10-4 Magazine September 2022

10-4 Magazine / September 2022 13 Midwest to the west coast, and then bringing whatever they can find back. This is a true work truck – but it’s also a show truck. Back in March of this year (2022), Tyler and his crew were super excited and surprised when this truck was chosen to receive the Best of Show Working Bobtail award at the massive Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY. That is a huge win for anyone involved in truck shows! Tyler called it a “highlight” in his life, and I have to say, it really opened our eyes to this truck. After meeting all the guys at Wheel Jam in 2021 and hanging out with them, we really liked them as people. Then, the truck actually went to work – for almost a year! And then, it won a Best of Show at MATS. Add these together, and you get the perfect ingredients for an amazing cover truck and feature story. And that’s why we did it (for anyone who was wondering). Running this combination under another one of his companies, Van Der Zwaag Trucking, Tyler currently has just the one truck and one driver – Trevor “Cheese Ball” Coufal – along with an owner operator that pulls a trailer Tyler owns. Trevor came on board in January 2021 when the truck build was just getting star ted. The truck was being built for another driver, but when he left, it went to Trevor – and he isn’t complaining. Tyler says Trevor is a great driver! Trevor grew up riding with his dad in his R-model Mack, and then later a Superliner. In addition to spending five years in the Army National Guard of Nebraska, which is a par t time commitment, he also ran a cattle yard for one of the larger kill plants in his area, and then star ted driving trucks at 21. He spent almost five years with Accord Transpor tation, hauling propane to the west, before joining the VDZ Trucking team in 2021. Married to his wife Kelli since 2018, the couple has an 8-month-old girl named Adalynn “Addy” Mae Coufal, and they live in a beautiful old farmhouse out in the country in Nebraska. Married to his wife Janelle since June 2014, she and Tyler have two sons – Karson (4) and Jaxton (2). Both of these boys love trucks and, by the looks of things, they got the bug already! Tyler and his family live in a house on a piece of proper ty just outside of town that has been in their family for at least four generations. Their farm has been in the family for 165 years (since 1857) and the house they live in, as best they can figure, was built around 1880. The house isn’t much to speak of these days, but Tyler and Janelle are looking forward to building a new house, on the proper ty, in the near future. Getting his medical condition under control, Tyler currently has his CDL again and can drive,