(Written by Tommy Faile)         well you see I happened to be back on the east coast   a few years back tryin' to make me a buck   like everybody else, well you know   times get hard and well I got down on my luck   and I got tired of just roamin' and bummin'   around, so I started thumbin' my way   back to my old hometown   you know I made quite a few miles   in the first couple of days, and I   figured I'd be home in a week if my   luck held out this way   but you know it was the third night   I got stranded, it was out at a cold lonely   crossroads, and as the rain came   pouring down, I was hungry, tired   freezin', caught myself a chill, but   it was just about that time that   the lights of an old semi topped the hill   you should of seen me smile when I   heard them air brakes come on, and   I climbed up in that cab where I   knew it'd be warm at the wheel   well at the wheel sat a big man   I'd have to say he must of weighed 210   the way he stuck out a big hand and   said with a grin "Big Joe's the name   and this here rig's called Phantom 309"   well I asked him why he called his   rig such a name, but he just turned to me   and said "Why son don't you know this here   rig'll be puttin' 'em all to shame, why   there ain't a driver on this   or any other line for that matter   that's seen nothin' but the taillights of Big Joe   and Phantom 309"   So we rode and talked the better part of the night   and I told my stories and Joe told his and   I smoked up all his Viceroys as we rolled along   he pushed her ahead with 10 forward gears   man that dashboard was lit like the old   Madam La Rue pinball, a serious semi truck   until almost mysteriously, well it was the   lights of a truck stop that rolled into sight   Joe turned to me and said "I'm sorry son   but I'm afraid this is just as far as you go   You see I kinda gotta be makin' a turn   just up the road a piece," but I'll be   damned if he didn't throw me a dime as he   threw her in low and said "Go on in there   son, and get yourself a hot cup of coffee   on Big Joe"   and when Joe and his rig pulled off into   the night, man in nothing flat they was   clean outa sight   so I walked into the old stop and   ordered me up a cup of mud sayin'   "Big Joe's settin' this dude up" but   it got so deathly quiet in that   place, you could of heard a pin drop   as the waiter's face turned kinda   pale, I said "What's the matter did   I say somethin' wrong?" I kinda   said with 8a half way grin. He said   "No son, you see It'll happen every   now and then. You see every driver in   here knows Big Joe, but let me   tell you what happened just 10 years   ago, yea it was 10 years ago   out there at that cold lonely crossroads   where you flagged Joe down, and   there was a whole bus load of kids   and they were just comin' from school   and they were right in the middle when   Joe topped the hill, and could   have been slaughtered except   Joe turned his wheels, and   he jacknifed, and went   into a skid, and folks around here   say he gave his life to save that bunch   of kids, and out there at that cold   lonely crossroads, well they say it   was the end of the line for   Big Joe and Phantom 309, but it's   funny you know, cause every now and then   yea every now and then, when the   moon's holdin' water, they say old Joe   will stop and give you a ride, and   just like you, some hitchhiker will be   comin' by"   "So here son," he said to me, "get   yourself another cup of coffee, it's on the   house, you see I want you to hang on   to that dime, yea you hang on to that   dime as a kind of souvenir, a   souvenir of Big Joe and Phantom 309"