10-4 Magazine / October 2025 69 if one happens, and sometimes it’s the “different” ways you teach that people will remember the most. Dylan Mercier (24) of St. Anne, IL has put together a truck and trailer to honor all firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty, as every one of them is a hero. Here is how this beautiful tribute came to be. Dylan loved riding in a truck during harvest on the farm. His favorite was a red R-Model Mack, and his love of Mack trucks has stuck with him. As he got older, he got to drive different trucks and help with harvest. Before the law was passed that you had to go to a school to get your CDL, he drove around in a cornfield until he was prepared enough to take his test, and yes, he passed. When Dylan was 17, his parents, Ralph and Lori, started looking in The Truck Paper for a Mack nearby. It was after he was 18 that they found his 2005 Mack Vision E7427 at CIT Trucks in Normal, IL. The original plan was for Dylan to start his own company with the truck, but the price of insurance changed all that (it was just too much to make it worth it). That’s when he began thinking about what else he could do with the truck. One thing he knew for sure was that he wanted to make it stand out. His dad was a volunteer firefighter for the Papineau Fire Department and was Lieutenant for 27 years. Since 2016, he has served as the St. Anne Fire Trustee President. Dylan became a cadet firefighter as soon as he could when he was 14. After dressing his bulldog hood ornament in a tiny firefighter outfit, he got inspired to start putting the truck together and build something special. When I asked him if his little bulldog has a name, he said, “No!” I guess we are going to have to work on that. When Dylan was 18 years old he went to Firefighter Academy and became an interior firefighter and engineer (the engineer is the one who drives the fire truck). He can drive the truck, fight the fire, then drive it back to the station. The order of rank is Cadet, Firefighter, Engineer, Lieutenant, Captain, Assistant Chief then Chief. He hopes to become Chief one day in his station in St. Anne, IL, which is just south of Kankakee. Brainstorming one day he settled on the “Our Fallen Heroes” theme for the truck and, over the years, she has changed to become the beautiful tribute she is today. She has an Eaton 10-speed transmission and Mack 3.36 rear ends from the factory, so she’s not technically a pure-bred by Mack standards, but she doesn’t have to be, because this little dog stands tall! After the theme was decided, Fastlane Wraps in Chebanse, IL designed the graphics and the truck was wrapped. The top part of the truck is the same red that is under her wrap (of course she’s red). They also designed and wrapped the first trailer, as well as the new Wilson trailer, seen behind it today. Other additions started happening to the truck, like ATG Custom Sleepers donating a new sleeper and doing all the beautiful interior work. Tom Milhan and Norm Floria are awesome people, and we got to meet them two years ago, when I had the privilege of driving 10-4’s very own Trevor Hardwick’s new Peterbilt from there back to Washington after they worked their magic for him. Sureco Tarps donated parts and then took Dylan to the Wilson booth at a farm show in Decatur, IL in 2021. This meeting started the ball rolling, and Mark Brazzell, who is the Wilson Grain Trailer Product Manager, helped get Dylan a new Wilson trailer! Dylan would really like to thank everyone who has contributed, in any way, to making this dream a reality, be it parts, labor or love. Inside Dylan’s sleeper, he had a blanket made with a picture of the truck and trailer and “Our Fallen Heroes” on it. Along with the blanket there are a few other very special things. Our friend Janice Skidmore gave us her brother’s NYFD jacket he was wearing on 911. Along with the jacket was his flag, with the names along the edge, and a 911 Beanie Baby. She wanted Dylan to have them and display them when he shows the truck to help remember her brother.
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