Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/71813
roadside attractions CHANNEL 19 This photo of a 28-year veteran truck driver was published with a medical study about extended exposure to the sun. A PLACE IN THE SUN The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a study on "unilateral dermatoheliosis," illustrated by the pronounced thickening of the skin on the side of a driver's face most exposed to the sun. This brought new interest to skin protection measures, especially as it came on the heels of news from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The agency in April dispelled road rumor that all window tinting in interstate-hauling Class 8s was illegal, explaining that films letting in more than 70 percent of visible light are kosher for side- and rear-window glass. One protective product, Ultragard UV clear film, blocks 99 percent Since we profiled Overdrive 2011 Owner-Operator of the Year Dan Heister, he's made progress on the big-block motor he'd then recently located to put into the early-'70s model Ford Gran Torino he and son Jake are fitting up for the local racetracks. He recently fired it up for guests with a roaring drive near his Tennessee Ridge, Tenn., home. Next up – racing stripes, possibly a new radiator, and he's off to the tracks. Catch more from our visit with him in the May 28 blog post. TORRID TORINO of all ultraviolet light, claims maker Solar Gard. Find an interview with Solar Gard's Larry Constantin, including an installation video, in the May 8 post to the Channel 19 blog. A National Day – for your sacrifices A self-proclaimed "proud trucker's wife" of Prime-leased owner-operator Jim Peranteau of Sunbury, Pa., has been circulating an online petition. Melissa Peranteau hopes to take the petition with 1,000 signatures to Washington, D.C., to create a Sept. 16 National Truck Driver Remembrance Day. It would be a public holiday, says Melissa Peranteau, in text accompanying the petition, and would remember not only the daily, unpublicized sacrifices, but drivers "that we lost," whether in accidents, crime on the road or in other ways. As of early June, the petition had 103 names. Find links to it – and an interview with Peranteau – on the May 7 post to the blog. For more of the interesting and odd parts of trucking, visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' CHANNEL 19 BLOG at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19. 'IRT' minus Lisa Kelly = bummer With the sixth season premiere of "Ice Road Truckers" on the History Channel in June, many fans were crestfallen at the absence of the star Esquire magazine dubbed the "Sexiest Trucker Alive," Lisa Kelly. On Overdrive's Facebook page (facebook.com/overdrivetrucking), one commenter went further: "Looks like this will be the worst season ever. Hot dogs, hot heads, and idiots," he wrote. "The show has run its course." On our sister mag Truckers News' page, commenters were more split on the premiere, best exemplified by a driver who called perceived reckless behavior of drivers on the show a "slap in the face" to hardworking professionals, then adding, "but yeah, I'm gonna watch it." 10 OVERDRIVE JULY 2012