10-4 Magazine August 2023

Cover Feature: By Daniel J. Linss pickup trucks, just to name a few. As a leading construction company serving El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Amador, and surrounding counties, they specialize in excavating and grading, paving, underground utilities, retaining walls, trucking, emergency repairs, and demolition. They do all the prep and finish work at both commercial and residential construction sites. The only thing they don’t do is build the actual structure. Although Doug is still very involved in the business and a hands-on kind of person, his son Matt is now in charge of all the day-to-day operation of the company. Matt was born in 1982, just one year prior to his dad star ting the company, so this business is all he has ever known. He grew up in the company, and loves it. Like his dad, Matt’s work ethic is unparalleled, and whenever the day comes for him to take over the business, he is 100% ready and able. Over the years we have seen many cool heavy duty service trucks, and even considered putting a few of them on our cover. But we never have – until now! This month’s cover truck is a custom service truck built and owned by Doug Veerkamp General Engineering in Placerville, CA and it is very unique. Although they call it their “Stellar ‘66” – and it is – it also isn’t. The cab and hood are from a 1966 Peterbilt 351A with a butterfly hood, but that is where the ‘66 ends. The cool classic cab and hood were retrofitted atop a modern 2016 Peterbilt chassis that not only has a 605-hp Cummins ISX stuffed under the hood, but is completely CARB-compliant! This rig was built to work, and is currently in the process of being loaded with tools and all the final items needed to put it into everyday service, maintaining Veerkamp’s huge fleet of trucks and heavy equipment. The original idea came from Matt Veerkamp (41), Vice President of Doug Veerkamp General Engineering, and now the one in charge of day-to-day operations of the family business, which was star ted by his father Doug Veerkamp (67) back in 1983. The project was then handed off to Brandon Shultz (42), a Heavy Duty Repairman at Veerkamp for the past ten years, along with a team of dedicated mechanics and helpers at the company. The entire build was done in less than six months, and the truck made its debut at the enormous CONEXPO 2023 construction convention last March in Las Vegas, NV – and it was a huge hit. A fifth generation El Dorado County native, Doug Veerkamp was born in 1956. Both sides of his family settled in the area during the Gold Rush in the 1850s as cattle ranchers and farmers. Growing up, Doug’s dad was a heavy equipment mechanic, and two of his uncles (Mo and Kenny) were log truck drivers, so Doug was exposed to the world of construction and trucking at an early age. After graduating from El Dorado High School in 1974, following his mother’s strong suggestion, he headed to college, but that did not last long. His mother always said, “If you don’t go to college, you’ll end up being a ditch digger,” and that is exactly what he did! In 1975 Doug took a job with Joe Vicini at his company that focused on excavating, grading, paving, and trucking. His father worked there, too, and Doug has fond memories of when the two of them got to work together on service jobs. Staying there for eight years, in 1983 Doug went out on his own, star ting with just one small D4 Cat dozer, a Case 580C backhoe/loader, and a 1965 Peterbilt transfer. Because of his amazing work ethic and determination, the company grew fast, and the rest is history. Today, over 40 years later, Doug Veerkamp General Engineering has almost 200 employees and over 380 pieces of on- and off-road rolling stock, including transfers, low boy trucks, dump trucks, excavators, loaders, backhoes, dozers, scrapers, paving machines, rollers, service trucks, and more than 60 company-owned Ford 10 10-4 Magazine / August 2023 A STELLAR 66-ISH PETE