Now Lansing, Michigan-based operator Toby Bogard is on a mission. That mission is multifold, as you’ll hear in today’s edition of Overdrive Radio, where we catch back up with the driver, now hauling for Heartland Express after about a year and a half away from the road.

Bogard’s return to the road follows a million-plus-mile career prior, and he's newly involved in efforts to push along an idea for something of a feel-good movie narrative about the life and times of a trucker, framed by his last ride home, with the goal of improving the public image of trucking. At least that's among Bogard's principal goals for involvement.

This isn’t Bogard’s first such foray. Regular Overdrive readers may have caught a mention earlier in the week of his Semi-Aware book, designed for teens setting out to get their driver’s license for the first time. It's all about education and appreciation for the work trucking does, and even more specifically just how to maneuver around tractor-trailers on the road (more emphasis on which is sorely needed in driver’s ed programs around the nation): https://www.overdriveonline.com/channel-19/article/14874190/con-way-truckload-driver-pens-semi-aware-book-for-teen-drivers

It had been quite a time since we'd spoken to Bogard, and a whole lot had happened to him in the interim, including the move north from his former home in East Tennessee, the tragic passing of a loved one, and a big re-evaluation of goals during his time off the road caring for two young daughters. Hear his story in today's podcast.