10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - DECEMBER 2005

FUNCTIONAL FUN
PETERBILT ENTHUSIAST BUILDS ULTIMATE CAMPER

By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

Tim Ludwig of Mishawaka, Indiana has been called a lot of things – trucker, entrepreneur, workaholic, Doctor Doolittle, Professor Peterbilt – but the term that would best describe him is “passionately fanatic.” This guy is fanatical about Peterbilts – particularly 359’s. Not only did he build the neat RV on our cover this month, but he also has a huge collection of Peterbilt toys and memorabilia, as well as a couple “yard art” Petes and a ten-foot wide neon sign of that famous red oval on the side of his shop. Even more amazing, Tim hasn’t been a truck driver for years now – he’s been designing, building, packaging and shipping interactive science kits for schools. But that never kept him from staying connected to trucking.

Ten years ago, Tim bought an old Werner Enterprises over-the-road tractor and converted it into the useful, highway cruising, weekend camping, toy toting, run forever RV you see here. Dubbed “The Paddy Wagon” (TPW) because of its old police theme, this rig is the ultimate retirement vehicle for the Peterbilt enthusiast. It isn’t now and never was meant to be a show truck. Two years ago, he gave the truck a full makeover, and now, says it is done (yea, right). But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. There is a lot more to Tim Ludwig’s story than trucks.

Tim was born and raised in Illinois and grew up on a large 1,200-acre farm owned by his grandfather. His grandfather was not only a farmer and cattle rancher, but also a full-time doctor. In fact, Tim’s grandfather actually was the doctor that delivered him! Both his grandfather and father were two incredible role models in Tim’s life. Both had an amazing work ethic and both taught him the value of owning his own business. Growing up on the farm, Tim was introduced to tractors, trucks and other equipment at a very early age. This is most-likely where his fascination with Peterbilts is rooted.

Tim’s father Arnie was (and still is) a true entrepreneur. Over the years, Tim’s father has started, built, ran and sold many successful businesses. When Tim was a kid, his dad owned two candy manufacturing plants that specialized in making candy for fund-raising organizations. If you’ve ever eaten a caramel candy called a “Turtle” than you’ve enjoyed a sweet treat that Tim’s father created. The name “Turtle” is actually a Registered Trademark of The Ludwig Candy Company (a trademark which they don’t enforce anymore). After graduating from high school in 1980, Tim started his own delivery service, mostly hauling his dad’s (and other company’s) candy. But when the big names like Hershey’s and Nestlé also started making candy for the fund-raising organizations, it was time for Tim’s dad to shift gears and move on, so he started a computer software company.

In the early days of personal computers, there was not a lot of instruction available to new users, so Tim’s dad developed software that helped teach kids how to operate them. But back then, most schools didn’t have computers, so Tim came up with the idea to sell computers as well. The company made a deal with Apple to sell their computers to the schools, along with the software, and set them up. Tim attended Apple’s computer training course and became a certified technician. He then, in addition to delivering candy, started delivering computers to schools, setting them up and providing the initial training to the teachers to get them started. But it got too much for Tim to handle, so he let the candy delivery go and focused entirely on the computers.

At the time, he was running two trucks – a tricked-out one-ton and a 24’ straight truck. The one-ton had custom paint, polished wheels and stainless steel rear doors. For Tim, service was everything. He always did “whatever it took” to get the job done and to get it done right. This work ethic and attitude made him a very popular guy within the school districts – everybody liked Tim and knew that if he was on the job, it would get done on-time and be done right. This led to other opportunities.
Sometime in 1987, Tim was approached by someone at one of the schools who encouraged him to put in a bid for a job at the Cleveland Public School District as a book collector. Apparently, when textbooks become worn or outdated, the school can’t just throw them away – the books have to be collected by the district and then disposed of properly. Tim put in a high bid for the job, but because he was so liked and trusted, they accepted it. On his first day, they gave Tim a list of schools to collect books from and by 1:00 PM he was finished. When he went back for the next list, the person from the district just looked at him in amazement and said, “Tim, that was your list for the week.” They weren’t prepared for Tim’s work ethic, so they sent him home (but he still got paid for the entire week). Eventually, the district caught up to Tim’s speed and kept him busy collecting books for 12 years, all the while still delivering and setting up computers as well. But this was still not enough to satisfy Tim’s need to work.

