WHO’S THE BOSS?
Bob Bruckert of Germantown, Wis., was raised on a farm and learned to drive a truck as a youth by hauling hay to the horse racing tracks near Chicago. After a career with Anchor Moving Systems that spanned nearly two decades, Bruckert recently switched to Select One Transport of Phoenix. He hauls automobiles, especially prototypes and other specialty vehicles, with his 2003 Peterbilt 379 with a 550-hp Caterpillar. Bruckert says that the best part of trucking is “no boss breathing down my neck!”
A SECOND CHANCE
Growing up in a farming family, Josh Laneville of Momence, Ill., surprised everyone when he became a trucker. Their surprise turned to delight when they figured out they didn’t have to find someone to haul their grain. In 2001, a fire in Laneville’s front yard burned his cherry-red Kenworth T600. He replaced it with a 1999 Kenworth W900L, powered by a 525-hp Cummins and a 13-speed transmission, and now he spends lots of time waxing and polishing his new rig, which he uses to haul grain, sod and trees.
ROCKIN’ PETE
Rig: 2000 Peterbilt 378
Engine: 430-hp Caterpillar
Owner: Ed Pisarcik
Freight: Asphalt and stone products
LUGGIN’ LUMBER
Rig: 1996 Peterbilt 379
Engine: 425-hp Caterpillar
Owner: Hal Graham
Freight: Lumber
KICKIN’ KW
Rig: 2003 Kenworth T800
Engine: 430-hp Caterpillar
Owner: A.J. Decarolis
Freight: Dirt, lime rock