Walking the North Wing

As press events slow down, I took off this afternoon to walk the show some and trudged off first to the OOIDA booth that's located in the depths of the big North Wing. I could hear the ringing of our bell before I saw the booth. The crew at the booth rings that bell each time one more trucker signs up for life membership. As they say, the joint was jumpin'.

Todd Spencer was engaged in a hot conversation with a couple of members -- when is he NOT engaged in an intense dialogue?

Joe Rajkovacz same. The topic was SCR versus EGR.

Reed Black from our Sirius XM radio show was visiting with a member named Rocky who was a Land Line Now fan. Rocky listens every day, he was telling Reed.

A member named Nelson was making a $100 donation to the PAC fund.

I bumped into a couple of members from St. Peters, MO, with their two cute little blonde daughters. One in a stroller, one being bounced around daddy's shoulders. They were having a blast and enjoying the free goodies.

I talked to two members from Kansas who were intrigued with the new system they heard Mack and Volvo are now offering that engages the brake without any action of the driver. They had heard it was already "mandated." I told them I had been to the press conferences, and it's NOT mandated. But, yeah, it's quite a system. If another driver cuts you off or slow downs in front of you, the truck's braking system will engage. The engine de-throttles and the engine brake is applied and the foundation brake kicks in.

I talked to a member from Ohio who said freight stunk in his home state but that did not keep him from loving to truck. He just found freight elsewhere.

I chatted for a bit with another member from Michigan who said this was his first MATS, and he was jazzed about everything he'd seen. Couldn't wait until Day Two.