Previously in the ‘Over the road’ podcast series: Channel One-Nine Special -- Music
In episode 4 of Over the Road, host “Long Haul Paul” Marhoefer and producer Ian Coss visit three independent truck stops within 40 miles of each other on I-75 in Kentucky, including the 76 Fuel Center and diner (pictured).The fourth installment of the eight-episode Over the Road podcast series, a collaboration between Overdrive and PRX’s Radiotopia, is live today. It’s after the answer to what seems like a simple question: Who’s got the best “nanner nanner nanner pudding,” as it’s advertised over the CB, on I-75 in Eastern Kentucky? Each of the independent truck stops profiled in this funny, moving southbound caper of an episode – the 76 Fuel Center, the Derby City South Truck Plaza (exit 62) and the 49er Fuel Center – claim to be the first to have advertised it decades ago.
In the quest for an answer, the intersection of the personal and professional lives of staff and management at these trucker refuges stands in clear relief, especially in an extended visit with Genevieve Slusher, a songwriter and waitress at the 49er, and her husband, Dewey. Driver camaraderie, still offered at the best of diners, illustrates how any truck stop truly can be a trucker’s home away from home.
For Episode 4, Paul Marhoefer, right, and producer Ian Coss talked with Derby City South Truck Plaza owner Evelyn Mitchell about her decades’ worth of history with building, owning and running the independent stop.Next up on Over the Road: Channel One-Nine Special -- Mechanics
