To all of you who’ve clamored for it in commentary here, well — it finally happened. Anne Ferro went out on a two-day haul with owner-operator Leo Wilkins, and David Tanner over at Land Line told the story following the haul. Wilkins took Ferro on a couple drops between Maryland and St. Louis. (The OOIDA Life Member also happens to be one of the drivers recognized by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association with an award for his 21 years of safety at the Heart of America Trucking Show last month.)
Part of what Ferro gleaned from the trip, Tanner reported, was a new perspective on the challenges the hours of service place on the driver’s schedule, but also this, on spending the night in Wilkins’ bunk in Indianapolis as he took a hotel room:
[Wilkins’ bunk] is a lovely sleeping cabin. I looked at that and thought about what it would be like to be in a normal sleeper berth, and how difficult it is to change your clothes, how difficult it is to get fresh water, how you have to get up in the middle of the night or in the middle of your rest period to go to the bathroom at the truck stop if you don’t have something like this accommodation….
Read the full Land Line piece via this link.
And as for Wilkins, he was appreciative of Ferro’s effort, as Tanner wrote Wilkins’ thoughts:
Coming along with me to get a firsthand look at things, I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart for doing that for me and for other truckers out there that are facing these problems. … I’ve learned a lot about her job and she’s learned a lot about ours.
Tell us what you think about the Administrator’s effort in the comments. Again, here’s the full story.
