Family Reunion, Part II

I am officially a MATS veteran. And it feels good.

On my first day in Louisville, I ran into old friends. Of course, Diesel Dave Sweetman and Suzanne Stempinski (Red the Happy Hamster for the CB set) joined all of us from OOIDA home office. Both are longtime members, lifelong truckers, and writers for the magazine, but we really don’t see them much.

Suzanne is based out of Illinois, Dave out of Florida. They’re like extra-special phone buddies. So it’s a special treat for all of us to see them at Mid-America.

But it didn’t end there. Paul Abelson, the magazine’s senior technical editor, joined us Wednesday. And then, during the day, early arrivals started to pour in.

Candy, a Life Member of OOIDA and a frequent caller to our program – as well as someone we consider a good friend – stopped by the Spirit to see Barry and me. She was with member Ron Terry and his wife. All three are working the booth for the St. Christopher Fund. We’d have talked all night, but Barry and I had to get back to the hotel to do more work.

While they were talking with us, trucker, country music singer and all-around good guy Leland Martin stopped by. Leland’s a very active supporter of the industry and the folks in it, and he’s also just plain fun to chat with.

And as if that wasn’t enough, suddenly, out of nowhere, Don Turkelson drives up. Don is also a member, a longtime trucker, a former military chaplain (with some great stories and insights from that experience) – and he was the winner last year of Arrow Truck’s Back on the Road Contest.

Don had to leave the profession after he was shot during a truck hijacking. Arrow, Volvo, OOIDA and others put him back on the road. Great story. Great guy.

I was talking with Candy, the Terrys and Leland, while our producer Barry went over to talk with Don.

It really is like a family reunion. These are great people, and it’s a real joy to see them.

That’s why I think I’m officially a MATS veteran now. I come here not only to work, but to renew old acquaintances, to see friends, to meet new friends, to take part in a community I’m proud, I’m honored to be invited into.

And yes, that feels pretty darn good.

Goodyear Highway Heroes

The word “hero” gets bandied about as if it were a feat of magic to play ball or pretend to be the savior of the universe on the silver screen. Mainstream media pushes overpaid athletes to the forefront as though they make a difference in our lives. None of them are what I would call a hero.

Today, I met five real heroes. Quiet, shy and humble men who saw terrible life-threatening situations and, with little regard for their own safety, acted to save the lives of others.

Colorado truck driver Jorge Orozco Sanchez was named Goodyear’s 2008 Highway Hero at a special awards banquet in Louisville, Kentucky, during the Mid-America Trucking Show. That's Jorge, pictured on the left, with his best friend Roberto Castillo who came to be with him for the special event.

On October 28, 2008, Orozco Sanchez was hauling grain north of Greeley, CO, when an SUV crossed the center line and crashed head-on into his tractor trailer. Orozco Sanchez worked with a passer-by with a fire extinguisher to knock back the flames and was able to rescue two young girls in car seats just before the saddle tanks exploded, engulfing the vehicle. The 27-year-old mother died in the crash. Orozco Sanchez suffered burns on his arms and was transported to a nearby hospital.

I had the great privilege of meeting and visiting with Jorge, and I can tell you that he is very humble and shy about the attention he is getting. He told me that he only did what any truck driver would do to help out. Jorge Orozco Sanchez is every bit a hero.

The other Goodyear Highway Hero finalists are :Roy Hackett, a 30-year driver for UPS out of Nashville, TN. Driving near Chattanooga, TN on April 22, 2008, Hackett heard on the CB radio that a car up ahead was on fire. The occupant of the car was wedged between the seat and steering wheel and due to recent hip surgery, was unable to move. Hackett was able to free the man and pull him about 60 yards away from the car and stayed with the driver until emergency personnel arrived

The car driver wrote to UPS, “I believe the Lord put Roy’s brown truck behind me so he could save me.

Willie Wilson, a UPS driver from Santa Clara, CA was traveling on I-80 in Yolo County, California when he noticed a glow in the distance, off the freeway. Stopping his truck, he grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran to a car that had run off the road and rolled over. The car was on fire and the driver was inside. Wilson dragged the driver to safety as the Davis Fire Department arrived to extinguish the fire and treat the injured driver.

Tihomir Tanev of Schiller Park, IL, and Nikolay Zashev, of Franklin Park, IL, are team drivers for FedEx Ground. On January 21, 2008, these team drivers were en-route to Sacramento, California, when a large van spun out of control in the eastbound lane of I-80 in Iowa, crossed the median and struck the FedEx rig. Zashev, driving at the time, was able to keep the trucks and set of doubles upright and avoided contact with all other vehicles. Exiting the truck, Zashev and Tanev pulled the unconscious and bleeding driver to safety as the van became engulfed in flames.

The common thread between these men is that they are truck drivers who reacted quickly when presented with a serious life-threatening situation. Each of these men raced against the clock, fighting back flames, risking their own safety. To come to the aid and rescue of a perfect stranger, each of these men showed a selfless act of courage that defines the word "hero."

I have met greatness and I shook their hands.

Feets Don't Fail Me Now

I've been sprinting from one side of the MATS grounds to the other. Press conferences on one side, vendors & exhibitors in the middle, snazzy show trucks front and back. Forgot my pedometer this time. It's a great cardiac workout, blood pumping, revved up, all cylinders firing.

The mood and tone this year are dramatically different from this time last year. Although every one acknowledges that we're dealing with tough economic conditions, the prevailing sentiment is that we will get through this together. Optimism in the face of adversity.

My favorite place is still with the show trucks. I just love the smell of chrome and diesel in the morning. I parked out behind the shiny rides - starting and ending my tour of duty with them is one of my favorite things to do. Bright and early this morning, participants, long done being "officially" judged, were out wiping their trucks down. The parking lots filled, and on a crisp, cool and clear day drivers and their families milled about - looking for concert tickets to Aaron Tippin, admiring trucks, talking with each other, cameras and phones at the ready.

Jami and I went to the Arrow Trucks Back On The Road 2009 press conference. Dennis Lott, United States Air Force veteran, was honored to win the opportunity to spend a year behind the wheel of a Volvo VNL670 tractor, leased to Heartland Express, insured by OOIDA. A longtime truck driver who, due to circumstances outside of his control, was forced off the road is getting ready to build a better future. I'm on my way to visit with Dennis now and learn more about his story.

I don't want to be late. Gotta run.

Tipping our hats to the Super Scribe

I joined Land Line Magazine in 1987 from mainstream and knew nothing about trucks or the trucking industry. I figured I better get up to speed so I began reading other magazines. I learned pretty quick that some of the best reads came from a truck writer named Tom Berg.

Tom is currently the Senior Equipment Editor for Heavy Duty Trucking. He's former editor of Road King and American Trucker.

I met him at my first MATS show. When I joined the Truck Writers of North America in the early days, Tom Berg the Super Scribe was the president. President for Life, in fact.

The group is more than that now but that's another blog, so suffice it to say that since then I've enjoyed and benefited from my membership.

Tom says TWNA was born out of a "hey wouldn't it be a good idea if we did this" conversation in Winston-Salem at a bar and grill during a media outing. Tom and David Kolman and another guy who I never knew were the co-founders. A truly committed president, every once in a while Tom wrote us a bit of cleverness that we hailed as our official newsletter.

Many of our LL staffers are now members of this group. In fact, our Senior Editor Jami Jones is the new President of TWNA.

During the past month, I watched Jami conspiring with other truck writers like Steve Sturgess, David Kolman and Mike Pennington and others, digging up stuff on Tom for this event.

Last night, it was fun to see Tom honored as this year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The presentation included huge pics and illustrations on the big screens for all to see. The cartoon above of Super Scribe is from our Land Line editorial cartoon genius Mo Paul.

