10-4 Magazine April 2024

22 10-4 Magazine / April 2024 For the lovers of mountains, they have a way of calling you – whether for a visit or for a lifetime – they hold the promise of beautiful landscapes, rugged terrain, and a peaceful calm when life gets crazy. For Nick Wey (33), born and raised in Michigan, an internship in Utah opened his eyes to move west to an area surrounded by majestic mountain views. Like most who caught the trucking bug early on, Nick was unable to say when he fell in love with trucking and the trucks from days gone by. One thing he could tell me was that it all started with riding with his grandpa “Papa” Joe. He remembers he couldn’t go trucking with him until he was potty trained, and once that happened, Nick rode with him every chance he could until he was 19 years old, including learning how to drive along the way. I guess you could say, Nick always knew he would drive a truck one day, but he had a real, legitimate fear that he wouldn’t be able to drive a cool older truck because of the new truck models coming out. Also, between his dad having classic cars and Nick having dirt bikes, he also learned how to mechanic. Growing up in Wayne County, Michigan, he didn’t necessarily have any thoughts of moving out of his home state. After high school, he stayed in Michigan The Diesel Addict: By Stephanie Haas MOUNTAIN VIEWS to attend Central Michigan University, majoring in Construction Management, and in his junior year of college, he took an intern position at a down hole drilling company (they stabilized the ground for foundations to be built). This company also had an office in Salt Lake City, UT and just happened to have a job that was happening when Nick’s internship started. They offered him the internship out in Salt Lake City, so he flew out there, but not without his BMX bike, which was one of his passions. It didn’t take long for Nick to realize that he wanted to move to Utah. So, after his internship, he went back to Michigan, graduated from college, and moved to Utah in April of 2016. He took a position as a project manager for a construction company for about three and a half years, at which point, his love of BMX bikes led him to a job building BMX and mountain bike trails, along with running equipment. In 2017 he attended his first truck show – The Great Salt Lake Truck Show in Lehi, UT. Fast forward a couple years to July of 2019 and he began dating a lovely young lady named Manny (Amanda) who has become an integral part of his life and an amazing support system. Through the years, he dreamed of owning a 359, and even had a photo of one as the background image on his phone. He had been working in Idaho and one morning he was on KSL (similar to Craigslist) scanning for trucks before heading out to work in the mountains. All of his previous 359 findings were either junk or daycabs, but this morning, he found what he was looking for. For $5,000 he took delivery of this truck on June 26, 2020, when he rolled it off the trailer. Yes, he rolled it off the trailer (see photo) because the Cummins engine block was windowed (had a hole in it), and it looked like a grenade went off in the oil pan. His Nana Cindy (Joe’s wife) is the one who gave Nick the money to buy the truck. When she saw the truck, she