10-4 Magazine November 2021

12 10-4 Magazine / November 2021 (GVD), hauling lumber. For some reason, while everyone else was struggling to stay in business or closing their doors, GVD was thriving. Gus stayed with them for three years, but really wanted to move back home, so in 2013 he took a job with Terry Stafek (Stafek Trucking), where his dad worked, pulling a flatbed. Working again with his dad at Stafek, Gus was running California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington. After finding out that Natalie was pregnant, Gus decided to take a local transfer driving job to be near home, but that did not work out. Around this same time, one of Gus’ best friends, Dan Williams, was tragically killed in a log truck accident. All these things, combined with his son Gerrit (yes, another Gerrit) being born in 2014, Gus decided it was finally time to drive his own truck and go out on his own. Looking for a log truck, he found the 1996 Peterbilt 379 you see on the pages here, and on our cover and centerfold this month, but it obviously did not look like what you see here now – it was painted the same teal color, but it was a daycab with black logging gear. After putting Hulstein Transpor tation on the door, Gus began hauling logs in the spring of 2015 with the same outfit his fallen friend Dan had worked with. After running in the spring and summer that year, the engine in Gus’ Peterbilt basically died. Buying a 14-liter Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine, Gus dropped the truck off at the Stafek Trucking shop where one of the mechanics there worked on it at night and on weekends. In the meantime, Gus pulled out one of the “old” trucks that were now collecting in his backyard and drove it while the 379 was getting its new engine. This truck just happened to be his dad’s old 1979 Pete 359 glider kit, which Gus had later found and bought back. Gus used this truck for about four months, from August 2015 until November 2015, pulling a flatbed for Sunburst Trucking out of Redmond, OR. After getting the 379 back, Gus removed the logging gear and continued pulling a 53-foot flatbed, as an owner operator, for Sunburst. Early the next year (2016), Gus decided to make things easier on himself and became a leased operator at Sunburst, running under their authority, and letting them handle all the paperwork. Also, that year, their daughter Grae was born, and Gus bought the 2015 Western cur tain van seen here, as well. At that point Gus was running pretty hard, throughout Oregon and Washington, and clear up to the Canadian border, and came to the realization that he needed a sleeper. Wanting an old-school Double Eagle bunk, he found one in Tillamook, OR and bought it. But after painting it the same color as the truck, that new paint just didn’t look good with the faded paint on the truck, so he decided to paint the whole rig – and do some other stuff, too. Since this now “road” truck was formerly a log truck, it was equipped with a lot of heavy-duty stuff Gus no longer needed. With that in mind, he cut the frame and replaced the rear clip with a LowAir system, giving it a 285-inch wheelbase, and making it much more highway savvy. After mounting the 64-inch sleeper in 2017, he had the entire rig repainted the teal color, and then added a dark grey vinyl stripe with a light grey outline, to match the dark grey frame. For the next four years, Gus used the 379 to do a dedicated LTL haul, typically with many drops, between central Oregon and Por tland. As simple as it seemed, this run had him up and out of the house before the kids woke up and brought him home, most nights, after they went to bed. And with small children at home, this was tough. But, since Gus has always been the kind of guy that does what he needs to do to provide for his family, he made do. In 2021 he got the oppor tunity to secure a different everyday run between central Oregon and Por tland, but this one was basically terminal to terminal, with an occasional one or two extra drops. Now, he is home more with his family, and he loves it. Since installing the sleeper in 2017, Gus has slowly but steadily worked to improve his truck, star ting with the interior, because that is what he could afford to do at the time. The Peterbilt’s American Class Interior came with classic-looking wood grain dash panels, which he kept, but he stripped much of the excess plastic chrome pieces, opting for a simpler look. He also added a VIP steering wheel, glitter shift knob, and a Kenwood stereo, mounted on the overhead console, with the center of a stainless flap weight as the base plate. Pulling out the old carpet, he replaced it with a factory black rubber floor, and then had his door panels reupholstered to match the interior of the sleeper. Some exterior improvements and changes he has made over the past few years include a Pickett visor, 5-inch Dynaflex exhaust with heat shields from one of Terry Stafek’s V12-powered 359s, Hogebuilt quar ter fenders, diamond plate deck plate, and double round headlights, on factory 359 brackets, that were mounted lower to mimic a 359 Peterbilt. A few other 359-inspired changes include blinkers atop the front fenders and on the outside edges, dual spotlights, a swan hood ornament, five cab lights and dual horns, and Signal Stat “double bubble” lights down the sides of the sleeper and along the back. These older-style lights were gutted and rebuilt with new Maxxima LED lights inside. A special shout-out goes to Ray Lucas at Valley Chrome in Clovis, CA and Schott Par ts and Accessories out of Salem, OR (where Gus gets all his stuff). The front bumper on Gus’ truck was