Overdrive

November 2018 | Overdrive | 33 "I delivered medication to the homes of hospice patients, transported blood from Red Cross blood drives and hospitals, de- livered meds to pharmacies once making the move back home to Twin Falls, and tendered human specimens to airports to make their trips to various labs." By this point, "I was almost 30 and really tired of being single. I had gotten on a couple of dating sites and had bad experiences with them. So I got on Face- book, and if someone looked interesting, I would friend them." That's where she ran across William Pinheiro. "I saw that he was a little older than me, I saw he was a Christian and really good-looking, so I friended him. About a week later, he accepted." They messaged back and forth. She already had a good feeling about him before meeting in person. "Somewhere in the messages, he told me he was a truck driver," she says. "I knew I wanted to marry one, and I knew I wanted to drive truck with somebody. That was my life's goal. When he told me, I screamed out loud. I knew I was going to marry him at that point." William says he soon learned about Mandi Jo's musical talent. "The fi rst time I came into her house, I saw all the guitars on the walls. She wrote me a song called 'My Heart Has 18 Rolling Wheels,' about driving truck and the sound of the gears." He also had seen a post on Facebook from her stepdad, Art Hoag, referring to her informal performances. "I guess she was kind of known as the local troubadour, because she had these metal rocking chairs out on her porch, made of old 1930-'40s steel, and she would sit out there in the evening times and play her guitar, watching traffi c go by," he says. "This was long before I came along." William and Mandi Jo were married in 2013 on the bed of the Doonan trailer they had purchased together the previous year with a 2005 Pete 379. "The truck and trailer were decorated in daisies and roses with purple accents," she says. Once the reception began winding down, Pinheiro brought out her guitar and performed a song she wrote for William while the remaining guests sat around a campfi re. William, who has more than 30 years' experience as a truck driver, leased on with Pittsburgh-based American Transport once the couple bought the 1995 Pete. Though it was great to have their Mandi Jo Pinheiro's perfor- mance of "Heartbeat," a virtual travelogue of highways and sights familiar to over-the- road drivers, won the hearts of judges last August in the fi nals of the Overdrive-Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent Search. The original song also extols the pride of the men and women who work on those roads and their need to rep- resent the industry well. Here are two excerpts: From the loneliest road in Ne- vada to Highway 1 Key West, Rollin hearts are rollin', re- membering the very best, Best we keep on speakin' with strength and integrity, To show the view out of the windshield is much more than you and me … From the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee, Loaded hearts are rollin', loaded hearts are rollin' From sea to shining sea. "This song came about from getting involved with everyone who is trying to do good in the trucking industry — activ- ists," Pinheiro says. "I asked a bunch of them what their favorite roads to truck on are and why. And they told me, and it became a song." – Max Heine 'Remembering the very best' Visit the Trucker Talent Search playlist at youtube. com/OverdriveMag to see an interview with Pinheiro and her performance of "Heartbeat." You'll also find performances by finalists B.J. Williams and James Nelson. Mandi Jo Pinheiro performs her original song "Heartbeat" at the Great American Trucking Show. William and Mandi Jo Pinheiro got married on their trailer Sept. 14, 2013. Todd Dills

• Cover
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