The OOIDA tour trailer’s ready for MATS

If you’re attending the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., be sure to stop by the OOIDA tour trailer.

“We’re going to be out by the show trucks. You won’t be able to miss us,” Marty Ellis said. He drives the Spirit of the American Trucker trailer.

The show runs March 24-26, but Ellis plans to have The Spirit there from Tuesday through Saturday.

OOIDA’s tour truck will be parked in Lot J behind the West Wing at the Kentucky Exposition Center. The Association also will have Booth 11128 in the North Wing. Ellis won’t be the only person representing OOIDA at the show. Many staff members will be there too.

“This is a really good time to get some face time with guys from the (OOIDA) office,” Ellis said on Land Line Now on Friday. Ellis regularly chats with Land Line Now Host Mark Reddig on Friday broadcasts. “You know, someone to do with the insurance or the fuel card, or that type of thing. These are the guys that are going to be out there and you can get some questions answered.”

Attendees are encouraged to stop by and let OOIDA staffers know what drivers are experiencing on the road.

“Let us know the challenges. Maybe you have some ideas about the direction the Association could be heading,” Ellis said. “We do want to hear from our members, so make sure if you’re out there at MATS to stop in, either at the trailer or at the booth inside.”

This year’s show is a 50th anniversary celebration year. Land Line Staff Writer SJ Munoz wrote a feature on the history of MATS for the March-April 2022 issue of Land Line Magazine.

This year, MATS will have expanded educational opportunities, including the Pro Talks Seminar Series, OOIDA’s Town Hall event, and OOIDA’s Truck to Success training class, an excerpt from the Association’s three-day course on preparing to be an owner-operator.

As part of its 50th-anniversary celebration, MATS organizers are creating a Wall of Fame to celebrate men, women and companies who have built the trucking industry. Three people with ties to OOIDA have been nominated:

• Longtime OOIDA President Jim Johnston.
• Current OOIDA President Todd Spencer.
• Paul Abelson, Land Line’s senior technical writer for more than two decades.

The Wall of Fame is scheduled to be unveiled during the MATS 50th Anniversary celebration and ceremony opening night, March 24.

More information about OOIDA at MATS is available.

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 MATS, Ellis and the OOIDA tour trailer are scheduled March 28-31 to be at the Petro in Glendale, Ky.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL