Life

Overdrive Radio
OTR to home: Making local trucking work with Mike 'The Boston Trucker' Gaffin, Terry Shelton
Gaffin, with a growing profile as a videographer, details his long history in, and huge love for, OTR trucking, running back to childhood with a trucking father, a Teamster turned OTR post-deregulation. Gaffin's run the reverse path back to local work.
June 24, 2022
Youtube
Life
A man who constantly 'raised the bar higher': Remembering owner-operator Troy Huddleston
Showtime Trucking owner Troy Huddleston passed away unexpectedly last week at the age of 54. A group of his friends gathered at the Shell Rotella SuperRigs truck show to reflect on what he meant to them, the custom-rigs community, and trucking itself.
June 14, 2022
In Memory of Troy Huddleston text next to a portrait of him and his freightliner
Life
An owner-operator's best defense against criminals: A gun or a phone?
It's the middle of the night, you're sleeping in the cab, and you hear that dreaded sound of some thief attempting to force entry into the trailer. What, in this moment, do you reach for? A gun, or a phone?
June 9, 2022
an airman waving a truck forward on a military base.
Life
Driver held at gunpoint, cargo pilfered: How to avoid being an easy mark in dangerous times
After a driver was removed from the cab at gunpoint and a trailer full of high-end sneakers pilfered, officers and security pros noted there's more to operator and cargo safety than a good padlock. Learn what you should, and shouldn't, do to stay safe.
June 9, 2022
padlock on truck trailer
Regulations
Owner-operator asks FMCSA for exemption from HOS
The owner, Leland Schmitt, says his decades of safe driving demonstrate an equivalent level of safety as the regulations; around half of recent poll respondents continue to rely on the COVID hours waiver. Also: Bill would streamline TSA credentials.
June 8, 2022
Truck parked on highway on-ramp
Overdrive Extra
Faces of the Road: Dave Nemo on history at 50 years in trucking radio
Long Haul Paul's interview with Nemo speaks to the historical importance of all-night radio formats, birthed in part with Nemo's initial mentor Charlie Douglas at New Orleans 870 WWL AM, for overnight truckers, including himself in the 1980s and '90s.
June 7, 2022
Dave Nemo
Parking
ATRI seeks parking feedback from operators in Midwest | I-20 closures this week
ATRI is asking operators in the Midwest to provide feedback on the region's real-time parking information system that was installed in eight Midwest states in 2019. Also: Nighttime closures planned along I-20 in Louisiana; new electric APU from Dynasys.
June 6, 2022
Truck with rest area parking availability sign
Regulations
'Crisis level' of truck-occupant deaths looks tragically preventable | Owner-ops' 'war cry' on speed limiters
Somewhere between 43% and 68% of those who died in 2021 weren't wearing seat belts. FMCSA reps, speaking at TCA's Safety & Security Division meeting, likewise outlined progress on a speed-limiter mandate, and a goal of more in-person audits.
June 6, 2022
Truck pulled over on highway
Trucker Talent Search
'Heavy Load' -- Tank hauler and singer-songwriter Guy Archer live
Archer has been on the move since his big win in the Overdrive/Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search in 2021. In addition to continued songwriting and his mostly night work hauling, he was featured on the Red Eye Radio stage at MATS in March.
June 3, 2022
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Life
Two major classic truck shows next week and week after
ATHS holds its convention in Springfield, Illinois, and the ATCA returns to Macungie for Father's Day weekend.
June 3, 2022
ATCA gathering at Macungie, Pennsylvania
Life
FMCSA shuts down Texas fleet attempting to avoid previous shut down order
FMCSA alleges that JPL Logistics used common ownership, common management, common control, and/or common familial relationship to enable Jaypur Logistics and its principal to avoid Jaypur Logistics’ Imminent Hazard Order issued in May.
June 1, 2022
truck pulled over by police
Life
CVSA's awareness initiative expanded in concert with Truckers Against Trafficking, Canada, Mexico
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance board of directors voted to extend its Human Trafficking Awareness initiative from three days to five next year. Also: HDVI Shift dynamically priced insurance now available in 13 states, adding South Carolina.
May 30, 2022
This window decal, among other items distributed, was developed in close concert with the high-profile Truckers Against Trafficking nonprofit.
Life
How owner-operators navigate increasingly extreme weather
Extreme weather events across the country have picked up an alarming pace, and even as professional drivers adapt and learn to deal with harsher conditions on the road, sometimes disaster comes and finds them at home.
May 26, 2022
flooded road trucking
Life
Be on the lookout for cargo theft activity over holiday weekend
CargoNet expects an uptick in cargo thefts from the Thursday prior to Memorial Day to the Wednesday after. Also: Drivewyze adds cargo theft alerts from CargoNet parent company to Safety+ system; Landstar growth leads to Fortune 500 nod.
May 25, 2022
CargoNet Memorial Day graphic
Overdrive Extra
This could be the year: Recollections of Great Recession trucking side gigs, successes and failures
With recessionary fears rising, "Long Haul Paul" Marhoefer looks back to his early-'08 brush with a small farming operation -- with mixed results. Here, read the tale of his wife's bottle-calf-rearing success, and his own side gig's ultimate failure.
May 23, 2022
weeds where a garden once stood
Life
Traffic deaths reach 16-year high, NHTSA estimates
NHTSA estimates that 5,601 people died last year in accidents that involved a large truck.
May 17, 2022
semi rolled over on the highway
Regulations
Two more states join 'e-inspection' program | Shop manager gets prison for illegal tanker repairs
Drivewyze 'e-Inspection' automation pilot expands to inspection-heavy California, Nevada. Also: Shop manager for a carrier conducted welding repairs on hazardous material tankers without certs; PrePass available on more devices; latest Highway Angel.
May 11, 2022
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Overdrive Extra
How William 'Porkchop' Honey and his dump truck saved dozens
The latest in "Long Haul Paul" Marhoefer's "Faces of the Road" series chronicles what's now the stuff of blue-collar lore around Indianapolis -- operator Honey's act of heroism to cut off a high-speed chase headed straight for a late-night paving crew.
May 10, 2022
William Honey
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Top Stories
California doubles hay hauler's rolling into a parking lot
Custom Rigs
Love the smell of hay in the morning? Scenes from the A.J. Soza Memorial Truck Show
The show's second edition got under way at the fairgrounds in Merced, California. The Central Valley location stood in high relief at the early point in the day as these hay-hauling doubles you see rolled in, split by a livestock hauler.
Overdrive Small Fleet Champ belt
Small Fleet Champ
Small Fleet Champ, Round 1: Enter by June 30
Jacob Phillips 2016 389
Custom Rigs
Wedding getaway vehicle and more: Jacob Phillips' 2016 389 steel hauler
MACK truck with flatbed trailer passing in front of a sunoco gas station sign with regular gas price at $3.89 and diesel at $4.89
Channel 19
The fuel-discounts app aimed squarely at independents -- owner-ops and truck stops both
Koolatron 12-Volt Stainless Steel Super Kool Portable Fridge
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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 2022 edition of Partners in Business.
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