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Behind
the wheel
Pete &
Trucker’s son follows in father’s tracks with tiny replica of ’99 Peterbilt 379
BY CLIFF ABBOTT / CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Family is important to most professional drivers, and children often grow into roles in the
family trucking business. Brandon Davis is pretty sure his two boys are on track for careers
in the industry. Both are already pitching in with maintenance and truck-washing duties and,
of course, riding with Dad when they can. Davis’ youngest son, 8-year-old Remington (nicknamed
“Rooster”) is already learning to be an owner-operator with a tiny truck of his own.
That truck, dubbed the “Wee Pete,” was Brandon’s brainchild. He had already modified a
child’s wagon to resemble a semi-trailer, complete with lights and a battery for power. He and
wife Cortney used the wagon to pull the kids around truck shows. After observing Rooster
trying to haul the wagon behind his bicycle, Brandon knew he needed to do more.
“I didn’t really have a plan, and once I started it just snowballed,” he said. “I used a few old parts to get
started, but I handcrafted most of it. I used a lot of square-tubular steel and sheet metal to make most of it.”
Brandon had help with the project.
“I helped with wiring the switches, some of the painting of the body panels and installing the trailer
floor,” said Rooster.
The finished product is a close replica of Brandon’s own 1999 Peterbilt 379, which was a rock-hauling
truck for most of its career — until Davis lovingly restored it. That Pete, with a white-on-light-blue color
scheme, sports a Caterpillar 3406 mechanical engine and an 18-speed manual transmission.
The Wee Pete has an identical color scheme and replicates all the chrome on the 379, including the
windshield visor, dual stacks, air filters, grille and (liftable!) Texas bumper.
But wait, there’s more. The Wee Pete is equipped with more than 100 lights that are powered by two
batteries, along with working gauges, a radio and an air compressor with a tank to power the locomotive
horns. Powered by a 400cc diesel engine with a centrifugal clutch, the tiny tractor pulls a spread-axle
replica of Brandon’s trailer.
Like the big Pete, the Wee Pete’s driver has his own CB “handle.”
“My dad and I were hauling military equipment and I was talking on the CB to some other drivers,”
Rooster recalled. “They started calling me ‘Rooster’ and it stuck.”
Dad uses the larger Pete to pull a 1993 Wilson step deck trailer.
“We haul a lot of limestone, marble, granite, lumber and steel,” Brandon explained. The family operates
from their home in Willard, Missouri. “We usually stay within a couple hundred miles so we get back the
same day, but when we go farther, we’ll pick up a return load from a load board.”
The business also has two independent contractors leased on, and Brandon’s wife Cortney makes
hotshot runs with a pickup and trailer.
Brandon comes by his truck-driving acumen the way many drivers do, and his training was of the
old-school variety.
“My dad was a trucker. I think I’ve always wanted to drive a truck,” he said.
16 THE TRUCKER JOBS MAGAZINE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 WWW.THETRUCKERJOBS.COM