Character Counts

Most trucks have character, but some may have a bit more than others. Clyde Green of Cheyenne, Wyoming and his 1982 Kenworth W900A long-hood certainly have character in spades. Old school from front to back, Clyde and his sweet ride are hard to miss when rolling down the highway.

Born and raised on a ranch northeast of Cheyenne near the Nebraska state line, Clyde has always been around trucks. Raised in a Freightliner cabover his father used to haul cattle, Clyde’s love of trucks began at an early age, and it has stuck ever since. Learning to drive from his father in that very same cabover, Clyde’s driving career began in 1978 at Lock Trucking in Wheatland, Wyoming. Mostly doing flatbed work, Clyde eventually began driving for Tri-State Commodities of Greeley, Colorado in 1984.

Working for Tri-State Commodities, Clyde was exposed to many very cool rides, including the one seen here. Clyde’s flattop A-model came from Tri-State Commodities. Purchased in 2003, the truck originally sat on a 260-inch wheelbase. Stretching the truck to 272 inches, Clyde also re-fitted the truck with Peterbilt Low Air-Leaf suspension. The following year Clyde proceeded to re-skin the sleeper and re-paint the truck. Using Ford Laser Red, Cadillac White Diamond and gold, the truck was painted in the famous “Midnight Sun” factory color scheme.

In addition to the cool paint, Clyde’s truck also has plenty of chrome and custom touches. Featuring a 20-inch blind-mount Valley Chrome bumper, 7-inch Dynaflex pipes, twin 15-inch Vortox air cleaners, and Fisher aluminum half-fenders out back on blind-mount brackets, this truck turns a lot of heads. The classic KW also has nine bullet cab lights, painted fuel tanks, and pin-striping throughout. A distinctively old-school feature of the truck is the visor – a factory polished visor that has been tilted (a common practice among “cool” drivers prior to drop visors). Keeping the exterior touches simple and minimal, the Kenworth’s original and truly old-school character certainly stands out.

The interior is equally as impressive as the exterior – and equally tasteful, as well. Featuring a hardwood floor in the cab and sleeper, the truck is also fitted with Bostrom Wide Ride II leather seats. The sleeper and cab have also been “unibilted” together for some extra leg room (a great feature on the older Kenworth cabs that had minimal amounts of leg room). A truly cool feature of the rig’s interior, however, is the original Seattle interior package, which features a diamond-tuck upholstery pattern in oxblood, an appropriately matching color to the outside of the truck. And one of the last but certainly not least features to mention inside the cab would be the matching glitter knobs sitting atop the two sticks (oh, yea, it’s got a true set of boxes)!

As sweet as the old-school paint and Seattle diamond-tuck may be, the power train in this truck is impressive, too. Keeping it real, the KW is motivated by a Caterpillar 3406C pushing a Spicer 1452A main box and 1241D auxiliary. With plenty of cogs to choose from, the truck spins 3.55 rears (Eaton DS404’s, which were updated when the Pete Low Air-Leaf suspension was added), and sits high on polished aluminum rims and tall 24.5 rubber all the way around.

At the shows, you can often find Clyde’s truck hooked to the reefer trailer seen in some of these photos. The 1987 Utility 2000R trailer, measuring 46.5 feet long and 96-inches wide, in Clyde’s words, is mostly for show, although it has hauled a few loads. Featuring a classic Thermo King NWD30 refrigeration unit, the shiny trailer also has a stainless steel nose, diamond-quilt stainless rear doors, LED lights throughout, and sits on tall 24.5 rubber, like the truck. Featuring stainless quarter-fenders, the trailer completes a perfectly classic-looking combination.

But don’t think that just because the trailer gets easy duty that you won’t find Clyde’s classic long-hood out working and earning its keep. Focusing on agricultural products, Clyde’s truck can often be seen cruising the highways hooked to hoppers and other ag trailers. Still working closely with Gregg Shupe and Tri-State Commodities, the truck still runs plenty of miles under Clyde’s Equality State Transport banner. In fact, the friendship between Clyde and Tri-State is also responsible for Tri-State’s well-known long-hoods (featured in 10-4 Magazine back in November of 2010). The close friendship between Gregg and Clyde has resulted in not only Clyde Green’s cool flattop here, but also Todd Stockman’s “Toad’s Pad” and, of course, Gregg Shupe’s “Class of ‘78” rigs. Among Tri-State and Clyde, the long-hood W900A is king, and with rides as sharp as all of these mentioned, it’s easy to see why.

In addition to being a super trucker, Clyde is a family man, as well. When not found pushing the big A-model Kenworth down the road, Clyde spends whatever time he can with his family. Clyde also likes spending his free time going to truck shows, and when you have a ride as cool as Clyde’s, why wouldn’t you? When it comes to thanks, Clyde would like to thank his wife, Melody, above all else. In his words, she has been his biggest cheerleader and an invaluable source of encouragement in building this truck, not to mention a great business partner, and all the while being a lovely wife! Clyde would also like to thank Gregg Shupe and Tri-State Commodities for their long-time friendship, help and support in building the truck.

Meeting Clyde at the Color & Chrome Fantasy Truck Show in Ogallala, Nebraska, we scouted a location and got to shooting as soon as things were winding down Saturday afternoon. With quickly-diminishing sunlight, Clyde had no problem changing his afternoon plans to get the shoot done. Shooting right up to the last light of the day, backed up against an old dock and warehouse in an industrial area of Ogallala, we at 10-4 Magazine would like to thank Clyde for his time and effort in making sure we could get the pictures we needed for this feature. At the end of a show, most people just want to pack up and get home, but Clyde was kind enough to make some time for us, and we appreciate that.

Truck’s come in all shapes and sizes, and their distinguishing features often reveal the character of the truck – and its driver or owner. Some trucks have a bit more character than others, which can certainly be seen on these pages here. Clyde’s truck is classic and clean, if nothing else, and if the character of the truck tells us anything about the driver, Clyde Green and Equality State Transport can stand tall and look good doing it, because in our book, character counts!