Overdrive Extra

Overdrive Extra

Dealing with diesel aftertreatment demons

Let’s talk about emissions maintenance – the demons howl at you in the form of warning lights on the dash or, worse, a repair bill you weren’t expecting well into the four figures and, sometimes, five figures. Here's how to tame them.

March 1, 2021

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.

Trucking History

First hit trucker song in history channeled road woes

Louisianan Ted Daffan visited honky-tonks frequented by truck drivers to help write his 1939 hit "Truck Driver's Blues." Find more about what's believed to be the first national hit of a trucking song in this Songs of the Highway special-edition podcast.

March 1, 2021

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.

Overdrive Extra

Is burnout stoking in your workday? Here's how to fight it

It could manifest in added responsibilities you find yourself no longer able to keep up with, much less enjoy. Clifford Petersen here details the signs, how drivers' work can compound the issues, and how to get out of them with your sanity intact.

February 16, 2021

Highway Hay Trucks

Trucking History

1970s documentary gives intimate look at truckers' lives

A nationwide tour opened doors of truckers' homes for documentary filmmakers to get an intimate look at the business and family lives of owner-operators in the pre-deregulation era.

February 15, 2021

The late Jobie Vaden, known as the Arkansas Motormouth, was featured in “On the Boulevard.”

Overdrive Extra

Video captures spirit of 1970s trucking at convention

A brief video from a 1974 truck show in San Francisco features interviews with exhibitors and attendees, including comments about Overdrive and a trucking shutdown.

February 8, 2021

Years after attending the trucking convention, the Optic Nerve crew hit the road to gather material for a trucking documentary.

Overdrive Extra

How to navigate 'frost laws' in northern states

Gary Buchs on how to handle tiny jurisdictions' seasonal weight restrictions in more northern states. Do your research, don't trust your GPS and question everything -- before you end up in front of a judge.

February 2, 2021

Get caught unawares about winter weight restrictions along county and township roads in the more northern states, and the penalty could be a huge fine.

Overdrive Extra

Truckers struggle with their lingering COVID symptoms

The health issues these truckers continue to experience are common for COVID patients, such as dry cough, fatigue and headaches.

January 21, 2021

Jimmy Valdez Horiz

Overdrive Extra

Processing an insurrection, with the Colonel

Long Haul Paul on the U.S. Capitol riot, and the messy questions it raises ... "How much time do we devote to the fussy comradeships of peripheral people we encounter online? And how much time does that rob from those we care about the most? ..."

January 19, 2021

Truck On Side Of Road Mechanical Breakdown

Overdrive Radio

Fatal wreck remembered in first recorded trucking song

No. 1 in Overdrive Radio's new 'Songs of the Highway' podcast series looks at a 1928 song believed to be the first recorded trucking tune.

January 18, 2021

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

Overdrive Extra

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

A teacher's trucker cap provides inspiration for her to borrow trucking's "long-hauler" designation for COVID-19 survivors who discover they're facing an indefinite period of further suffering.

January 14, 2021

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.”

Overdrive Extra

Building personal payroll -- a step toward tax savings, better finances

More deliberate financial choices engendered by creating a personal payroll can act as subtle self-nudges that lead owners to managing money better overall, controlling discretionary personal spending and placing roadblocks in the way of unwise habits.

January 13, 2021

Dealing with personal pay has always been something of an elephant in the room for small business owners, who find ways to avoid dealing with it. How often have you had an experienced owner who tells you to pay yourself first? Too often, we don’t listen, rationalizing that hard driving and more miles, maybe the higher gross posted each week in our settlements, will make up income shortages that may occur.

Overdrive Extra

As some of its operators called it quits, 9-truck Hettinger persevered through 2020’s bad rates and new regs

Poor rates, health concerns and the new Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse drove away Hettinger's operators in 2020, but the fleet pushed through.

January 7, 2021

Mary Bohl, front, with two Hettinger dispatchers in front of the companys sign in Missouri.

Overdrive Extra

Buckle up for a year of trucking time-travel

Throughout this year, Overdrive will take a look back at early trucking to celebrate its 60 years of being "The Voice of the American Trucker."

January 4, 2021

This scene is from “Singing Wheels,” a trucking promotional film produced by the Motor Truck Committee of the Automobile Manufacturers Association to highlight the industry’s contribution to the national economy.

Overdrive Extra

Cost increases are coming — your rates need to reflect that sooner than later

Take advice from a veteran owner-operator and begin adjusting your own cost basis and rates now, rather than waiting until increases have long taken place.

December 21, 2020

Owner-operator Robert Boyle and his 2007 Peterbilt 387

Overdrive Extra

2020 through the rearview: From hours reforms to rates chaos and stories from the road, unwinding a tumultuous 12 months

HOS reforms. How COVID changed drivers' day to day. Managing money amid the chaos. Stories of truckers weathering the storm. Rights on the road. Custom trucks.

December 30, 2020

yir composite 2020-2020-12-30-16-02

Overdrive Extra

Stop the presses! It’s a new phase for Overdrive

The December issue is our last print edition for Overdrive, but our website and email newsletters will continue to give you the news you need. Read more here.

December 18, 2020

Overdrives-on-display-2-2018-02-28-10-13

Overdrive Extra

Making the case for renewed trucking pride

After a tough year, owner-operator Clifford Petersen opens up about his renewed sense of trucking pride and his glass-half-full outlook for 2021.

December 9, 2020

No matter your hauling niche, use that windshield time wisely to reflect on the chaotic last year with resolve to build your future.

Overdrive Extra

Calling out ‘dysfunctional’ trucking regs, OOIDA’s Spencer asks Biden to slot him as FMCSA boss

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association announced that Todd Spencer has reached out to Biden to express interest in FMCSA administration position.

December 1, 2020

Todd Spencer, president and CEO of OOIDA, speaking at an FMCSA listening session at the Mid-America Trucking Show in 2003.

Page 1 of 55

The toughest 15 states for lights violations, one of the 2021 Roadcheck emphases

Here are the top 15 states when it comes to a propensity to issue lights-related violations. And data also point to both 2021 Roadcheck enforcement-emphasis areas in Georgia, Vermont and Nevada.

Anthony Townley Jr. recalls his father (pictured) taking advantage of trucking’s travel opportunities and often saying, “This country’s so big and beautiful.”

Trucker showed how to 'enjoy the ride'

The team on the build.

Dustbusters' 1980 Kenworth W900A tractor custom-restored with a roll-back body

Canadian Eld Mandate 2

Canada pumps the brakes on ELD deadline

Garmin dēzl™ OTR1000 10" GPS Truck Navigator

Garmin dēzl™ OTR1000 10" GPS Truck Navigator

OTR podcast rewind -- 'Our Punjabi brothers'

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