They say you can’t go back in time, but in your mind you can – to a time when you were a kid, didn’t have adult responsibilities, and began to form your hopes and dreams for the future. With a fleet of toy trucks when he was little, Klayton Keesling (40) has always been crazy about trucks, and he loved riding with his uncle in his Kenworth K100 whenever possible. Fast forward to today, with those childhood memories inspiring his longing and the eventual purchase of his own K100, Klayton is reliving those days gone by.
Growing up in the rural town of Saint John, KS where everyone knew each other, Klayton’s love of trucks only grew by hanging out at his uncle Tim’s farm as a kid. Tim owned two Kenworth cabovers, and Klayton has very fond memories of being able to ride in them, on the doghouse, going down the road. Throughout the years, Klayton worked on the farm and learned how to drive, not only from his uncle, but also his father Kurt, who did a little trucking in the oilfields back in the day. Although Klayton’s grandfather did not truck, his great grandfather was a trucker from the 1930s to the 1980s.
After graduation in 2003, Klayton was awarded scholarships for playing football and pole vaulting, which he took advantage of at McPherson College in McPherson, KS. He went to college for two years, majoring in Environmental Stewardship, but football beat him up pretty badly. Four concussions later, he was encouraged to do something other than football and ended up transferring to Fort Hayes State University. Klayton joined the rodeo team and started studies in agriculture with continued thoughts of coming back to the farm in Saint John.
Not returning to Saint John like he initially thought, Klayton took a job with a company in Ulysses, KS working as an agronomist (soil management and crop production). And once the farmers found out that Klayton could drive a truck, he had plenty of extra work on the nights and weekends during harvest season. During one of his visits back to Saint John, he was reacquainted with a beautiful brunette named Lyndi in 2010, they were married on October 6, 2012, and then Lyndi joined Klayton in Ulysses. In 2013, they moved to Gerard, KS, next to a little manmade lake in Crawford State Park that, coincidentally, his great grandfather helped dig.
In 2014, Klayton began driving full-time, pulling an end dump for about a year and a half, then worked on a farm, driving for them until his family moved back to Saint John in 2017. The move brought him back to his roots, working on his uncle’s farm, and during that time, he bought an old Peterbilt 362 cabover with plans of fixing it up. However, when his wife Lyndi got pregnant, Klayton changed his mind on that project, and instead decided to stay on with the farm so he could be home.
Then, a few years later, a Facebook listing caught Klayton’s eye. There was a K100 Kenworth for sale in Filley, NE that looked a lot like what he grew up around, and he wanted to go check it out. After seeing the truck and talking to the owner, Mark Busboom, they worked out a deal, and on March 16, 2019, Klayton brought the truck home. A few months later, he started Keesling Trucking, and began working that K100, hauling hay with a stepdeck, both locally and hauling dairy hay out to Indiana. Out of Indiana, he would reload steel at the Port of Indiana and bring it back to Kansas. When hay was slow, he would run cattle, as well.
The truck is a 1984 Kenworth K100C. Originally purchased with a 855 Cummins Big Cam IV and a 13-speed RTO 14613 transmission, it now has a Caterpillar 1LW 3406E and a 13-speed RTLO 18913A, as well as 3.73 rears, and rides on a factory 245” wheelbase. The truck sports an aftermarket Goldwing bumper, 7-inch Lincoln Chrome exhaust and intake, and a factory visor. It was ordered brand-new as a straight truck with a box, which is why it has the factory 245” wheelbase. The pinstriping and vinyl on the truck was done by Mark’s Custom Signs in Great Bend, KS.
Like any new owner operator should, Klayton did his homework to find a company with a good reputation to lease on to. He wanted to make sure he knew what he was getting into. After his run of hay and cattle hauling started to slow down, he contacted Stacy Doughery, owner of Mid-Continent Transportation out of Great Bend, KS, to see if they would be interested in leasing him on. Stacy was out of town during that conversation and stated they had never had owner operators before, but it was something they would consider. Shortly thereafter, in June of this year, they struck a deal, and Klayton has been happily running for them ever since. Mid-Continent Transportation is a small family-owned trucking company that specializes in hauling liquid petroleum, anhydrous ammonia, and liquid fertilizer. Klayton said, “I couldn’t have asked for a better company to run for.”
When I had asked Klayton who his biggest influences in life were, there was an audible sigh, and then he stated that he wouldn’t even know where to start, because he is surrounded by so many amazing people. Klayton mentioned the older generation who would help him when he first got started, to the guys 15 years younger than him who offered a hand, but his dad and uncle were the first to come to mind. Those two men offered guidance and support, and helped shape Klayton into the man he is today, which includes how he conducts himself, his work ethic, and maintaining a humorous side through it all.
Today, Klayton and Lyndi remain residents of Saint John, KS with their daughter Hazen (6) and their son Heizer (2). Heizer was actually named after the Hermann H. Heiser saddle, which was the Cadillac of saddles back in the 1800s, but they swapped out the “s” for a “z” to go with Hazen’s name. Klayton’s goal for his truck is to eventually have the floor redone and get it repainted, but one thing is for sure, it will stay as original as he can possibly keep it.
You may have noticed the photo of Klayton and a Kansas State Trooper, which was something Klayton had been wanting to do, or rather, recreate. Based on the cover of the Jerry Reed song “East Bound and Down” that most know, Klayton and State Trooper Micah Polson, a friend Klayton met back when he was running an oversized load and needed some help with being escorted, not only were we able to recreate that image, but I was able to capture general interactions between these two men, which is the usual professionalism they would normally have, and many other drivers and troopers also have. It is very unfortunate that these interactions are often portrayed poorly within the trucking industry, and not enough light is shed on the positive interactions.
Special thanks from Klayton to Lyndi who is his rock, the love of his life, and the very glue that holds their family together. He said it takes a special kind of person to be married to a trucker and admittedly said it isn’t a fair life for her, but she supports him completely, and he couldn’t imagine doing life without her. Thanks to Mike Burks, who is one of his best friends, and someone he can always count on, to his parents, Kurt and Beth, who have always supported him, and to Tim and Kenton (his uncle and cousin) for giving him amazing experiences and helping to mold him into the man and driver he is today. Also, thank you to all of his friends and other family who have plenty of important roles in his life, both in business and personal.
A big shout out from Klayton to those who have been involved in some way with his truck including Twisted Metal Polishing out of Great Bend, KS, Bryce Peterson of BCP Polishing out of Elk City, KS for the polishing right before I came out to photograph, Heavy Duty Diesel owner Jerod Birzer out of Great Bend, KS who did the engine swap himself for Klayton, and Advance Truck and Diesel out of Great Bend, KS for the mechanic work they perform.
Thank you to Klayton and Lyndi for the time well spent, although brief, there was never a shortage of things to talk about. Thank you also for the opportunity to hear about your lives and the honor of telling some of your story. Also, big thanks to my friend Trevin Walck, who definitely came through with suggestions of good quality people to do articles on. Thank you to Klayton’s cousin Kenton for permission to take photos in one of the fields he rents, and to Trooper Micah Polson for his time. We all have things or events that have shaped us into the people we are today. Childhood memories were the inspiration for Klayton buying this cabover, and I can’t think of a better reason. As always, to all the drivers out there doing the deal, truck safe.
