Owner-operator Andy Freeman, headquartered in Richland Center, Wisconsin, hauls in a 2014 Freightliner 122SD pulling a much newer Trail King RGN mini-deck, outfitted for what are mostly oversize loads on the hook. Overdrive Radio caught up with Freeman in Orlando, Florida, on the site of the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association’s annual Specialized Transportation Symposium.

Freeman, leased to Landstar now for many years and hauling most aviation-related freight -- “airport to airport,” as he puts it -- had his rig empty and set up in the conference hotel parking lot where Florida Highway Patrol inspectors demonstrated a walkaround Level 2 inspection of it for conference attendees.

The trailer was empty, that is, unless you looked a little more closely: About dead center lengthwise on the minideck was an itty-bitty chained-down toy loader. Turned out it wasn’t just Freeman's attempt at good humor for conference attendees -- and those inspectors -- but rather a long-used tool for cheering up fellow travelers along the road, among other things.

There’s more to it in the conversation with Freeman in this week's Overdrive Radio podcast, likewise the owner-operator's fortuitous find delivering a solution to a long-suffered problem of many a heavy-specialized and/or other open-deck hauler. "Sometimes you just want to have a shower," he said, doing this kind of work, particularly after solving the securement puzzle on hot days.

For those of you with no more than your standard sort of 70-inch sleeper, as is the case for Freeman's 122SD, listen on for an off-the-shelf (mostly) solution to that issue he's carried with him since this past December.

Also in the podcast: Long Haul Paul Marhoefer's "The estimated opening is unknown" read by the author, detailing a rough week spent partially along I-80 in Wyoming shut down in Laramie with extreme winter weather. This year, it's been a "winter from hell" for all on the road in that state.

Read the original story via this link: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-extra/article/15352433/winter-from-hell-on-i80-in-wyoming