OOIDA’s tour trailer leaves ATHS show and pulls into the Kenly 95 on Monday

This weekend, Marty Ellis and OOIDA’s tour trailer are at the American Truck Historical Society’s National Convention and Truck Show in Harrisonburg, Va. Next week, though, starts off with the Spirit of the American Trucker setting up at the Kenly 95 Truckstop in Kenly, N.C.

The Spirit is scheduled to be at the Kenly 95 Truckstop on Monday through Wednesday, June 7-9. The Kenly 95 is at Exit 106 from I-95.

Kenly is about 40 miles southeast of downtown Raleigh, N.C; 60 miles northeast on I-95 of downtown Fayetteville, N.C.; and 50 miles west of Greenville, N.C.

The Kenly 95 Truckstop has parking for 350 tractor-trailers. The restaurants there are open with reduced seating capacity. The food courts has an Iron Skillet restaurant in addition to Wendy’s, Subway, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, DQ, Orange Julius and Caribou Coffee.

The last time the Spirit of the American Trucker rolled into the Kenly 95, it was a different driver at the wheel of the Western Star tractor. Jon Osburn was skipper of The Spirit in November 2020. Osburn retired in April, and now Ellis has succeeded him, and he hasn’t skipped a beat.

The Kenly 95 has a storied 40-year history. The truck stop’s doors opened to the public in 1980 as Truckland Truckstop. Kenly 95 joined the Iowa 80 Group of companies in 2004. Other members of the group include Iowa 80 TA Truckstop, Walcott, Iowa; Joplin Petro, Joplin, Mo.; and the Oak Grove 70 Petro, Oak Grove, Mo.

Any visit to the Kenly 95 is always a good reason to check out the Super Truck Showroom there, which was renovated in 2016. The 30,000-square-foot showroom is filled with chrome and trucking accessories, It is likely truckers will find stuff there they never knew they needed.

Two show trucks are on display there, The Prowler and Crown of the Coast.

The service center at Kenly 95 was upgraded in 2019.

Kenly 95 was able to present its East Coast Truckers Jamboree in May, having had to skip a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The next East Coast Truckers Jamboree is scheduled for May 5-7, 2022.

Historical truck show for the weekend

Through the weekend, The Spirit is at the American Truck Historical Society’s National Convention and Truck Show. Not only is Ellis there with The Spirit, but OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh also is attending.

The ATHS show is at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg, Va.

Read more about the show here.

Check out this report from the ATHS show from Pugh and ATHS Second Vice President David Schnautz posted on OOIDA’s Facebook page.

Here’s Pugh and Ellis at the ATHS show.

Also at the ATHS show, Pugh caught up with John Taylor, OOIDA life member and OOIDA director emeritus based in Cross Junction, Va. He served more than 20 years on the OOIDA Board of Directors.

Stop by when you see The Spirit

If you see OOIDA’s tour trailer, stop by and say hello. Ellis is looking 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 there. Face masks are available for anyone with a commercial driver’s license at The Spirit.

After the Kenly 95 Truckstop, The Spirit has stops scheduled in South Carolina and Alabama.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL