I first met Paul Brookhart at the 2026 Midwest Truck Fest by DCT in Indianapolis. There at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Brookhart was showing the beauty of a truck you see above, his custom Cat-powered 2000 Pete 379.
Soon as I looked inside the cab, I knew this truck was unique.
You know that awesome leather smell that permeates your local saddle shop? Well, that’s this unit’s signature interior aroma, with its quality leather interior and Western theme.
This might be a winner, I thought, and sure enough, at that show the rig took home a Limited Mileage Bobtail trophy, likewise Best Interior.
Brookhart’s done well more since on the show circuit in this his first year out there, though he’s been trucking for many years in various roles, the most recent years spent building business specialized in horse transport.
It's been a journey for the small business owner.
'I hated school' -- Brookhart's early years
Growing up in Wapakoneta, the Auglaize County seat in west-central Ohio, Paul Brookhart knew college was not for him.
“I hated school,” he said, “so I decided to get my CDL and start trucking” soon as he could.
He’d worked farms and the like in the area from an early age, the son of Tom, an Ohio State Trooper, and Heidi, a schoolteacher. He may have hated formal schooling, but Heidi would manage to instill in Paul, his brother Troy and sister Mindi the conviction in the maxim that hard work pays off.
It was Heidi who urged him west for a harvest season that was his maiden voyage through trucking work.
“My mom suggested I travel to Oklahoma City and start working out there,” Brookhart said. He took on work in a tandem straight truck hauling wheat. “That truck was an older Kenworth T800, and I gained valuable driving experience that season.”
The young man craved adventure, so when he came home that year for the holidays he found work with a local grain hauler, biding his time for two years near family as he mulled over next steps.
Farm work hauling hay would take him through Lexington, Kentucky, often enough -- the horse capital of the world, as it’s widely known -- likewise Louisville.
Working in Lexington, Brookhart decided to go into business for himself, purchasing a brand-new 2017 Ford F350 dually and 2010 Elite aluminum horse trailer. He toyed with several “farm style” names for the company before settling on Hidden Brook Equine Transport, referencing his family’s surname.
“I did some custom hauling for an Amish community, and then got a call to move horses out of Michigan,” he said, which “laid the foundation for me to focus on equine totally from that point forward.” He spent six years building experience, making contacts within the horse industry, and laying down the miles.
[Related: 21M miles on the road to true trucking elite status]
Along the way he “took a chance,” he said, and sold the Ford to buy a 1995 Peterbilt 379 powered by a 3406B Cat, Eaton Fuller 13-speed, with 1.6 million miles on the odometer.
“The truck was flat white at the time and came from California, where it was used as a lightweight tandem-axle car hauler,” Brookhart said. It was a day cab, so “I started off trying to sleep across the seats.”
Brookhart’s 6’2” tall. “It didn’t work well,” he said.
He bought a hammock he could tie out in mild weather, or “hang in the trailer sleep next to the horses,” he said. But ultimately, he found a “36-inch sleeper for the truck, and compared to that day cab, it was like I moved into the Taj Mahal.”
The 1995 Pete (left) as it is today, shown with his 2000 model. Photo courtesy of Paul Brookhart
His fiancee, Ohio native Karlynn Kies, named the truck “Patricia,” and Paul made more plans to expand.
“I wanted to specialize in the door-to-door delivery of horses as well as the professional transport of whole stables,” he said. “I call it my ‘school bus for horses.’ I drop one here and pick up another there.”
The Patricia ’95 Pete was later painted gun metal gray by Dude’s Rod Shop in Wapakoneta, the interior getting an orange-and-black update. Brookhart worked up to 2.1M miles as of October 2026.
The road West to 'Pendleton'
After Patricia, it was time for an upgrade. “I have always liked turquoise blue, and I do a lot of horse runs out West, so I liked the old-school cowboy theme,” Brookhart said.
He found what he described as a “rough” blue-and-white 2000 379, powered by a 3406e Cat, 13-speed Eaton Fuller. “I only paid $17,000 for it, and decided to slowly invest in it over a two-year period making improvements when I could,” he said.
He took what would ultimately become his show-worthy “Pendleton” unit to P&B Truck & Trailer out of Yorkshire, Ohio, just to get it road-ready. They went through the engine, replaced kingpins, shortened the frame for easier handling, put in new frame rails and removed an axle to cut down on weight.
“From there I took it to Vore’s Welding & Steel of Fort Recovery, Ohio,” Brookhart said, who custom-built the deck plate and T bar. Whitney Painting & Sandblasting in St Marys, Ohio, turned the T-bar turquoise blue.
