Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/925196
Diversions 30 | Overdrive | January 2018 'Black Out' model sales help support vets Regular Overdrive readers know owner-operator Chuck Timbrook's now-famous "Black Out" custom 1999 Freightliner Classic. A newly finished 1/32 scale model of the truck from model maker New-Ray now is available for sale. "It's the statement on the truck that needs to get out," says Timbrook, referring to "POW-MIA: You are not forgotten." "We as Americans cannot forget our heroes who never came back home, our veterans and our active-duty mili- tary," he says. A toy shop in Inwood, West Virgin- ia, close to Timbrook's Martinsburg home base, is taking $19.99 orders and pledging to donate a portion of the proceeds to Timbrook's vets-sup- port efforts with Black Out in a four-state area around Martinsburg. The shop, Loco Joe's Hobbies, can be reached via LocoJoesHobbies.com. The popular "Black Out" 1999 Freightliner, customized with a veterans support theme, now is available in a scale model. By early December, Holly "Cargo" Harrison, 57, had reached the South- west United States, having walked more than 7,000 miles since Decem- ber 2016 when he left Ushuaia, Chile. His goal is to make Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, on foot as unassisted as possi- ble. That's more than 14,000 miles. We spoke on the phone shortly after he made it to the United States in early November and had to stop. His 10th pair of shoes for the journey had given him a couple of blisters that needed to heal up. The longer we chatted, the more I realized how much of a trucker atti- tude I recognized in statements from Harrison, who lives in Goldsboro, N.C. He can't do a lot of trip planning for his journey, because it hasn't been done like he's doing it. "I believe if you go and you're resourceful and determined, you can accomplish anything," Harrison told me. "I have zero control over what is going to be on my road ahead. I just have to take it as it comes." Harrison plans for his journey to continue through Oregon, where he has a new granddaughter he's looking forward to meeting. He hopes to make Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's northern coast in 18 months – as far as he knows, an unprecedented accomplishment. While he'd made it to Nevada fairly unassisted, he had a heart attack between Las Vegas and Reno. At press time, Harrison was laid up in a hospital recuperating but planning to re-emerge after a few weeks. I told him I'd put the word out to the trucking community. If there's anything truckers do well, it's making sure highway travelers stay safe and healthy. He won't take a ride, but he appreciates anyone who can take the time to stop and provide him with water or information about stopping points. Keep your eyes peeled! Supporting 'Cargo' – what truckers do best BY WENDY PARKER Courtesy of Holly "Cargo" Harrison Harrison started his epic hike in Chile and plans to reach the north- ern coast of Alaska. A "cattle drive in the middle of a main highway" is how Holly "Cargo" Harrison described this scene en route through the Americas.