Doing the Day Two Shuffle

You can tell it is Day 2 of the Mid America Trucking Show. It's getting harder to move around as more and more people crowd the show floor. And the traffic moves at a shuffling pace as people stop and stare all of the goodies on display. The Land Line Now booth in the North wing lobby has seen a steady stream of traffic. Sadly, I have not been part of that stream today.

You'll have to trust me, though, when I say my time away from the booth has been worth it. Sandi Soendker and I met up with the Goodyear Highway Hero nominees (and the winner) this morning at the Louisville Slugger museum and factory. It's a neat place to see if you get the time to check it out while you're in town.

But we weren't there to learn about bats; we were there to learn about the Goodyear Highway Heroes and what kind of a person you have to be to run into the fire (in some cases literally) while others are running away. The answer is surprisingly ordinary. These guys are just ordinary truck drivers who saw folks in need of help and jumped in without giving it a second thought. To a man, each one of them said they did not hesitate in the slightest when they were presented with a life-threatening situation. And to a man, they each said they would do it again in a heartbeat.

Later on in the day, I stopped by the Trucker Buddy press conference to learn about a new program Trucker Buddy is kicking off to educate kids about what truckers do to stay green and help the environment.

I also heard some great stories from those who were named 2009 Trucker Buddies of the Month, including OOIDA member Candy Bass, who has a rather unique Trucker Buddy class. Candy has the honor of being the only trucker whose buddy class is made up of athletes from a Special Olympic swim team.

I'll be following up with Candy after the show to get the scoop on that story for Land Line Now. It should be a lot of fun to listen to.

Trucker Buddies and Highway Heroes are just a few of the wonderful people you meet at this show. And that's just on one single day that isn't even over yet.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.