Nick Of Time

This month’s cool “creation” was built for Nick Baudino of Kinsman, Illinois. If the Baudino name sounds familiar, it is because his cousin Eric Baudino and his orange and black Peterbilt were featured back in May of 2009. Nick and Eric, along with a bunch of other family members, all work together on the family farm, which has a total of nine trucks and an array of trailers. Nick’s new truck recently made its debut at the show in Louisville and earned several awards.

Nick (33) graduated early from high school and then went straight to trucking (as soon as he turned 18). Hauling agricultural products in and around Illinois, Nick’s first truck was a 1993 Kenworth T450 with a 3176 Cat. In December of 1999, he bought his first new truck – a viper red 2000 Kenworth W900L daycab. He ran that truck until 2006, and then he ordered a new, all-black, 2007 Peterbilt 379 with a 48” flattop. Nick came out with Eric when he picked up his new truck back in 2009, and at that point Nick assured Clint that the next Baudino family truck ordered would be for him – but it would be a few years.

A few years later, as promised, Nick called Clint to order his new ride. Wanting to debut the truck in Louisville, Clint decided to make the truck his “special project” for the show. The truck is a 2012 Peterbilt 389 with a 36” flattop, an ISX Cummins with an 18-speed, Low-Air suspension, and a car-hauler front axle. When ordering the truck, Nick didn’t know what to put on the dash plaque so Clint just put “Nick of Time” – and who knew how perfect that slogan would become!

When the truck came in, it was painted lime green and black, but Clint and his guys (mostly Rick and Rob) added the white breaker stripes. Wanting the exterior paint scheme to match the inside of the truck, the guys painted the floor and the door panels with the same colors and stripes. The interior of this truck turned out good enough to take 3rd place at the show in Louisville!

Since this is a new Peterbilt, Clint had to play the “hide the urea tank” game, and, in the end, you can’t even tell that this truck has one. The guys painted many of the exterior pieces green including the air cleaners, billet step plates, body drop panels, fuel tanks, RoadWorks rear hub caps, rear tail bar, and even the back of the front bumper. The rear fenders (from Shift) were painted with the same two-tone color scheme and stripes as the rest of the truck, and the visor (one of Clint’s) and one-piece mirror brackets were painted black. There was a lot more done to this truck, but there just isn’t enough space here to cover it all. Big thanks go out to Jesus for doing much of the work on this truck.

Nick is a 3rd generation trucker and a great guy. Married to his wife Kelly for three years, the couple has a new baby boy named Liam, along with Kelly’s six-year-old daughter Jada (she loves going out with Nick in the truck, as long as he stops at McDonald’s for breakfast).

If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done, and that was certainly the case with Nick’s rig. Tinty Signs finished the lettering on the truck just 10 hours before it left for the show, and then Nick got the truck to Louisville just in the “nick of time” to compete. But it was all worth it – the truck took 1st place in its class, and at Louisville, that is an amazing feat!