14 Kentucky Trucker FROM UNDER THE TRUCK TO BEHIND THE WHEEL VOL. 2 By Tristan Truesdell, Staff Assistant, Kentucky Trucking Association Ihave not driven much since obtaining the CDL, but I did get some unique seat time in late August. In preparation for the KTA Annual Conference, held at the French Lick Resort and Casino in Indiana, I was given the opportunity to drive a truck that few have been allowed to drive. No, it wasn’t around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; it wasn’t even entirely outside. I drove a 2023 Kenworth, compliments of Kenworth of Louisville, inside the French Lick Resort Ballroom. As in years past, KTA had several vendors displaying trucks. Historically, the road team captains were at the event to move all the equipment inside the building, but due to a scheduling conflict (several were at the National Truck Driving Championship), this left us slightly short-handed as far as drivers. David Proctor and I were left to get the equipment inside the building. The French Lick facility can have several truck tractors and a couple of trailers positioned inside the ballroom area. Entry is made via a set of extremely large garage-type doors at the rear of the building. Once David positioned the two semi-trailers, it was time to bring the display truck tractors. David brought the first one in, and I had already decided that if he could do it, I could too. Well, probably! To put this in perspective, as you already know, I have had limited driving experience when it comes to CMVs, and this was not the same as driving in an open lot or even the open road. These were somewhat tight spots to get into the ballroom. The trick is not to tear up the carpet tiles, something that apparently is not that difficult to do. So, with David as my co-pilot, I began to drive this on-the-upper-side-of-$100,000 truck into essentially a ballroom/parking garage. I made it with room to spare. Years ago, I heard someone describing an endeavor to park or drive a vehicle through a tight space. I distinctly remember the person saying, “Oh, you could drive a tractortrailer through there;” maybe you’ve heard the saying. It’s usually used to describe an instance where there was ample room, even
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODQxMjUw