Channel 19

Channel 19
Owner-operators wrestle scheduling hurdles with double-dose COVID shots
Two days' notice for a vaccine appointment in Tarrant County, Texas, just wasn't going to cut it for Landstar-leased flatbedder Bill Ater, he said. As states have opened up the COVID shot to older residents, scheduling obstacles for truckers abound.
March 2, 2021
Covid Vaccine
Overdrive Radio
The long tail of the CB's social utility
Owner-operator Mike Crawford in this Overdrive Radio edition expands on some of the themes showcased earlier this week in our special-edition podcast in part about the ongoing safety utility, and the decreased cultural importance, of the CB in trucking.
February 26, 2021
'Mustang' Mike Crawford, circa 2014, at the Nashville TravelCenters of America location
Channel 19
Add your voice to 'Overdrive's Music to Truck By,' BlackOut tribute truck headed Daytona-way
Chuck Timbrook running south for Bike Week March 5 with his vets-support rig, and: Help us celebrate professional drivers and submit an intro that may be featured on the new show.
February 24, 2021
The 1999 Freightliner Classic that is Timbrook's 'BlackOut' support rig is pictured on the boardwalk in Ocean City. | Photo courtesy of Chuck Timbrook
Channel 19
Respite, brother- and sisterhood, fellowship on the long, cold road this season
The cultural ramifications of the simple practice of turning the CB on are alive and well and, in a rugged winter for over-the-road haulers all across the country, shining through in so many ways. Stuck in the ice, making the most of the situation...
February 23, 2021
Thomas Remington (left, with beard) and several friends made among drivers at the Love's in Wamsutter, Wyoming, these past days during a parking-lot feast for the ages.
Overdrive Radio
Listen: Fairness in DataQs appeals in Minnesota
State patrol Captain Jon Olsen on the appeals-panel model, tips and suggestions for carriers and more. And: Just how disruptive has the Texas weather been this week? An answer from a Laredo-based small fleet coming out of the dark.
February 19, 2021
Jon Olsen Dataqs Inspections
Channel 19
Back in the saddle again
Former owner-operator Scott Reed is back behind the wheel, this trucking tour as a company driver with Greg Anderson's seven-truck AK Trucking, leased to Woof Trucking out of Yukon, Oklahoma.
February 17, 2021
It might well be the Cummins X15-powered Kenworth that's got him the most jazzed about the return, though. 'A buddy of mine said, 'That’s a really long truck – it’ll be hard to back into places. It’ll take you twice as long as everybody else,'' Reed said. 'I said, 'Yeah, and I’ll look twice as good doing it.'”
Overdrive Radio
COVID hours exemption not valid 'just because you're hauling food'
On Overdrive Radio, food for thought via the words of Captain Jon Olsen of the Minnesota State Patrol about qualifying for the COVID hours exemption, and: Episode 5 of the OTR podcast, about family-life sacrifices drivers -- and those back home -- endure.
February 12, 2021
Bol Covid Emergency 2
Channel 19
Don't forget what they say about double negatives ...
One eagle-eyed owner-operator and grammar enthusiast offers an intriguing object lesson with these no-engine-brakes signs -- and: Still no devices on Canada's ELD registry with mandate deadline five months out.
February 8, 2021
Double Negative No Engine Brake
Overdrive Radio
Best nanner pudding on I-75 -- and this 1980 KW, restored
Each of the independent truck stops profiled in this funny, moving southbound podcast caper claim to be the first to have advertised the special on the CB decades ago. Also: A new build in this custom-restored rig with Dustbusters in Wyoming.
February 5, 2021
From left: Dustbusters owner Craig Prete, mechanics Austin Oliver and Kipp Knight, shop foreman Cole Potter, and owner-operator/mechanic Martin Herman. Pictured with a recently finished custom-restore of Prete's 1980 Kenworth W900A daycab, outfitted with a rollback body.
Channel 19
Tax strategy -- to depreciate or not to depreciate major maintenance?
Equipment improvements present a variety of options as it relates to tax strategy around expensing and depreciation. Depending on your income situation, you could be well served by spreading deductions over years.
February 4, 2021
Big-ticket improvements present a variety of options as it relates to tax strategy around expensing and depreciation. Depending on your 2020 income situation, you may be well served by spreading deductions out over the next years. This can be done with depreciation scheduling, using Section 179 to expense some or all of the cost now, and/or indeed a combination of the two. Now's the time to sit down and evaluate with your accountant.
Channel 19
Evel Knievel's Mack haul rig, restored
For Overdrive's 60th anniversary, take a run back through the half-decade-long journey of a famous Mack from weeds in a Florida yard to a fully custom-restored museum showpiece in Topeka, Kan., as covered in Overdrive.
February 1, 2021
The truck and trailer -- all done.
Channel 19
ELD's 'no monthly fee' promotion highlights relative market void
There are just a handful of no-monthly-fee options for ELD rule-compliant e-logs left standing. The service priority for many truckers in the choice of platform is a big reason for that. Also: The cabovers come out at night!
