In this week's Overdrive Radio, part 2 of our series honoring our Trucker of the Year, John Penn, for the big win for 2025. (Part 1, ICYMI, via this link offers Penn's tributes to early-career mentors and others who've been foundational for his success.)
Penn here details his approach to maintenance with an experiment he's conducted to extend oil drain intervals beyond the manufacturer-recommended 75,000 miles for his 2019 Freightliner Cascadia.
Also: You'll hear about Penn's close attention to customer opportunity, and keys to prevention when it comes to the maintenance issues with the emissions system in the Cascadia -- no "deleted" emissions here. He’s running with all the sensors and the diesel particular filter, the diesel exhaust fluid dosing, and the rest, hitting big fuel-efficiency numbers (as detailedin the last episode featuring him).
Above 10 mpg for a lifetime average is certainly nothing to sniff at, but has he been plagued with sensor failures and other problems common to emissions-equipped diesels? The answer is not really, though he’s had some minor issues for certain.
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[Related: How owners extend oil drains: Limiting idle time is paramount]
Penn, despite his late-model equipment, might well qualify among the oldest of the old-school in that regard. As he put it about his own idling practice:
"This piece of machinery is feeding us and keeping a roof over our head," Penn noted, "so I want to treat it the best I can. I will not idle, ever. I don't care how hot it is."
That's right, even in Texas in mid-summer, where he finds himself often enough at the end of one or another of his LTL furniture runs. "I don't have an APU or anything," he added, but he does utilize a fan and his truck's window screens.
He’s comfortable with the tradeoff.
"I'd rather put my truck's health in front of my comfort," he said, laughing.
He does run with a fuel-fired heater for those dangerously cold temps, but it’s safe to say Trucker of the Year John Penn is one tough customer when it comes to downtime OTR.
[Related: Keep an open mind -- eyes and ears, too -- for new customer opportunities]
In the podcast, dive into new opportunities he’s set himself up for with diligent, always-on customer service and networking. "You never know when an opportunity is going to pop up," he said, about potential new direct freight opportunities he details:
Also in the podcast, some news about the great strides he's made simply by paying his growing experience forward to peers. There's good possibility of a bit of expansion for his one-truck JP Transport business as soon as this quarter, with addition of a leased owner he's really bonded with over their back-and-forth sounding board conversations about maintenance, trucking information, knowledge, advice.
The like-minded pair may soon make for a great two-truck hauling team in JP Transport.
Keep tuned for more from Penn in the coming weeks, likewise ways you might meet him at the Mid-America Trucking Show in March. Enter your own or another owner-operator business you admire to compete in 2026 via this link.
Find Penn's JP Transport Youtube channel via this link.
Overdrive's 2026 Trucker of the Year competition recognizes business acumen and unique or time-honored recipes for success among owner-operators. Nominations are open for exceptional owners, whether leased or independent (up to three trucks). Enter your own or another owner-operator business you admire via the links.
