IMT Transport

Obviously, many of the accessories on JR’s Kenworth are made by Lifetime. JR made a custom engraved “Blue Baron” billet aluminum hood emblem for the front of the truck, and says that he can custom engrave anything a customer might want on their own billet emblem. He also added Lifetime bezels and/or visors to most of the lights (Lifetime was the first company to build screwless light bezels), as well as one of their latest products, chrome axle rings, which makes it look like your rear axles are chrome-plated. Of course, all of the nut covers on this truck are from Lifetime. Featuring their “Vortex” design, JR installed all of these nut covers over two years ago and says that he has not had to replace any of them since. Another new item on this truck is smooth, chrome-plated, billet aluminum fuel caps, now available from Lifetime. JR’s caps have been custom engraved, and yours can be, too. One other neat new item that JR made for this truck is a pair of vertical billet blinker strips that are mounted on the outside edges of the front bumper. These blinker strips are a little pricey, but they are now available for purchase from Lifetime. To finish off the exterior, several blue lights were added under the cab, sleeper and fenders. At night, the truck, which has a lot of lights throughout, floats on a sea of blue light, glowing from underneath.






The interior of JR’s Kenworth is equally impressive. Featuring chrome trim pieces and accessories made by Lifetime, RoadWorks and Rockwood, the cab also has comfy massaging seats from Qualitex (a company out of Texas), a billet steering wheel, toggle extensions from Colorado Customs and a chrome shift tower boot. Teltek (a company based out of Nevada) provided JR with a few digital gauges with blue displays. He plans to upgrade all of the gauges as soon as possible. Remember, all of these products had to be American-made to get on JR’s truck. A friend of JR, who owns a company called Walk Construction, installed a custom laminate wood floor inside the Kenworth. Built from scratch, piece by piece, this floor is not only beautiful, but practical, too. The 63” AeroDyne sleeper, which is still pretty stock, has a full-size window in the back and a chrome cover over each of the 625 buttons inside the truck.






After 20 years, Lifetime continues to grow and improve. Quality has always been the key to their success – everyone at the company strives to build not only products that look good, but also ones that are practical and durable. All of Lifetime’s products are made in-house, on their own plastic injection molding machines, and every part is triple chrome plated (they are sent to Wisconsin for that). Everyone in the family is involved in every aspect of the business. When someone gets an idea, all four of them – Dad, Julie, JR and Danielle – all sit down together to talk about it. Lifetime Lug Nut also has three full-time employees that not only help run all of the machines, but they also help out a lot with the packaging and shipping.






Over the years, both JR and Danielle have become more and more involved in the company. A few years ago, Dan began the slow and steady process of transitioning the company to his kids. Once the transition is complete, they don’t plan on changing much, but JR would like to start advertising the company more aggressively out there – after all, that was one of the reasons why he built his truck. He takes “The Blue Baron” to several local shows, but he’d really like to start going to all the big ones, too. In regards to the shows, JR wanted to send a big “thank you” out to his girlfriend Chelcee – she not only helps him get the rig cleaned up and ready for all of the shows, but she also provides JR with plenty of much-needed mental and moral support.

When JR isn’t trucking or working in the shop, he enjoys hanging out at the “toy shop” where they build all of their cars. Over the years he has built several hot rods, including a cool 1967 Camaro. He currently has two 1957 Chevy Bel Airs, and his dad has a 1957 Chevy Pro Street drag car. Unfortunately, they are all pretty busy these days, so they don’t get out to the track nearly as often as they’d like. Fun is fun, but business always comes first.



JR may have customized his Kenworth to help promote the company (and other American manufacturers), but don’t mistake it for a show truck – it works all the time, and just recently turned over its one-millionth mile. If quality is important to you and if you believe that “Made in the USA” is more than just a simple statement of fact, then Lifetime Nut Covers is a company you should know, respect and patronize.

We are sure that JR Schleuger and his sister Danielle will do a great job running the company – and keep it rollin’ for at least 20 more years. Following their lead, let’s all get back to business, and get back to being the pioneers and visionaries we once were, because “Made in the USA” means a lot! In fact, in terms of our future, it means everything!!