Not every trucker cares about the miles per gallon their truck gets. In fact, Kevin Young of G. Young & Son Trucking out of Waxahachie, TX says he\u2019s lucky to get 4 MPG out of his 12V-71 Detroit-powered Freightliner cabover, which he runs every day. But Kevin is way more excited to see how many \u201csmiles per gallon\u201d he can get from this classic beauty when the true old school truckers hear him roll past. He has had grown men tear up when looking at his truck, complete with a set of Spicer boxes, which is reminiscent of what so many older drivers out there drove back in what was arguably the best decade of trucking \u2013 the 1980s. Not bad for a 39-year-old kid who was born and raised in Compton, CA.<\/p>ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder
Kevin\u2019s dad, Gilford \u201cBeaver\u201d Young (66), who also grew up in Compton, started hanging out in a truck yard across the street from where he played football, and at just 17 years old, he started learning how to wrench on trucks. Before long, he was going out with the drivers, and then he eventually got his CDL and started driving himself. At first, he drove for a bunch of different companies in and around the Los Angeles area, sometimes driving his own truck, and sometimes driving theirs as a company driver. In 1979, he started subhauling for a company called Keep On Trucking (KOT) based in Wilmington, CA, and 48 years later, he is still running for them (they are now known as MHX).<\/p>
Back then, like many truckers, Beaver\u2019s truck of choice was a cabover, and he had a few of them over the years, along with some cool trucks with hoods, too. KOT almost exclusively ran Freightliner cabovers, so growing up around them, Kevin fell in love with those trucks at a very early age, and that love has caused him to own and operate several cabovers, too (his nickname is even Cabover Kev). At just 39 years old, Kevin is an old soul \u2013 he does not fit the mold of a middle-aged trucker at all. Learning how to work from his dad, Kevin started handing him tools, then went on to bigger jobs and polishing, which eventually led to full-on maintenance (he stabbed his first transmission at just 12 years old).<\/p>
As far back as he can remember, Kevin was going out in the truck with his dad. And aside from his love of football, trucking was all he ever wanted to do. And since the NFL didn\u2019t call him, he ended up in a truck. Graduating high school in 2004, he made up an excuse and ditched his \u201cGrad Night\u201d date so he could go trucking with his dad. That night, he piloted his dad\u2019s truck over the Grapevine and up to Fresno \u2013 and he loved it. After graduation, he spent three months on the road with his dad, and then in August of 2004, he got the opportunity to drive a 1983 Freightliner cabover with a big sleeper, a 400 Big Cam and a 10-speed, hauling lumber out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.<\/p>
After working the 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM shift for about six months, Kevin then got another opportunity to start driving his \u201cuncle\u201d Bert\u2019s (not his real uncle) 1975 long hood Kenworth W900A with a 300\u201d wheelbase, a 1693TA CAT and a 13-speed \u2013 and he took it! Being young and energetic, he did not quit his other gig, and began working the 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM shift, too. At just 18 years old, Kevin was making good money and driving not one but two cool trucks, and, as he put it, \u201cI thought I was the bee\u2019s knees!\u201d And he probably was.<\/p>
In 2006, after finally getting his CDL, Kevin started driving for his dad, who had just built a 1979 Extended Hood Peterbilt 359, which Kevin got to drive. The truck originally came with a V8 CAT, but Kevin and his dad swapped it out with a Detroit Silver 92. Kevin drove that truck for his dad until 2011 and then took a job at Piazza Trucking out of Southgate, CA doing heavy haul work, running 9-axles and other big setups.<\/p>
In March 2014 Kevin became an owner operator and leased on with our friend and past cover trucker (July 2013) Rick \u201cShannon\u201d Crenshaw of JD Specialized of Sapulpa, OK. At the time, Kevin was driving an old 1985 Keep On Trucking (KOT) Freightliner cabover (#337), painted in their signature brown color with white stripes. Fitted with a Detroit Silver 92, Kevin was running that cabover hard in all 48 states and being out for weeks at a time. At some point during his time at JD Specialized, that old KOT Freightliner dropped a valve, so Kevin decided to put a truck he had purchased a few years prior on the road in its place \u2013 that truck was the Freightliner cabover seen on our cover and centerfold this month, and on these pages.<\/p>
Flashing back a bit to 2013, the Velasquez Brothers in Los Angeles (known for their red Super Drag KW with yellow flames) told Kevin about a Freightliner cabover that was for sale in Phelan, CA that was equipped with an 8V-92 Detroit, which he was looking for. When Kevin went to look at the truck, it was in bad shape \u2013 a homeless guy had actually been living in it! But, as Kevin looked harder, he realized it was dirty and trashy, but underneath all that, it was in really good shape. The guy just wanted it gone, so Kevin offered him less than his asking price of $2,500 and the guy took it. Kevin\u2019s friend Chris Governo of Southside Towing picked it up and drug it to Kevin\u2019s dad\u2019s yard in Long Beach, and that is where it sat until Kevin needed it.<\/p>
