Gurl! Hold my ear-RANGS!

It was Friday night in Louisville, clear, calm and 56 degrees and sure was no kind of night to head back to the hotel and sit around my room watching my electronic stuff recharge. I heard that Papa John’s parking lot was jumpin’ and jivin’, so I was easily lured to the action.
As it turned out, it was true. The place was a sea of trucks and trailers. So many, there was no more parking.  Like totally spilling over.

Someone said there were maybe a thousand trucks there and they had to open a section of another parking area for more. I was doubtful, just a little, until I arrived there Friday night.
A big jet flew over, lumbering overhead in the direction of the nearly Louisville Airport. I wondered what these rows and rows of parked rigs must look like from the air.

Jan McCarter rockin' it.

On the OOIDA stage, our own "Land Line Now" Host and Minster of History (both serious and totally nutty) Mark Reddig was hosting the events of the evening. Here are a few of my observations.

Jan McCarter’s cover of “Stripes” was a knockout.
“I don’t look good in orange and I hate stripes." Really fun song about a gal who isn’t afraid of going to prison for killing her unfaithful boyfriend, but admits she simply wasn’t up to doing prison fashion. Gurl! Hold my ear-RANGS!

Brad James, a singing trucker whose Dock of the Bay YouTube video has made his name familiar, has a new fan. Me. 

Loved the trucker poetry, too, by the way.

The fundraiser that JBC group did to benefit OOIDA’s scholarship fund and Truckers for Troops was a  -- get ready for it -- drag race. It needs no description. 

Marcia Campbell, Bill Rode, Don Schmidt and Mark Reddig

It was a complete doozy. After it was over, OOIDA Life Member Don Schmidt presented two checks for $1,350 each to OOIDA’s Bill Rode of Eagle, Idaho. Bill is the Association’s Treasurer and heads up the scholarship committee.

"This is for the OOIDA Mary Johnston Scholarship Fund, this is for OUR kids,” Don said as he gave Bill the donation. Now mind you it was dark, but I swear I saw a gleam in Bill Rode's eye when he accepted the donation to the scholarship fund. You have to know that nothing makes Wild Bill happier than building that scholarship fund. 

At one of the food tents, Redneck
and Angel Face were ready
to serve it up.

Sharing the stage for the presentation was America’s Trucking Sweetheart, Marcia Campbell. Marcia looked a bit different than the photos I had seen of her. Her new short hairdo was the result of her decision to cut her hair off and donate it – something she did a couple of weeks ago.

Marcia came from Nashville, where she does her WSM All Nighter radio show. The woman is a legend. Her Trucker Talent Spotlight has been a venue to plenty of trucking talent.
On Friday night, it featured music and poetry and even a bit of spontaneous clogging from Marcia (she does this every Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry).

The food tents were lit up with those patio lights, and the smoke and smell of grilled brats, chicken and burgers? Oh my.

Goodyear Highway Hero: OOIDA Member Ivan Vasovic

In those critical moments when a person's life hangs in the balance, there are people who would risk harm or even death for the chance to save that life. Ivan Vasovic is one of those people.

His actions on a fateful day last year have earned him the title of Goodyear Highway Hero. Goodyear presented Vasovic with the 31st annual award during this year's Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, and he was selected from an extraordinary group of four finalists.

Goodyear Highway Hero and OOIDA Member Ivan Vasovic.
Photo by David Tanner

Vasovic is a truck driver, an OOIDA member, and resident of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He is an immigrant from Serbia, a part of Europe ravaged by conflict and war. He is grateful for his job and his way of life, and at least one family out there is forever grateful to him.

Vasovic had just begun his workday last October in Los Angeles when he witnessed a double tanker truck crash, first into a concrete divider and then into a guardrail. The tankers, punctured in the crash, were full of diesel fuel. The truck and first tanker ended up hanging precariously off the side of an overpass. The tanker driver, still conscious but now on fire from the ignited diesel fuel, kicked out a window and plunged to the ground, breaking an arm and a leg.

"In that moment, I saw him in danger," Vasovic said.

He then did something that put his own safety on the line. He and another witness had rushed forward to drag the tanker driver to safety, but the flames and heat were becoming too great. With seconds to spare, Vasovic rushed back to his own rig, doused himself with water and managed to drag the other driver another 20 yards to safety. Literally moments later, the double tanker came crashing down to the ground.

Vasovic did not stay around long at the scene. In fact, he went back to work not long after his heroic save. His company, Hub Group Trucking, nominated him for Goodyear Highway Hero.

 "I went back to work, you know," he said. "I washed my hands and I tried not to think about it. Only after, when people approached me and people saw the (news) video, then I got scared."

Vasovic has been trucking for 11 years, the past four with Hub Group Trucking.

Prior to that, he was in the military in the war-torn former Yugoslavia, where he worked for a Red Cross platoon.

"I grew up in a tough neighborhood," he says. "I had a tough childhood and everything."

Vasovic came to the U.S. in 2003 through the Red Cross, taking a job, fittingly, as a lifeguard.

He is now a member of the prestigious Goodyear Highway Hero family. He joins recent past winners Jason Harte, Mike Schiotis and Tilden Curl.

