OOIDA tour trailer heads west to Utah

Marty Ellis is breaking out of the Midwest by taking the OOIDA tour trailer west.

Ellis plans to park the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer on Aug. 9-10 at the TA Travel Center in Tooele, Utah. The Tooele TA is at Exit 99 from I-80.

Tooele is on the west side of Salt Lake City, on south end of the Great Salt Lake. The next stop for the OOIDA tour trailer also is in the greater Salt Lake City region, in Lehi, Utah. That is the location of the Great Salt Lake Truck Show.

Great-looking trucks in Franklin Grove, Ill.

On Saturday, Ellis had the OOIDA tour trailer at the Big Rig Truck Show in Franklin Grove, Ill. It was part of the community’s harvest celebration. Franklin Grove is midway between Chicago and the Quad Cities on I-88.

It was a nonjudged truck show and raised funds to benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Though it wasn’t formally judged, there was a Shriners Kids Choice trophy. It was won by OOIDA Board Member Craig DeReu of Mineral, Ill.

OOIDA life member Tom Noe of Roanoke, Ill., also checked in.

Ellis also found a bunch of good-looking trucks at the show.

California’s AB5 is the buzz among drivers

Ellis regularly discusses things he sees on the road or hears from truck drivers on Friday broadcasts of Land Line Now. California’s AB5 bill is a worker classification law that makes it difficult for someone to be considered an independent contractor.

“The bad thing is California isn’t letting anyone know what way they can comply with the law without just going ahead and being an employee somewhere. And since most of our guys got into being an owner-operator because they wanted to run their own business, this presents a big problem,” Ellis said on the show.

One gentleman with a small fleet in California plans to keep operating as he has because no one can give him answers about how they are going to enforce the law, Ellis reported. Another driver based in California, who is leased to the company Ellis used to be leased to, is planning on getting his own authority, Ellis said.

OOIDA has informed California Gov. Gavin Newsom about issues small-business truckers are facing. The Association has asked him to delay the enforcement of AB5 in trucking.

Listen to Friday’s Land Line Now podcast

Ellis joins the program in the second half of the program.

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 for $10 off the regular price at The Spirit. Face masks are available at The Spirit for anyone with a commercial driver’s license.

Ellis regularly discusses things he sees on the road or hears from truck drivers on Friday broadcasts of Land Line Now.

After the Tooele and then the Great Salt Lake Truck Show in Lehi, Utah, on Aug. 12-13, Ellis plants to heads to Oregon.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL