Find Part 1 of this year in review here and Part 2 here. Happy new year!
September
Former Overdrive Trucker of the Year Mike “Mustang” Crawford was approaching his 3 millionth safe mile, all logged under the wheels of one truck.
Vice President Joe Biden declaimed on the struggles of independent owner-operators in a 30-and-some-year-old editorial, and in the here and now continued to show his efficiency, or lack thereof, with the political gaffe. Fitting 39 people in a COE truck’s cab was shown to at least be possible, if not in the restored 1970s Kenworth Bill Bradford showed in Cookeville, Tenn.
CSA took further heat on Capitol Hill, I stopped at a truck stop powered by solar panels, and diesel emissions were found to be cleaner than those of fast food charbroilers.
Finally, an owner-operator’s wife delivered a powerfully poetic send-off in tribute to her deceased husband.
October
A pair of expediters with an in some ways Plain Jane FedEx-leased Freightliner Cascadia (with
A four-wheeler used scare-quotes around “professional” in reference to long-haulers on the highway, and Obama and Romney were asked by a questioner in their town-hall style debate about the fuel-price issue — their responses showed little substance. A hypnotist wanted to help drivers kick the smoking habit, the Monkey Gouger was up for an award, and a South African driver was stoned to death by some of his hauling comrades.
A driver gave his hauling father, Bobby Bright of Virginia, a final ride to the gravesite in a tractor/step-deck-trailer combo.
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November
A well-known TV celebrity called herself a “truck driver in a model’s body,” book 2 in Colleen Kelly Mellor’s kids’-book series “Grandpa and the Truck” was released, and a hawk gave the Washington State DOT some interesting directives via a remote traffic camera.
A reader proposed $65/hour as a fair regulated detention rate, and other modest proposals included parallels between an exotic dancer-led lawsuit and leased owner-operator businesses.
Expediter Morris Finley hauled light in a Nissan NV2500.
To cap the month, I put a Cobra CB in my Ford Focus four-wheeler and asked you for a good handle.
December
An independent owner-operator planned a
Christmas came and went, and on Dec. 27 at 10:35 p.m Central time., I was woken up by the buzzing of my phone — it was owner-operator Mike “Mustang” Crawford, who’d warned me he might be calling. “Don’t worry about answering it,” he’d said the week prior, but made sure I knew what the call would detail. I didn’t answer, but smiled with the knowledge just the same: Mustang had hit the last mile of his 3 million on Eastbound I-10, milemarker 110, in Buckeye, Ariz. “I did it, Ghostwriter,” he told my me on my voicemail, using the handle he ultimately gave me. “I got my 3 million miles,” all under the rubber on his 1994 Mustang’s Truckin’ Freightliner. The key to his equipment’s longevity — a combination of good oil (Delvac) and treatment (Lucas) as well as no shortage of on-highway patience for safety and dexterity with the right foot for fuel and avoiding needless wear.
An absolutely great way to end the year. Here’s wishing Mustang a million more.
And to all of you, a happy new year!