40 // COMPANY DRIVER // AUGUST 2013 all time by not talking to the men and women who deliver America’ s freight. At this year’ s show, I talked to a driver who met her boyfriend in a war zone in the Middle East. In fact, he was there beside her as she showed off her Pete 379... that was pink. Yes, pink. The truck was awesome and so was she.
Trucking Topics
Host of
By Eric Harley
RAGS TO RICHES
There are many things about trucking that fascinate me to no end; but I simply don’ t have enough space in this article to list them all, so I will stick to one. Shiny rigs.
I recently spent a few days gawking at some of the best the industry has to offer as judge in the 31st Annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs event in Tomah, Wisconsin. It was my 13th year as a judge in this event, and I still felt like I was experiencing the entire thing for the fi rst time.
As someone who relies heavily on my curiosity for a living, I could not stop the endless questions going through my tiny brain as I watched driver after driver pull in, shut down, grab the rags, and get to work making their rig look it’ s best. Where are they from? What do they haul for a living? How much money have they spent making that large car look the way it does? How much time do they spend cleaning it? Where do they fi nd the time? How in the world did they get into that tiny space to get that last bit of grime off the inside of those duals? Ok, the time for gawking and wondering was over... it was time to go to work.
One of the great things about Shell SuperRigs is that the trucks drive through the judging line. This gives me and my fellow judges a little time to spend inspecting the truck and talking to the driver. And that, my friend, is the part I love the most. The stories.
I have often said that Hollywood is missing out on the greatest stories of
40 // COMPANY DRIVER // AUGUST 2013 all time by not talking to the men and women who deliver America’ s freight. At this year’ s show, I talked to a driver who met her boyfriend in a war zone in the Middle East. In fact, he was there beside her as she showed off her Pete 379... that was pink. Yes, pink. The truck was awesome and so was she.
Then I had a great discussion with another driver from California who, along with other drivers, is fi ghting a never-ending battle with the California Air Resources Board on the costs he is facing based on new engine compliance in that state. He told me his frustrations as he proudly watched his son enter his International 9900 in the competition, which jus happened to take home the prize for best lights.
One of my favorite chats was with William Rethwisch, Jr., who is based right there in Tomah. He could hardly contain his enthusiasm as he talked about how he learned that Shell SuperRigs was coming to his town. After that, he said, everything stopped so he could focus on getting his rig, a 2012 Peterbilt 389, ready for the big time. The focus paid off as William took home the prize for best interior. I had dozens of great conversations that weekend... none of which I will ever forget.
I also have the honor of hosting the award ceremony at this show and others every year. It’ s an incredible feeling to see the winners’ faces as the sponsors hand out cash and prizes. Even more incredible was how some of this year’ s winners donated part or all of their prize money to a Tomah charity for veterans, including this year’ s Best of Show winner, Jonathan Eilen, who took home $ 10,000 from Shell Rotella and another $ 5,000 from Mac Trailers.
That’ s a lot of green... but I think I get the true reward... a wealth of knowledge, stories from the road, and lots and lots of new friends. Those are the kinds of riches that you simply
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