10-4 Magazine September 2022

Cover Feature: By Daniel J. Linss star ted working in his dad’s shop and doing some local driving. At 18 he got his CDL, and away he went – sor t of. He can still remember his very first trip, doing a load, out on the road by himself. Hauling a load of pigs with a 1991 Peterbilt 362 cabover, there was ice everywhere, and the wind was blowing so hard Tyler watched it blow a truck over. But he made it. Driving that Peterbilt cabover for about six months, he later moved into a used 1999 flattop Peterbilt that looked nearly new. It was perfect, and Tyler loved it. When growing up, Tyler’s dad owned nothing but Peterbilt 379s and 389s, so Tyler is kind of a Peterbilt guy, too. After Tyler graduated from high school, he went to college to study diesel mechanics, and continued to drive on the side. The first year was lame, because When building a truck, you should never settle for less than you want or deserve. And the same is true if you are building trucks – you should never settle for “good enough” because your customers deserve more than that. For this reason, Tyler Van Der Zwaag (29) of Van Der Zwaag Customs in Hull, IA made “Never Settle” his company’s motto when designing their website... and it stuck! Having built many cool trucks for his customers over the past few years, Tyler has also built a few for himself, including this everyday work truck featured here (and on our cover and centerfold this month), which is piloted by Trevor Coufal, a driver for Tyler’s other company, Van Der Zwaag Trucking. Going back three generations in the Van Der Zwaag heritage, trucking has been a family affair since Tyler’s grandfather Gerrit and his great-uncle Jake bought two trucks and star ted running under the name Van Der Zwaag Bros. back in 1960 to suppor t their farming operation. At first, they used the trucks to haul their own commodities (mostly corn), but shor tly thereafter they switched to hauling livestock. From there, they never looked back. Driving lots of cabover Freightliner truck and trailer combinations back in the old days, they later switched to Peterbilt conventionals pulling livestock trailers. In 2000, Tyler’s dad Cal and his cousin bought Gerrit out and took over the company. In 2003, Cal and his cousin par ted ways. Tyler’s dad has run the operation ever since. Sometime after Cal took over the operation, the company peaked at seven or eight trucks, fifteen livestock trailers, and seven or eight owner operators. Today, Tyler’s dad, operating as Van Der Zwaag Enterprises, has just two trucks, five trailers, and four owner operators. Continuing to drive after selling off the company, Tyler’s grandfather bought his own truck and trailer and began hauling grain locally. Unfor tunately, he was in a terrible automobile accident a few years ago and almost died. After about a year in the hospital and a convalescent home recovering, he went back to taking care of the farm, but he could no longer drive trucks. And at 86 years old, maybe it was time for Gerrit to hang up his keys, anyway. These days, he still comes into Tyler’s shop each and every day for his morning coffee and conversation. Growing up with livestock trucks all around him, it was no question what Tyler wanted to do in life – be a trucker! Tyler was only two weeks old when he took his first ride in a truck with his dad. He loved riding with his dad, and he did it whenever he could. During high school, Tyler 10 10-4 Magazine / September 2022 NEVER SETTLE!