Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

I’ll let you in on a little secret in trucking. I don’t want to shock you or make you upset. I know how “sensitive” some of our readers are. The established trucking media which specializes in reporting dreck, never writes about this. And, unfortunately, America as a whole, cannot fairly deal with this reality of our great diverse society.

Here’s the scoop: many truck drivers are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgendered. OMG! You didn’t know that? Or did you? If you did, great. If not, wake up and get your head out of the sand. The driver right next to you on the road, at the buffet, in the fuel line or in Wal-Mart just might be a member of the LGBT community. I’d like to say they’re loud and proud, but because of the stigma involved surrounding being homosexual and the absurd misconceptions about just about everything “gay” this is all, well, very much, taboo.

Now, let me say a couple of things here. First, I am a member of the LGBT community. I came out of the closet when I was about 21. No, I’m not gay – I’m straight ( although I hate that term just as gay men hate being called fags) – and a proud supporter of gay rights. The closet I came out of was the one with all the prejudice hurtful unfair other people who don’t want to help gays achieve the rights guaranteed them in Constitution. But, I don’t want to get off track. This post is not about the evil religious right, politics or the almost “underground” LGBT trucking community. It is about entertainment and quite possibly one the best “talk” shows on terrestrial and satellite radio – the Derek and Romaine show – heard nightly from 6-10 PM on Sirius/XM. And many truckers, both straight and gay listen to and love this broadcast.

When I bought my first Sirius radio, there was no Howard Stern or for that matter a heck of a lot of anything to listen to other than music. For days I flipped around trying to find something unique. Although curious, I was a bit leery leaving the radio display on Out Q aka the “gay” channel. What would other drivers think? But I got over that stupidity fast after finding Derek and Romaine – a no holes barred hilarious sex-fest completely open and honest discussion about everything – and I mean everything!

Derek and Romaine (DNR) might remember me as the infamous “MJ”, who spent an inordinate amount of his time e-mailing, texting and calling the show. I grew out of it and moved on to torture other satellite radio hosts like Jay Thomas and Martha Stewart’s daughter. But in DNR parlance, I was one of the “bitches”, and I was hooked. I passed on many dinners, preferring to remain in the truck to listen to the entire show. You may have seen the white circle DNR bumper sticker on some trucks and wondered what it was for. Now you know.

After cancelling my Sirius service and listening to terresterial radio for a few weeks, I just recently turned on the XM radio in my new (used) truck. I was pleased that DNR after 5 years, is still on the air and as wild and funny as ever. I strongly suggest you listen in. The DNR website is here: http://www.derekandromaine.com/. If you still don’t have Sirius/XM, now is the perfect time to subscribe. Most of their equipment is on sale and you can get an affordable deal on the service.