10-4 Magazine May 2023

14 10-4 Magazine / May 2023 do them. Today, Edward J. Haser’s son Edward P. Haser (Eddie), who is a veteran of the U.S. Army, is the third generation to run the company. Reinsfelder currently operates about 40 company-owned trucks and has about 60 owner operators. Their trucks are mostly 2022 KW W900s, painted white, and 2023 Peterbilt 389s, painted a variety of grey, silver, red and black colors, but most with red frames. Focusing on heavy haul work, they have an assor tment of stepdecks, RGNs, flatbeds, and multi-axle units. Based in Zelienople, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh), the company is proud of its heritage, celebrating their 100th anniversary back in 2019. In a relationship with his girlfriend Vanessa for about a year now, Richie is happy with his work and personal life. Although one day Richie might like to see his name on the door of a truck, he is very content with his situation now. He has, from time to time, dropped hints about wanting a larger sleeper with a shower, but other than that, all is good. Working hard and never saying “no” has propelled Richie to be one of Reinsfelder’s top drivers, but when asked about it, he just says, “That’s how momma raised me to be!” Wanting to acknowledge a few par ticular people, Richie wanted to say “thank you” to Eddie and Patrick at Reinsfelder, along with his daughters, who he missed a lot of time with while building this truck, Jimmy at Clearfield Customs, going to be parked and featured in the 4 State Trucks booth at MATS in March 2023, but he was also asked to be an ambassabor for RoadWorks. Shutting the truck down in February 2023 to get it ready for the show, a new 6” exhaust system with old-style heat shields was installed, along with custom made polished stainless taillight bars (each with just one light) made by 12 Ga. Customs, new Chrome Shop Mafia mudflaps, and a turquoise fuel tank filler panel with five watermelon lights. Richie also replaced the stock grill surround with a polished stainless one, along with a punched grill from RoadWorks that includes the Reinsfelder logo in the lower corner. A classic-looking turquoise bug screen, from our friend Dane Nelson, was the final touch. As neat as Richie’s story is, Reinsfelder’s is pretty interesting, as well. The company was formed in 1919 by Jacob A. Haser as Haser Trucking, Inc., and he delivered coal and ice with a horse and buggy. Years later, after serving time in the U.S. Navy, his son Edward J. Haser took over. In the 1950s, they bought Reinsfelder from a relative because they wanted to hire owner operators and run interstate. Back then, Haser was an intrastate operation and Reinsfelder was an interstate operation. In those days, before deregulation in the 1980s, companies and their operating routes were regulated and controlled by the government, so to change routes you had to buy them from someone already licensed to Kevin at Morocco Welding, Randy at Spare Time Fab, Bryan, Josh, Colton, Derek and everyone else at 4 State Trucks, and Josh and Emily at RoadWorks. Lastly, he wanted to send out a special thank you to his “brother” Sean Graves, who is not a brother by blood, but a lifelong friend that Richie considers a brother. With a very strong work ethic and plenty of dedication, along with a deep love for trucks and trucking that star ted back when he was just three years old, Richie Foster hopes to be one of the people that helps keep the old school way of trucking from dying. As he put it, he wants to “keep the drive alive” – not only in himself, but in others looking to be a par t of this industry, which is filled with traditions, honor, and a proud heritage that, if not fought for, will eventually fade away and be lost forever. n