The day Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar went silent is etched in my memory with the clarity of a desert highway at dawn. As Walter Gatlin, I invite you to ride shotgun with me through an emotional landscape painted with the blues of SRV's legacy and the raw reflections of that fateful August day back in 1990. We'll navigate the curves of a trucker's inner world, where music is both a companion and a milestone, marking the moments of our lives with the poignancy of a haunting solo.
Cruising further down the interstate of discourse, we shift gears to confront the contentious speed limits that govern our rigs and our lives. I'll lay down my seasoned take on California's 55 mph rule, dissecting the logic—or lack thereof—behind such constraints. We'll also tap into the unsung hero of the trucker's journey: the CB radio. This steadfast tool of trade isn't just for chatter; it's the pulse of the road, a conduit for camaraderie, and the lifeline that keeps us connected in an era where social media filters our voices. Join me for an episode that's as much about the ties that bind as it is about the open road ahead.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
The day Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar went silent is etched in my memory with the clarity of a desert highway at dawn. As Walter Gatlin, I invite you to ride shotgun with me through an emotional landscape painted with the blues of SRV's legacy and the raw reflections of that fateful August day back in 1990. We'll navigate the curves of a trucker's inner world, where music is both a companion and a milestone, marking the moments of our lives with the poignancy of a haunting solo.
Cruising further down the interstate of discourse, we shift gears to confront the contentious speed limits that govern our rigs and our lives. I'll lay down my seasoned take on California's 55 mph rule, dissecting the logic—or lack thereof—behind such constraints. We'll also tap into the unsung hero of the trucker's journey: the CB radio. This steadfast tool of trade isn't just for chatter; it's the pulse of the road, a conduit for camaraderie, and the lifeline that keeps us connected in an era where social media filters our voices. Join me for an episode that's as much about the ties that bind as it is about the open road ahead.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
Speaker 1:
Hello drivers, welcome to rolling 18 podcast. I'm your host, walter Gatlin. You can check out the podcast on Buzzsprout at Rollin18podcastcom. There is no G in the rolling. It's not rolling, it's rolling like 18 wheels rolling Rollin' 18 Podcast. Check it out. We just started this a few shows ago and it's turning out to be good. The downloads are turning out to be great. It's going to take a while to build a following it always does with anything new but I'm hoping to provide you drivers with information that you can use and entertainment you can listen to while you're rolling down the road.
Speaker 1:
Today I was thinking about times in my life and we all have the times in our life where we think of something, something that really impacted our life. Like you can remember exactly where you were at when you first heard about 9-11, things like that. Well, I was thinking about a day, august 27th 1990. That's a long time ago, but I've been on the road since 1984, and it brought back a lot of memories because I was thinking of somebody who I really adored as a musician, and that day started a typical day, except it wasn't that typical. I had stopped at a truck stop the night before over in Redding, california, and I had, broke away from my trailer and went ahead and went down to the saloon, like we always did when a lot of us drivers met back in the 90s. We'd get together, go down the saloon, drop a few and then make sure our trucks were parked on the property so we can just walk right outside, get in our truck and go to bed. That was the best way to do things. That was the night before. The next morning I got up, did my normal thing, went and hooked up my trailer, got everything ready, got fueled up the whole nine yards headed down I-5 from Redding California because I had to be in LA the next morning Driving down the road.
Speaker 1:
Decided to turn on some tunes that afternoon and bam, stevie Ray Vaughan's song comes on. Now this is the intro to Mary had a Little Lamb, one of my favorite songs that he ever did. I used to play this song when the kids were babies and I just loved it and the kids loved it. You know they grew up listening to this type of stuff. I listened to country, I listened to classic rock, I listened to blues, I listened to jazz. Anything that attracts my attention I listened to. Well, I was listening to a Stevie Ray Vaughan song Mary had a Little Lamb. Then all of a sudden the next song comes on as another Stevie Ray Vaughan song, and then the next song that comes on as another Stevie Ray Vaughan song, and this was August 27th 1990. And I'm going. Why are they playing so many Stevie Ray Vaughan songs? And then all of a sudden the news breaks. The guy comes on and he talks about Stevie Ray Vaughan and then he reminds everybody like he's probably done several times before I even turned the radio on that that morning at 12.50 am Vaughan and members of Eric Clapton's touring entourage played in an all-star encore jam session at Alpine Valley Music Theater and Alpine Valley Resort in East Troy, wisconsin.
