The Last Word

Screening on wheels

Paccar has donated a new Kenworth T660 to Seattle's Swedish Cancer Institute, which is using the truck to haul a mobile mammography facility.

“It's recommended that women over 40 have a yearly mammography for early detection of breast cancer — the leading cancer killer among women,” said Albert B. Einstein Jr., M.D., executive director of the Institute. “But in outlying areas, and especially among working women, they tend to put off the exams due to time, the distance they need to travel, and often financial constraints.”

Roll 'em!

Coming to a truckstop near you this summer is a one-of-a-kind documentary by noted filmmaker Doug Pray titled Big Rig that chronicles the life of everyday truckers.

“This was a much darker film than what I set out to make, but I wanted to show what trucking is really like,” Pray told our intrepid reporter. “But I knew it was a success when truck drivers came up to me after seeing it and said ‘That's the real deal.’”

Big Rig is available on DVD at truckstops and Wal-Marts across the U.S. and will also go on a tour of sorts as it will be shown at 25 TA/Petro truckstops this summer.

Super rig

Ryan Danylchurch of Winnipeg, MB, won the “Best of Show” top prize of $10,000 at the 26th annual Shell Rotella Super Rigs competition, held last month at the Iowa 80 truckstop in Walcott, IA. Danylchurch's 2001 Peterbilt 379 also earned a spot in the 2009 Super Rigs calendar along with a case of Shell Rotella T with Triple Protection motor oil and an Iowa 80 Prize Package.

The three-day truck beauty contest for actively working trucks allows truckers from the U.S. and Canada to compete for $25,000 in cash and additional prizes.

A total of 25 prizes were awarded in categories that included: “Tractor,” “Tractor/Trailer Combination,” “Classic,” “Best Chrome”, “Best Theme,” “Best Mural,” “Best Lights,” “Best Interior,” “Best Engine,” and “People's Choice.” The People's Choice award was voted on throughout the event and was won by the 2000 Freightliner Classic XL of Bob and Shelley Brinker of Grayling, MI. Along with Danylchurch, 11 other truckers also won bragging rights to appear beside their trucks in the calendar. For more about the competition, go to www.rotella.com.

Shining star

Although a bit camera-shy, this is a trash hauler that's quite at home in truck beauty contests. A provider of solid waste disposal and recycling services, Newark, NJ-based Action Carting Environmental Services serves all five boroughs of New York City with a fleet of 150 trucks, including 24 Western Stars. The fleet's pride and joy is now-retired Truck 214 — a 2001 model Western Star 4900 FA that's captured some 20 trophies at various truck beauty competitions, including the East Coast Truck Show and the 2007 Paul K. Young Memorial Truck Beauty Show.