OOIDA’s tour trailer stops in the Philly area
When OOIDA’s tour trailer sets up in Jessup, Md., it will be a trucking coming home occasion for Jon Osburn, skipper of the Spirit of the American Trucker.
The Spirit is scheduled to be at the South Baltimore TA Travel Center in Jessup through Oct. 28. It is at the junction of I-95 and Route 175, Exit 41A from the interstate.
The South Baltimore TA has 436 parking spots for tractor-trailers. The Country Pride restaurant dining room is open, but not in the morning. Doors are unlocked at noon.
This is the area where Osburn started his journey in trucking in the 1980s. He signed on with Mayflower Transit, and his agent was in the greater Washington, D.C., area. Osburn was driving back and forth between New York City and San Francisco.
He was driving a one-axle cabover pulling a 42-foot, 96-inch household trailer
“I was the poster person for the freaked-out newbie in the big city,” Osburn said.
In NYC there would be signs saying there was 12-feet, 6 inches of clearance in an underpass, and he was going to get in trouble. The hills in San Francisco were an education too. It seemed like someone was trying to scare him back to his previous world, before becoming a trucker.
“I fooled him and others,” he said. “What an adventure it has been.”
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 Jessup, OOIDA’s tour trailer is scheduled to be in Virginia at Raphine and then Richmond.
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