Cover Feature: By Daniel J. Linss learning how to drive from his dad at an early age in a beer truck and also made deliveries for their feed store. Later, he got into a bigger truck for his dad’s excavation company, driving a 1957 International dump truck with a gas engine and a 5+3 transmission. Johnny eventually “got bored” and sold everything in 1977 and moved to Alaska to become a commercial fisherman. He died in 2024 at the age of 87. After Josh’s grandpa moved to Alaska, his father continued to drive a dump truck (for someone else) until he bought his first truck in 1985 – a silver 1976 Peterbilt 359 with orange stripes and a 36” flattop that he affectionately named Girdy (it would later be known as Girdy 1 since all of John’s trucks were named Girdy). After a few years, things were not working out, so John sold that truck in 1988 and went to work as a driver for S&D Trucking, hauling produce back and forth between Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest for the next two years, then moved to Whitley Fuel, hauling gas in tankers. In August 1991, John was involved in a truck wreck that could have taken his life – but, There is a special bond between fathers and sons – especially when they work together in the same industry or business. Josh Roberts (39) of Ellensburg, WA is building a successful trucking operation, and the cornerstone of his ever-growing fleet is a special truck that was once owned and operated by his father, John Roberts (67). Watching his son work hard and build his business, called Josh Roberts Trucking, something John himself had always wanted to do before getting sidelined with an illness, makes him very proud. Making your dad proud is one of the not-so-often discussed desires most sons have in life, but Josh is very humble and excited to be able to fulfill that goal, and to include his dad in the journey with him, as well. This story starts way back in the late 1800s when Josh’s great great grandfather Thomas Roberts came to America from Wales (a small country that is part of the United Kingdom located just west of England). Back in Wales, most of the family were fisherman, but in America, after homesteading a piece of land in Washington with his brother, they became ranchers and farmers in Conconully, WA. In the 1940s, Josh’s great grandfather Henry Roberts sold his portion of the ranch and moved to Omak, WA where he ranched and farmed, as well. Ranching in Omak is where the C-BAR-C or “double oar locks” brand came to be, in honor of their fishing heritage back in Wales. Oar locks are those C-shaped rings on the side of a rowboat that hold the oars in place, and Henry designed the ranch brand using two of those oar locks, each facing a different direction. In western culture, that brand looked like two “C” letters, connected with a bar, so it got translated into C-Bar-C, and is typically read like that – but it isn’t really that at all. I only mention this here because that “brand” was painted on the door of John’s truck, and now that Josh owns it, he kept it on there as an homage to the family history. Moving on to the next generation, Josh’s grandfather Johnny also lived in Omak, WA and he had several businesses dating back to the 1960s including cattle ranching, a beer distributorship, an excavating company, and a feed store. Josh’s father John (67) was born in 1957, and he began 10 10-4 Magazine / October 2025 MAKING DAD PROUD
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