Trucker Pins and Buttons
Description: "Phantom 309" is a song written by Tommy Faile and released as a single by Red Sovine in 1967. It was a minor hit, peaking at number nine on the country charts, with lyrics are spoken, rather than sung. This Phantom Trucking design is a fun nod to Big Joe's allegedly fictional trucking company which has him based in Barstow, California, and continuing to live on as a ghost trucker of the west coast. The song tells of a hitchhiker (the singer, in first person) trying to return home from the West Coast. On the third day of his trip, while at a crossroads in a driving rain, the hitchhiker is picked up by "Big Joe" driving his tractor-trailer called "Phantom 309," who ends up being a ghost driver, of urban legend fame...
Description: Consolidated Freightways (CF), was an American multinational LTL (Less Than Truckload) freight service and logistics company founded on April 1, 1929, in Portland, Oregon, and later relocated to Vancouver, Washington. At its height, the company possessed over 350 terminals, employing more than 15,000 truck drivers, dockworkers, dispatchers and management. Consolidated Freightways was once the nation's number one long-haul trucking company and the 3rd largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy filing, ceasing business in 2002.
Description: C.W. McCall's song 'Convoy' reached the number one position on the pop and country music charts in January 1976. The song was about truckers using CB radios to rebel against the new 55 mph federal speed limits, a theme so popular and topical, that the single sold over two million copies upon release. Midland decided to market a CB radio called the 'Convoy Buddy' to McCall fans, and while its 4 watts won’t get you from New Jersey to Omaha, Nebraska, like it did in the song, the radio was a nice unit. In 1978, the movie Convoy was released, based on McCall's song, that featured a new version of the track, written specially to track with the events of the film. The movie injected renewed in interest in the song and the Convoy Buddy radio sets.
Description: In 1906, Grover 'Cleve' Harrell started what was to become the Yellow Cab Company with horse-drawn carriages in Oklahoma City. Harrell's older brother, A. J. arrived, soon followed by their younger brother Marvin, and the three went into business together. In 1929, the Harrell brothers established Yellow Transit Freight Lines to serve small manufacturers for whom express rates were prohibitive. Eventually the partnership dissolved, and A. J. took control of the freight lines, which he kept small until 1952 when an ownership group bought the freight company. During this time, Yellow pioneered the concept of consolidating small shipments into trailer loads. In 1968, the company name was changed to Yellow Freight System.
Description: Founded in Pocatello, Idaho in 1913 by Clarence Garrett as a luggage transfer service for railroad passengers, Garrett Freight Lines grew to become the fifth-largest freight carrier in the U.S. and a major employer in Pocatello for nearly seven decades. Garrett was purchased in 1977 by a private equity firm, and then sold to ANR, an oil and gas concern, in 1978. ANR purchased three trucking companies with authority to operate routes from coast-to-coast. ANR redesigned the familiar green-and-gold Garrett logo, replacing it with a multicolored U.S. map design, and moved the firm’s headquarters to Denver, but eventually divested its trucking businesses, leaving Garrett to be absorbed by other entities.
Description: J. Harwood Cochrane founded the Overnite Transportation Company in Richmond, Virginia back in 1935 with an initial fleet consisted of one tractor, one trailer, and one straight truck. Overnite saw steady growth in its early years, fueled by contracts with the region's big tobacco producers. The company went public in 1957 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1962. Through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Overnite grew through acquisition of smaller carriers or the assets of bankrupt competitors. In 1982, Overnite received authorization to operate in all 48 states of the contiguous US, allowing it to grow outside its home market in Virginia. By the mid-1980s, Overnite operated in 33 states plus Washington, D.C.
Description: Known throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic for their iconic orange and white trucks, Preston Trucking Co. was founded in 1932 in Chesapeake Bay. The company was started by a canned goods wholesaler who had difficulty moving their product in less than truckload quantities, and their accountant suggested the company start its own trucking division. Initially, the company focused on small, irregular loads. These loads would later be known as less-than-truckload, which would be the model for what would come to be known as LTL trucking. Preston would go on to grow and expand, buying up many smaller carriers and by the late '90s, they had just over 5,000 employees, most of whom were drivers before suddenly folding in 1999, citing a lack of s
Description: Al Dean started Dean Van Lines in 1944 with a few dollars in the bank and a used truck, and built the company into one of the nation's largest moving companies. Based in Long Beach, California, Dean was a huge motorsports fan, and began racing midgets in the early '50s. His successful business, coupled with his interest in racing, would see him put together the Dean Van Lines Racing Team to build and campaign a series of cars dubbed the 'Dean Van Lines Special.' Dean's cars were extremely competitive, recording record lap times, and winning the pole position at the 500 numerous times. Sadly, Al Dean passed in 1967, and within a decade, Dean Van Lines was absorbed, but his legacy remains, and his race cars continue to be highly regarded.
