10-4 Magazine March 2022

28 10-4 Magazine / March 2022 scales, but that day the PrePass was shut off, so everyone had to pull into the scale. The truck wasn’t responding as it should as she was coming off the interstate and, as she came up behind another stopped truck, her Kenworth just shut down. She tried to start it, but it was starving for fuel and the “Starter Protection Mode” light was lit on the dash. Being about a half mile from the scale and totally blocking the entrance, she got out of her truck and walked to the scale house. When she got to the scale house, she found a big, tall, DOT officer there who was already chewing out a couple other drivers. He turns to Debbie and says, “Is that you blocking my scale?” In response, she broke down crying and apologized. He stated that he was going to need to call a tow truck in and she said, “No, it has to be something simple and, well gosh darn it, just look at how beautiful the truck is. It just has to be something simple!” He told her, “Start walking, and by the time I get there, if it isn’t started, I’m calling a wrecker.” So, Debbie began her walk of shame back to the truck while honks and waves from the passing trucks happened. She told me she felt like she was at a pageant with all the waves of thanks as the trucks didn’t have to drive into the scale. She got back to the truck and opened the hood as the officer arrived in his car. The officer asked if she figured it out and she said, “You guys inspect these, so you should know what is wrong!” He replied, “We inspect, we don’t fix.” To which Debbie came back with, “Then what good are you then!” He again stated the need for a tow truck, but she told him to just wait. There is a glass dome for the water/fuel separator and Debbie realized that it hadn’t been tightened properly and was allowing air in. Basically, it vapor-locked itself. After tightening it up and priming the fuel filters, the truck finally started. Running over to the squad car, where the officer was on the phone with the tow company, she did her best impersonation of the “Superstar” movement from the 1999 movie named the same, which starred Molly Shannon. Throwing peace signs, she added, “Oh my God, it started!” The officer smiled and, over the PA system, said, “Get outta here lady!” Debbie’s stories are pretty entertaining, including one where she was pulled over for speeding. The officer asked if her truck was a show truck and her response was, “It’s not a show truck, but it’s a fast truck.” But not all the stories are funny. One day she was picking up an oversize load at Richie Bros. in Morris, IL. If she didn’t load quickly, she would be stuck there for the weekend. She had to load a backhoe and a dump truck, and a guy there offered to help, because she needed to put a plank under the backhoe as it was being loaded. The guy lifted the machine up with the bucket but prematurely set it back down – on her hand. She calmly said to lift the machine back up, but he panicked and set the machine down all the way instead of lifting it back up. She thought she was going to lose her fingers, but 63 stitches later, she was back on her way. The very next day, while switching trailers, her foot got caught on an airline and she fell and knocked herself out. After visiting a specialist, she was told she might lose her fingers, but she was determined. For the next eight weeks, she had the wounds cleaned every day and, in the end, kept all those fingers. Today, 56-year-old Debbie, an Owner Operator running under D. Setter Trucking, LLC, remains leased on with Heritage Transport, Inc. out of Alexandria, MN since signing on June 14, 2013. She is the proud mother of four children and is known as “Truck Grandma” to her 10 grandchildren. The most influential individuals in trucking are her father Leo and her brother James. Leo because she had always admired