36 10-4 Magazine / March 2025 A second chance is an opportunity to correct or improve something of worth or simply to recycle and/or re-purpose something. In this case, Mike Marty (50) of Creston, OH did both when he saved this old cabover Kenworth (a former Werner truck) from the scrap heap and gave it a second chance at life – and put a whole lot more worth into this beauty, as well, piecing it together with various parts and pieces from the junkyard and two donor trucks. And the end result is nothing short of awesome. Mike’s grandfather John owned a milk truck, back when they hauled milk in cans, on the back of a truck. Richard, Mike’s dad, started when he was 16. Later, Richard would start his own milk hauling business, and eventually had two milk trucks, three OTR freight trucks, and also farmed. The freight trucks were leased to an outfit called Special Service Transportation (SST) out of Medina, OH pulling 45’ dry van trailers. When Mike was about ten or eleven years old, his father Richard and his mom Sherryl sold the trucks and the farm after a frustrating year of engines blowing up and a driver rolling a truck over. Mike’s dad Richard took a job working for Welker Trucking, hauling for the Stouffer’s plant in Solon, OH. Mike would go trucking with his dad whenever he could. At just 15 years old, before he had his license, Mike drove for the first time. It was late at night, and they were going across I-70, and his dad was really tired, so he laid down and let Mike drive through Columbus, OH. After that, Mike was hooked and drove whenever he could with his dad. When Mike was a junior in high school, he would often spend the night at his friend Brad’s house, whose family owned Hartzler’s Feed Mill. One day, Brad said, “We have a lot of bags of feed to deliver. Why don’t you come and give me a hand.” From that day on, Mike worked at the feed mill and never missed a day. In fact, to this day, Mike has never had to apply for a job or fill out a job application! When Mike was a senior in high school, he signed himself out of school to take the book test portion for his CDL test in March. A few months later, when he was done with school, he took the actual driving test, passed it, and got his license at 18 years old. Special Feature: By Frank Strohmyer Not long after getting his CDL, Mike got the opportunity to start driving for the feed mill. Brad’s dad, Dick, had a truck that went over to Indiana once a week to get feed ingredients, and it was the driver’s job to unload the trailer that had an auger on it. Dick asked Mike, “You know how to back up, right?” and Mike replied, “Yep.” And so, it began. Mike had many conversations with his dad, wondering how he was going to get started trucking at just 18 years old, but the whole feed mill deal just flowed seamlessly and it all came together. Shortly thereafter, around 1994, Mike met his future wife Dana on a double date. At the time, she was dating Mike’s best friend, but I guess at some point she came to realize she liked Mike better! After dating for six years, they got married in September 2000. Today, they have three kids that are all young adults now – Emma (23), Evan (22), and Ethan (19) – and both of the boys are involved in the trucking business with their dad. More on that later. Ever since Mike started driving for the feed mill, he was trucking hard, pulling a walking floor, and going south hauling cotton seed. He did two trips a week and would get home on Friday. On Saturday, he would reload in either Cleveland, Loudonville, or Logan, OH. Then, on Sunday, after getting home from church, he would eat lunch and then was gone again. After Hartzler’s Feed Mill went under, Mike went to Commodity Blenders of West Salem, OH. Later, he went to work at Hostetler Trucking in Dalton, OH. With small children at home now, Mike’s schedule was killing him – he was at a breaking point. He told Dana he was done, and that he was going to be a truck salesman, because he wanted to around more for his kids. Around that same time, they met a couple and became friends. The wife A SECOND CHANCE
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA1MjUy