OOIDA’s tour trailer stops in Las Vegas

Jon Osburn, skipper of OOIDA’s tour trailer, is setting up at Las Vegas.

OOIDA’s tour trailer is scheduled to be at the Las Vegas TA on Dec 7-9. It is at the Blue Diamond exit, Route 160, from I-15. That is Exit 33.

There is parking for 144 tractor-trailers at the Las Vegas TA. There is a Burger King and Taco Time for sustenance, but no sit-down diner.

The TA Travel Center is one of several businesses on Blue Diamond Road. The road leads to a town, Blue Diamond, named for a gypsum wallboard company. The Los Angeles-based Blue Diamond Corp. bought a nearby gypsum mine in 1923 and opened a wallboard manufacturing plant there in 1941. The next year it began building a company town and the village of Cottonwood became known as Blue Diamondville that year and then was shortened to Blue Diamond. The mining operation closed in 2005 as the area was developed.

Blue Diamond is about 15 miles west of the Las Vegas TA.

Word from the road

Many truck drivers stopping by The Spirit have been saying good things about the possibility of OOIDA President and CEO Todd Spencer becoming administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Osburn said.

A letter recently was sent to presumed President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team expressing Spencer’s interest in the position. Spencer discussed the prospects on the latest edition of OOIDA’s internet talk show, “Live from Exit 24.”

A lot of drivers really like the idea of someone with a CDL and experience driving a truck leading FMCSA, Osburn said.

Stop by when you see The Spirit

If you see OOIDA’s tour trailer, stop by and say hello to Osburn. He enjoys visiting about the Association’s activities and current issues. He usually has copies of Land Line Magazine to hand out. You can join or renew your OOIDA membership for $10 off the regular price there. Free face masks are available for anyone with a commercial driver’s license at The Spirit. You also can get forms for uninsured drivers to get flu, shingles and pneumonia vaccine vouchers at The Spirit.

After Las Vegas, OOIDA’s tour trailer is scheduled to stop Dec. 11-13 in Tooele, Utah.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL