OOIDA tour trailer heads to Alabama for a couple of stops

Marty Ellis is pulling the OOIDA tour trailer into the Petro at Dodge City, Ala.

Ellis and the new Western Star 57X tractor and the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer are scheduled March 14-17 to be at the Dodge City Petro (also known as the Hanceville Petro).

The truck stop is at Exit 299 from Interstate 65.

The Dodge City Petro has parking for 312 trucks, plus a Burger King, Papa Johns, Popeyes, Dunkin Donuts, Prairie Market and a Baskin Robbins.

Is the bedbugger model the way to go?

Ellis regularly discusses what he hears from drivers on the road with Mark Reddig, host of Land Line Now, on Friday broadcasts.

On the broadcast from March 10, Ellis related a conversation with a fellow driver about driver pay. Should all freight be run like household goods? That was what the driver proposed. Ellis said he didn’t know a lot about it, but he understands the rates are pretty much nailed down by regulations.

“Apparently with pulling household goods, they have a rate for everything, whether it’s for how much weight, how many pieces, the time you’re going to spend loading and unloading. There’s just so many things that are regulated – the amount per mile that you’ll haul it for – so you really know going in what exactly you are going to get paid,” Ellis said on Land Line Now.

A lot of guys are looking at getting back into moving household goods, he said, “even though most of the bedbuggers that I have talked to know that it’s not as good as it once was.”

He said drivers are looking at a lot of options, sometimes grasping at straws, hoping to find the best path forward.

Listen to the conversation here.

Stop by when you see The Spirit

If you see the OOIDA tour trailer, stop by and say hello. Ellis looks forward to visiting about the Association’s activities and current issues. There are copies of Land Line Magazine to pick up there. You can join or renew your membership with the OOIDA 50th anniversary promotion of two years for $50. That’s a $40 savings. You can also use the promotion as many times as you like.

After Dodge City, Ellis has another Alabama stop scheduled March 19-21 at McCalla. After that, he’s looking at stopping March 24-27 in West Memphis, Ark., before heading to the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL