Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/87831
VOICES Which one should I get? – 13-year-old Overdrive reader "I'm saving my money to buy a Freightliner or a Peterbilt or a W900B Kenworth: Terrelle Grant on our Facebook page Get your education, then decide what can make you money 10% Kudos! Follow your dreams! 5% Freightliner 25% Kenworth 31% Peterbilt 29% Long-haul pride lives in new generation Around the Internet, a new generation of drivers and owner- operators is engaging those who've come before. Among the areas of activity: Overdrive's Facebook page. What better place for a 13-year-old dreaming of buying his first truck to quiz seasoned operators about what truck he should choose when his time came? That's exactly what 13-year-old Overdrive reader Terelle Grant did. While many owner-operators were clearly decided on the make/model choice, a few wouldn't specify a model. Operator Robert Kiselak offered this well-considered advice: Go to a [large] trucking show. Why? Then, you can get into these trucks and sit inside them and look around to see which ones you really like. Driver's seat layouts are extremely different in all the trucks you mentioned. The cabs are different, and the sleepers are extremely different. I'm partial to Freightliner, but know that Petes ride very nicely — but as far as looks and mpg, they're not my thing. KWs are OK, but I like my space and prefer the 86-inch bunk on the W900L. Now, if you can't get to a truck show, go by a truck dealership and get into the cab of a Pete, then go into the sleeper. And do that with a KW, and a Freightliner. Open the doors, check out everything that you're able to. Then you'll have a much better idea of what you want. TRIBUTE Everybody has their own preferences on things. I like to be able to stand up and walk into the sleeper — it's much easier on the back. This picture was proudly posted to Reddit.com by Sacramento-based Kitty Liang, the new CDL holder pictured. She started trucking after years of college, including graduate school. The pic garnered hundreds of comments, many from veteran haulers offering advice for the long term. Follow Liang's progress with her trucking career via truckerkitty.blogspot.com. 6 | Overdrive | November 2012 After offering some transmission advice, Kiselak added, "Good luck in your ventures." Big 10-4. Longtime owner-operator Clive Hemmings (Oct. 11, 1954-Sept. 30, 2011) suffered a hemor- rhage on a load to Florida in September 2011 that took his life. His wife, Valerie, offered a poetic salute to his memory – read it by scanning the QR with your phone or tablet or searching "Clive Hemmings" on OverdriveOnline.com. "It has been a rough ride," Valerie says, "but God has helped me to get this far. He loved truck- ing and he was a wonderful husband and friend. I just want to say something about him to the world."