10-4 Magazine December 2023

12 10-4 Magazine / December 2023 truck shows. Noah built a custom air ride system for this truck, too, and then painted it Peterbilt Metallic Grey, added a red stripe, fabricated a custom deck plate and rear light bar, and shaved all the frame bolts. The chassis was then painted red to match the stripe. Other embellishments to the rig’s exterior include customized and shor tened side fairings to allow the polished aluminum fuel tank to show a bit, HID headlights, extra lighting with glass lenses, Hogebuilt stainless quar ter fenders, and four load lights along with the phrase “It’s Just $ Paper” on the back of the sleeper. The single stack ver tical exhaust was switched out to a weed burner system underneath. Inside, the truck got a black wood laminate floor, painted dash panels, billet foot pedals, and a polished and painted (red) steering wheel. The stock factory steering wheel was equipped with all kinds of controls that were moved to a custom panel with buttons on the dash, just under the stereo. When the Cascadia was finished after about three months of being in the shop, Kenny put his longtime driver Rober t Ramon in the driver’s seat, and he takes great care of it. Rober t is one of Kenny’s original drivers and has been with him almost since the beginning. Pulling cur tain vans, flatbeds, reefers, and dry vans, most of Kenny’s trucks haul irrigation supplies, frozen foods, and whatever else Kenny can find. Kenny joked about how this custom Cascadia is giving the Freightliner fleet truck drivers out there some hope that one day their truck might be cool, too! But he loves the fact that these Detroit-powered Freightliner Cascadias run quietly, are efficient and reliable, and affordable to operate. Future projects include doing a little more work on his Peterbilt 386 (new dual exhaust and a black wood floor), installing a new sound system in the Cascadia, along with extending the deck plate all the way to the back of the truck, and rebuilding a 1984 Freightliner cabover he just bought. Equipped with a strong running 400 Big Cam Cummins, Kenny plans to swap the suspension to a newer style to get it lower, make the wheelbase 250 inches, bag the front, and paint it the same colors as the Cascadia. Married to his wife Claudia since 2005, the couple has two daughters – Ashley (16) and Samantha (11). Kenny also had two other kids with a previous wife when he was much younger. After his divorce from this first wife, Kenny got custody of both his kids and raised them as a single dad until he met Claudia in 2003. Kenny’s oldest daughter Ruby is now 29 years old and lives nearby with her own family and kids. Kenny’s son Ethan died in a tragic automobile accident when he was just five years old in 2005, just shor tly after he and Claudia got married. Working at a law firm for over 20 years, Claudia left her job in 2020 to help Kenny with the trucking businesses. Today, she runs the entire office, with help from a young nephew named Christian, as well. Always looking to better himself, Kenny would like to add a few more trucks, but only a few. Like many of us, Kenny was taught that having seven to ten trucks is the sweet spot, regarding maximum profitability and minimum time commitment, so that is Kenny’s goal. Having lots of different types of trailers, company trucks, and a mix of dedicated and occasional owner operators (and his own brokerage) gives Kenny lots of options and keeps things diverse. He would love to semi-retire one day in the near