My First Peterbilt

This goes way back to around 2003, 2004ish. After I met my pal Bruno that I talked about in the last post, I had a strong desire to someday drive a big ol' Petercar for myself. I had never had a "hood" truck before, unless you count the Freightliner FLD120 from Covenant, which is kind of a "hood".
Well one day I was at the Navajo terminal, the old one in Commerce City, CO, and there was a 379 Pete short hood, with one stack in the back that was available. Now this was a truck that had been used by one of our partner companies, Cargo Express from Idaho, so it was white with green fenders.
Well I jumped at the opportunity, even if it was a short hood, and had no stacks on the sides, I was happy as could be to finally have a hood in front of me, and be Petermobilin'!

I remember spending all day moving in my Pete and cleaning it all up, then I took off with a load of beer for Kansas City. I was so exhausted that night, popping caffeine pills and everything I could to stay awake, but it was worth it! After I got a little more free time, I had her all polished up and looking high class, and I drove it around with pride for months!

Then one night I stopped at the TA in Foristell,MO to grab a shower, and the only parking spot available was right on the end of the row, the most dangerous spot in any parking lot, and actually forbidden by some companies. I know when I was at Covenant if you parked on an end spot, and was hit, you would be held accountable for a preventable accident!

Anyways I went inside and got my shower, and not 5 minutes later there was a knock on the door from the manager, who I knew because she had been my trainers girlfriend. She told me someone just hit my truck. I was pissed! I threw my clothes on and ran outside, there it was, front hood and fender all mangled and nobody in sight to blame! They just took off. It was the saddest day in my truckin life! So I managed to get the bumper bent back off the wheel and drove her down the road to the Peterbilt dealer. Great news, they could have it all fixed up like new in about 2 days! Bad news, the company didn't want to fix it there, they just wanted it made "legal" and bring it back to Denver, which would've been okay too I guess, but as luck would have it, for them, there was a driver who was arrested nearby at a Flying J for selling drugs, and I was the only one in the area who needed a truck. So I had to go recover the old T600 and take it back to Denver instead, and I never did get my Peterbilt back,and I never drove another one again until I got here to B&L in 2010.

Instead I ended up with a brand new International that was ordered for Cargo Express, and I drove it around until they were ready for it, then I got a brand new T600 with a CAT motor, a limited test program that Navajo was trying, boy did I LOVE that truck!