Once his KOT Freightliner went down, Kevin, who had moved from Carson, CA to Waxahachie, TX in 2015, flew out to California and spent just over two weeks working on the 1981 Freightliner FLA, which was painted in the yellow, white and blue colors of 3-Way Van Lines, preparing to put it on the road. Replacing all the tires, filters, fuel lines and wheel seals, he also got it all polished out, fixed the air conditioning, filled her up with fresh fuel, and she fired right up! On its maiden voyage, after sitting for 22 years, Kevin picked up a load in Los Angeles heading to Portland, OR. Once delivered, he loaded steel plates for Nebraska, delivered them, then headed to the yard in Oklahoma, where he got reloaded, and then headed home to Texas.<\/p>
Although he was making the most money he had ever made, being away from home was taking its toll, so he left JD Specialized and moved over to Knox Transportation, in hopes of being home more. On a sad note, not long after Kevin left JD Specialized, the young owner and our friend, Shannon Crenshaw, was killed in a car accident in July 2016. Based in Knoxville, TN, Knox Transportation is owned by another friend and past cover trucker (December 2017), Todd Campbell. While at Knox, Kevin swapped out the truck\u2019s 8V-92 with a Silver 92 and replaced the 15-speed with a set of Spicer 6+4 boxes, added the drom behind the sleeper, and then had Chris Governo stretch the wheelbase to 256 inches.<\/p>
In May 2016, Kevin and Todd, driving their Freightliner cabovers, took a trip west to attend the ATHS National Convention and Truck Show in Salem, OR, and made the trip entirely on old 2-lane highways and back roads. Calling it the \u201cBack in Time Tour,\u201d they wore vintage 1970s clothes and grew beards and\/or sideburns, and avoided truck stops and the interstates. They cooked most of their meals on the side of the road, they slept in their trucks and stopped to enjoy the scenery whenever they wanted. They traveled about 2,250 miles from Oklahoma to Oregon and only drove 20 miles on an interstate (we printed a story about their entire trip in our July 2016 edition).<\/p>
While at Knox, Kevin did a few different things, including pulling a flatbed, pulling a dry van, and pulling a reefer \u2013 but none of them ever quite paid enough. And with hopes of being home more, he was actually home even less! So, in January of 2018, he left Knox Transportation, re-activated his father\u2019s old authority, added his name as an owner, and then started doing his own thing. And that\u2019s what he has been doing ever since. At first, he was running all over the entire country, but eventually he settled into a great (somewhat local) gig in Texas, that gets him home almost every night.<\/p>
That story sounds good and simple, but running old cabovers like Kevin does, the road has not always been smooth. In 2020, the Silver 92 threw a rod out the side of the block, so he swapped that engine for a 12V-71. Just a few weeks later, in early 2021, the crank broke in that 12V-71, so he parked the yellow and white Freightliner, got his old KOT cabover running again (overhauled the engine himself) after it sat for almost seven years, and then drove that truck for a couple more years. Unfortunately, in 2023, the head cracked, water got in the pan, and it spun three main bearings.<\/p>
At this point, Kevin turned to his dad, who had recently bought a 1972 Peterbilt 352A COE from Shawn McCord with no engine, transmission or radiator. A few years prior, Kevin\u2019s \u201cuncle\u201d Bert Lyde, who was fighting cancer at the time, gave his old 1975 W900A (AKA Big Black) to him. This was the same long hood A-model Kevin drove when he was 18 years old, so it was special to him. Kevin\u2019s dad wanted to sell his 1972 Peterbilt 352A, which had been sitting since 1980 before he acquired it, but Kevin didn\u2019t want to see it go, so he swapped titles with his dad \u2013 the W900A for the 352A \u2013 in order to keep them both in the family. Kevin later got the W900A back from his dad, and today it sits in his driveway in Texas, waiting to be restored.<\/p>
For the next six months or so, Kevin worked tirelessly at his dad\u2019s yard in Long Beach, CA, putting the 352A back together to its original specs. Installing a 425-hp 1693 CAT and a 13-speed, he kept the rig\u2019s spring suspension, roof-mounted A\/C unit, and air-assist steering. Painted brown and yellow, with a drom and a long wheelbase, this rig really turned heads. Kevin put it on the road in November 2023 and ran it full-time until he sold it to Gus Hulstein in May of 2025. Gus lives in Central Oregon and is another past cover trucker (November 2021).<\/p>
Once the Peterbilt was gone, it was time for Kevin to refurbish and rebuild his yellow and white 1981 Freightliner cabover and get it back on the road. Rebuilding and tuning the 12V-71 with twin turbos himself with help, advice and parts from Detroit Diesel legend Johnny Wong and Kevin\u2019s friends Danny Woosley and Wayne Talkington, he got that V12 running (and sounding) amazing. When he first fires it up, it roars to life and sounds like a 1969 Chevelle with a 396 Big Block, but when it idles and runs, it sounds as smooth as silk \u2013 surprisingly, it is not as obnoxious sounding as most V12 Detroits. Kevin started working on the truck on May 1st and then it hauled its first load on June 24, 2025, and he\u2019s been running it all over Texas, every day, ever since.<\/p>
