FIXTITLE Bradley Lacko.docx
MORE THAN A MEMOIR
The Story
Of
Bradley Lacko
Without knowing, we all are basically trying to find our place in this world. Maybe not in purpose of making a huge mark, but more like figuring out where our lives are headed. I’ve been told that you must learn to appreciate and embrace all of your past experiences in order to see the whole picture. By accepting all of life’s challenges around you from day one, it strengthens you from within. Therefore making your outer layer; your skin, tough as nails. When situations that you have no control over take a turn for the worst, you are left struggling to find understanding. Where is the wisdom in pain? What knowledge comes from sadness? Some of your most important learning curves don’t show their presence until much later. The only answer I can give you is that permanent memories are developed during difficult times; often valuable lessons. Recollections etched deep into your soul… you can remember sounds, smells, and visions dating as far back as your childhood. Or on a specific day, you can recall what you were wearing and how you felt during a certain pivotal moment in your life.
When I interview a driver for his or her life story, the ball is completely in their court. Sharing their personal history, family background, as well as their journey’s highs and lows requires courage. It is easy to expose a self-portrayal type of story on one’s life and spin it into a sugar coated adventure, but I see enough of that on Facebook. We can all paint a good picture. It’s these Legends who breathe life into this ink that stand out from among the rest. They all trust me with their words. They have explained in depth their lives, their tough upbringing, and the sadness along the way that they have endured. Even their most precious memories I’ve been granted to share with you. This nominee is far from a “story.” His memoir is more than a short record of experiences. This is his life…
Bradley Lacko is a fourth generation farmer. He is a college graduate, for the sake of his family’s wishes. He is a professional truck driver, driven solely by his passion for trucks. Brad adores his wife Tracey and together the couple laid to rest their only child. He is a proud business owner of Lacko Trucking and Transport LLC. And a respected club member of Chi-Town Large Cars. Of all the many things I tied Brad’s name to, each one required work. In return, they all have given back to Brad in a way that cannot be measured.
Born in LaGrange, Ohio and raised on a small farm, Brad knew that he wanted to be a farmer at an early age. With the leading men before him all providing for their families by working 40 hours or more during the day, then coming home to farm until the wee hours of the night, seemed like the only way to go for Brad. His mother juggled a bookkeeping position at a bank along with the duties of raising two children. Brad has two sisters. Unfortunately, the oldest passed away a year before he was born on his birthday.
The family farm was prominently grain, but was a dairy farm when his great grandfather ran it. By the age of 8, Brad was driving tractors and combines through the fields. Shortly after, he was able to drive cars and even trucks with wagon loads of soybeans. At 13, he was able to harvest the crops by himself. He says, “Back then we lived such a hands-on way of life. In a way, we were forced to grow up before our time. We lived during the farming generation when everyone had their obligations not just to the farm, but to each other. I sort of learned on the go and grew up fast.” Decades prior to Brad’s fascination with farming equipment, the Lacko family operated as dairy farmers relying primarily on horses. It wasn’t until the 40’s and 50’s when they were introduced to any type of machinery and even then they had to manage with antiques. Many years later, Brad’s desire to learn as much as possible about each piece of equipment he laid his eyes on came natural for him. He had been exposed to it all of his life.
With ideas of farming as a career, his plans were pushed to the side at his parents’ request to better his future. Brad’s father played a huge role towards influencing his education and persuaded him to take computer and accounting classes, in hopes of steering him away from the inevitable lifestyle Brad was secretly wishing for. During his sophomore year of high school, while his friends took farm equipment mechanic classes at vocational school, he opted for computer programming courses. Wanting to make his family proud, Brad not only excelled in his trade, but also picked up a part-time job working through the school’s work release program at a local bank as a commercial teller. “I had to dress up with a shirt and tie and wear those shiny shoes. It drove me nuts! It’s just not me,” he says. Immediately after graduating, Brad went on to enroll at ITT Technical Institute to earn his Associates Degree. He attending college at night and continued working during the day. The bank was later bought out. At the time, his mother was working at a concrete company. She had put him in connection with a different branch and he landed a job handling their data entries.
