This month’s creation was built for Zed “Money Maker” Evans (55) of EEE Trucking and EEE Logistics of Wills Point, TX. Zed and his wife Pam “Pocahontas” Evans have been married for 31 years and together for 33. Pam is the Transportation Coordinator and runs both the logistics and brokerage side of the business, loading all open deck trailers, from hot shot rigs to RGN low boys. With four kids, three of them are involved with the company. The companies were named using the last three kid’s initials.
The oldest boy is named Justin (34) and he drives for the family business. Justin is from a previous relationship from Zed’s high school days and has been in Texas helping for the last five years. Ezedrick (Zed) Jr. (31) is a team driver with Zed and fills in wherever he is needed. Erick (28) is the office manager and a utility player that does whatever needs to be done, and Elea (21) is going to college to become an RN.
Both Pam and Zed grew up in Tulsa, OK but neither of their families were involved in trucking. Zed went to Vo-Tech to become an airline mechanic, and then landed a job shortly after high school with Rockwell building landing gear for the Space Shuttles and wings for B1 Bombers. Working for Rockwell and McDonald Douglas (depending on who landed the contract), he worked on planes from about 1984 to 1989. Pam was an accountant, and her job took her to Texas right around the time Zed Jr. was born. So, the couple left Tulsa and moved to Texas, and for a little while, Zed was a stay-at-home dad.
While looking for a job, Zed kept seeing ads for truck driving jobs, and they all had a sign-on bonus. So, after working for an AC company for a short while, he went to truck driving school and then went to work for Stevens Transport in 1992. He said it might sound funny to some, but he fell in love with trucking on his first day (he was able to see America and make money at the same time).
In 1993, Zed bought his first truck – a ‘94 KW T600 – and began hauling sand and gravel local in Texas under the name EEE Sand and Gravel. He got really good at driving all day and working on the truck all night. Even though Pam had a full-time job, she dispatched the trucks and took care of all the paperwork for the companies, and still does. Zed went through a few trucks, and eventually moved to open deck trailer work, and hasn’t looked back since. Zed has had some really cool trucks over the years, but he thinks he likes this new one the most.
Johnny Gandy, one of Zed’s longtime friends and a past feature (January 2018), told Zed he should call me for his next truck. I have to tell you, Zed is a one-of-a-kind guy, and we hit it right off. He knew what he was wanted and made a trip to KC to hang out and go over things with me. At the time, we were just finishing up the gold farm show truck. Zed knew he wanted his new truck to be black, but when he saw the gold frame on that truck, the color of the frame was set.
I tell people all the time that cool ain’t easy – and neither is waiting for one to be built. I have to say, Zed was a treat to deal with and super patient, as well. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was this truck. When the truck arrived, Leonard was responsible for getting it dialed in for Zed and Pam. This truck wound up being Leonard’s last project before he retired after 17 years of being part of our team. Leonard, thank you for your service – you will be missed! Enjoy your retirement.
The truck is a 2021 Peterbilt 389 with a pretty long wheelbase, an X15 Cummins with 2050 torque, an 18-speed transmission, Low LowAir suspension, 24.5 low pro tires, and round hole wheels. This one even has a rare option for me inside – factory installed Smart Navigation and wood grain trim. After the truck arrived in Kansas City, Leonard went to work.
After hiding the DEF tank, the truck was fitted with a Mike Horst air-ride front end, double round LED headlights, strapless breathers with custom breather panels, nine button cab lights, a Bub Bad bowtie visor (painted), Shift rear fenders, 8” full function exhaust, and small tool and battery boxes. We also added painted window chops, painted cab and sleeper skirts, and then painted the grill screen, mirror brackets, fuel tanks and air tanks. A painted and flush Merritt deck plate with a V-box was installed, along with a Shox box, an I-panel between the tanks, and custom light bars, front and rear of the drive axles. Inside, we moved the seats back and lowered them.
Wanting to acknowledge a few friends, Zed gives special thanks to Johnny Gandy and Juan of Gandy’s Transport, Chris “ShowNuff” Roney, and Ryan with Empire Chrome, for gathering up some hard-to-find goodies. One of Zed’s mottos is, “If it don’t make money, it don’t make sense.” He also loves to reflect on his mom’s old saying, “Bought sense is better than told sense if you don’t have to pay too much for it.” And with a nickname like Money Maker, you better not be losing money!