Sunny Florida calls the driver of the OOIDA tour trailer

A few stops in Florida are in order for Marty Ellis and the OOIDA tour trailer.

From Thursday through Friday, March 3-5, Ellis and the Spirit of the American Trucker are scheduled to be at the TA Travel Center in Marianna, Fla., in the state’s panhandle. That is Exit 142 from I-10

Starting Monday, Ellis and The Spirit are scheduled to be at the Petro in Reddick, Fla., in the Ocala area. That’s at Exit 142 from I-10.

There is parking for 123 tractor-trailers at the Marianna TA. The full-service Country Pride restaurant there is closed, but there are fast-food and grab-and-go options.

The Reddick Petro has parking for 279 tractor-trailers, and its Iron Skillet dining room is open.

Truck shows on the horizon

Ellis regularly shares what he has heard from drivers and about upcoming stops on Friday on Land Line Now. On last Friday’s broadcast, he talked about the 2022 truck show season getting started.

In a normal year, the Mid-America Trucking Show is the traditional first truck show. It is March 24-26 in Louisville, Ky.

This year, Ellis has slipped an event in before MATS – the Safety Drive for a Cure on March 12 in Atlanta. It is a benefit for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, and it also is a truck-driving championship event.

Ellis said he thinks it’s great to raise funds to support the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. He also appreciates the truck driving competition. He and OOIDA are big fans of drivers wanting to perfect their craft, he said, adding that competing is valuable for a driver. Ellis himself has won four state titles from the South Dakota Truck Driving Championship competition.

“It was actually like a refresher course every year,” he said.

Driving competitions are a review of some basics of pre-trip inspections, regulations and, of course, how to maneuver the vehicle.

Safety Driver for the Cure event is something like a practice run for nationals, he said. It is scheduled at the Yellow yard (formerly the Holland yard).

Driver buzz

Besides upcoming truck shows, Ellis said on the program that drivers had comments on the apprenticeship pilot programs allowing 18 year olds to drive interstate. On the one hand, some teenagers are solid citizens, he said.

“I know some 18 year olds I would trust with my life and I know some 40 year olds that I wouldn’t,” he said.

Despite that, he said he still fears that the industry just barely got some rules for entry-level driver training in place, and now we are jumping into this pilot program to let the teenagers drive long-haul. There also are questions about insuring the young drivers. That seems to be funneling the young drivers to the mega fleets that can self-insure. He said he hopes the young drivers won’t be exploited.

Listen to a conversation on the apprenticeship pilot program on “Live From Exit 24” here, or list to Ellis and Land Line Now Host Mark Reddig discuss it below.

Listen to Land Line Now

Stop by when you see The Spirit

If you see OOIDA’s 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.

After Marianna and Reddick, Ellis is scheduled to spend some time Vero Beach, Fla., before heading to Atlanta for the Safety Drive for a Cure event.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL