OOIDA tour trailer stops in Laredo

Through Wednesday, Marty Ellis and the OOIDA tour trailer are parked in Laredo, Texas.

Ellis and the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer are scheduled through Jan. 25 to be at the Laredo TA Travel Center at I-35 and Beltway Parkway. There is parking for 336 tractor-trailers there. There is a Country Pride sit-down restaurant and Taco Bell and Burger King fast-food restaurants there.

On Friday, Ellis plans to take the OOIDA tour trailer to Beaumont, Texas.

Shocking speeding fines

Ellis regularly talks on Friday broadcasts of Land Line Now about what he sees and is hearing from drivers on the road.

Courtesy and improper driving training at truck stops were top of mind for Ellis on last Friday’s Land Line Now broadcast.

He mentioned in particular a driver siding their axle onto the Cat scale even though there is a sign saying do not do that. Basically, it can break the scale, he said. Somewhere a driver needs to learn not to do that, Ellis said.

“For the next few guys that come on that scale, it may be off because of what you did, and then where are you at? The guys who own the scales have to spend thousands of dollars fixing it,” he said.

Somehow, drivers aren’t getting it about truck stop etiquette and problems like this, he said, and he wondered about where the breakdown might be. Regardless, though, experienced drivers can help, he suggested.

“If you see somebody struggling, maybe get out of the truck and help them out. That right there would make so much difference out here, just to get along with each other, and it doesn’t matter what country somebody else came from or anything like that – or how whether they’re younger or older. We can help people out,” Ellis said.

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 Laredo, Ellis plans to stop Jan. 27-28 in Beaumont, Texas, and then end the month in Shreveport, La.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL