Paul Marhoefer's "Odious Death of the Cracker King," from "Raw Cuts" record of acoustic folks, tells the story of a fictional character in the title, which Marhoefer describes as something of a composite of two men he'd known long ago, the "sons of outlaw bull haulers" both, plus a little of that mythic dirge treatment Marhoefer's a master of.
A wide-ranging talk with owner-operator Gary Buchs on emotion around the ELD mandate and need for greater calculation in future business decisions, among a variety of others subjects related to freight, pricing and cost reduction. “We want to get emotional and say, you know, truck driving died on Dec. 18," he says, "but you know what, it didn’t die, it just changed, and with every change there’s opportunity. We in this industry that do this job –- we’ve tended to pride ourselves on working more ...
Voices from the December 4 anti-ELD mandate rallies held across the country as well as from the Overdrive Radio podcast message line as the temperature continues to be raised by many in the trucking community against the electronic logging device mandate. If nothing changes, enforcement of the requirement for most interstate truckers to use ELDs will begin Dec. 18.
Overdrive Equipment Editor Jason Cannon, speaking with KC Phillips on the “Road Dog Live” program, discussed the Tesla Semi electric truck recently, including responding to numerous owner-operators' call-in questions about the big recent Semi reveal in California, which Cannnon attended.
This talk with Bill Frerichs of Frerichs Freight Lines touches on issues that will no doubt arise with wide use of ELDs industrywide, likewise Frerichs own beginning implementation of the Telogis ELD platform in his nine-truck dry van operation. Bonus: A key difference between AOBRDs, ELDs' regulatory predecessors, and the new devices -- administrator/back-office edits of drivers' logs are not required to display at roadside with AOBRDs, though such devices still must preserve the original log, ...
As a trade-off for the ultimate hassle of mandated e-logs, owner-operator and Rates & Lanes podcast host Rico Muhammad's hopeful owner-operators can both individually and collectively use the change as a cudgel to their advantage when dealing with brokers, shippers, receivers ... anyone in the supply chain who would insist on wasting drivers' time. He doesn't have his head in the sand to the challenge of that actually happening, however, nor in the clouds with predictions on where rates migh...
Among perhaps the biggest ripple effects from the ELD mandate protests could be, some truckers believe, a new appreciation for the cultural diversity within the owner-operator community. That's something that both Scott Reed, part organizer among the different groups that came together in D.C., and owner-operator Mike Landis, who participated, certainly agree on. In this Overdrive Radio podcast, you'll hear Reed's reflection on outcomes and next steps, and Landis offers his narration of what it ...
As ripple effects continue to emanate from some sense of camaraderie among many anti-ELD-mandate partisans -- a result of protest efforts around the country a week or two back -- this Overdrive Radio podcast runs through some of the various conversations had during Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills' few days in D.C. as the efforts there got under way. The podcast rounds out with more messages on the podcast line taken over the course of the protest week as many shut down.
Rounding up sounds and some news from the grassroots influence campaign on lawmakers/protest against the ELD mandate in Washington, D.C. An interview after Day One with Tony Justice, and a bevy of responses on Overdrive Radio's podcast call-in line from around the country, among other news. A small group of demonstrators, meanwhile, as the podcast was wrapping up, were meeting with FMCSA officials at DOT headquarters.
It’s been quite a while since the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had an administrator appointed to head it up, but this week, the news was that Ray Martinez had been tapped for the role. Career bureaucrat Martinez, currently serving at the head of New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission, should focus, say Overdrive readers, on a bevy of hours of service-related issues, in addition to other concerns voiced in this mailbag edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, compiled from responses ...
in this week’s edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, we’re taking a run through the mailbag following last week’s conversations with organizers of two ELD mandate protest actions set to take place in Washington, D.C., beginning Oct. 3.
Two unaffiliated groups -- Tony Justice and company's ELD or Me, and the Texas-headquartered Operation Black and Blue -- share details for ELD mandate protests coalescing around a beginning date of October 3. Owner-operator Erick Engbarth, not involved in either effort, distills his anti-ELD rationale. Will you participate in protest efforts 10/3 through the rest of that week? Tell Overdrive why or why not via: 530-408-6423. With any message, let us know your name and base location.
In this special edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills walks you back to the 2017 Trucker Talent Search event at the Great American Trucking Show, for a run through the series of performances, from Bill Weaver introductory tune through competitors Michael Lochmiller, Terrance "Jake Brake Junkie" Mathis, and Richard Woods. Finally, host Tony Justice played two tracks from his "Stars, Stripes and White Lines" record, out earlier this summer.
Flippin, Ark.-based Bill Weaver opened the 2017 Trucker Talent Search with this classic from his "Every Mile I Drive" record.
Las Vegas-based Michael Lochmiller's Trucker Talent Search competition performance at the Great American Trucking Show. "Hitch your wagon" is a Lochmiller original.
Jake Brake Junkie Terrance Mathis performs a parody of Jerry Reed's "She got the goldmine" as part of the Trucker Talent Search competition at the Great American Trucking Show.
Owner-operator Richard Woods' winning original, a tune written for his grandfather, in the 2017 Trucker Talent Search at the Great American Trucking Show.
