10-4 Magazine September 2024

32 10-4 Magazine / September 2024 What began as a simple refresh turned into more than Mike Burkholder, the pilot of this truck, could have dreamed of. The W900L gracing these pages received a full makeover in mid to late 2023. “I have always loved the 007 scheme, and I was thrilled to do it in brown,” explained Mike. For those who don’t know, the 007 scheme is named for the 1989 James Bond Movie “License to Kill” in which four Kenworth W900B rigs appear, painted in a certain scheme for the movie. Kenworth went on to release a limited number of W900Ls to the consumer market with this paint scheme, but it was always white with black and gold stripes. Driving this truck and trailer for his boss, Mike Hostetler, based in Plain City, OH, driver Mike Burkholder lives in East Earl, PA. Mike runs the Midwest with this truck every week, hauling ag supplies, in a 53-foot Mac conestoga trailer. When I asked Mike what got him started in trucking, he told me it has always been a dream of his, going back to his childhood. Growing up, Mike had a neighbor who drove a 1986 Autocar which he parked it at home – right where Mike could see it! This Autocar began his affinity for trucks. WhenMikewasaround14yearsold, he would go out to the barn and fire up his uncle’s 362 Peterbilt cabover and drive it back and forth along their fairly long driveway. After Mike made a few passes, he would put it back in barn. When Mike was 25, he got his CDL, and the day after he was legally licensed, he was moving a 12-foot wide shed down the road. Not a bad way to break in a brand-new CDL! Mike ended up working in construction for nearly 20 years before he started driving truck again. The 1993 Kenworth W900L in this story received a full treatment, from front to back. The truck was originally from South Carolina before Lavern Cross, an Indiana resident, purchased it. Lavern was working on his W900A, so he needed something to run while it was in the shop. During his ownership, Lavern changed some things around, most noticeably the paint. The truck was brown and yellow when Lavern got his hands on it, and he had the rig repainted a two-tone brown. However, this was the extent of the work Lavern did. Special Feature: By Colin Kund Piloting a white and red Peterbilt 379 around this time, Mike had always expressed interest in acquiring the W900L from Lavern (Mike loves the Aero-1 sleeper and always dreamed of having a KW with one). In April of 2018, Lavern gave Mike a call to let him know the L was on the market. Not long after that call ended, the truck made its way from Indiana to Ohio. Once it came to Ohio, Mike and his boss started working on the truck to make it a little cooler. A wide track disc brake front axle was used to replace the factory axle. After the axle conversion was complete, the air ride kit was built and installed by Shane Kurtz, a 717 area local fella. The truck began its life with a 265” wheelbase before a Freightliner airliner cutoff was added, bringing the wheelbase to 292 inches. A new Jones Performance hood replaced the original. Mike ran the Kenworth like this up until mid-2023, as mentioned before. The current brown is a one off custom mix of Sikkens paint, mixed by Duane Hoover at L&S Truck Painting. “I shot nearly 20 different browns before we got the exact color Mike was looking for,” said Duane. The brown is almost a bronze color in the right light, and it has tons of flake to make it pop even more! Like the brown, the gold and black in the stripes are also custom one off mixes of Sikkens paint. The gold and black were chosen fairly fast, and Duane didn’t need to shoot nearly as many! The level of detail in the stripes and globe is insane considering it’s paint, and not vinyl. The frame also received a full blast and paint with a beautiful gloss black to make the rest of the truck pop. The fuel tanks, which are from 4 State Trucks, also received a coat of the brown color to pull the entire look of the truck 20 SHADES OF BROWN