58002

Meet the Whitakers
By Keith Schaber.

“It’s not every day you drive down a freeway or a country road and notice that almost all of the log trucks have the same trailers, not from a corporate giant, but from a guy who started with one truck, then more, and in the meantime had a better idea of how to make great log truck trailers.

Gene began his logging career in Wisconsin, shaving bark off poplar trees or “peeling popple.”  One year he came out to Oregon and exclaimed that Oregon had big trees and that’s where he wanted to log. He moved his family to near Roseburg, Oregon and started a log hauling business that thanks to hard work, fairness, and honesty became successful.

On my layout, I thought it would be cool to have Whit Log Trailer mud flaps on the log trucks on my model of Southern Pacific’s Siskiyou Line, so I stopped at Gene Whitaker Trucking to see if I could snap a few photos.  I met Gene in the shop who said, “Whatever you want to shoot is great, and you’re welcome to take your time and come back if you need to.”  It was two years later that I went back to take photos, only to learn he had passed away the year before.  The guy in the Whitaker shop suggested if I had more questions, I should go across the street to the Whit Log Trailer office and talk to Brett or Kelly.  Here I was, a city slicker and model train nut from out of town, but was treated like I was about to buy a trailer.  They were incredible listeners, and in the course of the conversation, I found out that Brett was best friends with a guy who worked for a sheet metal company I worked with frequently.  I didn’t know that Brett and some other friends had helped Pat fulfill his bucket list, including a trip to the Daytona 500.

It’s been a pleasure to meet the family and learn they are just like Gene, and that his kids are managing the business, just like their dad.

And, I want to thank Pat for doing two paint schemes because Kelly liked one and Brett liked the other.  Pat related that he’d like to make them happy.  Thanks, Pat, for letting me know you a little better.” (Keith Schaber 2020)