In 1991, he was again approached by someone from the school district. This person knew of a need that the schools had for interactive, hands-on science kits and thought that if anyone could tackle the project, Tim could. Knowing practically nothing about science, Tim had two weeks to put together some prototypes, complete with packaging and prices, before “pitching it” to the school district. He spent fourteen grueling days on his living room floor preparing for that meeting. The school board loved his ideas and prototypes and another company was born – Science for Today & Tomorrow. He called this new line of products SciTT Kits. Fourteen years later, he earns his living from this company, making tools for teachers to use in class, in a fun and interactive way, about science. But it wasn’t easy in the beginning.

Tim now had three jobs: book collecting, computer delivering and SciTT Kits. At that time, he was servicing over 300 schools. It got to a point that when he showed up at a school, everyone wondered what “hat” he was wearing that day. After his father sold the software company, Tim phased out the computer delivery. A few years later, he let the book collecting contract go as well. Today, his company has 13 employees and is busting at the seams of its 10,000 square foot building, located just down the road from Tim’s home in Indiana. Tim’s company services schools in the entire state of Ohio, large parts of Florida, Illinois and Iowa. But let’s get back to the truck.

Somewhere along the way, Tim acquired a real fascination for Peterbilt 359’s and Peterbilt memorabilia (add to that his science kit business and you can understand why some call him Professor Peterbilt). His collection, which presently fills his basement, features over 400 1/64th scale die-cast trucks, numerous pins, pens, watches, patches, keychains, emblems, dash plaques, clocks (all of which are permanently set at 3:59 unless they are being used), posters, calendars, mugs, you name it – if it has the red oval, Tim wants it. Outside, Tim has a 1948 butterfly hood Pete and a 1967 Needle Nose Pete as “yard art” flanking a 10-foot neon Peterbilt red oval sign, hanging on the side of his shop. Even the ceramic tile on his basement floor has “359” integrated into its design. I mentioned the fact that he was fanatical, right? But what collection would be complete without an actual Peterbilt 359 truck?

In 1996, Tim bought a 1985 Pete 359 short hood. The truck had a strong Cat 3406B engine and was mechanically sound, but Tim went ahead and replaced all the under-hood accessories anyway. He then removed the 63-inch flat top sleeper, cut off the rear axle, and had the whole thing painted black and white. Next, he had ICT build him a custom 154-inch sleeper, setup more like a camper than a sleeper. Inside the bunk, there are two captain’s chairs with a small table, a twin bed, a sink, microwave and refrigerator, TV/VCR, and plenty of cabinet space. There is also a rear door. The inside is decorated with various police memorabilia and all of the windows have “jail” bars on them. Not much has changed in the sleeper since it was first built, but a lot has changed to the rest of the truck over the years.

Around 2000, Tim stretched the cab twelve inches to gain some leg room. The walk-through opening was made using the frame of an old “crawl through” turned on its side, so it’s tall and narrow. Tim wanted the cab to remain a separate space, to help better maintain climate control. In 2003, Tim gave the truck a complete makeover, with new paint and murals, some exterior changes and a new cab interior. The first Paddy Wagon was cool, but the new and improved version was even better.

