10-4 Magazine June 2022

Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes Growing up on a farm in Georgia, Vann Brown learned the value of hard work. That work ethic would come in handy when he started his own company and began producing BullSnot products. Going toworkat theMountVernonTextile Mill in Alto, GAwhere his mom and dad worked, to pay his way through college, Vann worked as a floater, meaning he did all the jobs in the plant, even opening bales of cotton. While in school, he took chemistry classes to further himself in the company when he graduated, but little did he know, it would be his own company that would benefit from it. After graduation, Vann moved to Trion, GA and became part of building a research and development department from scratch. Dyeing and finishing fabric is chemistry, and it’s called a wet process. He helped develop processes for denim, that included the stonewash look, along with a lot of other denim looks. The mill produced three million square yards of denim and four million square yards of other fabric a week and, back then, employed 2,800 people. After 12 years there, the opportunities to advance were not there, so Vann moved on from wet process chemistry to polymers, which included developing plastic from corn, a sustainable resource. In 2005, Vann decided to start his own company and called it Brown Ox Ventures. His first product was a do it yourself tire mounting lubricant that was slicker than anything else on the market. The name BullSnot was born from taking the company name “Bull” and the snotty consistency of the product “Snot” and mashing them together. Marketing was focused on the automotive industry in the beginning, but now the products are developed with trucker’s needs put first. This product is used today by many major corporations for the safety of their employees, as well as the efficiency of the product – it won’t burn your skin or eyes, and it is not harmful if ingested. A friend introduced Vann to singer, songwriter, and trucker, Tony Justice, and after their first fishing trip, they became friends. Tony told Vann that he should be going to truck shows to help promote his products, so that is exactly what he did. Talking to truckers, he began asking them what products they wanted and needed (he didn’t want to make products that were already out there doing a good job). The drivers were asking for a good bug remover, especially to clean those infamous and awful Florida Love Bugs. Creating this product took longer because aerosol science is different from the wet chemistry that Vann was more familiar with. But he was successful, and as well as being an awesome bug remover, it is also a great glass cleaner. Tony and Vann came up with the name VizABull, and from there, an entire herd of “ABull” products was born. The next request was for a tire shine that didn’t hold on to dust and sling off when you started driving. I am in total agreement about this one! The result was a product that has zero sling and a shine that doesn’t attract dust. There is a 15 second rule built into all the Bull products – apply the product, wait 15 seconds, and then wipe it off. This is true for all of Vann’s products. The idea for BlastABull Odor Eliminator originated at MATS after talking to drivers who slip seat, especially if one driver smokes and the other one doesn’t, or one has a pet, and the other doesn’t. This product doesn’t mask the odor, it eliminates it on a molecular level, eliminating the odor molecule, and even eliminates smoke odors. This product is also popular with police departments after transporting drunks. 76 10-4 Magazine / June 2022 CHEMISTRY FOR TRUCKERS