For four years, Brad remained with the concrete company working his way up the chain of command. During the first six months he became like a sponge around the more experienced and veteran employees. Even though he was on the opposite side of the business, still playing dress up behind the counter he studied and learned the drivers’ work ethic. He was very attentive to their friendly banter among one another. He loved it and took it all in. His favorite part was that they shared the same interests: equipment and trucks. Over time, he helped his co-workers learn the whole computer system and he was moved over to dispatch. When he wasn’t dispatching, he was around the mechanic shop moving trucks in and out. He made use of his time driving the various trucks. There were semis, dump trucks, and concrete trucks. Sort of like a training program that led him to where his is now in his trucking career.
When Brad turned 21, as a farm kid in the state of Ohio he was eligible for a Class B license according to the farm waiver. The only thing was he had already been accustomed to driving Class B trucks and wanted to drive the ‘real trucks.’ Brad explains, “I had to earn it though. Keep in mind, I was all self-taught. There was nobody helping instruct me on the right and wrong ways of trucking, besides watching others. I was dead set on learning. So I did it. I practiced all of the time! I drove around the yard until I had it down. I had a lot to prove… not to anyone specific. More to myself. I wanted to succeed.”
With his CDL at 22, Brad left the concrete company and landed his first trucking job at a scrapyard. He knew that he needed to get his foot in somewhere and eventually he would get his chance to run over the road. Ultimately, the scrapyard put him in the best position. Again he was surrounded by seasoned drivers, but that is exactly what Brad needed to help further his progress. He gained a lifetime of learning tools and advice by just being around the older equipment operators because most of them were previous truckers. Listening to their trucker stories only solidified his choice of direction. In his heart he envied their past and lived vicariously through them.
He started off driving a 1988 377 Peterbilt. He removed the large bunk, leaving him with a really long day cab. He submerged himself into his work; becoming extremely well at what he did. He pulled anywhere between 20 to 40 and 80 yard dumpster containers. He also learned how to drive heavy duty wreckers and small flatbed tow trucks. Towing cars and big trucks became easy, so he moved on to running scraps to the steel mill in town. In 2003, he added more to his plate as he split his time with the local fire department as a volunteer fireman. He took pride in serving his community and spent ten years with the fire station.
While still running work at the scrapyard through a chance meeting Brad met his wife, Tracey on the internet in 2005. Brad laughs as he explains how Tracey went against her own better judgement of ever dating a trucker. Her father too had been in the trucking industry, driving since the age of 13. So Tracey was familiar as to what all was entailed in being attached to a professional truck driver. To both of their surprise, the two hit it off and her rules flew out the window. They were married in 2009.
Working around an automotive salvage yard had its advantages. Brad learned how to buy, sell, and trade with whatever options he was given. He was able to wheel and deal his way into a 95 Dodge Diesel dually that he used to haul stuff on the side for a few extra bucks. Good thing he grabbed his Dodge when he did because four months later he was laid off from the scrapyard. He continues, “Here I was with my new girlfriend that didn’t want to be with a truck driver and now she is with one that didn’t have a future. After a while of hauling what I could and making just enough to pay my bills, I decided it was time to think bigger. I was tired of barely making a living… I needed a big truck and my own trailer, that way I could start making good money. At this point I knew I was ready to make my move and go forward with my plans to grow.”
In 2006, Brad started his own business, Lacko Trucking and Transport LLC. Everything started to line up. A man interested in his pickup reached out to Brad with a proposal. A fair trade, title for title. In exchange, the gentleman offered Brad a 1987 Kenworth T600. It was a two toned, blue and silver 13-speed with an 855 Cummins engine, but came without a trailer. He knew that it wouldn’t be an issue and made the swap. Becoming an owner operator with his very first truck he leased a straight deck trailer from a trailer company in 2007. He still owns that same trailer and continues to run with it today.
His first job was for a construction company based out of Cleveland, Ohio. They were needing a load of structural steel moved from Cincinnati. Brad headed straight there with his flatbed, loaded up and delivered it to the construction company. “I gave them a round trip flat rate and they wrote me a check right there. I got paid that quick. I was like, it’s that simple? What is the catch?” He laughs, “I remember thinking that I wished I would have done this a long time ago!” Work kept coming in at a steady pace. He stayed busy moving vans, portable showers, and kitchens. He hauled all types of trailer loads around the mid-west region.
