The OOIDA tour trailer pulls into Jackson, Miss.

Valentine’s Day finds Marty Ellis, who takes the OOIDA tour trailer from coast to coast, in Jackson, Miss.

Ellis and the Spirit of the American Trucker are scheduled to be at the Jackson Petro on Feb. 14-15. The truck stop is near the junction of Gallatin Street and I-20/I-55.

The Jackson Petro has parking for 194 tractor-trailers. The Iron Skillet dining room is reported to be open.

I-55 connects Chicago with the New Orleans area. I-20 connects Kent in West Texas to Florence, Ga., and I-95.

Training registry discussion

Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched its new Training Provider Registry. Drivers visiting the OOIDA tour trailer have had comments about the “self-certifying” of trainers on the registry, Ellis said on the Friday Land Line Now broadcast.

“The biggest thing that got brought up was the self-certifying of the driver trainers. It’s kind of like when the ELD came out … That’s what they did with the manufacturers. They said, ‘Well, you can self-certify that you’re, you know, good to go.’”

Many companies marketed ELDs but only a few are left, Ellis said. So what does that example suggest about training providers?

“How many people are going to go ahead and get their driver training, get their CDL, and at some point in time the government is going to get around to looking at a few of these companies. Now, if they find out that they weren’t really, truly supposed to be certified to do this, then what happens to all those folks that went through the training, and passed their test and got their license? … Is the training still valid?” Ellis said. “Is the license still valid?”

Drivers also have run into the problem of medical examiners who were determined to be unqualified to perform exams for U.S. DOT physicals. The drivers who went to them for an exam had to go through it again with someone else in order to be compliant with federal regulations. Will the same thing happen with the training registry, they wonder?

Listen to the Land Line Now broadcast here

Three surprising facts about Jackson

Pine-Sol cleaner was created in 1929 by chemist Harry Cole who lived among pine forests near Jackson. The Clorox Co. now owns Pine-Sol.

Even though the Volstead Act repealed the 18th Amendment in 1919 and allowed states to roll back prohibition, Mississippi stayed dry until 1966, according to the Mississippi History Timeline. That year a county sheriff raided the Jackson Country Club, where prominent citizens, including the governor, were celebrating Mardi Gras and drinking illegal liquor. Many were arrested, which prompted the state legislature to let individual counties decide whether to legalize alcohol consumption.

There is a Gold Coast in the Jackson area. During the state’s extended Prohibition period, bootlegging, illegal drinking and gambling flourished there, as well as blues music. It ran along the original U.S. Route 80, just across the Pearl River from the city of Jackson. When the state decided to let counties decide on serving alcohol, the county with Jackson went wet while the county with the Gold Coast, Rankin County, stayed dry, at least on the books. Here is a brief history on a blog titled And Speaking of Which.

Scary fire four years ago

In June 2018, the Jackson Petro was the scene of several tractor-trailers getting caught up in a fire. According to a news account from WBLT-TV in Jackson, a flatbed trailer caught on fire. Flames spread to a truck hauling grain and an auto transport truck. At least five trucks were involved. No one was injured.

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 Jackson, Ellis is scheduled to stop in West Memphis, Ark., and then Matthews, Mo.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL