Archive for October, 2009

When I learned to drive a truck in the ’80s, the school had me spend the first third of the program in the yard, just learning how to shift gears. Unlike automobile transmissions, trucks have no synchronization. Drivers must learn to “double clutch” — to match engine rpm with vehicle speed, then select the right gear for the situation. It’s easy enough to do until you get on a hill where speeds change more quickly, requiring faster reaction time. Get it right, and…

Sitting on his porch, Gerry Dussault hears the staccato roar of over-tuned diesel engines in the distance. Behind him the quiet village of Notre Dame du Nord in Quebec, Canada, home to about 1,200 people, is host to nearly 60,000 visitors. Concrete barriers cut off some streets. Nearly every lawn and parking lot is crammed with tents, trailers and motor homes, and the village is crowded with singles, couples and families.A couple of blocks away, the bathrooms, shower rooms and cafeteria of the…

In late June, the Shell Rotella SuperRigs event rolled into Oak Grove, Mo., a hamlet just east of Kansas City, and pitched its gigantic blue and white tent at a sprawling truckstop along I-70. The event, now in its 27th year, drew truckers from across the nation and Canada who were intent on (1) winning one or more of the numerous truck-beauty trophies or (2) being chosen for a page in the 2010 SuperRigs calendar. Despite the $10,000 top prize, it’s likely that all serious participants w…

Audiences for International’s film Drive and Deliver remember Steve Donaldson buying two stuffed toys, giving them to the children who’d admired them while their mom shopped at a truckstop grocery, and knew that for many drivers that was a common gesture. Each day, some trucker goes out of his or her way for another human being. Individual acts like giving a spot in line to a fellow driver in a rush, to commitments like writing to and visiting with schoolchildren through Trucker Bu…

As you must know by now, Nov. 1-7 has been designated National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. It’s when America takes time to honor the efforts of more than 3.5 million professional truck drivers who deliver almost 70 percent of the nation’s freight. While most of the country sets aside one week, one community in South Central Wisconsin works on recognizing drivers almost all year long. The people of Waupun have been honoring truckers and the trucking industry for two decades. This…