FIXTITLE Lucious & Robert Brown.docx

DOUBLE VISION

The Story

Of

The Brown Brothers

When you have a particular individual in your life that you feel makes everything complete, you end up sharing every part of your day with them. Even the bland, less uneventful details. Whether this special person is your spouse, brother or sister, maybe your mother or a close friend, you find yourself sharing not only memories together but holidays, vacations and if you’re really close…the majority of every day is spent side by side. For the two Brown brothers, Robert and Lucious, they might as well have been twins. Lucious being the baby by just thirteen months meant that Robert had to take the role of trying everything first before Lucious followed. Nevertheless, his baby brother was definitely going to follow suite, that was a given but it was usually always Robert that took the lead. The boys also have two older sisters, yet with a large age gap between the girls and boys, the two younger ones stuck together like glue. When I asked Robert to give me three words that best described his brother, he started off with true words of endearment, like ‘helpful’ and ‘good’…. I could hear Lucious in the background laughing out loud as he eavesdrops. Then the both of them had me joining in. I began smiling because I knew the real version of his brother was about to come out. “Greedy! He likes to eat all of the food in the truck.” There it is, folks. The truth. I asked for three and he saved the best for last. Lucious may be in denial but only family can put the scoop out there like that. Got to love ‘em! You know that you have a great story on your hands when two people find it fun to see which one can throw the other under the bus first. Lucious said that he thinks he’s the funnier one and that Robert is a little bit more serious, but I’d say this is an even score.

Robert was born in Louisville, Georgia on May 1st, 1984. Lucious came along the following summer on June 23rd. The Brown family resided in the city part of the countryside, close to the open farm lands. Still near enough to town, but not where it’s heavily populated. When Lucious hit ten, the family uprooted to Los Angeles, California to be closer to relatives. Their father’s mother that lived in Georgia with them had recently passed away, prompting the move. Having an uncle already there helped make living arrangements easier. They lived together until the boys’ parents were able to get on their feet. Growing up as kids and moving from southern Georgia to the fast life of California was a culture shock. Lucious laughs, “…we got a lot of whoopings together from our mom while we were in school.” He goes into depth about the change in scenery and how he had to adjust to the whole environment. In Georgia, his school let out for spring and summer but at his new school there were so many students, they had to go by A, B, C and D plans. Each letter group had to rotate throughout the year, taking two months off at a time while school remained in session all year round. The student body was more than double. I can imagine the social life of kids in such a big city. It’s a good thing the brothers had each other to stay grounded. Lucious admits that it was hard to keep from getting wrapped up in the fast pace. Life looked busy but there were only so many options for a teenager on the streets to get into.

At sixteen, Lucious applied for a summer job through a career service company and landed his first stint working at the mayor’s office. There he did a variety of tasks. Pretty much anything required of him at the time. Which included assisting volunteer fire fighters by entering their information in the database. When he turned seventeen, he joined the Job Corps in hopes of grabbing the reins and getting full control of his life. He saw his brother do the same thing when he turned eighteen. “We both got into some trouble in our teenage years, but we knew that we needed to do something.” Robert went in to learn more about construction. Lucious did the same but dabbled in a couple of other trades such as; plumbing and welding. “I learned a lot then… it actually helped calm me down and kept me off of the streets.” A year later, the entire Brown family returned to Georgia.

Once the dust had settled from the move, the boys’ parents went back to work immediately. The brothers were just under 20 and eager to earn their own paycheck too. Anxious to jump in, the two found out quick that working at a chicken plant was not their forte. Their next plan worked out better, installing lawn mowers at a local factory. It was a seasonal job but suitable for the next three years. During their off time, Robert and Lucious always kept themselves busy, either working one or two other jobs. As time went by, the older of the two began debating on a change. It was obvious the work ethic was there. The amount of ambition and initiative was at its peak. Robert went out on a limb and decided to get his CDL. In 2007, after attending trucking school and putting in his time training, he was finally qualified and more than ready to begin his professional trucking career. After doing his homework, he knew how important it was to find the right trucking company. Once he narrowed down his search he found one that fit his needs, which paid well and offered good home time. His top two necessities. Not only did Robert land his perfect job, but he was able to get out and see the country. He continued traveling all 48 states solo, in his 53ft dry van. It took him almost a year to get Lucious to come on board.

After Robert found his calling on the road, he kept enticing Lucious in joining him and running team together. He didn’t have to twist his brother’s arm too much. Soon Lucious was enrolled in trucking school at the same place his role model earned his CDL, Sandersville Technical College, located in their home town of Louisville, Georgia. He spent the next eight weeks studying the ins and outs of trucking, gathering as much information as possible to help make his trucking career flourish. Just like Robert’s. On September the 14th, in 2008 Lucious graduated and proudly received his CDL. He didn’t hesitate when he headed straight to his big brother to take him up on his offer of running as a team. The guys’ plans were aligned and coming into motion. First Lucious had to run with a trainer for another eight weeks, then he was free to partner up with Robert. The Brown brothers’ careers took off. They ran every assignment accordingly and with proper timing, hauling general freight out two weeks at a time.

A year had passed and the two drivers were now qualified to run for a particular company that they had discussed switching to. They needed a clean record with so many months, accident free under their belts. The benefits were better and the overall incentive package helped seal the deal. With that said, both of the brothers agreed to attend orientation at Hogan Transportation. What they also found that day was a new trucking family and a company to call home. “Any driver can say that they’re able to get miles and make money, but here at Hogan we drive for the best.” Since joining Hogan Transportation in 2009, Robert and Lucious have been running team and say that they couldn’t imagine growing with any other trucking company around. “It’s nice to be respected and be involved in a family oriented business. They take our home time serious and that’s important to me. They let me know that it’s important to them too. You can’t find that everywhere.” These days you can find this duo running primarily the mid-west and east coast, transporting parts for Trane. Constantly moving, with over 500,000 safe miles to their name, the men still find their way home every weekend to spend time with their families… as promised by their employer.

Lucious and his wife Deanna recently celebrated their one year wedding anniversary this past May. The two met back in 2006 and plan on having children in the near future. When I first asked if he had any kids, if so, how many? I quickly heard his high-spirited laugh again, “…we’re still working on that!” I have no doubt that when the time comes, should their child have his light-hearted and full of life attitude, then Deanna will be blessed with not only one but two fun characters. Robert lives about thirty miles away with his family of two daughters, his son and girlfriend. Robert’s mother steps in to help raise them when he is away on the road. The brothers bought their 2009 red Peterbilt and saw it as the best investment for both of their careers. Lucious explains how being around his brother almost every day is actually a positive thing for him. “Running with my brother is great for me. We constantly get to see new stuff and I always have someone to talk to… might as well be my brother. We both like to laugh and goof off… now we just get to make money while we’re doing it.”