10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - JULY 2007

THE SIMPLE LIFE
TRUCKER STRIVES TO LIVE PEACEFULLY
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

Most truckers get into the business for the freedom, the excitement, the travel and the possibility of earning a lot of money. The theory is: the bigger the better. But that is not always true – especially in the case of Mark Tarascou of Fontana, California. He tried “bigger” and decided that it really wasn’t better. Now, at 44 years old, he is content with the size of his company and strives to lead a simple, peaceful life – filled with race cars, zoo animals, a four-year-old daughter, and a small fleet of nice trucks, including a bright red transfer with black flames and wheel spinners. Thank goodness he isn’t trying to do anything wild or elaborate!

Mark Tarascou (pronounced ta-roscoe) didn’t get into trucking for any of the reasons previously listed – he was born into it – so he just “had” to do it. It seems that the people who get into trucking for all those other reasons usually end up disappointed, while those that get into the business because its in their blood are satisfied no matter what happens – they just love trucks and trucking and do a good job, and for that reason, they find success (however that is defined). Mark’s dad was a trucker his entire life, hauling mostly asphalt in transfers, in and around Southern California. Mark grew up in the city of Alta Loma, California. In 1975, his parents moved to Fontana and drug him along. Mark graduated from high school in 1981 and then went trucking. And he has never stopped since.

Mark and his two brothers all worked for their dad at one point, but around 1992 both of his brothers, as Mark put it, “Got some sense and quit trucking.” Prior to that, in 1990, Mark’s father retired from trucking, bought a cattle ranch, and moved to Alabama. Mark formed Mark Tarascou Trucking that same year and took over his dad’s trucks and business. Over the next few years, Mark built his fleet up to 14 trucks (a combination of transfer units and truck & pups) but never found any satisfaction with a larger fleet. So he decided to scale it back. Today, his fleet consists of five trucks, of which four run regularly. The fifth one is a “show truck” tractor that he is currently building to pull an end dump (and his 5th wheel trailer).

Mark’s current fleet consists of five Peterbilts – three full transfer units, one truck & pup and a tractor with an end dump. One of the transfers, a blue 1984 Pete 359, was acquired from Mark’s father when he took over his operation. Mark’s father purchased this truck, which has a 475 Cummins with a twin turbo, brand new. Back in the day, Mark and his brothers used to run a lot of loads up to Big Bear, a resort community east of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino Mountains. They needed big trucks to get up the mountain fully loaded, so all of their rigs had plenty of power under the hood – and this 359 was no exception. Today, the truck is still an active member of Mark’s fleet and driven every day. He also likes to drag race it whenever he gets the chance, pulling times of 18.90 at 73 mph. That’s not bad for an eleven-ton truck (one of the photos here of this truck was taken at a truck drag event in 2003). Other trucks in his fleet include a 1996 Pete Transfer with Likens boxes and a 1997 Pete 379 truck & pup with new-style Superior boxes. The tractor he is currently building to show (and work) is a 1991 Pete 379 – this one should be pretty cool when it is completed in a year or so. But the pride of his fleet, and the one he drives every day, is the rig featured on our cover/centerfold (and here) this month.

This month’s cover truck is a bright red 1999 Peterbilt Transfer with a Rogue trailer and old-style (square) Rogue boxes. Mark bought this truck when it was a year old in 2000. He tried to purchase it when it was new, but someone came in to the dealership with cash and bought it out from under him while he was awaiting financing. One year later, he went to go look at a transfer for sale and found it to be the exact same truck. Needless to say, Mark got the truck he wanted, and at a discounted price, too. The truck, which has a 475 Cat and a 13-speed transmission, was basically stock when Mark bought it, but he immediately did some work to it, adding some chrome pieces, some lights and a flashy “tribal” paint job. Not long after that, while on a job site, a large excavator swung around and accidentally smashed the front end. Mark replaced the original (now wrecked) fenders with old-school fiberglass fenders, replaced the battery boxes and steps, added wheel spinners, polished the strip down the center of the hood, and then had Lil’ Louie of San Bernardino, California repaint the truck bright red with black flames, outlined with grey pinstripes. The truck stayed like this until last year, when he did another round of customizing and upgrading.

