10-4 Magazine June 2024

14 10-4 Magazine / June 2024 caps and handles. The painted hose tubes are striped to match the truck and have polished ends and custom brackets. The trailer also has “Big Hole” wheels and floating rear fenders like the truck, along with matching rear light bars, and the ladder was relocated from the back of the trailer to the front. In addition to the glass watermelon lights from United Pacific, the trailer also features many four-inch “Piranha” lights from Peterson. Finally making its official debut at MATS in March of 2024 after almost five years, the truck earned 2nd Place in the Limited Mileage Combo class and 1st Place in the Limited Miles Engine class. Those are big accomplishments at MATS, as earning any trophy at this show is a big deal. Thanks go to everyone who helped get this rig done and ready to show, including Nick Kimball at Amcan Truck Par ts (who oversaw the entire project), everyone at Total Appearance, 12 Ga. Customs, JX Enterprises, and Spare Time Fab. Also, big thanks to Evan Steger and his team at Evan’s Detailing & Polishing for doing all the final cleanup and polishing work at the show. The day after the show ended, we headed over to the Stitzel-Weller Distillery to take some of our pictures, and what a cool place that was. Originally opened in 1935, this historic location closed in 1992 and then was reopened in 2014 as a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Over the years, the 53-acre site distilled or aged popular brands such as Bulleit, Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace, W.L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, and even Crown Royal. The location has 18 storage warehouses and is capable of aging up to 300,000 barrels. Today, the Stitzel-Weller whiskey brands include Blade and Bow, I.W. Harper, and Orphan Barrel. Fun fact: all the buildings and trees surrounding these types of storage facilities are black due to a “whiskey fungus” that is created when ethanol is released during the aging process. With this truck now done, the plan is for Travis to star t getting out of the office and do more driving. He hopes to be able to get out two or three times a week, and actually can’t wait to put some miles on this combination. While I was interviewing Travis for this story, his grandfather was actually driving the truck that day, in the rain, hauling loads, so it has been used some already. Travis will avoid running it in bad weather, when possible, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be running it hard when he does get it out there. With their 50th anniversary now approaching, Travis is hoping to build another big ride to honor the company and its long history, but hopes this next one won’t take so long that it misses the actual anniversary, like this one did! Meeting his wife Chloe in 2016, the two got married last November (2023). Travis and Chloe are looking to star t a family, and hopefully create the four th generation to join the family business. Chloe studied business, too, and worked for an accounting firm for a while, where she learned a lot. Her father owns an excavation company, and along with working in the office at Sancken Trucking, she also takes care of the books for his company. Teamed up with Travis, these two are excited to take the reins of the company in the next few years as Travis’ grandparents and parents are looking to retire soon. When not trucking or working in the office, Travis enjoys anything in or around water, and loves taking their boat out, but is just as content to sit on a beach or next to a pool. Travis wanted to thank his family for all their help and suppor t over the years, and especially his wife Chloe, who makes it all wor thwhile. Proud of how they treat their employees, Travis always tries to put their people’s happiness and success above mere profits, and that attitude shows, since the company has a less than 10% turnover rate (that is really low). “Putting The Class in Gas” for over 47 years now, Travis Sancken and everyone at Sancken Trucking should be proud of all they have accomplished, and really excited about what the future holds. n EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Jacob Gunderson and Eric Hill for providing some of the photographs for this cover feature.