Some people just like classic trucks better than the new ones. Truth be told, most probably like the classics better, unless they are all about technology and creature comforts. For those things, the newer trucks fit the bill, but for all the old school truckers out there that want simple, stylish, classically styled, and easy to work on trucks, then the older ones are for you. Such is the case for the Emmons family of Chesterfield, IL. Donnie Emmons (56) and his grown sons, Brandon (28) and Tyler (22), are all truckers clinging to the classics. One example of that is Brandon’s 1985 Kenworth W900B, which he drives every day, but that is just one of the cool “classics” in the Emmons fleet.
Growing up around trucks and trucking in Illinois, Brandon comes from a trucking family. His grandfather, Don Emmons, started trucking after returning home from the Vietnam War (he was in the Air Force for six years), and was a company driver for much of his driving career, mostly pulling reefers and flatbeds. It wasn’t until about 1996, shortly after his son Donnie formed Emmons & Sons, that he bought his own truck – a 1992 Peterbilt with a Detroit. Married to Donnie’s mom Wanda since 1966, Don passed away in 2019 at 76 years old.
Born in Alton, IL in 1968, Donnie Emmons loved going out on the road with his dad. For the last 14 or 15 years of his driving career, Donnie’s dad drove for Nelson Gwillim (our friend Mickey Gwillim’s grandpa), and Nelson always bought him cool trucks to drive. Donnie can remember going out in his dad’s Freightliner cabover, along with a cool B-model Kenworth, that was painted gray with blue stripes and was spec’d a lot like Brandon’s truck that you see here today (which is one of the reasons they bought it).
After graduating high school, Donnie joined the Army and spent three years serving, getting out around 1990. At that point, he began driving a truck, but it didn’t last long. Unfortunately, when Operation Desert Storm began in 1991, the Army called him back and sent him to Iraq for about a year. Upon his return home in 1992, he went back to trucking as a company driver, and then bought his first truck the following year in 1993 – a 1990 Kenworth T600 with a Detroit. Pulling a reefer, Donnie was leased to several different outfits over the next few years with this truck, until he went out on his own and formed Emmons & Sons, LLC in 1995 – the same year his son Brandon was born.
Shortly after starting his company, Donnie bought his next truck – a charcoal gray 1984 Kenworth W900B with a 400 Cat. About that same time, his dad bought the 1992 Peterbilt with a Detroit mentioned previously. Raving about the mileage it got, he eventually convinced Donnie to get rid of the “B” and buy his next truck – a 1995 Kenworth T600 with a Detroit. And his dad was right – the money he saved on fuel alone more than made the truck payment!
His next truck was a black and red 1998 Peterbilt 379 with a 63” standup sleeper. Donnie drove this truck for years, running it for 1.9 million miles, and still owns it today. Powered by an 800-hp Detroit hooked to a Super-10, it is now black and white, with a Seminole paint scheme, and mostly just for shows (but he did say that he could get in it today and drive to California without any problems if he had to).
Pulling reefers and hauling produce for the first six years of his driving career, Donnie began to branch out in 1998, as his company grew, and started hauling meat. A few years later, he got a sweet gig hauling scrap metal from the GM assembly plant in Wentzville, MO to Alton, IL. This was a 24/7 deal, and the company had several trucks dedicated to it for years, until the plant started putting everything on rail cars instead.
Today, the company, which is comprised of about 13 trucks (five company owned rigs and eight leased operators), pull reefers across the entire country. They operate under two banners, Emmons & Sons, which all the family trucks run under, and another company called D. Thomas Trucking, which is the company the leased operators run under. Don Thomas was a friend of Donnie’s, and the two formed D. Thomas Trucking together in 2014. After Don Thomas passed away, Donnie took it over completely and kept the company alive, dividing his assets between each of his companies, to create a little “buffer” between his two businesses.
Born in 1995, Brandon (28) was the first child of Donnie and his wife Jody Emmons, who have been married for almost 31 years now. They also have a son named Nathan (25) who is a truck mechanic, and a son named Tyler (22) who drives and works in the family business and does a lot more (we will get to that later). Going out on the road with his dad whenever he could, when Brandon wasn’t out in the truck with his dad, he was at home playing with his toy trucks “hauling loads down to Texas” and such, on the floor. Later, he got into truck simulator games on the computer, and did a lot of that, too.
After high school, Brandon wanted to go trucking, but the company insurance wouldn’t allow him on the policy at that age, so he had to wait. Instead, he went and got a great job as a lineman for a company laying fiber optic lines. Earning a large salary at a young age, many (me included) thought he was crazy to get his CDL at 21 and then leave that company at 23 to start driving in the family business. But since he wasn’t happy there, no amount of money was worth it for him to stay there. He learned that “money doesn’t buy happiness” at a very early age, and went on to add, “A bad day trucking is better than a good day doing anything else!”
Starting in a red 2010 Western Star, which they still have, Brandon began his driving career pulling a bottle for another company as a leased operator through Emmons & Sons, and then went on to pull a flatbed for a short while, as well. Later, he got a 2004 reefer from his dad to pull (which was the first brand-new reefer trailer Donnie ever bought) and began running all over the country. Brandon and Donnie always liked B-model Kenworths, and both thought it would be cool to have one like Donnie’s dad (and Donnie) had back in the day.
While vacationing at their home on Padre Island in Texas earlier this year, Donnie was surfing the internet and found a 1985 Kenworth W900B with a 13-speed, a 60” sleeper, and a 260” wheelbase, spec’d very much like his dad’s was, for sale. A few days later, in April 2024, Brandon and a friend were on their way to South Dakota to pick it up! The silver truck was in good shape, but at some point, after its 400 Big Cam Cummins had blown up, it got moved into a field where it sat for a bit. During the covid pandemic, when trucks and parts were hard to get, the owner decided to pull it out of the field and rebuild the engine, but then the truck was never used. When Brandon picked it up, it literally had like 20 miles on it since the rebuild.
Not one to waste any time, Donnie gave Brandon and his younger brother Tyler one week to get it cleaned up and out on the road. And not just the truck – they also wanted to paint Brandon’s 2006 Utility 50’ spread-axle stainless reefer trailer to match, too. After removing the wet kit, tearing the truck down and then priming it, Tyler painted it a gray Lexus car color called “Incognito” and then added metallic violet stripes outlined and accented with lots of gloss purple. The gloss purple is a Rustoleum spray can paint color! Years ago, our friend and theirs, Troy Huddleston, told them if they planned to work and show a truck, always pick a Rustoleum paint color so touch-ups before shows were cheap and easy – and they followed his good advice.
After the paint was completed, the boys replaced the old rusty exhaust with a new 5” system from 4 State Trucks, added a new tapered bumper from Valley Chrome, swapped out all the wheels with new ones, and replaced all the tires. The truck was equipped with a factory visor, a factory Varashield on the roof, and factory cab panels with double bubble lights, so they cleaned up and/or repainted all that stuff and then kept them. They also replaced the covers on the step boxes, mounted new Hogebuilt quarter fenders with purple quilted covers, added tank fairings from one of Donnie’s old trucks, and changed out the cab lights and horns on the roof to new round ones. The final touches were the vinyl graphics on the doors and Varashield, along with purple bug shields from our friend and advertiser Dane Nelson here in California, placed both on top and along the sides of the grill.
At the time, not much was done inside, it was just cleaned up a bit – same with under the hood. Since the photo shoot, Brandon has added chrome bezels and switch plates/covers on the dash, replaced the shifter boot, and cleaned it up even more. As mentioned before, the trailer was done at the same time, too. Tyler painted the undercarriage, side rails, and reefer unit gloss purple to match the truck, along with Brandon’s tire chains, which hang there all the time but don’t get used (Brandon was instructed by his father that if chains are required, park it and wait, as it’s not worth it). The fenders on the trailer also got purple quilted covers from 4 State trucks, which completed the “look” the boys were going for.
The truck was named “Yesterday’s Wine” after Donnie was inspired by a song originally written and recorded by Willie Nelson in 1971, then redone by George Jones and Merle Haggard in 1982. The second version went on to become a number one hit on the country charts, and based on some of the lyrics – “Aging with time, like yesterday’s wine!” – these words were added to the back of the sleeper and on the back doors of the trailer. And, just eight days after they pulled the truck and trailer into the shop, it was finished, loaded, and heading to Texas… and Brandon hasn’t stopped since.
Since putting it on the road, Brandon has been running it hard, six to seven days a week, mostly running out west and down south. And he is not the only one out there running hard in a true classic. Last year in September (2023), Donnie purchased a 1979 Freightliner FL96 cabover and has been running it hard every day, as well. Finding this cabover while once again surfing the internet on vacation at their home on Padre Island, Donnie found it in Indiana and sent Brandon to get it. The truck was solid, but full of squirrel nests and such, and it needed a lot of TLC to get it back to being right. On the trip home, the shifter went out on the high side, and Brandon had to drive the final 45 miles at about 10 mph, which took over four hours!
Once the Freightliner, fitted with a 400 Big Cam Cummins, a 13-speed, and 3.55 rears, was in their shop, Donnie and the boys got after it. Using a Volvo cutoff, they stretched the length of the frame to 270 inches and upgraded the suspension to an air-ride system. They also installed a new grill, a new front bumper, an RLK visor, a new 7” intake and 5” exhaust system, and polished the heck out of the old white paint it already had. Some green vinyl stripes were added, as well. They also customized Donnie’s existing 2005 Great Dane 48’ stainless reefer trailer with a lift axle by painting it to match the truck, just like they did on Brandon’s trailer.
After just a few months, the “El Troubador” cabover was ready to hit the highway, but then someone got the bright idea to take it to the big Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) in Louisville, KY in March 2024. For that to happen, the Emmons boys were told, “You need to step up your game!” So, they did. They essentially took it all apart again so they could have the frame sandblasted and repainted. Showing it at MATS as a bobtail (without the trailer), this striking white and green cabover turned a lot of heads. And since taking a week off after MATS, this truck and trailer has been running hard ever since, with Donnie at the wheel. And he loves it! Donnie said it is one of the best riding trucks he has ever driven, and Brandon agreed.
In addition to his brother and dad, Tyler (22) also drives an older truck. Not as “classic” as a B-model KW or a Freightliner cabover but still iconic, Tyler’s rig is a dark blue 1996 Western Star 4964 Heritage with a red frame. Powered with a 470 Detroit hooked to a 15-speed, Tyler pulls a 53’ spread-axle reefer. He just started running when he turned 21, but he has been driving trucks since he was 10 years old. And, in addition to driving full time, he also does a lot of painting and other work on the trucks. Simply put, Donnie said, “Tyler can do anything!”
Helping to run the company, Donnie said, regarding his wife Jody, “Without her this place would lock up!” Donnie is still a pen and paper type of guy, so computers aren’t his thing (he still logs his IFTA mileage numbers by hand when he crosses a state line). He likes things simple, and even though he has an associate’s degree in accounting, he is not a “numbers” guy. And although he is not looking to retire anytime soon, he is starting to pass some responsibilities down to his boys. When not driving, working on trucks, or spending time with family, you can find Donnie (and Jody) spending time at their home on Padre Island in Texas or at their newly purchased piece of property (just bare land) in Wyoming.
Married to Erin since 2019, Brandon and his wife have twin girls that are just a year and a half old. The couple met in high school and have been together ever since. Erin is now a teacher. And, oddly enough, even though twins do not run in the Emmons family, Tyler and his wife Karlee have twin boys that are just three months old! Tyler missed their birth, as he was out on the road truckin’ when they decided it was time to be delivered (pun intended), and he couldn’t make it home in time.
Being very industrious, even as a child, Donnie has obviously passed that trait on to his boys. Donnie bought his first piece of property, two acres, at the ripe old age of 13 – he went to the bank and got a loan and everything – for $6,000. At that time, he had several jobs, including working for the Township and some local farmers, along with doing a rural paper route. Later on, he sold that property and used the money as the down-payment on the current house he and Jody still live in today. When asked about the future, Brandon said that he and Tyler have set a goal of owning and operating a fleet of 50 trucks one day. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
Along with their daily drivers, the Emmons boys also have a few “classics” out in the shed. We already mentioned Donnie’s black and white 1998 Peterbilt 379, which has a custom interior and is beautiful, but Brandon also has a blue and white 1972 Peterbilt cabover, and Tyler has a white and green 1995 Kenworth K100E cabover with a small Aerodyne sleeper, a 425 CAT, and an 18-speed. This cool little truck came from California and has less than 700,000 miles on it. There is also a 1980 Freightliner FLC and a 1973 Freightliner cabover out in the shed, too.
Taking pride in what they do, Emmons & Sons is all about customer service and building relationships. One of those great relationships was with Arsenio Rodriguez, who owned Quality Truck Sales (QTS) in Springfield, MO. Donnie bought almost every truck he’s ever owned from him. Coincidentally, back in our March 2015 edition, Arsenio and his operation was featured in a “Trucker Talk” article (Living The Dream) by our longtime contributor Kim Jaikes (then Kim Grimm). Arsenio has since sold out, retired, and moved to Florida, but Donnie really liked this guy and loved doing business with him.
All of the boys wanted to thank their wives for their love, support, and patience, and they all wanted to thank Jody (AKA mom) for holding everything together. Donnie also wanted to thank all their drivers for doing such a great job and keeping their customers happy. These guys don’t like the new stuff, they like the older stuff. Older trucks look good, are affordable, and are easy to work on – what’s not to like? “Clinging to the Classics” is more than just a story headline for these guys… it’s a way of life!
