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.

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

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.

A tragic postscript to a tough year: Remembering Liam Salmon

Owner-operator Howard Salmon's son passed on December 31 after battling DIPG, a rare pediatric brain tumor.

January 4, 2021

Young Liam Salmon passed at five years old after a battle with DIPG on December 31, 2020.

Overdrive Radio

Brass tacks, bad brokers, big loads to count down the hours with a long run into 2021

Business brass tacks, bad brokers, big loads -- and plenty more in this year-in-review in audio. Join us to listen in with Overdrive Radio to ring in 2021.

December 31, 2020

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Germann Soeth’s 1976 Kenworth K100, in service after long retirement

Owner-operator Soeth spent three years in off-time working on this vintage K100, nearing working order in the nick of time when his main truck broke down.

December 30, 2020

Germann Trucking 1976 Kenworth K100

Overdrive Radio

Back to the ‘Biggest Tailgate in Trucking’ — and Germann Soeth’s 1976 KW K100

The coproduction of Overdrive and Radiotopia brought the reality of working haulers to all audiences. Plus: Germann Soeth's restored 1976 Kenworth K100.

December 23, 2020

Also in the podcast: A taste of an interview I did with owner-operator Germann Soeth out of Frederick, Maryland, with mostly dump work and principally in a 1998 Kenworth W900 that was featured in past at OverdriveOnline.com When we caught back up with owner-operator Soeth in October, though, he was showing a 1976 vintage Kenworth cabover. He was, interestingly enough, getting ready to put it into service hauling loads after a long retirement, given a significant breakdown with his 1990s conventional. Find out how he took the rig from scrap yard to working order over the course of a few years here.

More Christmas-themed trucking music in these curated playlists

Seven years ago around this time of the year, Overdrive asked readers to name the “best Christmas song of all time.” From a big list, readers then voted on a final list — these songs represent the results. Bonus this year: An extra selection of Christmas-themed trucking tunes. Enjoy the holiday, whether on the road or home … .

December 22, 2020

Capitol Christmas Tree lighting1 (2)

Overdrive Radio

Log annotations to avoid hours of service violations — and more from FMCSA Q&A

Listen to Overdrive Radio to learn more about log annotations to avoid hours of service violations and other topics covered by the FMCSA's recent G&A here.

December 18, 2020

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What you should know about the looming Canadian ELD mandate

The rule is set to go into force June 12, though some groups are calling for a delay, given no devices have been certified. And there's much more than that.

December 17, 2020

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Remembering Arline Bennett, ‘a pillar of the trucking community’

Bennett's indelible mark on scads of grassroots groups and organizers can't be overstated. She passed one week ago today. Funeral services are set for Dec. 19.

December 14, 2020

Margaret Arline Bennett passed on December 7.

Overdrive Radio

OTR soundtrack custom-built for 2020: Paul Marhoefer’s ‘Songs from a truck’

The trucker-songwriter's record explores the emotion of personal history, striking a chord with anyone managing the risks of the road with a family back home.

December 11, 2020

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One trucker’s push for potential national resolution to fight DIPG and other childhood cancers

Update: Howard Salmon, whose son is battling DIPG, with other advocates believes a House resolution could do wonders for DIPG awareness and research funding.

December 8, 2020

Liam James Salmon, from the time before his cancer diagnosis

DataQs: A ‘small victory’ amid ongoing difficulty in fighting errant roadside violations

It's the most common sort of DataQs challenge. It's also the least likely to be successfully changed, yet here's an example where persistence paid off.

December 7, 2020

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Overdrive Radio

Time to account for independent dispatch services in regulation?

TIA wants limits on independent dispatchers to work for just one carrier, and if more, registration as a broker. Here, owner-ops weigh in via Overdrive Radio.

December 4, 2020

Owner-operator Bent’s 2015 Peterbilt

The long-well-known 1999 Peterbilt 362 cabover now powering Landis & Sons Trucking

Follow the tale of the 1999 Peterbilt 362 cabover as it passed from owner-operator Bennie Thomas to Mike Landis of Landis & Sons Trucking.

December 1, 2020

Landis, of Lititz, Pennsylvania, spoke for this video from this year’s “That’s a Big 10-4 on D.C.” event on the National Mall. Read more about the owner-operator’s participation in the event and other advocacy efforts in the nation’s capital via the October edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast that featured Landis and C.J. Karman’s story of their White House meeting in May around the issue of freight transaction transparency.

$2,000 fair warning, a third time: Vermont route 108 between Stowe/Cambridge off-limits

Truckers finding themselves heading towards "Smuggler's Notch" should think again, now and in the future; the route is off-limits to tractor-trailers.

November 30, 2020

Signs entering Smugglers’ Notch indicate no trucks are allowed. (Courtesy Vermont Agency of Transportation)

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Analysts optimistic on trucking after chaotic year

2020’s strong second half and prospects for continued high freight demand bode well into 2022, FTR says. However, several factors will affect the timing and intensity of further recovery.

“Wreck on the Mountain Road” is about the death of a trucker on Bent Mountain, just southwest of Roanoke, Virginia.

Fatal wreck remembered in first recorded trucking song

The trucker cap in teacher Amy Watson’s selfie from the day she was tested for COVID-19 later inspired her choice of “long-haulers” to describe COVID survivors with persistent symptoms. “My school’s mascot is a squirrel,” she said, which she finds appropriate, given that her pre-school students, with their short bursts of activity, are “very squirrel-like.”

Trucking’s bit part in the 'COVID long-haulers’ name

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.

'WTF' stresses service for long-term success

The glider market grew from a few hundred sales a year in 2010 to upwards of 10,000 as recently as 2017. Gliders sported pre-emissions-regs engines -- no exhaust gas recirculation or selective catalytic reduction components and, thus, no need for DEF. With simpler technology and refurbished engines, the products were much cheaper than new trucks with new engines, making them attractive buys for small-business truckers.

Glider kit market hits fatal nosedive with latest emissions regs

Beware: Human smugglers luring truckers along the border

More episodes »

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.

Partners in Business Issue Cover