10-4 Magazine August 2024

they share the proper ty and shop with the other par tner. Retired truck builder and mechanic Felipe D. Gonzalez Sr., who worked for Mike’s dad for many years, still works in the shop par t time and helps maintain both of these owner’s fleets. He also customizes cars, for himself and others, and built Mike’s truck, the one seen here, after it was purchased and acquired as a wreck. Tom Viviano was born in 1932 and, after high school, at 19 years old, he enlisted in the Army. Ending up in Korea, during the Korean War, he got involved in the transpor tation side of things, including tank maintenance, where he learned the ar t of body and paint work. After being discharged, he returned home and began doing paint and body work and customizing cars. One of his creations – a black 1952 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 – ended up on the June 1955 cover of Rod & Custom Magazine. He eventually began trucking in the Bay Area of California, pulling double bottom dumps and semi bottom dump trailers, and then formed his own company called Viviano Trucking Inc. (VTI) in 1959. With his first truck being an old Diamond T, Tom was known for buying wrecked or incomplete trucks, and then using his paint and body skills to fix or finish them, and then selling them off or adding them to his fleet. In his heyday during the 80s and 90s, Tom’s company had upwards of 80 trucks of its own and dispatched another 30+ subhaulers. Mike’s mom Jane passed away in 2009, and after that, Tom began slowing down and passing what was left of the company to his children. After Tom’s death in 2017, they sold the remaining equipment, except one truck and four sets of trailers, and Mike formed his outfit, Viviano Trucking, which survives today. Born in 1962, Mike grew up around trucks, motorcycles, and hot rods, learning to drive a truck before he even learned to drive a car! In addition to greasing trucks and moving trailers, he worked a lot with his dad rebuilding the wrecked trucks he bought. In his teenage years, Mike began racing bicycles (BMX) like so many of us did in the late 70s, me included, and then graduated to motocross, racing his Yamaha YZ 125 in the Novice class. With a full sponsor and a lot of wins under his belt, he was on the verge of going pro when he crashed in a race. Breaking his leg in two places, he went on to finish and win that race. But after taking time off to heal, things were never the same after that. Upon graduating high school at 18 years old, he immediately got his CDL and star ted trucking. Over the years, Mike drove some cool rigs, including a 1965 narrow-nose Peterbilt, a white 1985 Peterbilt 359, which was known as “The White Pony” to many, then “The White Pony 2” – a white 1995 Peterbilt 379. His dad’s colors were always white and yellow, so most of his trucks from that era were those colors, including a 2008 Peterbilt 384 he owned, as well, which was white with black fenders. When he star ted his own company, he bought an old Granite Construction truck (a 2000 Peterbilt 379) painted in Granite colors, which is green 10-4 Magazine / August 2024 11