Semi Sam delivers: Three new children's books shed light on trucking for young minds

When I first met Missouri-based Jared Flinn, operating partner of the BulkLoads.com load board specializing in bulk freight, that business was at the two-guys-in-a-basement stage, following Flinn’s work trucking himself a little, then managing logistics for a big commodities outfit. He comes to the BulkLoads.com project with a passion to serve small fleets and owner-operators, the 1-5-truck carriers that he notes in today’s Overdrive Radio podcast are the board’s primary customers (in addition to the brokers and shippers posting freight there).

Today, the company employs 45 people, hosting tens of thousands of load posts daily for freight moving in hoppers, pneumatic tanks, liquid bulk tanks, end dumps and more. The growth of BulkLoads isn't the instigating reason I spoke to Flinn recently, however. He's also the author of a brand-new series of children’s books, featuring the hauling exploits of one Semi Sam, a freight-hauling tractor personified in the manner of, say, the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series many of you will be familiar with.

Flinn's early sketches inspired the digitally created art inside each of now three books in the series, including Flinn was driven to create the series after reading books to his three children as they grew. He drew on his own long interest in visual art and a recognition that there seemed to be a dearth of kids' literature involving the trucking industry. There’s some out there, and I’ve written about the occasional kids’ book that involves the business when one or more has popped up over my many years here with Overdrive. But generally, Flinn’s right. There’s not much, and the big response to the three "Semi Sam" books out as of now is testament to that.

He couldn't have realized "how good of an impact this would have. I've had so many people reach out," he said, noting "there needs to be more books like this." 

If that describes your thoughts on the matter, stay tuned. For the series, it's three and counting, as it were. Take a listen: