Some folks grow up in the shadow of their parents or siblings, but it’s a running joke that Brandon Davis (34) of Willard, MO is growing up in the shadow of his youngest son, Rooster. You may know Rooster from the video that went viral of the “Wee Pete” mini truck a few months ago. Rooster’s little mini Peterbilt is super cool, but his dad’s full-size version is even cooler. Whether building a working show truck or a mini truck, the Davis family gives it all they have – Double or Nothin – which is also the name of this truck.
The first time I met Brandon we were at the Laid Back on I-55 Truck Show in Perryville, MO last summer. His truck caught my eye, and I literally did a double take – I mean, what’s not to love about a cream and bright blue stand-up Peterbilt hooked to a matching 48’ stepdeck, with an exact replica mini version sitting right next to it!
Born on April 13, 1987, in Jackson, Mississippi to Mark and Donna Davis, Brandon never got to know his father who, unfortunately, passed away when he was only 10 months old. In 1997, his mom Donna married Rob Walker and moved to Alamogordo, NM where Rob drove a water truck. He wasn’t allowed to have riders in the truck, but he took Brandon with him anyway. Brandon would have to hide on the floorboard of the truck when they would pass people from the company. Rob pulled an end dump throughout Brandon’s childhood. It was always Brandon’s dream to get his own truck and roll down the road with his dad. Sadly, when he turned 21 and got his CDL, his dad stopped driving, which crushed his dream.
Moving to Southwest Oklahoma during his senior year of high school, Brandon lived with his grandparents when he met his wife, Cortney, through her sister. He jokes that she wouldn’t have anything to do with him until he turned 18 because she is three years older than him. The couple started dating on April 21, 2005 and were married four years later to the day on April 21, 2009. In 2009 they also welcomed their first son, Tyler, and then a few years later Remington (aka Rooster) was born. When Brandon was 21, while working at a small construction company called Shoestring Enterprises out of Oklahoma, they offered him the opportunity to get his CDL and he jumped at the chance.
In 2015, after several years of trying everything from wheat harvesting to heavy hauling, while working for RMS Crane Service in Denver, CO, Brandon’s wife Cortney decided to join the team and the two of them opened up Left Lane LLC in Cortney’s name as a pilot car escort service, with Cortney running her own car. In 2017 Brandon decided to purchase his own truck. He finished out the year with RMS Crane Service and then, at the beginning of 2018, jumped in headfirst. Sink or swim. That’s where his rig got its name, Double or Nothin.
The truck was a 1994 cream and turquoise Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood that had run the same area for 17 years. When Brandon went to get the paint matched to do some touch-ups on the frame, the shop matched it with Peacock Blue. That’s the color he painted from the tanks to the back of the truck, and he ended up liking it better than the truck’s original blue color. He would like to eventually get it fully repainted, since the cream color is now 14 years old, and starting to show its age.
“Double or Nothin” has a 3406C model Cat mechanical motor under the hood, an 18-speed transmission, 3.70 rear ends, and a 262” wheelbase. They kept the original headliner but rewrapped the dash panels, laid laminate barnwood flooring, and removed the splitter off the stick to give it more of a clean look.
Their company, Left Lane LLC, mostly hauls lumber and marble out of the quarry where we took some of the pictures. In addition to the “Double or Nothin” Peterbilt, they also have a 2014 GMC Duramax pickup, which does the smaller loads for their customers.
Brandon and his family love to attend truck shows, but as we all know, it’s a lot of work. As a small company, you’re missing thousands of dollars of work every day that the truck doesn’t move. Even when they’re at home, it’s a family affair though, backing the truck in the drive, cleaning and polishing it, to get ready for the next week.
You would think Rooster was the manager at the Blue Beacon by the way he cracks the whip on everybody when cleaning the truck. “Hey! You missed a spot!! Don’t do it like that!!!” Rooster is all about every aspect of trucking. He wants to help do it all. Tyler is more of a sports nut, and he’s very talented. The look on Brandon’s face when he talks about his boys shows his pride.
The idea for the “Wee Pete” came about after the Davis’ attended the Guilty By Association Truck Show in Joplin, Missouri in 2018. Rooster had a wagon they had put big tires on, along with a taillight panel, lights, and a tall shifter, but after pulling it around GBATS with two kids in it all day, it really wore them out. After the show they began to look for something cool to drive around the shows. Everything Brandon found was out of their price range, so he started looking and decided to go this route.
In January 2020 he made the jump to have it done for GBATS 2020 and started this project with a flat bottom basic go-kart. He cut off the front and used the steer axle and steering column, then hand formed the hood, door panels, and roof out of race car aluminum. The goal was to just get it up and going, but as we all know how truck building goes, one thing led to another and next thing they knew it had a flip bumper, train horns, a stereo, and the list goes on. “Rooster adores that thing. You’d think he’s ran a million miles in it. He swears he’s going to make a living with it,” said Brandon with a big smile.
The “Wee Pete” is a 7-foot truck with a 12-foot trailer, and an exact to scale replica of Brandon’s truck and stepdeck trailer. It weighs about 600 lbs. and has hauled up to 1,250 lbs. on the trailer. Even fully loaded, it can still run at 28 mph. It has a single cylinder diesel engine that rolls coal, aluminum outer rails with a wood deck, 107 lights, a CB radio, stereo, working toolboxes, landing gear, and electrical outlets. Everything they could do to make it identical to their dad’s big Peterbilt was done.
I would like to thank the Davis family for allowing me to take these pictures and tell their story. As you can see in both their work truck and their play truck, these folks are committed to quality and love trucks and trucking. In fact, in both life and trucking, this family is all in – Double or Nothin!
