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"I spent 30 minutes explaining what we do and he said, 'fol- low me,' and led me to some of their inventory. 'Choose what you need.' I thought, 'Is he crazy?' "But it was so pure. It wasn't about me helping him sell trucks. I was in there to buy a truck. He could've taken my busi- ness. He just said, "If you can do what you do and impact the lives of so many people, here's what this company can do for you. Just keep doing what you're doing. Here are your trucks." Arscott wasn't done. He put the resources of his shop to work outfitting a Model 379 day cab that would carry a light tower, a heavy-duty water pump and a generator on its 53-foot drop deck. A Peterbilt Model 365 with a dump body was modified to hold a heavy-duty grapple suitable for loading a 60-cubit-yard trailer box with debris. And a Peterbilt Model 335 was outfitted to deliver tools, rescue equipment and other support gear. And Agoglia went to work. And then, in January, Haiti. Haiti relief "I've seen death and di- saster, but this was just so unheard of," says Agoglia. "230,000 dead." They weren't Americans, but they were human beings, and Agoglia knew he couldn't stand by, especially when he was so uniquely qualified to make a difference. "My commitment is to providing U.S. relief, and I didn't want to weaken our presence here," says Agoglia. "But that week I knew I could get a truck on a barge in Florida, and the barge could get into a port in Haiti. "So I went to John, and asked him if he would be willing to do- nate another truck, a heavy-spec tri-axle with a box to handle large pieces of concrete, along with the parts and supplies necessary to keep it running for a year." Arscott agreed instantly, and when he couldn't find a truck in his own inventory for the Haiti effort, he found a customer who had one for sale, and bought it back from him. Within an hour, the truck was in one of "The Pete Store" shops getting a near- round-the-clock First Response makeover, and within 48 hours, it was on its way to Florida. The Model 379 and a First Response excavator are work- ing there to this day, along with rotating crews of First Response personnel. First Response efforts there have been focused at Cite Soleil, an impoverished, densely populated city. Complicating mat- ters was the fact that the quake toppled prisons, and suddenly-free criminals hampered all relief efforts. Agoglia once found himself and a team member with machetes held to their throats when ban- dits assumed they had access to highly valuable food and water. But under the protection of the U.S. National Guard 82nd Air- borne, the local First Response team was able to focus on its task, clear a lot and help construct a medical clinic that delivered 40,000 medical kits to people in need, as well as serving as an outpost for food and water. Agoglia is back on U.S. soil now, but First Response equip- ment and team members remain in Haiti, where they've been clearing rubble in an area where new home construction will soon be underway. "I honestly felt a level of comfort driving around Haiti in that Peterbilt, knowing I had something I could count on, in a land that was very foreign to me and roads that were unstable, to say the least," Agoglia says. "Peterbilt is what gets us there and helps us through the storm, bringing swift and calculated progress. "I will never underestimate what these trucks mean to commu- nities who have lost everything, and are once again re-born." For more information on First Response Team, please visit www.firstresponseteam.org FIRST CLASS 23 This young girl (left) is among the many faces of homelessness left in the Haitian earthquake aftermath. At far left, Tad Agoglia and a donated Peterbilt are on the scene in Haiti, helping lead relief operations. (Photos by David Uttley.)