This month’s creation was built for Oropeza Brothers Trucking out of Bakersfield, CA. When it comes to working together, this outfit is truly a family affair. With ten brothers and one sister, the Oropeza family all work together – some here in the U.S. and some in Mexico – running trucking companies that are on the grow. And, since partnering with Clint, they have added several sweet rides to their expanding fleet.
Coming from a small town in Mexico, the Oropeza family, with 11 siblings, is the size of a football team. Led by their dad Maximo Oropeza and their mother Maria de La Luz Juarez, they have always been a humble and hardworking family. Their father started off as a bus driver in Mexico, and then some of the older brothers started driving trucks. Brothers Vicki, Max and Gilberto all started driving around the age of 16 with help from their uncle Jeronimo Juarez.
In 1989, Max and Gilberto took a chance for the American Dream and immigrated to the United States. Soon thereafter, all the brothers took that same risk and came north, as well. In the beginning, they worked the worst of jobs in manufacturing plants and restaurants, along with other “hard labor” types of work.
In 1995, they decided as a family that they wanted to become truck drivers, like they were back in Mexico. Max and Isidro were the first brothers to obtain their CDLs, and then Max got a job hauling for Rich Doss, who later assisted three of the other brothers (Gilberto, Adrian and Fernando) in getting their CDLs, as well.
In 1999, after years of hard work and many lessons learned, they again made a decision, as a family, to form their own business – Oropeza Brothers Trucking. That same year they bought their first truck – a red 1994 Kenworth T600, and then three more brothers (Cesar, Carlos and Vicki) got their CDLs, too. Over the next few years, the company grew to include five Peterbilt trucks and five flatbed trailers. Their youngest brothers, Isaac and Jovani, also got their Class-A licenses. Another important player is Maria Del Carmen Valdeolivar – she runs their office in Bakersfield and is a dispatcher, bookkeeper and negotiator – she does it all.
By 2008 the company had 16 trucks and 19 flatbeds. Things were great, but with every great story there is always a low point. Their first big blow was the passing of their father Maximo. Not long after that, they lost their oldest brother Vicki to cancer. Through these and many other tough times they have pulled through and united stronger as a family. They even created another trucking company that operates in Mexico, which is ran by four of the brothers.
Around 2012 they started taking some of their trucks to shows. This is how they met Clint. In 2014, they bought two Peterbilt 389s from Clint – a gray flattop and a black flattop – which were both customized by Clint and his crew. More recently, when it was time to get another one, they called Clint again, and he sold them the orange 2018 Peterbilt 389 seen here, which features a 72-inch flattop, a 294-inch wheelbase on Low Leaf, an 18-speed, a 605-hp Cummins X15, and all the good stuff. The shop added a painted visor with stainless trim, painted half-fenders and deck plate, cab and sleeper skirts, a bumper, a Jim Crain light bar, and 8-inch dummy pipes (the truck has a weed burner exhaust underneath). The guys in the shop also hid the urea tank in a big box under the cab.
