Mercer-leased over-the-road owner-operator and Fast Transport custom shop owner Ted Streit is on a quest to find the right Allis-Chalmers engine for his 1970 Kenworth W900A…

Jersey isn’t the first place one would think of being a hotbed for customizing trucks. Gangsters ripping them off and hijacking their loads? Sure. But truck dealerships ripping a new rig apart and transforming what was once ordinary into an extraordinary work of rolling artisanship and craftsmanship? Fuhgetaboutit. That is unless you’re thinking pure Mayhem…

When the company Robert Ewing works for, Hi-Plains Leasing, bought a ’97 Mack previously owned by the United States Post Office, turning the truck into a show rig was one use he hadn’t envisioned for the box-bodied, snub-nosed “Gone Postal.” Other than a paint job, Ewing and Hi-Plains used the truck as purchased for nearly three years before taking it out of service, putting it into the shop and, ultimately, leading it onto the truck beauty show scene.

CHARITY ORGANIZATION DELIVERS THE GOODS
Illinois-based Haulin’ For Humanity provides cargo delivery services for other non-profits
In a time when truckers and trucking companies are facing tough times and every operational dollar is watched under a microscope, Haulin’ For Humanity is delivering the goods for free. John Gervase, a Burr Ridge, Illinois, owner-operator says  “We’re a new [...]

“Hot rodding has no limits.” This, the motto of Flaming River hot-rod shop, is epitomized in its latest revival: the transformation of this 1987 Pete 379 Flattop into the smokin’ hot gangsta rig known as Blackbird. Flaming River of Berea, Ohio, frequents hot-rod trade shows, showcasing its products and custom work, which is catered to early models of hot rod cars…

Thousands of CDL holders filled out entry forms during the past three months for a chance to win Custom Rigs “Win big With Custom Rigs” ‘98 International 9400 customized by the Chrome Shop Mafia and powered by a Reliabilt replacement engine, covered by a three-year, 300,000-mile warranty from Detroit Diesel…but only one name was pulled out of the pile: John Lacusky. “When I get this truck [Sequel] it’ll a big step up-a lot bigger and way more fancier than what I’m driving right now.”….

Installing aluminum diamond-plate flooring brightens up the cab of any custom rig

By Bruce W. Smith
Ten years and a million miles do a wear-and-tear number on just about anything in a working rig. Just look down by your feet. The floor covering, which was once pristine, probably looks as if half those miles were driven over [...]

Click on image to enlarge
Now I know how you guys feel building a new custom rig. You can’t wait to get it out on the road to show off, but the frustrations of taking care of all the fine details seems to go on forever.
Such is the case with our “new” web site. We brought the [...]

Sherry Martinez’s 1990 Peterbilt 379, affectionately known around Southern California as either The Mean Bitch or 666, is visually hell on wheels born from personal trials and tribulations. Martinez says her Pete, the first of three tricked-out trucks in the Mira Loma, Calif., based Jessica Martinez Trucking fleet, was designed to match the tough times that came with going independent. “Its looks reflect the hell me, my husband, and my family went through when we first got it,” says Martinez…

Mystery truck rollin' on I-5 in southern Oregon
When our writers and editors are out and about we’re always on the lookout for cool custom rigs.  Last Sunday one of our contributors, LarryWalton,  spotted this bad-boy rollin’ along I-5 near his home in Jacksonville, Oregon, and couldn’t resist snapping a few shots of a custom rig [...]

Nothing gets Mike Salinas’s adrenaline pumping faster than seeing a green-light flash on a Christmas tree and feeling 540 cubic-inches of blown Chevrolet, sitting inches ahead of his toes, punch him into the seat while it lifts the wheels of his 7.0 Pro nostalgia dragster skyward. The thrill of that seven-second quarter-mile, 200-mph blast is hard to beat. It’s also hard to beat his tow vehicle: a 1997 Peterbilt 379 extended hood that reflects both the colors and style of this Gilroy, California, National Hot Rod Association Hot Rod Heritage drag racer. Salinas’ hot-rod-style hauler, dubbed Slippery Pete, is an odds-on favorite to win every time it rolls into a racetrack or a truck show

The latest creation from Outlaw Customs shows gangsta-style look gaining momentum
You gotta luv it! My buddy Andy Gobel at Outlaw Customs just sent me the first pictures of a Pete they’ve been conspiring on for the past couple months called the “Vigilante.” Various manufactures and custom shops pitched in to help with the paint and interior, but [...]

It takes a lot more creativity to make a rig look super cool by minimizing than it does bolting on every chrome accessory known to man.

Who says fleets and big corporations don’t think much about customizing their rigs? We spotted this Continental Tire company LoneStar awaiting its turn to roll in to the Chrome Shop Mafia’s customizing shop in Joplin, Missouri.
CSM is a little tight-lipped about the mods, but one insider said “this rig’s gonna look mighty fine when we [...]