Three-year professional driver Jarad Mullinix -- CB handle: "Rowdy Rooster" -- stuck to a "chicken theme," he said, for the name he gave this "Fowl Attitude" 2023 Peterbilt 389.
He showed the small fleet West Lawrence Logistics-owned rig at the Large Cars & Guitars truck show in Tennessee in May, where he walked through some of the details of the custom work put into it in collaboration most closely with Chrome Country at the Rush Truck Centers location in Smyrna, Tennessee.
"A lot of the places we haul for like the look of the truck," said Mullinix.All photos by Todd Dills
Close attention to detail on the rig yields a business dividend with customers, he added. "They would ask for us over the competition." West Lawrence runs freight about 90% of the time on flatbeds with Conestoga set-ups, the rest on open flats, "mostly aluminum and steel," according to Mullinix.
Operator Jarad Mullinix, who lives in Florida, found a home with West Lawrence of Town Creek, Alabama, after cutting his teeth flatbedding with TMC and learning the ropes. That followed 10 years as a police officer, and a childhood with family in and around trucking. He's been at it now for upward of about three years with 170,000-plus miles put on the odometer of the 2023 389 since late 2022.
Mullinix notes the unique paint color here is a custom version of what's called "Purple Effect," he said, with flake added to it that is noticeable in the sun.
Rush in Smyrna "did the custom stripe on it," Mullinix said, and the 389 is among several 389s and 379s in the West Lawrence small fleet all outfitted with unique detailing.
At the time of the show in May, West Lawrence owner Myles Parker and Mullinix were awaiting delivery of a custom T-bar from 12 Ga. Customs with the fleet logo cut into it, sure to dress up the rear of the bobtail.
The interior, Mullinix noted, is a work in progress, yet just in time for the show in May he'd installed of a bright surround for the digital dash.
"I saw a couple trucks at MATS" earlier in the year "with the chrome bezel for the digital dash," as shown here now in the West Lawrence 389, Mullinix noted. "Rockwood's the only one that makes it, but it's a custom part, not a catalog part." The week before the Large Cars truck show, he called Ben at Chrome Country about getting it -- it came in a week later, just in time.
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Jarad Mullinix: My handle, or my TikTok name, is the Rowdy Rooster. And so going with the chicken theme, I call it Fowl Attitude.
Name's Jared Mullinax. I work for West Lawrence Logistics, out of Town Creek, Alabama. The truck is owned by Myles Parker. It's a 2023 Peterbilt 389, Cummins 565, 18 speed 3.70 rear ends, 24.5 tires. So we mainly do 90% Conestoga, 10% flatbed, mostly aluminum and steel.
Todd Dills: Where's Town Creek?
Jarad Mullinix: So it's about 30 miles west of Decatur out there towards the Muscle Shoals/Tuscumbia area. I live in Florida. He bought it December of 2022. Had 167 miles on it. I went straight into it and it's now got 170,000 in. You got the watermelons underglow, bumper lights. Most of the accessories are either from Rockwood, Roadworks, or Horse and Buggy accessories. We're waiting on a T-bar from 12 Gauge Customs being custom built for the fenders and stuff. But we're also having our logo cut in the middle and back lit. Takes a little bit to get that in, but Chrome Country, Ben at Chrome Country has been working with us on that.
It's right there at the Rush Truck Center in Smyrna, Tennessee. A lot of the places we haul for like the look of the truck. So they would ask for us over the other competition. The paint’s called Purple Effect, but it's a custom purple effect. They added more flake to it. Rush Peterbilt up there at Smyrna, they did the custom stripe on it. All the trucks have different colors, different stripes, but they're all 389s or 379s. I was a police officer and deputy sheriff for approximately 10 years. Wow. Got tired of the politics. Got tired of living in a glass house. I like to throw rocks, so that didn't mesh well with the industry. My father was a truck driver. My uncle, my grandfather's brother, he owned his own logging company out of Mississippi. Ever since I was little. I was always in Mississippi helping him doing stuff. So when I got tired of being a police officer, I was like, I'm going to go do it. So here I am.
