10-4 Magazine / March 2026 11 Throughout the late 1980s, Stan Jr. was all about work – much like his dad. Hauling a lot of scrap out of Army bases in California and Nevada, and running down to Los Angeles a lot, the company bought him a used 1984 Peterbilt 359 with a 63” sleeper to accommodate the longer runs. As the business expanded, so did the trucking operation, and that ongoing success was a combination of luck, hard work, and taking chances. In 1989, the company built its first end dump trailer, from the ground up, which was the lightest and toughest out there. Today, they still build every one of their end dumps based on the design of that first one. Looking to expand the trucking operation even more, Stan Silva Jr. Trucking was formed in 1991, mostly to handle all the trucking and transportation needs of A&S Metals and the aggregate side of the business, but eventually they grew to include hauling for hire, as well. Starting out with a Kenworth T800 transfer, Stan hired a female driver to run it, and that worked out so well, the next two drivers he hired were also women, and they ran transfers, too. In 1992, Stan got married, and in 1995, his son Stan “Lil’ Buddy” Silva III was born. Unfortunately, they got divorced in 1998, and Stan eventually got full custody of his son, who, like his father and grandfather, learned how to work hard. Growing up in the 1980s, Stan fell in love with the band ZZ Top and all the cool hot rods in their music videos. In those days, the Santa Nella truck show (in California) was a big deal and Stan loved seeing the custom rigs there. Inspired by some of the greatest truck customizers of the time, which did not work in fancy shops or build trucks for anyone besides themselves, Stan decided to build his own hot rod semi, right in his driveway at home. Back then, custom parts were not readily available, so most things had to be designed and built by the truckers themselves, and that is where the truck on this month’s cover and centerfold (and these pages) came from. The project started in 1991, and it began with a cab from a 1965 Peterbilt 341 concrete truck (which is basically the same cab that would later be used on the 359). Purchasing two new blank frame channels from the local Peterbilt dealer, Stan made every hole by hand with an air drill. The truck also got a “juiced up” 400 Big Cam Cummins, a 13-speed, and an Air Trac suspension, all acquired from wrecked trucks. The hood was a 359 crate hood with no cut-outs from the mid-1980s, which also got a 359 grill and surround, along with 13 Kenworth grill bars (which was a popular thing to do back then). The truck also got double square headlights from a Peterbilt 379 which had to me modified to fit. Wanting the entire exterior of the truck to have that clean and sleek hot rod look, Stan shaved everything – the external air cleaners, the door handles, the hood latches – and hid the air tanks between the frame rails. The doors and hood were set up to open at the push of a button, 6-inch stacks were installed, and seven evenly spaced cab lights with glass lenses were added to the roof. A custom stainless visor with a unique rolled bead was purchased from Coast Counties Peterbilt (they had built one like this for their tow truck and Stan liked it), the mirror brackets were flipped to be lower, and the front suspension shackles were shaved and the springs stressed to get the truck lower (there were no air-ride kits back then). Next came the paint and graphics, and Stan wanted to do something catchy yet different. Assisted by Rod Styles at Alan Signs in Salinas, CA, the base color was originally inspired by a Chevy pickup Stan bought and, when it came time to mix the color, they started with a metallic turquoise from a Geo Metro (remember those).
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