Speaker 1:
They then left for Midway International Airport in Chicago in a Bell 206B helicopter the most common way for acts to enter and exit the venue and there is only one road in and out heavily used by fans. The helicopter crashed into a nearby ski hill shortly after takeoff. Vaughn and the four others on board pilot Jeff Brown, agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Brown and tour manager Colin Smythe or Smith, however you want to pronounce it they all died. The helicopter was owned by Chicago-based company OmniFlight Helicopters in the Elkhorn Corners and Quest Pound that all five men died instantly. That's the only thing you can hope for when you're in such a horrific situation like that is to either live and be okay or die instantly, because the in-between could be horrific. Live for several days with 200 broken bones and next thing you know you die anyway, or to be crippled for the rest of your life. At least you're living right. I don't know. I've never been through anything that traumatic and I pray to God I don't have to be, but I know a lot of people have to go through it every single day of every year.
Speaker 1:
It was really sad to lose Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was a thought that I had. I literally broke down in tears while driving down the road. It was a beautiful, clear day that day and I believe I was already south of the Sacramento exit when I was on I-5 and I heard this going on. I could not believe my ears. I could not believe that the great Stevie Ray Vaughan was dead and it really hurt me. It really affected me. I've lost since then several entertainers who I adored and back then when you listened to the AM FM radio, you found a radio station that was close by.
Speaker 1:
That would give you, you know, great music. Because I had an AM FM stereo cassette. That's all I had in my truck. That was back in the days we didn't use cell phones. We didn't. Most of us didn't plop CDs inside yet, because in 1990, it was a new thing and the new CD players that came out for trucks were very expensive, just like when you went out and bought a brand new TV, console TV. When they first came out there was thousands of dollars back in the 70s and 80s and if you know anything about that kind of money back then, it was a lot of money.
Speaker 1:
Now I want to talk a little bit about speed limits and stuff like that. Throughout the states and we know there are still several states out there that treat truck drivers like babies. I mean, california is one of them Having a speed limit for trucks at 55 miles an hour to me is ludicrous. I understand the reason of their thinking, but I don't understand the logic, the way the law is written. You know you have vehicles doing 70, 80 miles an hour and 70 is legal out there for cars, and you have trucks that they want you to do 55 miles an hour. They put out a report on CDL Life. On April 23rd, chp Reading recently encountered a truck hauling an oversized load traveling at 70 miles an hour. They do that all the time, chp. They do it all the time in all the states where it's illegal to do 70 miles an hour. 55 is just too slow, you know. These people got a job to do and the report said well over the CMV limit of 55, troopers took advantage of the incident to remind truckers to slow down.
Speaker 1:
You're treating this like it's a national news story. It's something real big. It's not big. You people out there in California with your laws against trucks and stuff you have more regulations against trucks in the state of California than all other states combined, I would assume. That's my opinion. It is disgusting what you folks do out there, you legislators and you people that follow these brain-dead legislators. Trucks are. They drive safely. Okay, they drive safely doing 65, 70 miles an hour. That's why most states allow it. Some states allow even more. Now it says for those of you who asked if we enforce big rig speeding, the answer is yes. Although we can't catch them all as there is a lot more of them than there are of us, we do our best to enforce the 55 max speed limit for big rigs and combination vehicles. This is just one stop of several on the day CHP said Now you know, I was born and raised in California.
Speaker 1:
What you folks did to that state disgusts me on many levels, because not only have you degraded the truck driver in many, many different laws that you have against truck drivers, driver, in many, many different laws that you have against truck drivers, you have tied the hands of those that like to do the right thing. 55 is too slow. You all need to raise up truck speed limits and you need to use states that have separate speed laws for cars and trucks. Pull your heads out of your butt, come on. You know it's dangerous. Every scientific study that's ever been done legitimately proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's ridiculous to try and have two different types of vehicles, especially a little 3,000 pound minute vehicle and an 80,000 pound truck, doing different speeds, especially the way you guys have so many lawbreakers in these states like California and New York. Why do you think your citizens have so little respect for you folks? Because you nitpick, you go in there and you treat everybody like children. Okay, 55 is not a good speed. That's the reason the laws were reversed back in the 70s or 80s when the Supreme Court got involved and said look, 55 is too slow. They had a national 55 speed limit for everybody years ago and they said you know what, enough's enough. We're going to quit treating the citizens of America like babies and we're going to realize that vehicles are made to go a little bit faster than that and they can do so safely.
