to bless our lives in so many ways.  

My first 35 years on this rock have been amazing and I look forward to many more years on this earth and know that they will all be extremely blessed.