10-4 Magazine April 2023

Special Feature: By Frank Strohmyer Murphy’s law is based on the idea that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. The outcome can be positive or negative, but it all depends on your view, thoughts or efforts. Pushing through the bad times and getting to the good times can sometimes be difficult, but as long as we succeed in our dreams or goals in the end, it is all worth it. What matters most is our attitude in thoughts and efforts, and Brandon Carpenter is the type of guy that never gives up. His tenacity shows in his latest truck, which had its problems to get through, but it all worked out in the end. Falling in love with trucks at an early age, Brandon Carpenter (35) of Ashland, Ohio, was that kid who stared out the window at school and dreamed about driving a truck. Like most of us back in grade school, when asked to draw whatever he wanted, Brandon would always draw trucks, especially cabovers, and a lot of those pictures that he drew back then he still has (his mother has kept a lot of them, as well). As a teenager, when it was time to start thinking about a career choice after high school, Brandon knew it would be something related to trucks/trucking. His high school had a vocational school, so Brandon enrolled in their Industrial Diesel program. The class he enrolled in focused on heavy equipment and semis, but ended up being more focused on the semi side of things. So, he was able to go to school half a day then to his job the other half of the day. He had become good friends with the instructor that was teaching the course (they were both Civil War enthusiasts), and this teacher lined Brandon up with his first paying gig at K&P Trucking of Willard, Ohio. Working for K&P as a mechanic, Brandon began building his knowledge base and getting tools. K&P offered their mechanics a sweet deal by buying their first toolbox and set of tools, and if they stayed for a year, the tools were theirs to keep, absolutely free. And we are talking about 800-1000 pieces of Craftsman tools – that was a big deal, especially for a 17-year-old kid. He was learning a lot there, but also realizing that this trucking company didn’t want to put money into their trucks – just fix them and get them back out there as fast and cheaply as possible. A fan of everything cool, Brandon wanted to do more than just “fix” trucks. He wanted to take things a step further while working on things, which often included painting pieces or rerouting things to look better. But that was not his job – his job was to just fix broken stuff, and that was frustrating to him. Brandon was the guy who had the super clean pickup truck in high school, and he really wanted to build nice trucks that reflected that style and attitude. While working at K&P, he met one of their leased on owner operators who had a new Kenworth W900 that was parked in the yard on the weekends, along with all the fleet-style Freightliners. Brandon loved working on that Kenworth, and he eventually began doing some of his own work on the side. For a short time, at around 20 years old, Brandon left trucking for a bit and landed himself a county job. He already had been a mechanic for a few years, but when the recession hit in 2008, the county job would provide a steady paycheck. Working for a smaller sized company, he didn’t know if they would survive. Doing building maintenance for the county, Brandon learned quickly that this government job was not for him, and after only one year, he quit. With the economy finally starting to improve, Brandon was attending an auction on a Saturday and started talking with a friend, telling him how he wanted to get back into the truck stuff. A guy standing behind the two heard their conversation and offered Brandon a job starting on Monday! This man had a crop spraying business, and Brandon’s job was to maintain the equipment and drive the trucks. Brandon told the man he could drive, but he didn’t have a CDL. The man explained how he didn’t need a CDL because it was ag hauling. He stayed there for a year, operating the equipment and driving trucks, which were mostly 4300 Internationals. 34 10-4 Magazine / April 2023 MURPHY'S LAW