July 24, 1990, 2010

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Sunday-Fulton, Missouri)
Got up at 5 AM from my camper at the Barnes place and was gone before any of them were up. I got to the Kansas City terminal about 8:15 AM CST and got on the TRB. I pushed getting here so I wouldn't have to sit around waiting for a load very long. About 15 minutes after getting on the TRB, dispatch called me to the window....WHAT??? Ridgway(the Popcorn Capital of the World ), Illinois again??? I took the load's paperwork and I was gone. Hooded out and filled my tanks(76 gallons). At 9:30 AM CST I headed south on I-435 to I-70 which I took east. Stopped for a short break at the rest area before Miniola hill, the site of many a truck drag race.

Stayed on I-70 through St Louis and over the Mississippi River. I-64 joins I-70 going over the river and I switched to it going east. Stayed on I-64 to exit 110(Hwy 45) and then went south. Hwy 45 "hits" Hwy 1. I now go stay down, the way I was going but now on Hwy 1. About 15 to 16 miles, I got to the Ridgway turnoff which I took to the delivery point just outside town. I parked my truck and checked in at 4:15 PM EST. My check in proved great as they unloaded me and was done by 5 PM CST.

I called dispatch and was given a load to pick up in Herrin, Illinois tomorrow. This load tomorrow was going to some auto plant in Lorain, Ohio. I went back to Hwy 1 and went south to Hwy 13. Went west on Hwy 13 to Marion, Illinois and stopped at the truckstop there for the night...

Second 5 Years:(death while driving???)
One winter Friday I had gotten a load to Indianapolis from Kansas City, Missouri. Saturday night I pulled into the BLUE & WHITE truckstop(exit 59, I-70, Indiana)-not there now-and decided to wait there until Sunday night. Sunday morning came and the truckstop was a buzz with a little excitement. I saw a Highway Patrolman interviewing a couple truckstop workers.

I found out that a driver at the west bound rest area just up the road had been killed. It seems that he was getting out of his tractor when another truck pulled in next to him. Apparently the driver pulling in got too close to the victim's truck and crushed him to death. The driver knew what had happened but didn't stop (Maybe because a being over on logbook hours???). He then went to the BLUE & WHITE's shop and fixed a couple spots of damage to his truck. The shop workers didn't remember his details...The driver got away and to this day(July 24, 2010) hasn't been caught for the HIT & RUN....that I know of.

The next week, I had made a delivery in Seymour, Indiana on Friday afternoon. I was then told to pick up a load Monday in Bloomingdale, Indiana. Well, I went to the BLUE & WHITE truckstop again on Saturday and decided to stay there until Sunday night. Sunday morning I made my daily check call and the dispatcher told me my wife wanted me to call her. I called and she said for me to call Chuck. I did and Chuck told me that my friend, a fellow teacher at the truck school I taught at, had been killed the previous Sunday...at an I-70 westbound rest area.