10-4 Magazine / May 2026 69 along the side of I-80 on Donner Pass in California, Cabbage in Oregon, Elk Mountain in Wyoming, and so many other places. In the early years, before the digital era, she had a tub in front of the passenger seat filled with rolls of film, different lenses, filters, and an extra camera she could grab, already loaded with a different speed film, if needed. Going home with 30 rolls of film, when they got developed, it was like Christmas to see what she got. Shots she thought would be great weren’t, and others she thought might be okay, turned out to be amazing. She would call and share with me how the images we had talked about turned out. Today, in the digital age, people have no idea how expensive it was to buy film and get it developed. And, to make matters worse, Bette had to shoot slides for the photos to be high enough quality for the magazines and other uses she sold her images for. Her career was a rolling documentation of trucking, from the time she first started until 2008 when we lost her. This year was the first year there was a Bette Garber Memorial Award at MATS, and Carl Carstens, in true Carl style, made a very fitting trophy for the award. Let’s be honest, this one is personal. Bette was a dear friend, and she deserved to be honored. The show trucks on the MATS lot this year were pretty impressive. For Bette, it wasn’t all about just the shine, it was about the story behind the truck and the people who put it together and drive it. This old brown 359 stood tall in that group and became the first winner of the Bette Garber Memorial Award. We were fortunate to meet Austin and Sabrina Badders last year in Las Vegas, along with his brother Dylan and his wife Brittney, at the Vegas Largecar Invitational – and these are two brothers who work together and have each other’s back! Bette would have loved the truck, which had a faded brown paint job the first time we saw it. A 1983 Peterbilt 359 with a 6NZ CAT, 18-speed, 3.36 rear ends, and a 285” wheelbase, she was built to work, and work she still does. Dylan rode out to the show with Austin and Sabrina for their first time at MATS, having no idea what to expect. At MATS, the truck was sporting a new brown paint job, and it had a new unique name – the paint color “Sexual Chocolate” became the name of the truck! This name would have made Bette smile, and she would have loved the old school pinstriping, inside and out, and the young couple who own her. Austin said, “She’s not perfect, but she stands on her own.” Walking around the show, I saw Sabrina cleaning while Austin was off making contacts to get hard-to-find parts. She told me, “I never thought I would be a trucker’s wife, but I’m glad I am, and I will support him in what he does.” Owning a truck this old comes with challenges, but Austin has faced all of them – and keeps coming out a winner. The love he has for this old truck shines brightly, and she keeps getting the job done, proving new isn’t always better. After the show, what better place to shoot this truck but at a Chocolate Shop. Google was my friend when I found the Chocolate and Nut Kingdom on Bardstown Road in Louisville, KY. The employees called the owner when we asked permission to shoot there. On the phone, he couldn’t imagine what I was talking about, and said, “I’ll be there in 15 minutes.” When he got there, he couldn’t have been more helpful. JR loved the truck and what we were doing. Look for some very special chocolates next year. We will definitely be making
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