The 2024 Peterbilt 389 in the video above may look somewhat familiar to regular readers. The blue and yellow paint scheme and striping pattern is very similar to the flagship of the Wisconsin-based DSD Transport small fleet and owner Don Wood’s 2003 Peterbilt 379, featured in Overdrive back in 2021.
DSD Transport driver Sy Kunesh Jr.
Kunesh has been with Wood and DSD for 11 years. He primarily hauls flatbed and step deck freight. The company also has some RGNs, a couple van trailers and some curtainsides. Shown with Kunesh’s ’24 389 at the Peterbilt event was one of the 16-truck fleet’s conestoga trailers, a 2014 Mac.
Kunesh was complimentary of DSD owner Wood and how he treats his drivers. “Look at the equipment they give me,” he said, referencing the impressive 389 company truck he drives. “I mean, it’s hard to believe this is a company truck. And it’s a small company. I’ve always had the best luck with small, family-owned companies as compared to like a mega fleet or something. I mean, when they say it’s a family, it’s truly a family here.”
Just about everything about this 389 is custom in some form or fashion. As noted above, it features the same blue and yellow paint scheme as Wood’s flagship 379, but the stripes down the hood on Kunesh’s rig are sloped down instead of straight.
[Related: Don Wood's 2003 Peterbilt 379: DSD Transport's new custom flagship]
DSD and Kunesh's rig is shown here participating in the 2024 Peterbilt Pride & Class Parade in Denton, Texas.
When DSD orders its trucks, Kunesh said, they come bare bones with no bumper, no clearance lights, no visor. The fleet does all of that and more in-house.
To this 2024 model DSD added a 20-inch front bumper with a 4 State Trucks flip kit, a dump switch to drop the air out of the factory air ride, an LKQ visor, 12-Ga. mirror brackets, 8-inch Dynaflex stacks, Hogebuilt half fenders and more.
Kunesh got what he's always wanted for the interior, noting his familiarity through the years with the Rockwood company and the interior finishes they bring to the table. "That was one of my dreams," he added, "to have a full-blown Rockwood interior.”
This truck features just that, with Rockwood floor panels, ceiling, dash and more. “It’s one of my proudest things in this truck is the interior in it,” Kunesh said.
To do something different, he went with a white interior. He also added some patriotic touches inside:
DSD also pulled the engine and transmission from the truck to paint it.
Kunesh said Wood wanted to bring some of the white outside of the truck to show, so DSD pulled the Cummins X15 and painted it white and blue “to kind of accent the white interior a little bit,” he said.
The truck sits on a 294-inch wheelbase, the longest that Kunesh has driven in his career. “So far, it has not really been too much of an issue other than really having to watch the tanks … going in and out of some of the driveways and stuff,” he said. “But other than that, this thing just floats down the road."
[Related: Small fleet's 'smooth' car-hauling Pete 567]
Find plenty more views of the rig in the video up top, and for more videos and custom-equipment features delivered to your email inbox, subscribe to Overdrive's weekly Custom Rigs newsletter via this link.
Sy Kunesh Jr.: Hi, I am Sy Kunesh Jr. I drive for DSD Transport. We're based out of Denmark, Wisconsin. This is a 2024 Pete. This is one of our latest trucks at the DSD stable. I had it down to Louisville for a new truck combo. And yeah, we kind of went with little different stripes on this one. The stripes slope down a little bit. I went with the white interior and wanted to bring some of the white out to the outside of the truck to show. So that is the reason for the white and blue engine. It was to kind accent the white interior a little bit. We did all that in-house. We pulled engine, transmission together, painted the whole thing, the whole cooling pack. We pulled that all off as one and painted that as well. And like the panel, the deck panel, we painted that in the house.
All we do a lot of our own paint work and everything in house. When we order the trucks, they don't come with a front bumper, clearance lights, visor, exhaust. So that's something we all do in-house because we're going to change it anyways. So yeah, we've got a 20-inch bumper up front here. Got a 4 States flip kit on here. It's a factory air ride here. We just added a dump switch so we could drop the air in it. I believe it's LKQ visor on there, 12 gauge mirror hoops to kind of give it that lower look a little bit. That's eight inch Dynaflex exhaust on it. Hogebuilt half fenders and then it's pretty much a Rockwood interior on it. One of those things, when I found out years ago when I was driving what Rockwood was and the products they build, that was one of my dreams, was to have a full blown Rockwood interior.
And this truck, I pretty much pulled the trigger on it and we, floor panels, ceiling, everything with a dash, everything. So it's one of my proudest things in this truck is the interior in it. This is probably the longest wheel based truck I've had. It's a 294 and I was a little concerned about that when I first got it because I think my largest up that was a 280. So far it has not really been too much of an issue other than really having to watch the tanks for bottoming, going in and out of some of the driveways and stuff. But other than that, this thing just floats down the road. It really, really rides nice.
