10-4 Magazine / October 2026 11 Bill Scarpete’s place (Kevin’s dad), helping out wherever he could, and doing some driving. Jim worked there until he got the opportunity to buy his own hay truck – and it came with a job, along with some help getting him insurance. So, in June 2013, Jim re-started his dad’s old company, Hay Fever Trucking, and went to work on his own in a beautiful white and green 1984 Peterbilt 362 cabover hay truck and trailer. Driving the Peterbilt for about a year, in the spring of 2014 Jim got the opportunity to buy back “Blue” – his dad’s old 1985 Freightliner cabover truck and trailer – and he jumped at the chance. Everyone thought he was crazy, trading “down” from a sharp Peterbilt to a Freightliner, but Jim had so much history in this truck and he had grown up in it. Plus, to him (and others), a cabover Freightliner is more of a “working man’s” truck and the quintessential hay hauler. After freshening the Freightliner up and putting it to work, he sold the Peterbilt to Kevin Scarpete, who later traded it in for a newer truck, but as far as Jim knows, that old Peterbilt is still floating around somewhere out there. Driving what he now calls “Old Blue” for a few years, it was eventually flagged by CARB (California Air Resources Board), who started sending him letters and notices, about how his truck was not in compliance. Jim could see the writing on the wall and started thinking about and searching for a truck with a newer electronic engine that he could add a DPF filter to and get a few more years. He estimated that he could be compliant until about 2023, at which point he’d figure out what to do moving forward, from there. And then along came this wrecked 1999 Freightliner cabover, equipped with a “Red Top” Cummins N14, and a 1989 replacement cab! Purchased from a guy named Ethan Jory out of Galt, CA in 2016, Ethan had planned to build this truck as a project, but it just never happened. Because of this, Jim was able to buy the wrecked chassis and replacement cab for just $7,500. Taking the pieces to Kevin Scarpete’s shop in Penngrove, CA, the guys got the engine running, but it didn’t sound good. Then, after talking to CARB, Jim was notified that he’d only be compliant until 2020, and that was not worth all the time, money and trouble. So, now the hunt was on for a motor, and Jim found the perfect specimen at Westoz Phoenix in Arizona.
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