"Ivan's quick thinking and brave actions saved a fellow truck driver from a life-threatening situation," said Gary Medalis, marketing director, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. "He literally put himself in harm's way to save another person's life. Ivan's decision to interject himself into this deadly scenario is a powerful example of the selflessness exhibited by professional truck drivers. He has earned the right to be called a Highway Hero."

Scott Nelson, Highway Hero finalist Tim Horton, and
Karen Nelson meet in person for the first time.
Photo by David Tanner

Goodyear recognized three other finalists at this year's award presentation.

Brian Dunn of Knoxville, Tenn., pried the door from a burning car to rescue a 2-year-old boy. He says all he could think about were his own young children.

OOIDA Member Scott Rosenburg, Isanti, Minn., used a boom on the back of his truck to turn a vehicle back over after it landed upside down in a pond. His actions saved the driver, who would certainly have drowned.

Tim Horton, Sheridan, Ark., witnessed a vehicle crash 35 feet down into a ravine near Tuscaloosa, Ala., and braved the slope and treacherous terrain to help rescue a college graduate student, Tyler Nelson.

The Nelsons show a picture of their son, Tyler,
who was fortunate to have trucker Tim Horton
looking out for him after a crash.

Nelson's parents, Scott and Karen, of the Nashville area, attended MATS as guests of Goodyear. Although they knew one another would be in attendance, the Nelsons had never met Horton in person until the award presentation.

Grateful hugs and tears of joy flowed for these friends for life. Horton says he plans to meet Tyler, now 24, when he passes through Atlanta where Tyler studies.

"This is really amazing," said Karen. "His survival instincts just kicked in."

The all-access, back-stage, Wayne's World look at Wednesday at MATS

Most attendees are either plotting or plodding their way to Louisville at this point late on Tuesday evening. The LL crew is situated and settled in and ready to hit the ground running Wednesday morning.

I can sense the puzzled looks. The show doesn't start until Thursday. ... You're right it doesn't. But much like in "Wayne's World" when Wayne and Garth got the all-access passes to an Alice Cooper concert, that's pretty much what press credentials are like on the Wednesday before MATS starts.

Anyone who has been here knows the yellow windbreaker-clad people manning the doors. Some are sweet. Some are nice. Most are, well ... let's go with very serious about their jobs.

There have been plenty of times when I have had to flaunt my media credentials -- much like Wayne and Garth -- at them to get to where I need to be on Wednesday. See, it's the unofficial-official press kickoff for the show.

While the crews are finishing off booths, and maybe even starting them, the OEM, product and service suppliers and different groups are hosting press conferences. It's a full day.

But Wednesday is our chance to glimpse into the crystal ball of trucking's future. We'll talk the California Air Resources Board (hopefully), LNG/CNG/alt fuels, tires, aerodynamics, business tools and more.

Stay tuned and watch on Twitter too. We will be sneaking off to the show floor all day blogging and tweeting out sneak peeks. (It's the least we can do since we're like Wayne and Garth partying with Alice. ... Or in the real world actually getting to do what anyone without their own all-access pass to MATS can't do.)

Road trippin'

I admit it; I love getting sprung from the office for the Mid-America Trucking Show. Of course, I love the show and seeing so many friends and OOIDA members. But the road trip there is a blast too.

Our usual crew from Land Line includes LL's Editor-in-chief Sandi Soendker, Associate Editor Dave Tanner and me. We don't set out to break land speed records. we are firm subscribers to the philosophy that the trip there is half the fun.

So we're armed with a load of snacks -- most healthy, but not all -- Sirius XM is playing the classics, and we have a willingness to stop anywhere that intrigues us. We'll also snap plenty of photos along the way. You'll catch some of those here, like this uber cool one of the new Mississippi River Bridge Dave took instead of angling for the standard St. Louis Arch pic.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, also. Lots going on over there too. @shewhoknowstruk (me), @LandLineCanuck (Dave), and @truck_editor (Sandi).

Reasons you can’t even fathom

In the days leading up to the Mid-America Trucking Show, something starts to stir inside you.

For three days, Louisville, Ky., turns into the trucking “mecca” of sorts. It is all things trucking and people who are the world of trucking.

With the wide array there of equipment, products, services and professional organizations like OOIDA – which has your back year-round – it makes good sense that you should go if at all possible.

With all of the prep work and scheduling, it can be overwhelming. But there are still other emotions – excitement and a longing that stirs, too. Thoughts rush through your brain millions at a time.

There are so many you can’t get a grasp on any one in particular.

Yet you know you need to go. It’s almost an involuntary, unconscious force that pulls you.

It’s a lot like the way James Earl Jones’ character Terence Mann described the “Field of Dreams.”

You go for reasons you can’t even fathom. You turn into the Exposition Center driveway not knowing for sure what this year will bring. You arrive at the door as excited as children. Of course we won’t mind if you look around, they say.

You walk into the crowds of people, drawn by that same unknown force. You’ll find they have aisle after aisle of everything great about trucking. And you’ll soak it all in, and it’ll be as if you dipped yourself in magic waters. The memories will be so thick you’ll have to brush them away from your face – months after you leave.

People will come. One constant through all the years, has been trucking. It has rolled by and through America, providing a pulse for the lives we live. It has carried with it a mystique and fascination of both those who live it and those who watch it roll by.

But it has marked the times. This industry, this life: It’s a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again. Oh ... people will come. People will most definitely come.