Then it went to Nationwide Chrome in Angola, Indiana. Over lunch, the “custom interior design was sketched out on a napkin,” according to Brookhart. “I wrote out my colors, the type of saddle leather I wanted, the way the stitching should look, and the Western cowboy theme.”
Pete Felkner and his team “brought it all to life,” Paul said.
Jeremy Koch of Dudes Rod Shop transformed the outside from dull blue and white to a rich gun metal gray, then painted the dash.
Pinstriping was hand drawn in Ohio by Scottie Bowersock of Bowersock Signs-N-Lines.
“When I bought this trailer several years ago, I saw its potential,” Brookhart said, “Like any owner-operator trying to grow your business from scratch, I couldn’t afford to just go out and drop $200,000 on a brand-new trailer. What I could afford was something with good bones that just needed a little work. I had always heard from the truck guys in our area about Chris Keneipp polishing their trucks and trailers, so when I decided to show my truck, I gave him a call.”
Keneipp was interested. And “I don’t know how many sheets of sandpaper he went through in the initial sanding before he ever started polishing,” Brookhart said, “but I’d bet it was upward of 1,000. He did a great job getting me ready” for MATS earlier this year.
Paul lauded all the dedicated professionals from these multiple shops, noting how thankful he is for the opportunity to work with them. They truly came together to transform his vision into reality.Photo courtesy of Paul Brookhart
And, finally, it was time for a name. The new truck was aptly dubbed “Pendleton,” after the popular oak barrel whiskey.
“I had shown Patricia” locally, and then "at Truckers 4 Hope in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania,” Brookhart said, “where I would demonstrate to the public how the horses were set up” in his 10-horse trailer, “transported and then rotated out, but I had never been to a judged show.”
Way back in 2013, Paul attended the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville and marveled at custom trucks on display. “I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever show a truck at MATS,” Paul said.
He registered Pendleton for 2026 in a whirlwind, and after setting the sleeper on Sunday and watching the last of the pinstripe completed, he found himself carefully driving to Louisville with his Elite trailer behind him.
“The paint fumes were strong,” he said. “I drove with the windows down in March just to get fresh air in the cab and help dry it out, because the paint on the dash was still wet. I rolled in as the very last registered truck, so they gave me the ‘Running Late’ award.”
A look inside the sleeper as it is today, that "Running Late" award on display next to the cowboy hat.
He was officially entered in the combo Limited Mileage category amid rigs built for show. “It was exciting, and all the trucks parked next to me were incredible,” he said, a learning experience given the judging at MATS was “next-level.”
His score sheet really opened his eyes to what he needed to improve on.
“I left MATS pretty emotional,” he said, “I was happy that I made it, excited that the truck stood up to such fierce competition, but sad that it was all over. I was amazed we got it done it time but wished it could have been perfect.
“I felt in my gut that I had something special and I wanted more people to see it.”
Pendleton’s made the rounds since, bagging those trophies in Indianapolis, winning Best Bobtail at the Large Car Takeover on the Tarmac in Rantoul, Illinois, then over to Nacogdoches, Texas, for Old Town Rig Down, showing combo there.
Pendleton didn’t win at Rig Down, but Brookhart called it a great experience nonetheless, with an “amazing selection of custom trucks” competing, he noted, and opportunity to meet longtime show stalwarts like Troy Massey.
Brookhart also met Evan Steger, long well-known for his Evan’s Detailing & Polishing biz. He’s show coordinator and organizer for the big Stars, Stripes, & White Lines show, too, held just this past week in Atlanta. “Evan Steger walked up, looked over my truck, and invited me to bring Pendleton to Atlanta,” Brookhart said, which he did.
Paul competed in the Limited Mileage Combo category there, too, and was honored to be invited to compete with the best, to show alongside peers and mentors. No matter if it’s a judged truck show or a charity exhibition, Brookhart truly enjoys sharing what he does with the public, too, bringing positivity to trucking in general.
“My Dad, who is now retired from the state police, and my mom, who retired from her teaching position, were both concerned when I first wanted to focus only on hauling horses for a living.,” Brookhart said. “There is so much trucking out there, but they have watched my business bloom, and have seen the hours I put in. They know I am building a reputation” for safety, for reliable transport, “with equipment that can get into smaller-sized farms up to the mega stables. They fully support what I am trying to accomplish. I am blessed to be a part of such a loving family. My fiancee Karlynn and I are now planning our wedding, and the trucks will be an integral part of it. Our trucks are like family.”
What’s next on the horizon? Pendleton’s hitting the road as a daily driver, of course, and Patricia will be getting several updates. Keep an eye on the show circuit (MATS 2027 in particular) next year. Paul Brookhart’s sure to be out there.
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