Featuring a spacious 104\u201d cab (we always like that number), most of the black and brown interior is stock, except for the seats, the 22\u201d steering wheel (it came with a 20-incher), and, of course, the two sticks. The exterior features an 18\u201d Valley Chrome bumper, 5\u201d stacks, 8\u201d dual air intakes with polished bonnets, long Hogebuilt quarter-fenders, polished toolboxes on each side, and the original visor. Kevin opted for a \u201cWhite Freightliner\u201d emblem on the front, even though, technically, the company stopped using that badging in the United States in 1977. He also had to have those West Coast style \u201cHustler\u201d antennas with the tall stainless shafts!<\/p>
At one point, Kevin\u2019s goal was to paint this truck in the Keep On Trucking brown and white company paint scheme, but after much thought, he decided the 3-Way colors were pretty iconic, too, so he opted to keep them. George Brown originally ordered this truck new in plain white with a maroon frame in 1981, but three months later, he signed on with 3-Way Van Lines. Back in those days, they would pay to paint your truck in the company\u2019s colors, so that is what George did. This paint job is almost 45 years old, and it certainly isn\u2019t perfect by any means, but Kevin loves it. And if you notice the #308 on each side of the front of the truck, that is because the overall look and specs of this truck were done to imitate the look of KOT truck #308, a Freightliner cabover his dad drove for many years, before purchasing it from them. Seeing that this truck was inspired by #308, it only seemed fitting to put that number on the front of it.<\/p>
As mentioned previously, Kevin and his wife Tiffany, who met at Cerritos College where Kevin played football when they were both \u201ckids\u201d still, have been together since 2005 and married since 2008. In those early days, Tiffany went everywhere with Kevin in the truck, and even after their first son Justin (13) was born, she took him along for a few years, as well. Once their second son Adrian (8) was born and Justin started school, her trips with Kevin on the road decreased, but the boys still love going out with dad and helping him in the shop whenever they can. In 2015 they sold their house in Carson, CA and moved to Waxahachie, TX. And as much as they miss California, they don\u2019t regret making this move \u2013 not to mention, Kevin could not register or run his old cabovers in California anymore. As Kevin put it, \u201cIt was time to go.\u201d<\/p>
Kevin\u2019s father still drives a truck and has been married to Kevin\u2019s mom Sharon for 42 years. They still live in Southern California, and his dad has some cool stuff laying around \u2013 like a 1970 Extended Hood A-model, a Freightliner Powerliner, and a 1986 Freightliner FLC. Thanks to the work ethic and skills his father taught him, Kevin is proud of the fact that he did all the work on not only this truck, but all his trucks. And not just the cosmetic stuff \u2013 he rebuilds motors, changes transmissions, everything. The only thing he didn\u2019t do on this 1981 Freightliner was stretch the frame, because he doesn\u2019t know how to weld \u2013 but he is committed to learning how to do that, too. Like Kevin said, \u201cIf you\u2019re gonna run old trucks, especially ones with big Detroits, you\u2019d better know how to work on them!\u201d<\/p>
When Kevin is not trucking or working on his old trucks, his passion is cooking \u2013 especially smoking meats and barbecue. He even has a side gig called \u201cCabover Kev\u2019s Kitchen\u201d where he cooks and caters meals for special events. Since I share this same passion, we talked a long time about cuts of meat, cooking temperatures, types of wood, rubs and seasonings, and all other sorts of BBQ things that would probably bore most folks, but I loved it. Just go check out Kevin\u2019s socials, and you will see some amazing pictures of the food he makes. Neither of us has ever competed, but we both want to give it a try someday. Kevin also likes making authentic Mexican food (like the stuff he used to get in SoCal). Along with cooking, Kevin also enjoys coaching and watching his boys play football.<\/p>
Wanting to thank a few people, the first one on Kevin\u2019s list would be his father, as Beaver taught him everything! He also wanted to thank his wife for her patience and support through all the breakdowns and rebuilds, saying, \u201cShe is always in my corner.\u201d A nod goes out to Johnny Wong, who worked for General Motors from the 1950s through the 1970s, before going out on his own and becoming the \u201cKing of Detroits\u201d in the Los Angeles area as Wong Engineering from 1977 until he \u201cretired\u201d in 2004. Today, at 94 years old, he is still sharp as a tack and can climb in and out of a cabover quicker and better than me (I proved that during the photo shoot). Props also go out to Danny Woosley and Wayne Talkington, along with Chris Governo, for all their help getting this truck and that V12 just right.<\/p>
A true fan of the 1970s and 1980s, Kevin built this truck to celebrate and remember those influential decades, and to keep that real \u201cold school\u201d stuff alive. He is not concerned about his miles per gallon, as his 12V-71, on its best day, can barely get 4 MPG. However, it\u2019s those smiles per gallon that he really cares about and what gets him excited. To see the reaction of some people as they look over his old cabover, with that screamin\u2019 Detroit and a set of sticks, it just takes them back to a time or memories they cherish, and that is a special thing to witness. Thank you, Kevin Young, for doing your part in keeping the best of trucking alive and, hopefully, inspiring some of the younger drivers of today to keep it alive, as well.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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