Florida-based A.J. Frankie runs a trucking school, but much of his career as an owner-operator followed in footsteps of his grandfather, father and uncle.
He hauled straight out of high school, and was an owner-operator throughout his career until about two years ago, mostly hauling steel on a conestoga out of Pittsburgh. He’s pulled reefers, dry vans, step decks all in his decades OTR. Frankie's seen change, no doubt -- some good, some bad.
AJ Frankie
Yet driving itself has suffered downhill pressure.
“The quality of drivers has gone down for many reasons,” he added. “Safety’s gotten more regulated; doesn’t mean it’s made it safer. There’s less pride, I think, in the industry amongst some. But trucks have come a long way. They’re a lot more comfortable.”
The decision to leave the road to start a school “was a pretty easy one,” he said. “I complained a lot about the quality of drivers and the safety and things like that, and my wife, she’s like, ‘Hey, if you’re going to complain, you need to have a right to complain.’"
The pair had "two new little babies" at home, too, he added, "so I think she wanted me to come off the road a little bit."
"Start another business," she said. "And it could be a CDL school.’”
Frankie opened a Driving Academy franchise near Tallahassee, Florida.
At the Guilty By Association Truck Show at 4 State Trucks in Joplin, Missouri, this past fall, Frankie brought what’s essentially his daily driver -- a 1992 Kenworth T600 -- to and from school.
He once thought the T600 was “the ugliest thing on the road,” Frankie said. But he owned a couple himself in the mid-‘90s, “and I really liked them. They rode good. They turned good.”
Frankie bought “School Daze” from a Facebook Marketplace seller. It was “basically just an old truck” that he worked to “clean it up, fix it, make it nicer.”
The Georgia seller had purchased it from a field in Florida, he said. “He took it home. He actually painted the cab and painted the frame, and it was running,” Frankie said. “I gutted it inside, redid the interior. Just took it apart, cleaned it, salvaged what I could.”
He put in a new headliner, air-conditioning, replaced the door jambs, door handles and more inside.
New transmission, rear ends, wheels, tires and brakes -- “it’s just been a steady project,” he said. “It’s come a long way. We’re happy with it. I drive it to school every day.”
The exterior paint solid, he had it pinstriped in blue, removed the fairings over the tanks and polished, added new stacks, lights and plenty more dressing.
The truck's nickname, "School Daze," is painted on the back of the sleeper.
Through his career, he'd built custom W900s, 359s, 379s -- the usual show models -- but “you never see a T600 that’s, like, nice anymore." Catch one out on the road and "they’re just kind of ... there. There’s a handful I can think of that are really nice, so I was like, well, that’ll be a different project than I’ve ever done.”
The unit's powered by a 470-hp 12.7-liter Detroit with a 15-speed overdrive and 3.36 rears. Previously it was equipped with a 9-speed transmission and 3.91s.
Total lifetime mileage he's only guessing at, estimating 1.48 million as of GBATS. The dash showed 480,000, with at least one rollover. “It’s been overhauled, I know that,” he said. “It’s got a newer head on it, so I know it’s had an overhaul.”
In the video up top, the truck's coupled to a brand-new 2026 East flatbed. “I decided if I was going to go to school every day with a truck, I needed a trailer,” he said. He shopped around for used flatbeds, but after looking at pricing decided on the 2026. He’s added about 60 lights to it, among other things.
Since he bought the trailer himself, he doesn’t let students pull it, but he does use it to “show them the difference of a spread[-axle],” he said, “and when I do maneuvers with the spread versus when they do them with the tandem.”
[Related: 'Better than a horse and buggy': 1935 International a family heirloom]
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AJ Frankie: Well I don't know if it's a show truck, but it's a nice little truck. It's a 1992 T600 Kenworth, but it's come a long way. We're happy with it. I drive it to school every day.
All right, I'm AJ Frankie. I live in Cottondale, Florida. My business is Driving Academy Tallahassee, and we're out of Quincy, Florida. I just got in the CDL business about two years ago. I've been open for business a year. Took about a year to get licensed.
I complained a lot about the quality of drivers and the safety and, you know, things like that. And my wife, she's like, "Hey, if you're going to complain, you need to have a right to complain." So she was like, you know, start another business and it could be a CDL school. So I checked into that, and that's how I ended up being a Driving Academy franchise in Tallahassee.
It's got a Detroit 470 in it. 12.7, 15-speed overdrive. 3.36 rears. It pulls a 2026 East flatbed Beast. Basically just an old truck that I think back in November I bought. I bought it off of Marketplace, my favorite place.
Went up, got it, brought it home, and then I gutted it inside. Redid the interior, just took it apart, cleaned it, salvaged what I could. I've done a headliner, air conditioning, wheels, tires, brakes, all the door jambs, all the door handles, all that didn't work. Fixed all that. Cleaned it. I forget what all I've done. The transmission, rear ends. So it's just been a steady project.
Matt Cole; Was the pinstriping and stuff done when you got it, or is that something you added?
AJ Frankie: No, it was just plain white. It looked like milk puked all over it. So I added the pinstriping in the lettering. A guy from Texas came out and pinstriped it for me. I polished the tanks. It used to have fairings; they were all cracked up. So we took those off and I polished the tanks, you know, stacks, mufflers, lights. It's got under lights, but it's come a long way. We're happy with it. I drive it to school every day. Not every day, but a lot of days. Yeah.
