Channel 19

Candidate wields a guitar

“Singin’ Sam” Little has dedicated one of the Kenworths in his Little Country small fleet to pull parade floats during his own 2010 campaign for the governorship of Alaska. The sometime country singer has also issued a new record, “Truck Driver for Governor” (samlittleforgovernor.com), that features a tune updated from his original penned during the independent driver shutdowns of 1979. The original “Truckers Shutdown” song made its debut to a crowd of drivers. “Music gets the crowd together,” he says. “I’ve never been a great speaker, but the guitar has always been my weapon to get things done.”

34-hour restarts birth the Zonks

Wheaton Van Lines leased owner-operator Jim Funkhouser of Southern Indiana says when the hours rule last changed, he found himself turning to new pursuits to make it through the long restarts. Now the results are in. The band in his first novel, “We Were the Zonks,” described as the “1960s come back to life,” might not be the only fictitious rock group to have a full line of apparel to go along with their music. But if Funkhouser, writing as J. Gale Morrison about the Zonks’ formation and slow dissolution, has anything to do with it, they’ll inspire the most laughs of any group since the heavy-metal parody band Spinal Tap. The book is now available via www.thezonks.com and most retailers.

“ Isn’t it ironic that we complain about safety of the split speed limits and use the [specter of four-wheelers rear-ending us] as an excuse, but then we drive 60-65 in a 75-mph zone to conserve fuel and that is safe!? Sometimes you just gotta shake your head and say, Huh? ”

— Trucker posting as thebaldeagle655 on ClassADrivers.com about split speed limits for trucks and cars. Illinois recently equalized speed limits on most highways after years of a 65-55 split.

Beware of giant mouse

During December a trucker left his $95,000 load of cheese parked at a travel center on State Route 534 in East Side, Pa., due to bad weather, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer. When the laid-over driver returned two days later, it was gone. Looks like he should be ready to sit down with Spencer Johnson’s 1998 motivational best-selling book, “Who moved my cheese? An amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life.”

State smiles on Tony the Tiger

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Since we reported a year ago on legal challenges to Tony the Truckstop Tiger’s residence at the Gross Tete, La., Tiger Truck Stop, the Associated Press reports the stop’s owners have obtained state permits to keep the tiger. Animal rights activists, meanwhile, continue their fight. South Carolina-based Kris Ewing restarted his hours with Tony over Christmas, where he took this picture of the truck stop’s signage. n

For your daily dose of trucking humor, oddities and coverage in the media, visit: OverdriveOnline.com/www.channel19

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