Making the most of an Alaska plate

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Updated Mar 11, 2018
Owner-operator Jerry Boyd in his 2016 International ProStarOwner-operator Jerry Boyd in his 2016 International ProStar

I spent a little time with Spencer, Tenn.-based owner-operator Jerry Boyd, leased to Bennett Motor Express now for 20 years, on Wednesday this week. He’d taken his 2016 International ProStar (Cummins-powered) in for service at Landmark International in Cookeville, Tenn, and was also working through some of the details of a new truck order he’s planning with sales rep Corey Price there (more on that in the April issue, though he’s angling to make it his final truck, to finish out five more years of trucking as an owner-operator under warranty).

Boyd (left and Corey Price working with the International truck configurator program on Price’s laptop to assess interior options in the new International LT tractor Boyd’s spec’ing.Boyd (left and Corey Price working with the International truck configurator program on Price’s laptop to assess interior options in the new International LT tractor Boyd’s spec’ing.

Boyd’s 2016 ProStar had something on its front that you don’t see very often in middle Tennessee.

Gotta love the standing bear on the Alaska license plate — Boyd says the plate’s good through June, the month when, last year, he made a run from Washington to Fairbanks and back with a number of other drivers, one of the more memorable hauls he’s been on through the years, complete with, well, bears and plenty fellowship along the way at the roadside.Gotta love the standing bear on the Alaska license plate — Boyd says the plate’s good through June, the month when, last year, he made a run from Washington to Fairbanks and back with a number of other drivers, one of the more memorable hauls he’s been on through the years, complete with, well, bears and plenty fellowship along the way at the roadside.

The necessity of the Alaska plate comes by way of the fact that Alaska is not part of the IRP apportioning program. The good news is, Boyd may well get an opportunity to make the most of the investment with a return trip north later in the year. Here’s hoping it happens, Jerry!

A few more shots from the morning out at Landmark follow.

Corey Price (left) sold Boyd his current truck several years back now.Corey Price (left) sold Boyd his current truck several years back now. Boyd says he was among owner-operators who didn’t want anything to do with post-2007 emissions systems (he traded his near-2-million-mile 2000 model International for this truck at the time). This one, he says, however, has been trouble-free by and large.Boyd says he was among owner-operators who didn’t want anything to do with post-2007 emissions systems (he traded his near-2-million-mile 2000 model International for this truck at the time). This one, he says, however, has been trouble-free by and large. Jerry Boyd is the proud grandfather of two, his daughter’s son and daughter Boyd and Hanna, here honored on the sleeper window with these Tennessee Vols helmets.Jerry Boyd is the proud grandfather of two, his daughter’s son and daughter Boyd and Hanna, here honored on the sleeper window with these Tennessee Vols helmets.