Trucks and Truckers

October 28th, 2009

Kindness Counts

Truckers often make an extra effort to help others

By Timothy D. Brady

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…

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October 28th, 2009

Double the Fun

It's a truck show. It's a calendar. It's SuperRigs 2009, and the judges are very particular.

Story and photos by Paul Hartley

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…

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October 28th, 2009

Fast Times at Notre Dame du Nord

A spur-of-the-moment race between local trucks has evolved into a must-see yearly event

Story and photos by Andy Turnbull

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…

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October 28th, 2009

Ease on Down the Road

The newest innovation in automatic transmission

By Paul Abelson

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…

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October 28th, 2009

Off Road, On Your Toes

Preventing accidents outside of the cab

By Jim Kneiszel

Way back when, Dave Parsons was driving a semi, pulling logs across the Pacific Northwest for a small trucking company. He remembers well the white-knuckle dangers of running narrow, rustic mountain roads, always trying to beat the clock. He also remembers that once he jumped out from behind the wheel, he still faced certain perils. Inspecting the loads of logs…

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