10-4 Magazine October 2020

Trucker Talk: By Kim Grimm In the spring of 1978, John and Joanna Davis bought this 1977 Peterbilt 359 right off the lot at Boise Peterbilt in Boise, ID. The truck was a stock truck that was ordered to be a logging truck, but those specs also worked for the job they wanted to use it for – hauling from the mines outside Battle Mountain, NV. After a lifetime of hard service and then retirement, John and Joanna’s two sons, Shane and John, surprised their parents by having the old Peterbilt completely restored, and then presented it to them at a recent family celebration – and as you can see in some of the pictures, they were very surprised and excited! John’s family were Idaho farmers, but they moved to Battle Mountain, NV in 1972 to work for a barite mine. After he had been working for a company for a while, John decided to buy his first truck and lease it to a local outfit. It was there he started growing his business – his first truck was #101. Since John and Joanna numbered their trucks in sequence, and this 359 was their first brand-new truck, it ended up being #104. Now, 42 years later, how fitting for it to be featured here in 10-4 Magazine, in October no less, when we celebrate 10-4 Day. This rig has worked hard its entire life. Running off-highway and in the dirt, hauling out of a baritemine, pulling dump trailers or hauling gold ore concentrate, the 359 did this for 20 years then became a water truck. It was a water truck until the tank was pulled off in June of 2019, when it (secretly) went in for a complete restoration. Being 4.5 times heavier than water, barite is a non-metallic mineral used mostly as a weighting agent for drilling operations – it is also added to rubber to create anti-sail mudflaps! John and Joanna worked hard to build their business, called John Davis Trucking. Joanna kept the books, helped with the maintenance on the trucks, and ran a dozer building stockpiles. She told me that John would make the money and it was her job to figure out how to spend it. John spent long hours seven days a week driving. The kids grew up learning how to work on the equipment, as well as drive, when they got old enough to do so. Together, they built a successful family business with 50 trucks, along with a concrete business that had three plants scattered along I-80 in Nevada. This old Peterbilt holds a lot of memories for the entire family. Their oldest son Shane got to ride back from the dealership in it when dad drove her home from Boise. She has more hours on her than miles because of the work she did. The two boys, Shane and John, grew up in the business, and both boys rode in #104 when they were little. And, when they both were old enough to drive, each of them drove #104, as well. Family is really important to these folks. They worked hard together and played just as hard when they got time off, going hunting, fishing in the many local rivers, swimming, and having picnics. In1999theboysboughtthetrucking business from their parents and changed the name from John Davis Trucking to Quality Transportation Inc. They bought the concrete business, as well. This let their parents retire and enjoy going to Yuma, AZ to escape the harsh Nevada winters and come home to enjoy the summer in the mountains outside of Battle Mountain, NV. After that, the boys grew both businesses up to 100 trucks each. A couple years ago they sold the concrete business and have downsized the trucking operation to just 25 trucks, reducing a lot of stress. A little over a year ago, Shane and John contacted Kory Krug, the Body Shop Manager at Silver State International in Sparks, NV, to restore the beloved old 359 as a surprise for their mom and dad, and to be something they could show the younger kids down the line where they came from. Kory loved the opportunity to restore this old truck and took the job seriously – he even had the original microfiche of the build sheet 76 10-4 Magazine / October 2020 A BIG SURPRISE!