This week, host "Big Al" Weekley's Friday online radio show will hit the terrestrial airwaves with a new partner. Weekley's Overdrive's Music to Truck By still streams live online via The Bluegrass Jamboree online radio network, but it will also broadcast on the new 92.1 FM, WDIC, out of Clintwood, Virginia.
The station is led by former owner-operator and small fleet owner Mark Huffine, who started an over-the-road career in 1977 with Mor-Flo in Johnson City, Tennessee, a water heater manufacturer now part of American Water Heater. Huffine tells the story of that career, and how it brought him to acquire WDIC in April 2021, in the story that follows:
Former owner-operator, now WDIC radio station owner Mark Huffine
Schneider employed field recruiters and I ran into one in Candler, North Carolina. I had had a couple of speeding tickets, and really had to convince him that I could drive 55 mph. With the computer monitoring on the trucks, running 55 and keeping idle time down, along with RPMs between shifts, I could make 24 cents a mile! Big pay increase!
I did so well at that; I became a driver trainer, and in about six months, I then was asked to move into the office and become the recruiting manager. The guy that hired me ... began working for me. We had a good laugh about that. He said, "If I had known I was going to work for you ... I would never have hired you!"
Schneider believed in training ... in all areas. That is where I really learned about the trucking business.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with Don Schneider, corporate attorneys, corporate presidents and vice presidents, and safety department personnel. I got a real education with Schneider National.
