The Legend of the Red Truck...

According to Ernest Lucadano Jr., one would have to go back to late 1960 in Brooklyn, New York in order to find the original idea behind the shiny red trucks that represent Luke Brothers Landscape Services on the roads of Central Florida. At that time, Ernest’s father and Dave & Pete’s grandfather, Ernest Lucadano Sr., had just returned to the United States after several years of fighting in Africa and Europe. Ernest Sr. was proud to have had the opportunity to fight for his country and liberate Europe, even though it meant leaving many of his friends on blood-soaked battlefields. Ernest Sr. felt it a privilege to fight for his country, and vowed to remember his service and his friends when he someday had the opportunity to start his own business.

Moving forward into the early sixties, Ernest Sr. and Ernest Jr. had the opportunity to purchase a disheveled trucking company that delivered paperboard in Manhattan. The company, Printers Delivery Service, consisted of one working truck and a small list of loyal clients. The death of one of the owners forced a necessary sale of the company, and both Jr. and Sr. decided to use their experience and give the business a try. After re-naming the firm Ernie’s Printers Delivery Service, their next corporate decision was to choose a color for their lone, rust-ridden truck. Remembering his commitment to his country, Ernest Sr. felt that the color red would signify the many lives that were lost in exchange for the freedom found in our great nation. It was with this decision that the first red “Lucadano truck” hit the road.

As both Jr. and Sr. built their business, their fleet of trucks grew. Small hand-winch trucks gave way to Mack MD Model box trucks. Then came larger, modern Mack DM Model straight-jobs with power tailgates. Finally, shiny red Mack R model tractor-trailers were rolling down the highways of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. As the years passed, Ernest Sr. decided to retire to New Port Richey, Florida, and leave the reigns of the trucking company to Ernest Jr. Ernest Jr. continued his hard work in the company, modernizing the trucking fleet and establishing a streamlined warehousing system for paperboard. While the recession of the early 1980’s saw the end of many New York trucking companies, Ernie’s Printers Delivery Service pressed on. However, the tough economic conditions of the northeast helped Ernest Jr. to realize that he wanted a better way of life for his wife, daughter, and two sons. This realization prompted Ernest to sell his trucking business in the spring of 1984 and relocate his family to New Port Richey, FL to be with his father.

While Ernest Jr. gave his dad one last joy by opening an Italian restaurant with him in Hudson, FL, his boys were eager to start a business of their own. Knowing that his two high-school age sons could never garnish the confidence of a bank at their age, Ernest Jr. helped his sons to obtain financing for the first truck needed to start the mobilization of Luke Brothers Lawn Service: A brand new, Toyota small series pickup. Upon the purchase of this truck, Ernest Jr., Dave and Pete unanimously agreed on one thing, which was the color of that Toyota truck – Red.

As the years passed on, Luke Brothers grew from a small lawn service into a full-service landscape company. With the humble beginnings of the company were marked by the use of small pickup trucks, the company’s success was measured by the addition of many large specialty trucks. While company management designed many of the bodies and modifications for the Luke Brothers trucks, the fleet has always had one distinct feature in common. That feature was and is the clean, shiny red paint which proudly displays the company logo; in addition to the ideals of freedom that our country fought for over half a century ago.

Today, the Luke Brothers Landscape Services fleet of red trucks has earned a reputation for their recognizable appearance and their presence on notable properties throughout central Florida. Our red fleet has evoked a series of reactions from competitors throughout the years, the most recent being an attempted “image makeover” by a national-chain landscape company via the painting of their trucks bright red. While other landscape companies have flattered us with their attempted impersonation of our distinct look, one things is for sure: The color may be replicated, but the character and meaning behind our company stands unique in the Green Industry.