This month’s creation was built for Ruben Aguayo (50) of Perris, California. Ruben, like so many others, came to the United States from Mexico seeking work and a better life when he was 16 years old. One of 12 children from Jesus and Odilia Aguayo, most of his siblings moved to the States, as well, but his parents stayed behind in Mexico. Today, five of Ruben’s brothers are involved in the trucking industry. Ruben is proud of the trucking business he has built, the children he has raised, and the “better life” he created for himself and his family here in America.
After arriving in Southern California, Ruben ended up milking cows at the Moreno Valley Dairy. After seven years, he got promoted to feeding, and began running trucks in and out of the fields. He liked this job, and ended up getting his license to drive a truck. Ruben has always been a hard worker and is proud of the fact that he always does the very best job he can.
In 1996, Ruben bought his first truck – a used 1984 Peterbilt COE truck and trailer. He ran that rig for a couple years and then purchased a new 1997 Peterbilt 379 standard hood single axle day cab in 1998. In 2000, he purchased a Peterbilt 362 cabover truck and trailer and then ran that truck every day for almost 14 years, until he purchased the new truck you see here. In 2003, he also purchased a hay squeeze, which his son Ruben Jr. still runs every day.
Ruben, like most truckers in California, in an effort to be compliant with California’s emission rules, decided it was time to buy a new truck. Dusty Dockstader (featured in Clint’s February 2011 article) is one of Ruben’s good friends, and Ruben always liked the burnt orange truck Clint built for him, so he decided to give Clint a call and order his new truck through him. Ruben even decided, with Dusty and his wife’s permission, to get the same orange color on the truck – but he had Clint add brown accents to the roof and fenders. Ruben said, “Pick me a good brown color to go with the orange,” so Clint did. There was some doubt from his friends that it would look good, but Ruben was confident that it would be a great color combination – and it is!
When the 2015 Peterbilt 388 2-axle truck with a 44-inch bunk, an ISX Cummins and a 13-speed transmission showed up, Clint gave it a big hug and let it know that it was going to be alright – it would not be staying in Kansas City for long (those little California-style hay trucks look a little out of place in Kansas, but they are one of Clint’s favorites). Ruben also bought a set of matching pups from his friend Mike Green in Yuma, AZ to go along with his new truck. Jesus and Rob, the painter, headed up this project and got it knocked-out in a short amount of time.
Getting right to work on Ruben’s truck, the guys installed painted (brown) body drop panels with a full set of lights underneath, Hogebuilt long quarter fenders, a Jimmy Crain rear light bar, and a flush, painted deck plate. Clint’s dad chopped the screens on the air cleaners, they added nine bullet cab lights and breather lights, and then installed a dump valve on the steer axle. Ruben didn’t want the urea tank to be visible, so Clint played the “hide the urea tank” game (and we bet you can’t find it). Lastly, the guys in the shop installed one of Clint’s drop visors, but they couldn’t decide on a color, so Clint had them stripe it with both burnt orange and brown. The end result is pretty cool, no doubt.
Ruben has four children from his previous marriage – Marifol (29), Annabelle (28), Ruben Jr. (24) and Brenda (19). Ruben also has two grandsons and a four-month-old granddaughter. Ruben married his current wife, Lorena, three years ago after they met at a rodeo event. Ruben has three Andalusian Azteca horses, those amazing dancing horses, and is very involved in rodeo. Training and then riding his beautiful horses in local and regional events, Ruben has traveled as far as Tucson, AZ and Las Vegas, NV to compete. Participating in at least two rodeo events a month, Ruben and Lorena both love it. Ruben said that it is very hard work, but it is also very rewarding and fun.
Hauling hay all week and going to rodeo events on the weekends keeps Ruben and Lorena pretty busy. But, whenever possible, they enjoy spending time with family. In fact, after 50 years of marriage, Ruben and his brothers and sisters in America brought their parents here to live out their golden years. Unfortunately, Ruben’s dad just passed away less than a year ago, but before he died he got to see the “better life” that Ruben created for not only himself, but his children, as well. It just proves that if you give someone who is honest and hard-working the opportunity to create a better life for themselves, they will.