10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - JANUARY 2007

THE SHOW MUST GO ON
FRANK ALARID CAN’T AFFORD TO BE LATE
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

How would you like to be charged $2,000 for every hour you were late making a delivery? Well, that’s what happens when Frank Alarid of La Habra, California is late. But guess what – he’s never been late. With a penalty like that, you can bet he will always be on time.

Hauling cars for the electronics superstore Circuit City, its Frank’s responsibility to make sure their demo vehicles are delivered to events around the country. Circuit City frowns upon their executives standing around in a booth with no cars, which is why they imposed the strict “don’t be late” policy on Frank. With or without a display, the show will go on. But forget the cars – Frank’s flamed Freightliner is a rolling display itself, which attracts as much or more attention than the cars he hauls inside his enclosed trailer.

At only 38 years old, Frank has already been driving for 22 years. His father drove a truck, hauling produce, his entire life. Seeing how hard his father worked and how much he was away from home, Frank swore that he would never become a truck driver. After high school, he got a job working in a warehouse, which eventually led to moving trailers around the yard. Pretty soon, he found himself behind the wheel of one of the company’s trucks and you know the rest of the story. Apparently, the Delo 400 in his veins finally got the best of him. Like it or not, he was destined to be a truck driver.

Driving a 10-wheel dump truck for the Gas Company on the weekdays, Frank began helping out a friend on the weekends. This friend hauled all of the sound, lighting and stage equipment for an organization called Hot Import Nights. Similar to the Hot August Nights event in Reno, Nevada which celebrates the cars and music of the 50s and 60s, Hot Import Nights holds events that celebrate the “tuner” scene and today’s hip-hop music. Tuners are lowered, customized, compact cars that have been set-up for street racing. Car makes like Honda, Acura, Mutsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan and BMW are popular in the tuner scene. Hundreds of these cars show up at every event. Frank really enjoyed “the scene” and had a lot of fun going to the events. But eventually it started affecting his day job until one day they gave him an ultimatum: quit the weekend job or lose the day job.

Working for a company as large as the Gas Company, Frank enjoyed good pay and benefits. When he went to tell his friend that he would have to quit driving for him on the weekends, this friend offered him as much pay as the Gas Company was paying him – and he would only have to work on the weekends! He quickly said “adios” to the Gas Company and became a full-time weekend driver. Not a bad gig. Later on, when his friend lost the contract with Hot Import Nights, Frank began driving directly for the organization.

But Hot Import Nights did not want to be in the trucking business, so they persuaded Frank to buy his own truck. The truck he bought, his very first one, is the 2000 Freightliner Classic XL you see on our cover/centerfold this month. The truck was a year old and had 108,000 miles on it. Growing up, his father always had Kenworths, so a Freightliner was not Frank’s first choice, but it has served him well over the years. Not long after buying the truck, Circuit City approached Frank. They were looking for someone to haul their demo vehicles to events throughout the country. Frank had no experience hauling cars (and he didn’t have a trailer either), but he jumped at the chance. It took him months to find the right enclosed car hauling trailer, and, with only a few days to spare, he picked it up and then left on his first trip for Circuit City.

Frank’s contract takes him to 35 events all over the U.S. He has been working with Circuit City for four years now and absolutely loves it. Each year he hauls around six cars which are custom built by audio companies like Polk Audio, Bazooka, Kicker and Tsunami, just to name a few, to promote their latest products. At the end of the year, most of the cars are stripped and then crushed. Each year, Frank gets a new set of cars with the latest and greatest audio and video equipment available. Frank not only brings the cars to the events, but he also unloads them, puts them in the booth or display area, and then cleans them up. Once they are parked, Frank’s only responsibility for the rest of the event is to wipe each car down every two hours. The rest of the time, he does whatever he wants. He calls himself a “paid tourist” for obvious reasons.