Too bad the pics displayed did not include the one infamous pic of Tom in a wet suit, snapped by Rolf Lockwood during a Volvo trip a bunch of trucking-type journalists took to Sweden. It seems that part of the trip included a whitewater raft trip, which demanded that our writers wear helmets and wet suits. When it was time for Tom to suit up, there was only one left and it was HOT PINK.

This Lifetime Achievement Award business is the highest award bestowed by TWNA and if anything in a career full of achievements should be recognized as particularly amazing, it must surely include the moment Tom wore that wet suit.

Game day

The mere mortals who attend the Mid-America Trucking Show are getting ready for the official second day of the show.

Not us.

Having been on the ground since late Tuesday night, lugging briefcases and laptops to press conference after press conference, we're on day three. It's a lot like the second half of a championship game.

A huddle over breakfast -- Sandi assigned the game strategy for the day, and the Land Line Magazine team headed out.

Sandi and Diesel Dave Sweetman are off to Churchill Downs to spend some quality time with the Goodyear Highway Heroes. (Wait until you read their stories later on this. Amazing men, all of them.)

Suzanne "Red the Happy Hampster" Stempinski and I are off to the back lot checking out the killer trucks, later meeting and greeting with the Arrow Truck Sales Back on the Road winner and Aaron Tippin.

Bill Hudgins is trolling the show soaking up MATS in all of its glory to bring you more of his clever blogs.

We will all be hugging and chatting with OOIDA members and friends along the way.

Got the walking shoes on. Red Bull in hand.

Yup. It's game day.

NAST Shoot-out

The National Association of Show Trucks (NAST) held its 11th Truck-Lite Trophy Shootout at Mid-America this week. Four of the six finalists for the award were able to make it to the show. Two others had to make the tremendously difficult and disappointing decision to stay out on the road.

Winning the trophy was Bobby Lindamood Demolition out of Texas, with a 2007 Pete 376. Runner-up for the top spot was Jeremy Haasevoort of Holland, MI, with a 1986 Pete 359. Third place went to Jerry Kissinger of Wisconsin, with a 1991 Mack Superliner, while fourth was taken by MBH Trucking of Michigan, represented by Brian Hitchcock in a 1996 Peterbilt 379. Photos and details about these and other NAST competitors are available at http://www.nastshowtrucks.org.

It was something of a bittersweet event. Truck-Lite had earlier announced that the economic conditions had led it to decide not to renew sponsorship of the Trophy series. The company has been an outstanding supporter of NAST, and we all hope that it resumes a sponsorship role soon.

The award meeting paused to honor the passing of several NAST friends - photojournalist extraordinaire Bette Garber; Laurie Sweetman, the wife of Land Line columnist Dave Sweetman; and Gina Kemner Clarke, one of NAST's founding members who died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm on Feb. 26.

NAST is moving ahead with plans for shows later this year, so check its Web site often for updates.

Breaker, breaker: We have a winner

Thursday night was the 6th annual Truck Writers of North America (TWNA, pronounced "tuna") awards for trucking journalism. I'm proud to tell all OOIDA members - and if you aren't, why not? - that Land Line Magazine took home the top award for magazines for its March-April issue (big cover story asks "When does the truck start driving you?"). The magazine team took home a slew of other awards leading up to the big one. To even be considered for the top category, entries had to score 98 or above out of a 100-scale.

AND not to be outdone, the Land Line Now radio team bagged the top award for radio journalism for the "Run for the Wall" story about the annual Rolling Thunder commemoration of MIAs. The radio team also took home enough wall plaques to ruin the acoustics in the broadcast booth.

I'm sure the official announcement will be up shortly, but if you're just waking up and reading this, you can sit a little taller in your seat and maybe flash your OOIDA badge around.

Since most of my contributions consist of what a friend of mine calls the hunting of the snarky, it was really great to hitch a ride to glory with the folks who do the really heavy hauling at the magazine and radio.