Some of the things Tim did to TPW included re-skinning the roof of the cab and shaving the marker lights (they are now hidden underneath the Turbo Wing), re-skinning the doors and shaving the handles (the doors are now remote-activated), painting the air cleaners and the grille screen, adding 1950s-style Buick hood vents, huck bolting a large lip to the outside edge of the front fenders (they look fiberglass but they are aluminum), adding 8-inch stacks (he had to keep them short so he could still park inside his shop) and changing the whole paint scheme. Robert Gardner and Bruce Everhard at Kansas City Peterbilt did the paint and body work, while Enrique Ortiz of Envisions Design in Mission, KS sprayed all the new murals. The words “The Paddy Wagon” are painted on the white roof in big, bold, black letters.

As awesome as the exterior is, the interior is equally (if not more) impressive. Enrique painted individual murals on each of the three dash panels, outlining them all, as well as the steering column, with airbrushed barbed wire. Tim rearranged the gauges and indicator lights to accommodate the murals. There are also small murals on the door ledges and window sills, as well as custom door panels. Ron at Innovative Motorcycle Accessories made custom toggle extensions and nut covers out of real .44 Magnum bullets. Tim also spruced up the interior of the sleeper a bit, adding some decorator touches like real prisoner-made license plates, a bank bag full of money (poker chips) and real Marshal’s badges for all of the cabinet door and drawer pulls.

So, what does Tim do with TPW? He has fun with it! He pulls a matching 32-foot trailer that is self-contained, complete with 16 feet of living quarters in the front and enough room to put his Jeep in the back. He takes it camping, to Jeep rallies and charity truck shows. But one thing he doesn’t do is take it to truck shows to compete against working trucks or show trucks – because TPW doesn’t really fit into either category. Besides, he would rather just be on display and have a good time. Tim believes that truck shows would attract more participants if they had a “Wash & Show” class for working trucks. Most guys can’t compete with low mileage rigs or trucks owned by folks with deep pockets, so they just don’t go anymore – and that’s a shame.

For the last five years, Tim has hosted the “Class Pays Display” at the Peterbilt plant in Denton, Texas during their annual open house event held for employees and their families. Tim really enjoys taking TPW down there and organizing the show. This year (2005) he had 20 neat Peterbilts on display. The trucks give the assembly-line workers a sense of what happens to them after they leave the factory. Tim deeply appreciates all of his friends at the Denton facility and looks forward to seeing them every year.

Tim has never been married, but would like to be someday. He currently has a girlfriend named Carmen whom he adores. She enjoys cruising in TPW, so they take it out as often as possible. Tim lives on five acres and loves animals. He wanted to create a sanctuary for them, so he dug a pond, created some rolling terrain and planted over 500 trees. Tim’s neighbors (who all call him “Dr. Doolittle”) think he’s crazy, but they all love him.

Tim wanted to thank a lot of people for their help with TPW, but first and foremost, he wanted to thank his mom (moM, as he writes it) and dad. They brought him up to be courteous, caring and self-supportive, and Tim wanted to say “thank you” to them for being great parents. His dad retired a few years ago, spending the last 17 years of his working life at Notre Dame University as the Head of their Executive MBA program. His father is an amazing and successful businessman, and Tim has nothing but respect and admiration for him. He wanted to thank his buddy Big Bad Brad Reichert, for all his help over the years. Whenever Tim starts to think that he knows it all, he calls Brad and is quickly reminded that he still has a lot to learn (Brad is a walking Peterbilt encyclopedia). He also wanted to thank Bryan Martin at Chrome Shop Mafia, Neil at Dermody Peterbilt in Grand Rapids, MI, David Smith and Kerry McBride for all their help, support and friendship.

We’d like to thank Tim for finding the photo shoot location. Storybook Ranch, which is an exact recreation of an old west town located in McKinney, Texas, was the perfect place to shoot his truck. Tim figures TPW will someday be a great retirement vehicle, but with his business on the grow, it is unlikely to be any time soon. We truly enjoyed getting to know Tim Ludwig over the past few months and wish him all the best. And whatever you decide to call Tim, be it fanatic or other, we are just happy to now call him “friend.”