The OOIDA tour trailer stops in Gee Cee’s at Toledo, Wash.

August 22, 2022

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Chuck Robinson

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Marty Ellis is checking out Gee Cee’s Truck Stop in Toledo, Wash. He and the OOIDA tour trailer are scheduled to be there Aug. 22-23.

Gee Cee’s is at Exit 57 from Interstate 5 in Toledo.

There is a truck repair shop there. For food, there is Gee Cee’s Family Style Restaurant, which is closed on weekends, and the Bigfoot Deli.

Gail Calvin Wallace opened Gee Cee’s in 1986. The operation is still family operated. The Chronicle in Centralia, Wash., published a feature on the operation in 2017. He was in his 50s when he started his truck stop business. He had operated a dump truck business before starting the truck stop venture.

OOIDA life members and a duck

 

OOIDA life member Pat Kruger of Vancouver, Wash, stopped by the OOIDA tour trailer at Jubitz.
OOIDA life member Pat Kruger of Vancouver, Wash, stopped by the OOIDA tour trailer at Jubitz. (Photo by Marty Ellis)

 

OOIDA life member David Ritter of Kelso, Wash.
OOIDA life member David Ritter of Kelso, Wash., checked in at the OOIDA trailer at Gee-Cee’s Truck Stop. (Photo by Marty Ellis)

 

Duck in Truck wearing a spiffy OOIDA bandana
Former OOIDA member Bill McNamee stopped by the OOIDA trailer at Jubitz, and the evidence is this Duck in Truck wearing a spiffy OOIDA bandana. McNamee, based in Christopher, Ill., has been active in the Trucker Buddy International educational outreach program. Through Trucker Buddy, McNamee and others work with educators as pen pals. McNamee has a menagerie of stuffed animals that ride with him, which he uses to connect to classes through Trucker Buddy. Through these classroom connections, he tells kids about the country, shares lessons about wearing seatbelts and the dangers of distracted driving, and impresses on them how vital trucking is to everybody’s life. (Photo by Marty Ellis)

Land Line Now discusses short-haul exemption

Ellis regularly discusses things he sees on the road or hears from truck drivers on Friday broadcasts of Land Line Now. Last Friday, Ellis talked about short-haul hours of service exemptions with host Mark Reddig.

From what drivers have been telling him, some of the companies are really trying to take advantage of some drivers, Ellis said. He said the companies seem to want drivers to really stick their necks out.

“These companies are wanting them to go over the 14-hour mark, they’re not running a time clock, and most of the time when I talk to these guys about it, they’re not even using a regular time sheet where you just write down the numbers,” Ellis said on Land Line Now. “So they’re not keeping the records like they should and yet they want to go under this exemption.”

If you have questions about the short-haul exemption, call OOIDA Business Services at 816-229-5791.

Listen to the conversation on Land Line Now

Stop by when you see The Spirit

After GeeCee’s, Ellis plans to take the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer to Spokane, Wash., and then to Laurel, Mont.

If you see the OOIDA 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.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL

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Chuck Robinson formerly was senior copy editor for a weekly trade publication serving the fresh produce industry. He has served trade publications, horticultural journals and community newspapers for 25 years.