Orlando
Truck Convoy
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One For The Record Books
6/29/2001 — The Rubber Duck would have been proud. There was no chartreuse minibus as in C.W. McCall's song "Convoy," but there were 97 trucks in a convoy in Orlando Wednesday that raised more than $15,000 for Special Olympics.
The Law Enforcement Truck Run aimed to be the world's largest truck convoy. Guinness World Records observers said the convoy did set an unofficial record, but the decision whether to include it in the next records book as a new category won't be made until later.
The convoy was the brainchild of Corporal Norm Schneiderhan of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Schneiderhan's father owned a fuel oil company in New Jersey, and Norm drove both for his father and over-the-road before getting into law enforcement. "So I knew truckers were
great guys," he said.
While Schneiderhan didn't get as many trucks as he had hoped, the convoy made an impressive spectacle, stretching 3 miles as it rumbled 15 miles west along the East-West Expressway toll road, ending up at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. Law officers closed the road completely for the convoy, stopping traffic for up to 40 minutes in some places.
Trucking companies and drivers paid to be in the convoy, with their donations going to Special Olympics. Donation levels listed on the truck run's web site ranged from $100 for a basic one-truck sponsorship, up to several thousand dollars for trucking companies participating with a number of trucks.
There was a huge variety of trucks: long-haul trucks, delivery trucks, tow trucks, crane trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks, car haulers, grocery trucks, beverage trucks ...
"I feel very proud of the way the trucking industry has supported Special Olympics," Schneiderhan said, whether it was the presidents and CEOs of large trucking companies calling, or individual truckers who participated on their own time and paid their own donation fees.
Schneiderhan is already planning to repeat the event next year. He said he will change the date; he discovered that a number of companies were unable to participate this close to a holiday (Independence Day). "A lot of companies are already excited about next year," he said.
He plans to again ask Burt Reynolds, forever associated with trucking for his role in "Smokey and the Bandit," to be grand marshal.
Orlando Truck Convoy Sets Unofficial World Record
The first running of a truck convoy on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla., raised more than $15,000 forthe Special Olympics, and unofficially set a new world record, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
A total of 97 trucks were involved in the 3-mile-long convoy, which traveled 15 miles across the East-West Expressway in Orlando.
Even though the convoy was for charity, it did anger some motorists because the road was completely closed, causing 40-minute delays in some places.
A spokesman from the Guinness World Records book said they will decide later this year whether to create a new category in the book for the convoy
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