Speaker 1:
But, highway patrol, you bring this up like it's a story. It's not a story. In most states you can do 70 miles an hour legally. Millions of trucks do it every year without one solitary problem. California vehicle code prohibits any motor truck or truck tractor having three or more axles, or any motor truck or truck tractor drawing on any other vehicle, from traveling at speeds in excess of 55 miles an hour on a highway. It's crazy, it doesn't make sense and you guys need to rethink that. And every study they know for a fact. It's all about the money and you know this too. So, highway Patrol, all you guys out there in black and whites and the blue and whites and whatever that love to just pull over commercial vehicles, you're having fun at the expense of somebody else's money. You're having fun at the expense of somebody that knows the law is corrupt. Let's get rid of the 55 for trucks and let's move that up to 65 or 75. I would like to see 70. This national law that the federal government is talking about is ridiculous. They're wanting to regulate all trucks and put speed limiters on all trucks and they're thinking about 55 or 60 to be the speed limit. You are going to cause such a national problem you don't even realize.
Speaker 1:
If I was a California Highway Patrol officer and I'm giving you guys a piece of advice and I see a truck peacefully going down the road at 65, 70 miles an hour, I wouldn't even think about pulling that truck over. Who I want to keep an eye on are the erratic drivers, the ones that do the type of driving that could actually cause an accident, the guys that speed down the road a little bit. Forget about them. A safe speed for a semi is 70 miles an hour. And all you guys out there, guys and gals that drive in the city and go above the 55, I do agree with a slower speed limit in the city because you know how dangerous it can be out there. Anything else, let these drivers roll, man. They got work to do, they are away from their family, they're away from everything they love in order to make a living and, by God, without us, you guys wouldn't even be driving. You'd be on a bicycle and you'd have to wait for that truck to come in to deliver that to you. So, guys, let's get these laws changed. But if I was a highway patrol officer and I see trucks doing a safe speed, not driving erratically, I'm going to ignore it and I'm going to pull over the cars, because the cars are 90% of the problems that trucks have when there's a car versus truck accident. So go do your research and realize that you're biting off the wrong branch of the tree. Okay, it's important that we stay focused and forget these stories about trucks doing 70 in a 55, because trucks do it every day, legally in most states. Just because some of you states have not caught up with the times doesn't mean that it's not right or it's not legal. I wish more truckers would band together and sue these states with 55 mile an hour speeds. I guarantee you we'd win.
Speaker 1:
There was a story put out that caught my eye and it's called Twitter is the New CB Radio, and there's a guy that wrote a story that says Jamie Hagen, owner of Aberdeen, south Dakota based Hellbent Express, talks about the importance of community and saving pennies in the trucking business. The small fleet owner explains how Twitter acts as the modern-day CB radio for the newest generations of truckers and fleet owners, forging relationships. You know, the problem with that idea is that the Twitter is monitored. Okay, there's a lot of things we as truckers like to talk about that are not necessarily illegal, but we like to talk in confidence, and the only way any trucker can have confidence in their conversation with anybody is through a CB. Nothing is ever going to replace the CB.
Speaker 1:
There's a lot of people out there that want to use social media for their communication platform rather than the CB. Let me tell you, one of these days I'm going to do a segment on the CB and how important it is, and I'm going to explain to you folks how you can do things that make your conversations legit and confidential, because there's a lot of information we need to know in order to make a better lifestyle for ourselves, in order to operate safer and in order to do things in a way that gets the job done as quickly as possible, and I know you think you can't put all three of those things together and come up with a good solution. Well, you can. Truckers did it for years and years and years, before all this social media content.
Speaker 1:
You're not safe on X. You're not safe on Facebook. You can't say what you want. They block certain things, no matter what it is. It doesn't have to be political If they find it to be offensive or if they find it to be not true.
Speaker 1:
And you know for a fact, it is true. But because they say so, some 25-year-old kid said well, I'm just not going to post that, I'm not going to allow that to get to anybody. Well, a CB doesn't act that way. If you're on a CB radio and it is turned on which it should be you are going to hear what the person says. And if you want a private conversation, there are split channels you can use. There are multi-split channels you can use. There are channels you can go to that nobody even knows about. And, believe me, there are ways to have discussions, private discussions, that can help you motivate your life and motivate your trucking business, especially if you're an owner-operator, in order to be able to live a great life, and that's all there is to it, so stick with the CB.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, social media is fine, but the important issues need to be done in confidence, and you know what I'm talking about out there drivers. There's a lot of money to be made and a lot of scammers out there and we've got to stay away from them and we need to all work together. I appreciate you. Folks listening to Rollin' 18 Podcast. Check it out Rollin18Podcastcom. God bless, be safe and, as always, keep it between the lines. Driver.