Getting busier all the time, Frank just signed a contract which will take him to 17 “drifting” events across the country. Dubbed as the fastest growing motorsport today, drifting is based on a driving technique where a car’s rear slip angle is greater than the front slip angle, and the front wheels are pointed in the opposite direction. For decades people have used “oversteer” in motorsports such as dirt track racing, motorcycle speedway and rally racing, but only lately has the technique evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete to keep their cars sideways as long as possible. Drifters are not judged on the time it takes them to complete a course, but instead on line, angle, speed, and show factor. Frank is excited about getting involved in such a new and fast-growing sport.

Over the years, Frank has done a lot of work to his truck. When he bought the Freightliner back in 2001, it was pretty much stock, painted purple, with a strong 500 horsepower Series 60 Detroit under the hood and a 255-inch wheelbase. Frank left it like that for a couple years, and then he started making improvements. He began by painting the truck black and then had the famous painter “Danny D” from Baldwin Park, California flame it. Danny spent 22 hours, from start to finish, spraying the old school yellow flames with bright blue and magenta outlines and tips. Frank had a one-off billet grille made and then added a custom front bumper and rear light bar. All of the lights on Frank’s truck were switched out to LEDs with clear lenses, and many chrome and stainless pieces were added. Of course, he also installed a pumpin’ sound system that puts out a couple thousand watts. Another cool thing this truck has is a custom flamed tint job on the windshield and both side windows. More recently, Frank had the frame stretched out to 300 inches and added fiberglass full fenders over the rear wheels.

Frank did a nice job of not overdoing it on the tractor, but the trailer he pulls is over the top. The trailer is a 53-foot 1997 double-drop six-car enclosed hauler made by Kentucky. To get the cars up and inside, the trailer is equipped with an 8,000-pound liftgate. Each year, Circuit City redesigns the artwork for Frank’s trailer and then entirely wraps it with the printed vinyl graphic. As you can see in the picture on this page, it’s pretty wild. The truck looks so good, it is sometimes “unofficially” used as a backdrop at some of the shows and events it attends – and it often gets more attention then the cars!

As busy as Frank is, he still finds time to spend with his wife and five kids. Frank and his wife Emily have a five year old son named Mikie (also known as Mikie Boy) who was born with mild Cerebral Palsy. When Frank had to come up with a name for his company, he decided to dedicate it to his son and called it Mikie Boy Transport. Mikie Boy loves his dad’s truck and really likes to help him clean it whenever he can.

Frank has a list of friends and sponsors that he wanted to thank. He has this “roll call” (as he calls it) printed right on the front of his Mikie Boy Transport shirts. Frank would like to thank: J.S. Pitt Boss (Jay Shafer of Circuit City); Toyo Tires; Meguiars; Audiobahn; Quality Fleet Paint & Body; West Coast Kustom Rigz; Precision Grilles; Caliva’s Truck Wash & Polishing; Interstate Truck Repair; Max It Out VDO Magazine; Xtreme Tint; Alarid Trucking (Frank’s family business since 1955); Pinstriping by Danny D; Circuit City; Red Bull Off-Road Racing; and Barlow Motorsports. Whew! He also wanted to give a special thank you to his right-hand man and friend Epitacio “Tacho” Daugherty. Tacho takes care of things when Frank is out of town and fills in as a part time driver when needed. He also helped Frank get the truck ready for our photo shoot – and for that, we thank him, too.

Frank is currently rebuilding a 1997 KW W900 from the ground up that, when finished, will replace the Freightliner as the work truck. Frank wants to do a little more work on the Freightliner (like the interior and engine) and then just show it off. He’d also like to put three or four more trucks on the road hauling the same type of freight he hauls now. He likes being involved in the world of motorsports and racing and wouldn’t mind having a few more trucks out there.

Frank Alarid feels very fortunate about his current business relationship with Circuit City. “I was at the right place at the right time,” he told us with a humble smile on his face. But he knows that if he is ever late, watch out! He is aware of how important it is for him to be on time, fine or not, and always does his best to help the show go on. Truth is, his “show” never ends – it just keeps on rolling down the highways of America, turning heads wherever it goes.