Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/358493
Voices 10 | Overdrive | August 2014 Imagine you're sleeping in a delight- fully cool truck. It's nice and dark be- cause the curtains are all closed. You're dreaming of biting into the crispy, light crust of your momma's fried chicken and anticipating the delicious pop of the golden skin – when this happens: "WHY IS MY TRAILER SO DIRTY? THAT STUPID DIS- PATCHER! THIS THING IS HEAVY AS HELL!!!" "WE'VE GOT THREE HOURS, I'M NOT ABOUT TO RUN OUT THERE RIGHT NOW!!" "WHY THE HECK ARE THEY TRYING TO SEND ME THERE WHEN I NEED A RESET?" Immediate fury is no way to be awoken. Here's a tip that I'm sure most of you know, though apparently some don't. When you're in a truck stop and there is a truck with the curtains closed (and it's 6:30 in the morning), you do not stand beside it and yell to your buddy, who is parked on the other side of it. Especially if said truck contains a cranky woman who really enjoys dreams about her momma's fried chicken. I yanked the curtains open. "What... the... HELL is your problem!? Did you not see the closed curtains? Was it the daylight that confused you?" Blank stare. "Where are you from?" "Nebraska." "Well here's a tip, buddy, you can yell as loud as you want, and they still can't hear you in Nebraska. So shut it and pick up the phone if you feel the need to gripe. There are people trying to sleep here." This is where I slam the curtains and wish they made the same sound as a huge door slamming. "I guess you woke her up," com- ments another driver. Pure genius. This is where I make my mind up to write a story about how a guy stands beside a truck with the curtains closed, yelling, and his head explodes. It makes me feel better, and I decide to let him live anoth- er day. I drift back off to sleep, but the fried-chicken dreams have been replaced by truckers from Nebraska screaming at each other while I'm trapped in the cab and can't scream back at them. Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her owner-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline.com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. Hey, loudmouths! Zip it! Gordon Alkire: "Back in the day, it was an unwritten rule. Reefers to the rear in party row for extended parking, flatbeds back there too if loaded and spending the night. We left the front row for those drivers that were just stopping in and then leaving right out again. Never heard of the pee jug then, either. It was a whole different life then in trucking." Ralph: "I'm very fortunate. I'm short-haul, so I'm home every night. But it makes sense to me that there should be a special section for reefers and other loud trucks at truck stops. A 'loud zone.' " Birds of a feather truck together New and notable followers of @OverdriveUpdate on Twitter. Ontario-based @formertrucker18 Jeff Wilken, now back on the road, responded to Overdrive blogger Wendy Parker's tale of a hair-pulling series of drops on a multi-stop load. He shared a bit of hard-earned wisdom in favor of such hauls, characteristic of his feed: "You make your own luck. Every drop is more revenue without turning a wheel, which is good. Beats driving your a** off." @BrookedTaylor is the handle of Brooke Taylor, sharing humor and views relative to trucking, musical "flashback faves" and more from a home base in Nova Scotia. Taylor makes claim to tastes in "large cars with bling, a positive attitude, fine whiskey, tinkering, music, sports and a good time." Keep on truckin'… @OsborneTrucking shares industry news with an emphasis on equipment- and driver-related items for followers of the self-described "family owned and operated" Cincinnati-area dry van fleet. No small emphasis on history, here, too. Recent updates included pictures of an electric car charging (in 1905), a series on the R model Mack and more. Safety isn't a buzzword only in North America. The @iamsafetypoet Twitter account shares witticisms and wisdom from South Africa – the difference be- tween the two often blurred, as in this July tweet: "I got 99 problems, driving safe ain't one!" Closed curtains are supposed to send a message.