10-4 Magazine April 2023

Cover Feature: By Daniel J. Linss Living in today’s busy and fast-paced world, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s really impor tant. Sometimes, it takes a tragic event to make us realize we are not truly enjoying the things life has to offer or appreciating what (or who) we have. Just “getting by” day to day is not living, and not stopping to smell the roses will eventually take its toll. Bruce and Kellie Cone of Redding, CA are a husband and wife duo that each run their own truck, and their moniker in life is to “be present” every day – in fact, every moment. We met these folks in 2022 at a truck show in Red Bluff, CA. Their two matching but opposite Peterbilts (one is dark gray with red stripes and the other is red with brushed black stripes) were parked in front of our booth at that event, and over the course of the weekend, we got to know them. Kellie shared some of their story with us, and it was quite interesting. Coming from similar but different backgrounds, these two found each other later in life, and are now inseparable. Bruce has been trucking for decades, but Kellie just got her CDL a couple years ago, and now they run together and love it. Born and raised in Redding, Bruce (61) is a third generation trucker. His grandfather Chuck star ted hauling logs in 1952, and his father, also Chuck but known as Bud, star ted hauling logs with Mack trucks as soon as he was old enough to do so. At 14 years old, Bruce star ted driving around the yard and out on the landings, in the woods, where they picked up the logs. Later, his dad switched to hauling lumber on flatbeds, and then spent the majority of his career running to Southern California. While still in high school, Bruce went with his dad down south a lot, even driving as a team, before he was old enough to get his CDL. His dad drove until he was 83 years old, finally retiring just two years ago. Not long after graduating from high school in 1980, Bruce moved to Southern California, in search of work. He ended up getting a job at a company loading fly ash (a concrete additive) in trucks. After a couple years, he landed a driving job at one of the companies that Bruce often loaded. Not having his CDL yet, the company, Material and Transpor t (MAT), helped him get his license. Driving a transfer, Bruce stayed there for four years. With business picking up at home, Bruce moved back to Redding in 1988 and began driving for Ray Nelson Trucking, hauling asphalt in belly dumps. In 1990 he switched to McMillan Trucking, running a transfer, and hauling flatbed freight, as well. He stayed there for six years. In 1996, after leaving McMillan, Bruce went into business with his twin brother Chuck, along with their mom and dad, and Cone Trucking was born. Hauling lumber on flatbeds, they star ted out with four trucks – one for each of them plus a spare. Bruce began in a Peterbilt 378, and then bought a new 2000 Pete 379. Three years later, the par tnership ended. Bruce bought his truck and trailer from the company and then formed Bruce Cone Trucking, and away he went (his brother did the same thing). In 2014, Bruce bought a used viper red 2010 Peterbilt 389. He ran that truck until he ordered the legendary gray 2020 Peterbilt 389 seen on these pages. 10 10-4 Magazine / April 2023 Born in Ohio, Kellie (59) moved to For t Jones, CA when she was just three years old. A tiny town of about 500 people, For t Jones is about 100 miles nor th of Redding in the Siskiyou Mountains. Raised in an ag environment, with livestock and such, Kellie grew up as a farm girl. Moving to the coast for a few years, Kellie eventually ended up in Redding, CA in 1985. Kellie has been married twice before – her first marriage lasted 20 years and her second one for 15 years. Bruce was also married for 18 years before getting together with Kellie, but neither of them had any children of their own (they each have one grown stepdaughter). Getting a good education, Kellie attended Chico State University, where she received a Bachelors Degree and then a Masters Degree in Business. While living in Redding and married to her second husband, she began working at Shasta College in the Economic and Workforce Development Depar tment, creating budgets and such. Her husband at the time was an ag mechanic instructor at Shasta Union High School. In 2013, he was diagnosed with a rare disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, which is a brain disorder that causes problems with walking, balance, and eye movements, and later swallowing. When he got too sick to work and take care of himself, after 16 years of working there, Kellie quit her job at the college to take care of him. He died in 2017. Watching her husband’s body deteriorate was excruciating, but what made it worse was that his mind was still intact and he was fully aware of his situation right up until his last day. This death had a profound effect on Kellie’s outlook on life. Suddenly, she became painfully aware of how precious life was, and how quickly it could all end. Feeling like a lost soul for a few years, Kellie traveled and really took some time to ponder her future. Then, in 2019, she met Bruce, and things began to fall back into place. Funny thing was, they realized they had a lot of mutual friends, and it was strange that they had never actually met. But it wouldn’t have been the right time, so it didn’t happen. When it was the Enjoying EveryMoment