Thomas Remington (left, with beard) and several friends made among drivers at the Love's in Wamsutter, Wyoming, these past days during a parking-lot feast for the ages.
As noted in yesterday's installment in our 60th-anniversary series peering into Overdrive and trucking history, turning the CB on can yield positive safety impacts in all manner of dangerous scenarios on the road. Yet I'm glad to report today that the social and cultural ramifications of the simple practice are alive and well and, in a rugged winter season for over-the-road haulers all across the country, shining through with their own positivity.
Let's cue up Thomas Remington, flatbed owner-operator leased to Decker Truck Line out of Iowa and originator of the Instagram post showcasing the picture above. He had a load appointment get pushed late last week and then Saturday cancel on him. No mind – he needed to get some work done on his flatbed, and so he parked up at Love's in Wamsutter, Wyoming.
One thing you should know about owner-operator Remington – the man is a veritable "chef who also happens to drive a truck," in his words, that is. His @beardedflatbedguy profile on Instagram is a treasure trove of some of his on-highway culinary creations. When I-80 in the area shut down with a storm blowing through the next day, he got on the CB with his intentions to whip up "some barbacoa and tri-tip. Somebody said, I've got this or that. Somebody else said, 'I've got a grill.' I said, let's get organized and figure this out."
What Remington ended up with was a good ol' "regular truck driving melting pot" of 10 people Sunday night, more for brunch Monday and Monday dinner. "We had old-timers, folks who were really green, owner-operators, company drivers," he said. "It just made the terrible situation so much easier to deal with."
Remington's Volvo (pictured) is currently in lease-purchase with Decker -- find Remington via
That first night the group ended up with what he informally calls a Mexican-flavors-inflected "trucker's stew," with that beef cheek and tri-tip – most of it came from the store of approximately two weeks' worth of food that Remington typically carries on his Volvo VNL740 midroof double bunk. He carries an Instapot air fryer, a regular Instapot, electric and gas stoves, a microwave – "when I don't need my chains" he brings along his gas grill – and all manner of common kitchen equipment besides, he said.
