At the “It’s a Teams Life” blog home of expediters Bob and Linda Caffee, you’ll find all manner of good information about the business of trucking, from the singular point of view of this versatile and experienced couple.
But a recent item caught my attention, as it reminded me of three fairly recent conversations I’ve had with the Caffees, 2007 Overdrive Trucker of the Year Henry Albert and Perkins Specialized leased owner-operator Dick McCorkle. Albert and the Caffees are part of a somewhat informal but increasingly more active group of owner-operators exploring new trucking technology and other topics in regular meetings called the Trucking Solutions Group. Their Drivers Health Council has organized a walk to be held at the Mid-America Trucking Show later this month in Louisville, Ky., to highlight driver health, a topic of increasing regulatory attention.
Linda Caffee tells the story in her March 10 post of how the walk came to be: “Scott Kinley, an owner-operator tanker yanker leased to Landstar, came up with the idea for a Health Group. Scott knew that a few of us, including himself, have been focusing on our health and he thought we should get together to share information. I was discussing information about our group with my youngest daughter, Brandy, and she said ‘You know you guys all go to the huge truck show. Why not have the group sponsor a walk?'”
Small conversations sometimes end big. The 1.5-mile walk will take place Friday, March 26, at 8 a.m. You can register in advance here. There is no fee to register. Participants are encouraged to arrive at registration headquarters at MATS by 7:30 the morning of the walk. More details via the previous link.
Expect big things to continue to emerge from the Trucking Solutions Group. On a related note, my March “Exit Only” column in Truckers News profiled Dick McCorkle’s efforts to improve the public image of truck drivers via his involvement in Freightliner‘s Slice of Life long-term Cascadia test-drive program. Albert’s involved as well. The video from my interview with McCorkle is below, in which we touch on both issues of driver public image and the regulatory challenges of CSA 2010.
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