Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/376180
Voices 8 | Overdrive | September 2014 Enter any truck stop that has a Counter of Knowl- edge, sit down close enough (but not so close as to be expected to participate in the conversation), and listen. You will be amazed and, quite possibly, revolted enough to forgo your ba- con-and-egg entree. I can't help but be riveted when I hear someone say things like killed him instantly. I will suddenly develop bat- sonar-laser-beam hearing to listen to the rest of the conversation. I should mind my own business, because I mostly just end up being horrified by whatever it was that "killed him instantly." I'm also pretty sure I've been viewed as "the weird chick listening to our conversa- tion" in more than one case. After I came out on the road, it took me a few months to realize about 85 percent of what you hear in truck stops is complete crap. I will never forget sitting in the Denny's outside of Am- arillo. George had gotten up to wash his hands, so I was listening to a guy telling his trainee about the horrors of trucking. "That fan can kill you – don't ever open it while it's running. It shears off, you're in trouble. I heard of a guy once, fan sheared off and killed him and the guy standing beside him." What? Where is there a fan this powerful? Ohmy- gosh, I should probably know this. I can't turn around and ask, because I'm eavesdropping like some weird chick in a Denny's. George returns. "What's up, babe?" "There's a fan that can kill you and the guy standing beside you! You shouldn't open whatever it's in while it's running. Where is this fan? You don't open it when it's running, do you?" (This is furiously whispered, because, eavesdropping …) "Uh, I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about. Who told you about the killer fan?" (More furious, not-weird- at-all whispering, pointing.) "That guy's a trainer. He was telling his trainee about a fan that can shear off and kill two people." This state- ment caused him to laugh uncontrollably for some reason. "Babe, you gotta stop listening to anything you hear in truck stops." This was confusing to me, but I was still wor- ried about the man-killing fan, so we left it at that. Today, I hear through the B.S. meter, but it doesn't make what I hear any less entertaining. Long live the Counter of Knowledge! 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. Tall tales at Counter of Knowledge Birds of a feather truck together New and notable followers of @OverdriveUpdate on Twitter: Big Boy Trucking LLC, a self-described "family-owned" North Carolina-head- quartered business, shares traffic incident updates for its owner-operators as well as other news, views and tips via @bigboytrucknc. It's aimed to help "#OwnerOperators succeed on their #RoadToSuccess," runs the tagline: "Now ... #LETSGETIT." @truckersnews_dh is the Twitter handle of David Hollis, the New York State- based editor of Overdrive sister company Truckers News, newly reminted as driv- er-focused website truckersnews.com and its daily newsletter. Hollis shares news and pictures from his reporting, including a recent trip to a gathering of vintage Brockway owners. "Lady truck driver" Jennifer Cruthis, with the @nytecaptive handle, hopes to "change the image of truck drivers" through this window into her day-to- day hauling oversize and/or specialized freight. She also aggregates her pre- ferred news via the paper.li service. Join all of us via twitter.com/OverdriveUpdate. Loose cannon: The Counter of Knowledge is a real wealth of information: "Ran team with Moses, taught 'im everything ..." buh-huh. "Truckin' fer a hunert years, never shut down for weather or chained up once ..." a-yup-a-yup. But that fan thing? Totally true; killed me instantly. Localnet: The "Counter of Knowl- edge" – I'll remember that one! So fitting, too, the reason I always head to the back of the restaurant.