Trucker singer-songwriter Tony Justice, host of the 2017 Trucker Talent Search competition at GAT, did a pro turn as judges tabulated the results and delivered beautiful renditions of two songs from his "Stars, Stripes and White Lines" record, including the title track and "Live, Laugh, Love and Dance," written with his wife, Misty.
Owner-operator Bill Ater, based in Fort Worth, had his "feet in the starting blocks, hands on the floor" and was "waiting on the starting shot" when Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills talked with him August 29, staged in South Texas for relief shuttles associated with Hurricane Harvey. "Welcome to my world when I’m working FEMA," he said. Ater's worked 14 or 15 hurricane relief efforts over the years, he says, all of which offer a chance he says he appreciates as much or more for the human conne...
After an introduction by trucker/singer-songwriter Michael Lochmiller, listen in on Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills' discussion of roadside enforcement of the ELD mandate set to go into effect in December -- with Sergeant Dana Moore of the Texas DPS, who urged officers to 'punt' to administrative review in questionable situations and get the driver on his way. Todd Amen of ATBS, further, delivers news about economic conditions broadly for trucking, a bit of good news in recent months as load-...
Finally in our Overdrive Radio podcast round featuring interviews with this year’s Overdrive/Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search contestants, this one features Michael Lochmiller, with a rendition of a classic from Merle Haggard in "Honky Tonk Nighttime Man." Lochmiller hauls for System Transport out of a home base in Las Vegas, and following (or above) hear Red Eye Radio’s Eric Harley talk music, trucking and life with the driver.
Owner-operator Richard Woods earned his spot in this year's Overdrive/Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search with a cover of the famous John Denver tune, "Country Road." He's one of three finalists in the talent search, coming to a close with a final winner Friday, August 25, at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. Woods is an owner-operator hauling rail containers, largely, and lives in Hickory Flat, Mississippi. Following (and above), hear a little from his music, and Red Eye Radio’s Eric ...
This edition of Overdrive Radio spotlights one of our three Overdrive/Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search finalists, set battle it out Friday, August 25, at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. Red Eye Radio's Eric Harley talks here with Rockford, Illinois, resident and Kloeckner metals driver Terrance Mathis. Mathis is the man responsible for the great Johnny Paycheck parody you'll hear a little of here, which earned his spot in the talent search.
Independent owner-operator and longtime flatbedder Tim Klaus re-entered trucking early in the last decade and soon enough found himself at the center of the natural gas drilling boom, hauling frac sand. It dried up earlier for him than many owner-ops, but since then he's made several moves in his pick of freight, trailer spec and more to build a core of direct customers that keeps his brokered loads down to just several annually. The Missouri-based owner-op runs through those details, and some o...
Owner-operator Randy Carlson, with a 2001 Freightliner Classic powered by an older B model Caterpillar, got his start in trucking when his dad trucked, then mechanicking after attending trade school, providing a solid base from which to forget an owner-operator business. He's been at it since at least 1993, first with a mid-1980s KW T600 he came to own in quite an interesting way. In this edition of Overdrive Radio, hear more about his calculations around the ELD mandate, and plenty of insights ...
Blue Ridge Transport step deck hauler Joey Slaughter presented at Expedite Expo about the bevy of smartphone apps he uses in his business, antidote to the situation suggested by his presentation's lead image -- a lone rig on a highway sits under an illuminated road sign alerting icy winter conditions ahead.without much more than that a driver is flying blind into the unknown. Today, though, you’ve got access to real-time radar, to real-time traffic, to information on dock locations and procedure...
Expediter Greg Huggins three years ago made the transition to the need-it-now/high-touch freight niche after two decades and more hauling as an owner-operator with a moving van, also in a straight truck. The transition entailed more than you might think, somewhat akin to a driver who’s relied on a dispatcher for his entire career going out and getting his own authority and navigating the fragmented world of freight brokers and shippers on his own. Also in this podcast, a brief talk with expedite...
A culture of maximum profit, whatever the cost in toil or honesty be damned, clearly infects some corners of the trucking industry, to the detriment, too often, of those doing the work of hauling the freight. That's the message of independent owner-operator James Woods, who spoke for this edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast on subjects of transactional transparency, fair dealing and more that are sorely needed in some quarters. A culture of dishonesty is alive and well, Woods says, and needs ...
This talk with Mark and Mitch White of 25-truck fleet Old Time Express ranges over the company's transition to electronic logs a few years back now, made in part to help get it out of a Conditional rating purgatory. It hasn’t all been without its bumps in the road, as you’ll hear in the conversation. But with focus on improving rates with customers, expanding the use of pre-loaded trailers on either end of drivers’ round trips where possible, and the close attention to collecting detention and a...
In this edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast, take an audio tour with Everhart Transportation driver and songwriter Tony Justice and his wife, Misty (cowriter on one track), through his new Stars, Stripes and White Lines record, out June 30 officially. Here the two talk with Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills about several of the stories behind the tracks on the record, likewise the “ELD or me” Facebook group the driver-songwriter started a month or two back to coalesce driver opposition to th...
