TREMONTON – Steven Howard was driving his 2002 Freightliner Classic from his home base in Cerulean, KY to Canby, OR delivering boats when he sensed something wrong with his truck.
“My fuel consumption went from 6.2 miles per gallon to 4 miles per gallon,” he said. “I opened the hood and there was steam everywhere and these trucks are not to supposed to run on steam.”
He got permission from a Sinclair Truckstop located at 2267 West Main Street in Tremonton to stay there and set up shop.
“I’m doing a major overhaul of my truck motor,” he said. “I called the boat company and told them I was broke down and they sent another truck to pick up my load.”
Howard’s trucking company is Big Belly and Son Trucking. He said he used to have a big belly, he weighed 260 lbs. He started having health problems from eating truck stop food, Howard said. He has since dropped his weight to 150 pounds but he kept the business name anyway.
The more he worked on his truck the more difficult the task seemed to be.
He was 1,800 miles from home. He said it was his truck and it was his responsibility to fix it. Howard swept up the dirt in the parking lot and cleaned the area and put cardboard down to keep oil from getting on the pavement.
“I go into the gas station everyday and talk to them and tell them how its going,” he said. “I am grateful they let me stay here and work on my truck here.”
On Wednesday, he was tearing the motor apart and trying to determine how bad the motor was damaged.
“I’ve got to tear apart the engine and when I get to the point where I need to take the head of the engine, to do that I will have a tow truck come and lift it off of the rest of the motor,” he said. “There is diesel repair shop across the street that will make sure the head is alright to use. If it has a crack in it I will have to buy a new one.”
Howard said he thought it would cost him $10-$15,000 to fix it, but he would lose a lot more to walk away from it. Howard said he needs the truck to make a living.
He plans on being in Tremonton for another two weeks depending on how long the time the repair takes. He has a sleeper on his truck for sleeping and when he needs a shower his wife Ruthie said he gets a hotel room when he needs to take a shower.
The unique thing about Howard is he takes approximately 20,000 people on his journeys. Using his phone, he videos everything he does and puts it on a YouTube channel for the world to see.
He claims his video streams are Christ-centered, family friendly, and he has been documenting his trips since 2020. Howard’s wife Ruthie said they have 14,000 subscribers and 21,000 people who watch his videos.
She said they have people from all over the world watching the channel.
“We gained 300 subscribers in the two days he’s been in Tremonton,” she said. “People love the drama and live steaming him while he is working on the truck seems to attract viewers.”
Howard is a long way from home, but he has a positive attitude and hopes to get his truck back on the road and see his home again soon.