Trucking History

Veterans Day rewind: Mail-call memories from Vietnam

Retired owner-operator Doug Fetterly’s first job out of high school, in 1966, was with the Fourth Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

November 8, 2010

Doug Fetterly, pictured in 1967 stationed near Cambodia and reading one of among many copies of Overdrive his owner-operator father sent him from back home.

Roadmansion photo gallery, background from founder Mike Parkhurst

Some of Overdrive’s oldest readers might recall the Roadmansion hotel in Los Angeles. Retired driver Bill Nickel, 74, was one of them when this story originally aired in 2014. Founder Mike Parkhurst also recalled two years of operation in the late 60s.

July 16, 2014

Overdrive Roadmansion ...a new dimension in dignity spread from Overdrive magazine

Breaking Free: The history of the owner-operator in trucking

From fighting for freedom to haul in its early days to stressing smart business practices later, Overdrive has championed the owner-operator’s concerns. Here, a history of owner-op business, from 1960-2011, with a special request for you.

September 1, 2011

60 years ago this month, Overdrive's first issue

It was 1961, truckers' numbers on the nation's roads were growing, and Overdrive founder and editor Mike Parkhurst was busy establishing an irreverent sense of humor with a serious tone as the Voice of the American Trucker ... download issue 1 here.

September 21, 2021

overdrive september 1961 issue cover

Looking back on 9/11's lasting trucking legacy

This retrospective on trucking history post-9/11 comes on the occasion of the 20th anniversary. While impacts of that event are impossible to exhaustively chronicle, Overdrive found shifts in security protocols, driver camaraderie, freight, and more.

September 13, 2021

Dick McCorkle and Tim Philmon

Docmenting the 'Faces of the Road' with Long Haul Paul

Any retrospective on Overdrive's recent history would be incomplete without Paul Marhoefer's contributions to the magazine's multi-author "Overdrive Extra" blog with his "Faces of the Road" series of dynamic close-ups, delivering living history.

September 6, 2021

Paul Marhoefer (bottom right) channeled the story of Kay and Ken Wagner (bottom left) in late 2019 as part of the 'Faces' series. The Wagners didn't exactly divulge the secrets underlying their 45 years of team OTR work, yet their history spoke for itself. Read more in Overdrive's weekly 60th-annversary series of lookbacks on trucking history, and that of the magazine itself, via this link.

‘Eastbound and Down’ celebrates Bandit's ‘naughty’ antics in classic movie

For this final "Songs of the Highway" podcast installment, arguably the best-known and most-loved trucking movie, “Smokey and the Bandit,” takes center stage with its signature song by Jerry Reed, “Eastbound and Down.”

August 30, 2021

jackie and burt

Eye candy, business advice: Overdrive's top 25 custom-rigs vids

Marking Overdrive's sixth decade in existence, here's a compilation in one handy spot of the most-watched equipment-forward videos we've done since our Pride & Polish vid collection in 2015.

August 23, 2021

custom rig compilation

A year after his passing, ‘Midnight Cowboy’ Bill Mack lives on in readers’ memories

Though he never met Mack, reader Ralph Hudson surmised the radio legend might have been "my best friend." Other memories of the 'Midnight Cowboy' here, including former Overdrive editor Max Heine's remembrance at the time of his passing one year ago.

August 11, 2020

Songs of the Highway: Kay Adams' 'Little Pink Mack'

One of the first – if not 'the' very first – entertainers to use music to highlight the influx of female drivers into trucking was Kay Adams, with “Little Pink Mack.” Released in 1966, the song celebrated a can-do toughness and spirit.

August 9, 2021

Pink Mack truck

1982 Peterbilt 359, W. Tim Miller's grain-to-market hauler, an emblem of owner-op history

Tim Miller's previous 1969 359 was featured in a 1990s edition of Overdrive prompted by the appreciation of his then-teenage daughter for her father's dedication to the family business. Miller's an emblem of owner-operator history from the farms.

August 3, 2021

1982 peterbilt 359

Did Joe Biden drive a truck or didn't he?

Whatever the case, he did take a ride with an independent trucker in 1973, evidenced in this lookback. Trucking could use a little more of what Biden seems to have had back at that time, an empathy for the realities of the independent trucking business.

September 10, 2012

What came before the CDL? 18 years old and hauling in 1917

This special edition of Overdrive Radio re-airs a talk with Jay Thompson, looking back on his family's history in trucking, all the way back to his grandfather Walter, 18 years old and trucking with a chauffeur's license in 1917.

July 27, 2021

walter thompson

Overdrive founder Mike Parkhurst 'wasn't afraid of nothing'

Owner-op Donald Ridzon’s memories of Overdrive founder Mike Parkhurst haven’t dimmed: “He was always willing to dive into something that was different. He never backed out of it." Here find more memories of Parkhurst approaching 7 years since his passing.

July 19, 2021

truck drivers in front of a semi-truck holding signs with the text shutdown #2 january 31 until as long as it takes on them

Updating the top 10 trucking songs of all time

Ten years ago, we asked, you told, then voted. Here are those results. Likewise a call to action: What song would you nominate, either on this list or not, for the No. 1 trucking song of all time today? Drop us a comment toward an updated top 10 for 2021!

August 4, 2011

‘Hello, I’m a Truck,’ and I’ve got a few bones to pick with you, drivers

Red Simpson’s “Hello, I’m a truck” hit No. 4 on the country charts in January 1972, making it the biggest hit single in Simpson’s long career. This latest "Songs of the Highway" installment channels that history, from the point of view of the truck.

July 4, 2021

'Hello, I'm a Truck' graphic

Resurrecting the Rubber Duck's classic 1970 Mack RS700

This video showcases small fleet owner Anthony Fox of Rome, Ga., proud owner and caretaker of a piece of history that is one of the original 1970 Macks/60s trailer from the classic “Convoy” trucking film of the 1970s, released today 43 years ago.

November 16, 2017

Little-known movie showcased Overdrive founder’s Hollywood, Nashville forays

Go way back in Overdrive’s 60-year history and you’ll find more than a little dabbling in the bright lights of Hollywood and the country music scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s. At the heart of that is this little-known movie produced by founder Mike Parkhurst.

June 21, 2021

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Youtube

ELD mandate and rising crash rates -- cause or just correlation?

The question of cause and effect around the ELD mandate is certainly a conversation starter for owner-operators. Attendant to Matt Cole’s recent ELDs/safety reporting, these multiple voices offering perspective where the rubber meets the road.

Purple underglow lights

Custom champs: 'Eighth house truck' for Rick and Terry Henderson

Dry van parked

FMCSA's Women of Trucking Advisory Board has a lot to offer men

Marvin Graves' 1963 Mack B61 front view

Custom champs: Classic Mack B61 helping revive longtime trucker ministry

Howes Diesel Defender

Howes Diesel Defender

ELD mandate and rising crash rates -- cause or just correlation?

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 2022 edition of Partners in Business.

Partners in Business Issue Cover