On his birthday that year, Tracey announced her big news that they were going to have a baby. Even though his lucrative business was about to take off, he didn’t have insurance or benefits setup yet. He decided to go back to the concrete company to provide the necessary means for his growing family. He was hired on the spot dispatching trucks again. From that August to her due date the following May, Brad and Tracey managed to get everything in line and ready for their son, Tyler Bradley’s exciting arrival. On May 1st, Brad received a frantic phone call at work from Tracey stating that she was at her routine checkup and the doctor discovered a knot in the umbilical cord. By the time she arrived at the hospital from the doctor’s office, it was too late.
Their heartbreaking situation did not end there. The doctor wanted Tracey to deliver their stillborn son naturally. Just the thought alone of the silence afterwards, with no sound of Tyler’s cry of life was more than she could handle. After some exchanging of words, the medical staff obliged and performed a cesarean. On the 4th, the Lacko family held a funeral service for baby Tyler. The traumatic loss united their entire circle of friends and family as they all mourned together. Tyler’s headstone was given as a gift from Kotecki Memorial. The hospital donated his infant casket and allowed the family access to a room for as long as they needed. Brad carried his son in his casket to his final resting place and gently set him down at his grave.
On that day, Brad made himself a promise. He was not going to let this horrible tragedy completely break him. He knew that he had to be strong for Tracey. In order to help her pull through it, he needed to hold firm to his strength and sanity by remaining positive. Although there is no way around it. Death is always followed with tears in the eyes of the ones left behind. Only time and love can hold together a shattered heart. It may never really heal or erase the pain, and some days will be worse than others, but having someone by your side that understands the emotional roller coaster makes a world of difference. Today Tracey and Brad continue to try for another child. I know that when they do succeed (not if), that baby is going to be blessed with the best set of parents and receive a life time of endless love!!
After the couple came home from the hospital, Brad never returned to the concrete company. He grabbed the keys to his Kenworth and never looked back. Two years later he purchased his second truck. Acknowledging that their livelihood depending on him trucking, he felt safer knowing that he had a dependable back up truck. It was a 1992 Kenworth T600. He saved up enough money and bought a Conestoga trailer to go with it. He then turned enough profit from pulling more work that he was able to buy another truck. A 1988 W900 flat top Kenworth B-model. He added another Conestoga utility trailer with it. This one had an American flag decorated across the side that drew Brad’s attention. Many of his and Tracey’s family members have served in the military fighting for this country. He knew that he had to have that trailer. Once he had his spare truck and trailer, he was set.
Within the next couple of years, changes in the automotive industry started to effect Brad’s business. With tarp fees and other issues implemented, he switched to pulling dump. He leased on to a company running a dump deal over the road six to seven days a week, with very little home time. His schedule before didn’t favor working every weekend away from Tracey, so after eight months he reconstructed his inventory. Brad wanted to purchase a dump truck so he could run on his own. He sold his 1988 W900, the side kit to one of his trailers, and traded his newest Conestoga trailer for a 1999 W900L Kenworth; which is now his daily truck. He also parted ways with his American flag trailer in exchange for a different trailer.
Of course, the dump business ran its course. His flatbeds began calling his name. Brad called up an old friend at the scrapyard in search of a covered wagon kit for a trailer. His previous wheeling and dealing landed him back on track. He was flat bedding again and able to focus on building his business. A couple of years ago he purchased a 1974 Peterbilt 359 stretched out, old school 15-speed. Lacko Trucking currently operates with five trucks and two additional drivers hauling any type of structural steel or machinery in the mid-west region. With 15 years of experience running his own business and over a million miles to his name, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his life. It is his pure willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed that has kept his reputation respected and the Lacko name honored.
Since joining the Mid-West Chapter of Chi-Town Large Cars trucking club as an active member in 2013, Brad describes his second family as a huge, diverse group of people willing to come together to make a difference in the lives of sick children and families in need. Their awareness and outreach go beyond the trucking realm. With 160 plus members, across our country into Canada and even Australia, Chi-Town Large Cars is a non-profit organization based out of Chicago, formed by truckers with a passion to keep the positivity of trucking in the forefront while building friendships around the world. Their creed is simple, yet solid: spread love, stay loyal, and give respect to earn it. To learn more about Chi-Town Large Cars and the many families they have impacted visit chi-townlargecars.org.