Special Feature: By Oliver Wiesmann that same year he acquired a 100-inch Bentz sleeper off a FedEx Kenworth that he saw in a California junkyard. Using the frame of a 2013 Mack Granite, he stretched it himself. “I bought the frame out of Ohio, and it spanned from the steering axle back. When we stretched it, I cut it and double-framed it with the other one.” They built the driveline on the floor. “Even when we stretched the truck, we just did it on the garage floor, with a couple of tape measures.” The frame was stretched 12 feet, bringing the total wheelbase to 330 inches long. This Superliner is equipped with a Mack E6 350 engine, a 12-speed Mack transmission, Meritor rears on Mack air-ride suspension, and 100-gallon fuel tanks. While at a truck show in 2019, Dan tried to find some sort of bathroom kit that he could install in his truck. “I went to the Mid-Atlantic Truck Show, and I asked if anyone had or knew of a kit I could buy to put a bathroom in my sleeper, but they all said no, it wouldn’t fit. So, I took it and put a full bathroom in it myself – now it has a shower and a toilet.” Since then, Dan has also installed a hardwood floor in the truck and redone the kitchen in the sleeper with a new sink and countertop. Maintaining the truck has proven to be a challenge, as these old parts are not as available as they used to be. “It’s not impossible to find parts, you just never know where you might find them. The last time I needed injection lines, I had to get them from Australia,” said Dan. 2019 was also the year that this truck got wrapped in its iconic “Ragged Old Flag” scheme. Dan spoke with pride about the symbols he chose to put on the truck. He, like many of his fellow Americans, have veterans in the family, New England is the birthplace of the American spirit and where the seed of this great nation of ours was planted. From the streets of Boston to the winding roads of the green mountains, what kind of truck could possibly embody that spirit? I think it would be Dan Smith’s custom built “Ragged Old Flag” 1989 Mack Superliner. Wrapped head to toe in the American flag with a massive bald eagle covering the top of the hood, this rig roars with patriotism when its flying down the highway. A second generation trucker, Dan was born and raised in upstate New York. Having about 45 years of dedication and service to the trucking industry under his belt, his abilities and love for Mack trucks run in his blood. His father hauled logs out of Vermont when Dan was a kid and then he spent years running milk for the DairyLea Milk Co-op. Dan stated that he drove in his dad’s truck since he got out of diapers, an experience he got to share with his own son when the time came. Dan carries a photo of himself, at around age five, sitting on the fuel tank of his father’s Mack. Now, Dan’s son has three Macks parked at his home in Fairlee, VT (four in the winter when the Superliner goes into storage to keep it out of the harsh Vermont winter). A Mack man through and through, it is a matter of family loyalty. Dan said, “My father would roll over in his grave if he knew I had something other than a Mack.” Dan drives around 40,000 miles a year, hauling headstones for Bellavance Trucking of Vermont, up through Maine. Then, he might grab a load of aluminum snowmobile trailers or car haulers, to bring back to Vermont. To carry these loads, he uses both spread and tri-axle Reitnouer trailers from Bellavance. His initial employment as a trucker had Dan based out of Poughkeepsie and, as he recalled, “On my first day, the guy asked me if I had ever been to the Bronx. I said no.” He then said, “Well, you’re going tomorrow. I hope you know how to read a map!” Thankfully, Dan had a box full of maps for every borough of New York and New Jersey. New York City was a manageable challenge that Dan was regularly confronted with and also enjoyed at times. “When my kids were little, I often pulled doubles in New York, out of Albany, to Yonkers, and then delivered the two loads to the Bronx. After a while I really liked it. I loved going into Manhattan because you never knew what you were going to see.” Dan later stretched his legs, moving on to go over the road, across the US. Deciding to build this 1989 RW713 Mack Superliner partially because he did not want to run an ELD, Dan bought the original cab back in July of 2017. Later 46 10-4 Magazine / July 2026 RAGGED OLD FLAG
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