January 28, 2021
'Sometimes they only come out at night, but when they do, it's a rare find for sure!' --Owner-operator Dean Carnahan, who caught a quick snap of this one (a Tennessee truck, he said) at a fuel stop in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Channel 19
Meet the driver of Evel Knievel's former haul rig
This latest in Overdrive's 60th anniversary series takes a look at one intersection of the business magazine and U.S. popular culture with the 1973 story on one of the most famous people on the planet at the time, the daredevil and sometime truck driver.
January 25, 2021
Then-trucker Mike Draper behind the wheel of Evel Knievel's Mack haul rig in the 1970s.
Channel 19
Highway hack: High value in a 'parts truck'
Long-term, having a spare 'parts truck' could save you both money and time hunting down replacement parts if you're like owner-op Zach Beadle, with a 1976 Peterbilt COE. His parts donor has saved him with these four jobs and more.
January 20, 2021
Owner-operator Zach Beadle -- find more pictures from the photo shoot at the Thigpen Ranch from 2016 at this link.
Channel 19
'WTF' stresses service for long-term success
Watch This Freight's owner Jesse McGinness has purchased the first Class 8 in his 11-unit otherwise hotshot fleet. A black-rimmed flattop 2021 389 spec'd for heavy haul wasn't part of his five-year plan when he launched the company four years ago.
January 14, 2021
Small-fleet owner Jesse McGinness was going for originality with the look of this 2021 Peterbilt 389, spec'ing the black Alcoa rims from the factory. After his maiden voyage in a Class 8 tractor years ago, in a Peterbilt 379, he fell in love with the classic square-hood series. He plans to modify the stacks, the grille and more to all-black finish -- committing sacrilege, says the operator who took him on that first 379 run. McGinness'll maintain plenty in chrome/stainless accents, not to worry. The flattop with lift-axle is powered by the X15 Cummins at 605 hp, with an 18-speed transmission. 'I wanted this truck to be a truck that I thought was cool,' McGinness said, in addition to doing the tough over-dimensional/heavy hauling he'll require of it.
Channel 19
SBA auditing truckers' insurance in wake of pandemic disaster loans: Two owners' stories
If you're one of the untold number of owner-operators who took an SBA disaster loan in the spring of 2020, last month you may well have been contacted to verify insurance -- how two operators dealt with it (one smoothly, one not so much).
January 12, 2021
Lance Buttermore's 2015 Kenworth T680 and leased step deck
Channel 19
Look back at Junior Elmore's classic 1970s rigs
Another blast from the past for Overdrive's 60th anniversary -- trucker-photographer Don Christner's discovery of the boneyard of retired small fleet owner Junior Elmore contains plenty diamonds in the rough.
January 11, 2021
Junior Elmore’s Marmon caught Christner's eye right off for a very simple reason: 'I’d never seen a Marmon cabover in the flesh before,' he wrote. 'Up close, it’s easy to see why a Marmon cabover was used in the movie 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' as the Autobot Optimus Prime. Elmore’s Marmon COE #31 HDT-BC-86 was Manufactured 03/1977 in Garland, Texas. This is a complete truck with no parts taken off. Still running when parked in 1999. A good honest work truck that’s nicely spec’d out.' Find more details, and history, via this link.
Overdrive Radio
Trucking with authority and other reasons ‘Why we drive’ — OTR rewind No. 2
In this Overdrive Radio podcast, an update on the last couple of years' push toward one featured trucker's new authority as an owner-operator, and much more.
January 7, 2021
Meet Kenyette Godhigh-Bell, shown here behind the wheel of her 2017 Freightliner Cascadia — you heard that right — Godhigh-Bell is a company driver no more.
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Top Stories
Canadian Eld Mandate 2
Regulations
Canada pumps the brakes on ELD deadline
Canada's Transport Minister Omar Alghabra today announced an intent to work with industry and others on details of a "progressive enforcement period" to begin with "education and awareness" exclusively, amid ongoing device registry delays.
Read more about DPF ash cleaning via this link to a round-up of past maintenance-related coverage in Overdrive. Emissions-system-related stories are under the 'Trailers and other topics' header.
Overdrive Extra
Dealing with diesel aftertreatment demons
The DataQs system enables carriers and drivers to challenge inspection violations and crash reports, but many in trucking have complained of its shortcomings.
Regulations
DataQs improvement trial nears, but lingering problems bother industry
This picture of a truck loading or unloading was done by an unidentified American artist around 1935-1939, the same period as when “Truck Driver’s Blues” became a hit. The lithograph is part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Trucking History
First hit trucker song in history channeled road woes
Latest Gear Guide loaded with helpful trucking tips for the year ahead
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Latest Gear Guide loaded with helpful trucking tips for the year ahead
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The Business Manual for Owner-Operators
Overdrive editors and ATBS present the industry’s best manual for prospective and committed owner-operators. You’ll find exceptional depth on many issues in the 2021 edition of Partners in Business.
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