Description: Marmons were first designed and built in Indianapolis, Indiana from 1960 to 1963 by Marmon-Herrington, the successor to the Marmon Motor Car Company. When Marmon-Herrington ceased production some time in 1963, a new company, Marmon Motor Company, purchased and revived the Marmon brand to build and sell premium truck designs that Marmon-Herrington had been planning. Just eight trucks were built that first year and the failing Marmon Motor Company was then sold to Space Corporation out of Denton, Texas and manufacturing was relocated to Garland, Texas, a long way from the old Duesenberg assembly plant in Indiana.
Description: If you lived in the south during the '50s through the '70s, you probably saw more than your share of 'The Big R' tankers running down the highways. Ryder Tank Line was founded in 1954 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and provided reliable contract tanker service throughout the southern states for nearly three decades.
Description: Before the proliferation of large truck stop chains made them a ubiquitous sight along the interstates, one-off mom-and-pop truck stops found on the two-lane highways were the norm, and the Tiki Oasis Truck Stop is one such example. Located at the junction of I-80 and US-51 in the LaSalle-Peru area of Illinois, Tiki Oasis decided to run with the tiki/exotica craze and theme their truck stop as such. From the decor of the motel rooms to signage throughout the facility, the Tiki Oasis was a little slice of Polynesian paradise right in the heart of the Midwest.
Description: Reimer Express Lines was founded in 1952 when 19-year-old Donald S. Reimer of Steinbach, Manitoba convinced his father and brothers to join him in starting a trucking company. Their original route was between Winnipeg and Windsor, Ontario, with Winnipeg as the head office. By December, Reimer added Windsor to Vancouver, and had extended to Toronto by 1956. In 1968 Reimer was acquired by Canadian conglomerate Neonex, but in 1971, the Reimer family bought the company back. Reimer continued to grow and expand through before ultimately being sold again in 1997 to Roadway, who themselves would be bought just six years later by Yellow. Yellow operated Reimer as an independent line until 2019, at which point the Reimer name was retired.
Description: New England Motor Freight (NEMF) began in 1918, hauling products for commercial bakeries in New Jersey. Over the next 100 years, the LTL carrier continued to expand, eventually building up to a fleet of 1,550 power units, 40 company terminals and, 3,700 employees, all while becoming a favorite among businesses in the northeast. Despite NEMF's size and reach, their fortunes took a turn in 2018, and amidst a downward spiral, New England Motor Freight filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019, ending what can only be described as a heck of a run.
Description: Lee Way Motor Freight was founded by Robert “Whitt” Lee in 1934 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Lee Way grew quickly, adding drivers and equipment, all while developing a reputation for safety and reliability. By 1947, the company had 225 pieces of equipment and added routes in Kansas and Missouri. That year, the company acquired another trucking company that expanded its fleet and operating authority, an expansion strategy Lee Way would follow for decades into the future. By 1975, Lee's sons decided to sell the company and by the time deregulation hit, Lee Way was in a downward spiral. Lee Way had expanded to 5,000 employees and 100 terminals in 25 states by 1984,but Lee Way's then owner, Commercial Lovelace, elected to shutter the line.
Description: Viking Freight System got their start in January 1966 as Viking Delivery Service based in San Jose, California. Their first customer was Pacific Telephone, and the cargo was computer punch cards that contained the daily phone number changes. These cards had to be delivered to 13 phone company offices at night so that updated information would be available the next day. By 1973 the company had grown to a large fleet of 27' van and flatbed trailers for both local and line haul routes as annual revenues reached $2.8 million. By 1981, Viking was the largest interstate carrier in California, with annual revenues of $48.0 million. Viking's success would eventually be their undoing as they were purchased by a worldwide carrier.
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