OOIDA on the Road – February 2023

January was a get-back-to-business month, with the holidays in the rear-view mirror and spring a few weeks off. That was the same with the OOIDA tour trailer.

There are often discussions about serious issues facing truck drivers on the road around, because Ellis is a good sounding board for ideas, and the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer is a good source of information on trucking issues.

It’s not all serious discussion, though. There are stories to share, like one Ellis tells of a friend who backed into a tight parking space and had a mishap. Luckily, the only damage was to a windshield wiper. The other truck was a cabover, and Ellis’ friend almost made it into the parking spot without a hitch. Almost.

Drivers always have stories about unsecured loads. One OOIDA member hit a boat that was being towed ahead of him. A webbed strap snapped and sent the boat onto the pavement in front of the truck driver’s tractor.

Ellis himself not long ago ran into a dresser when he was bobtailing home. OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh wanted to know why he was driving through someone’s bedroom. Actually, the dresser had fallen from a pickup truck loaded with a household’s furnishings that was packed tight but not tied down.

Ellis shares some of what he hears from drivers on the road on Friday evening broadcasts of Land Line Now. You can listen to the broadcasts via SiriusXM Channel 146, listen to them via the Bulldog smartphone app.

After a short month back on the road, Marty Ellis is scheduled to take The Spirit in for some maintenance during the month of February ahead of the Mid-America Trucking Show March 30-April 1.

Land Line Now is carried at 10 p.m. daily, and repeated at 10 a.m. on weekdays, on TNC Radio, an online streaming radio station for truckers and other professional drivers. You can listen at TNCRadio.live, or download the app at the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. LL