Freightliner; Slice of Trucker Life Blog

Freightliner Trucks has served three owner-operator truck drivers a Slice of Life–a 2009 Freightliner Cascadia to drive and evaluate for one year. For their part, the selected drivers will write about their real world OTR driver jobs in the Slice of Trucker Life blog space.

Melissa Clausen, director of product marketing for Freightliner Trucks, says this is an excellent and unique way for people with owner-operator trucking jobs to meet the needs of their businesses as they test the Cascadia on a day-to-day basis.

Those taking part in the Slice of Life program are: Kurt Grote, 49, who works for John Christner Trucking in Sapulpa, Oklahoma; Dick McCorkle, 63, who works for Perkins Specialized Transportation in Noblesville, Ind.; and Henry Albert, 44, the owner of Albert Transport, Inc., based in Statesville, N.C.

With 24 years in truck driving employment, Albert currently drives a 2001 Freightliner Century Class S/T and is eager to try out the new Cascadia for his general freight and dry van trailer needs.

McCorkle currently drives a 2000 International Eagle and has had an over the road trucking job for 44 years. At present, McCorkle is a Perkins on leased owner-operator, typically hauling furniture and store fixtures in the southwestern United States. Previously, he was a freight carrier to all 48 contiguous states. In 2001, McCorkle was named the Indiana Motor Truck Associations Driver of the Year. More recently, he won a sportsmanship award in the Indiana truck rodeo championships after competing for 42 years.

Grote, who hauls refrigerated products to the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada, has had an OTR trucking job since 1992. Grote drives a 2006 Kenworth W900 these days and is a leased on owner-operator with Sapuplpa, Oklahoma-based John Christner Trucking..

The winners of the Slice of Life program, which kicked off at the Cleveland, North Carolina, Freightliner Trucks plant on August 19, were presented with their new Cascadia trucks and received a tour of the truck plant as VIPS.

Anyone who would like to meet the winning drivers and examining their trucks will have the chance at the Mid America Truck Show, March 19-21, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Freightliner Trucks booth.