10-4 Magazine February 2024

Truckapedia: By Mark Harter & Kim Jaikes I love meeting truck drivers who live the Largecar Lifestyle. What does that mean? It’s simple: truckers who live and breathe trucks and the freedom of the open road. These drivers have diesel running through their veins, pride in their ride, and happiness is rollin’ from town to town and state to state. True truckers are born, not made, and it seems as though these men and women are becoming a rare commodity in this day and age. From my perspective, the younger generations just don’t have the interest in trucks and trucking like so many of us did when we were growing up. But there are exceptions. Hailing from Campbellsport, WI, 31-year-old trucker Jonathon Ovanin is one of these exceptions. Born and raised in a trucking family, Jonathon will tell you he’s been riding in trucks from the time he was in diapers, and he’s not kidding (his dad Chris Pilant will back that up). As a child, anytime Jonathon had a chance to head out on the highway with his dad, he would. Summer and winter vacations growing up were spent riding with his dad in his International 9670 cabover on hauls from Wisconsin to Florida and the east coast and back. “I remember many nights sleeping across the doghouse of that old International,” Jonathon said fondly as he was telling me about his childhood. While school taught him reading, writing and math, “Being in the truck with my dad taught me life lessons along with how to drive a truck and how to repair and wrench on a rig,” said Jonathon. After his dad sold that old International cabover, he went to work driving a truck for Brian Dreher, and this opened up an opportunity for Jonathon, as well. Around 12 years old, Jonathon began helping Brian Dreher in his shop. His first job was washing trucks, and that eventually turned into helping grease them and helping repair them when needed. At 18 years old, Jonathon got his CDL and began driving an old Mack dump truck for a local construction company. While he enjoyed driving that old Mack, his heart wasn’t in it. Not long after that, Brian Dreher asked him what he wanted to do for a living. Jonathon’s answer was quick and simple: “I want to be a truck driver!” With that previous statement made in mind, and already knowing this young 30 10-4 Magazine / February 2024 LARGECAR LIFESTYLE