Tag: overdrive: Page 21

Channel 19

British TV show features female hauliers…

The new Mother Truckers TV show on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom pitches in its intro a looming takeover of the industry there by drivers of the female sex — as one reviewer put it, however, that only works if 2 percent of drivers being women qualifies as looming takeover. Nonetheless, the fact that […]

February 22, 2012

Channel 19

Power of good roads?: Indian truckers’ savvy in the sleeper

News flash: According to IBN, a broadcasting network in India, that nation’s drivers have helped stemmed the tide of HIV and AIDS in the country after a process that is making a dent in old stereotypes about long-haul drivers there. “Truckers are savvy about safe sex,” screams the headline of a story posted to IBN’s […]

February 21, 2012

Channel 19

VID: Cracking Evel’s safe with Robb Mariani, Brad Wike

And, most importantly, small fleet owner Wike’s lead mechanic Frank Phipps (pictured), who did the vast majority of the heavy lifting with a blow torch and drill, Wike himself with the plasma cutter, at Wike’s place of business in Lincolnton, N.C., on Saturday. As with many such endeavors, the process of it all was much […]

February 20, 2012

Business

Million Point Giveaway contestants announced

Joe Holler, of Des Moines, Iowa, with 250,000 points is the grand prize winner of the Uni-Maxx Maxxcare Million Point Giveaway, Goodyear Truck Tires announced. There were 900,000 total winning points. The promotion was offered from June 13 to Dec. 31, 2011, with the top points-earner being named the grand prize winner. Maxxcare is […]

February 19, 2012

Channel 19

Safe-cracking time: The Evel Knievel haul rig restore-in-progress

If all goes well, says American Trucker host Robb Mariani, tomorrow he, North Carolina-based Brad Wike and the rig’s owner will at least attempt to crack a gallon-size safe found under a cabinet in the floor of the Evel Knievel haul rig Mariani located and featured on his show last year (check out the “Finding […]

February 17, 2012

Business

Country music star to promote Pilot Flying J

Country music star Trace Adkins is promoting Pilot Flying J’s frequent user cards this spring, the travel center franchise announced. “Trace relates to the hardworking, American professional driver,” Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam said. “He’s been called the hardest working man in country music.” In the 15 years since his platinum debut, Adkins has […]

February 17, 2012

Business

Web tool provides cross-references

New web-based lookup tool collects data on original equipment makers and independent manufacturers for more than 30 product lines. Customers can search for parts by entering the Alliance Truck Parts number or by a competing supplier’s part number. After a parts number is entered, the site directs the customer to the suggested part and information […]

February 17, 2012

Channel 19

Visiting with Evel Knievel in N.C.

This morning I’m headed out to Brad Wike’s “Brad’s Classic Trucks” shop and home of his BPW Transport company, both of which have gotten the feature treatment on the Speed Channel’s American Trucker show, hosted by Robb Mariani. Mariani helped engineer part of the reason I’m headed to Wike’s shop: Wike’s doing a partial restoration […]

February 17, 2012

Channel 19

Alert network for missing drivers formed

Any time a driver goes missing out on the road it’s a nightmare for back-office personnel, friends and, of course, the family back home. A recent case spawned a Facebook group dedicated to resolving disappearances more quickly through the crowd-sourcing that online social networks have made easy. The Missing Truck Driver Alert Network was […]

February 16, 2012

Channel 19

Virtues of owner-operator status: Pet boarding problems avoided

Company drivers, be careful who you leave your dog with. Today’s “grizzly tale” comes by way of Jenni Reynolds-Kebler, one half of a Washington State-based team with Robert Kebler and past-featured photographer in Truckers News. The Keblers recently switched carriers, signing on as company drivers with a carrier that had a no-pet policy. Too bad […]

February 15, 2012

Channel 19

A ride with SuperCross transporter driver Loren Lowry

When Loren Lowry got his CDL in 1990 to take work hauling for Washington, D.C.-area beer distributors, he couldn’t have predicted his ultimate destiny in trucking lay on the long-haul highway. What could have been more predictable, however, was that that long-haul work would be of a piece with one of the now 46-year-old’s passions […]

February 13, 2012

Channel 19

World’s Toughest Trucker — premiering on Discovery Monday

Since I wrote briefly last Friday about this TV show, one in a long line of trucking shows to have debuted over the last year, I’ve garnered a little more info. Not least among it is the fact that Overdrive‘s own new blogging owner-operator, Landstar expediter Phil Madsen, was himself approached last year by the […]

February 10, 2012