March 3 – Thursday

Watching the peoples convoy rollbthru Cambridge Ohio.

ARTICLE
Convoy participant Stanley Turner has been livestreaming the effort from his 2004 Peterbilt rig, equipped with a custom sleeper that includes a shower and kitchen — “kind of like a small recreational vehicle,” he told the Dispatch Thursday.

The 57-year-old who lives in Oklahoma said he’s driving “pig-tail” (without a trailer), noting that most of the rigs have no payload and are a small percentage of the millions of commercial vehicles in the U.S.

At 12:30 Thursday, the convoy was 60 miles west of Dayton with large crowds appearing on overpasses and side roads along Interstate 70.
We’re out in the middle of nowhere and 40 to 50 people appear along a gravel road,” Turner said. “You’d think we were war heroes coming back from battle.”

The lead truck is notable for its large American flag loaned to the driver from a man whose father was lost in World War II. “This was the flag that was over his father’s casket when he came back from Germany,” Turner said.
Speeds have ranged between 25 and 45 mph, Turner said, noting a “slinky” effect when a trucker slows, forcing the convoy to respond.

He estimated that more than 200 tractor trailers and more than 500 other vehicles were within the convoy. A video near the Ohio border with Indiana showed most draped in flags.

Another convoy, the American Freedom Convoy, was expected in the area Sunday afternoon. Both are eastbound, en route to Washington D.C. Both have said that they would not enter the district, but would congregate at undisclosed locations nearby for rallies or other events.

Go Stan! Let freedom ring!

Happy trails!