The latest improvements that Mark made to his truck were mostly done to the front end. Wanting a deeper shine that was easier to take care of, Mark had the grille surround and his Double JJ headlight brackets and blinker bars chrome plated. He also installed a pair of custom chrome headlights made by Headwinds and an 18-inch bumper with boxed ends and two lights. Wanting the truck to have a convertible look to it, he had the roof of the cab painted Fireball Flake, a color that looks basically black until the sun hits it, then all kinds of colors pop out, including gold, green, purple and red. He also switched out the stock grille with Peterbilt’s latest punched-oval design. All of his lights were switched out with LEDs with white lenses, except for the three center lights atop his cab – those were replaced with green lenses for that “classic” look. For a truck that runs in harsh conditions, hauling sand and rock every day, this rig is in excellent shape and always looks good running down the road.

As mentioned earlier in this article, Mark likes to drag race – but not just in his trucks – he also has a few cars that he races when he gets the chance. In addition to the racing cars, he also has a barn full of older automobiles that are either restored or in the process of being restored. All of these cars are Chevrolets, and most of them are Camaros. Here is rundown of the cars he currently has: a 1963 and 1966 Impala; a 1966 Chevy Pickup; a 1968 Convertible Camaro; a 1969 Camaro RSS (with the hideaway headlights); a 1970 Z-28 Camaro; a 1970 Chevelle; two 1972 Camaros and a near-new Corvette. When asked how he finds the time and money to work on and own all of these cars he replied, “Hey, I’m single.” As you might imagine, most of these vehicles are painted either red or black, or a combination of the two colors.

Four years ago, Mark and his then-girlfriend had a baby girl and named her Dessa. For the last few years, Mark has had almost full custody of his daughter and takes her out in the truck with him every day. Mark had a flip-down DVD screen installed inside the truck so she could watch movies during the day, and had an artist paint a bikini on a once-naked lady mural painted on the backside of his sun visor. Dessa was with him when we did our photo shoot, at a rock quarry and gravel plant in San Bernardino, and you could tell that she knew her way around a truck. When asked if she ever wants to drive a truck, she replied, “I want to drive my daddy’s truck – I can handle it.” And we bet she could! Mark takes Dessa camping all of the time, and the two love to go to Lake Havasu and play on the water. Dessa will be starting Kindergarten this year, so Mark will have to juggle his schedule a bit. But he is not worried. He is extremely committed to his daughter and will do whatever it takes to support her and raise her right.

Back at his house in Fontana, California, Mark has a small zoo of sorts including four big Akita dogs, a couple cats, two pot-bellied pigs, four llamas and a miniature horse. It’s a good thing that he has a few acres. He also has a nice collection of trophies from truck shows that date back almost ten years (we even found some trophies with our old “10-4 Express Magazine” logos on them). When at home, Mark likes to take it easy and tinker with his cars and trucks, and on the weekends he likes to play, taking out his boat, his Harley or maybe his sand rail. His life is simple: he works hard, he takes care of his family and animals, and he plays the rest of the time. He also is very passionate about his career, and that passion translates into hard work and dedication – two things that can help you to succeed in life.

Mark attributes some of his success to never buying new equipment. He has always preferred to purchase used trucks and then fix them up. Over the years, a handful of people have helped him in this endeavor, and he wanted to thank them here. Vafai and his son Mike of V & L Truck Repair in Rancho Cucamonga, California have been friends with Mark for a long time, and Mike has done a lot of work to many of Mark’s trucks – to which Mark says, “Thank you.” He also wanted to thank Lloyd, the transmission and differential guy at V & L, for many quality rebuild jobs he has performed over the years, and Gary Fuquay of Custom Diesel in Fontana for keeping his trucks running – and for making them go fast.

Although he has many exciting toys and, to many, he leads a very adventurous life, Mark strives to have a carefree existence. “I have always enjoyed driving and have always been committed to my trucks, my animals and my family. People look at me and just assume that they know who I am and what I am about, but they don’t know me. I just want to lead a simple, peaceful life,” said Mark, adding, “I don’t need to have a big company to feel successful.” We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.