Trucking for a quarter century now, David's Duncan's time around the business goes back to his childhood.
The third-generation trucker from Emory, Texas, just east of Dallas, is the owner of David Duncan Trucking (Double D Trucking). Duncan hauls coast-to-coast hauling mostly flatbed and drop deck freight with some heavy-haul work, too.
Business has “been very tough,” Duncan said, speaking in March, adding that “the last two or three years have been very hard to get by.” Yet he stays upbeat with his outlook on the work. “I still enjoy it, and it’s a way to make a living and it makes me smile. So, I don’t know anything better.”
David Duncan
“I bought this 359 from a buddy and was wanting to have two trucks,” he said, but “the funds weren’t there to rebuild the 389, so I put the 359 on the 389 chassis.”
Duncan had been a big fan of the custom truck work of Kevin Love with Stretch Customs, originally based in Ontario, Canada. When he found out Love moved his business to Texas in 2024, he knew who he wanted to work with to have the rig built.
[Related: Young owner-operator's 1987 Peterbilt 359 with Cat C16 power]
“And man, it’s been a good trip," Duncan said. "I’m just over the top with the way it turned out.”
The 359 was a fully functional unit before he took it apart, with its own engine and chassis. The original plan was to build a show unit and keep working the 389. After the fire, plans changed.
The 359 “was in pieces,” he said, when he got it Love's shop. “It was a cab, sleeper and a hood,” in addition to the frame of the 389. Love repainted the whole truck, re-paneled the hood, cab and sleeper.
They also added a new-content 6NZ Cat and a new 18-speed transmission with a 4-speed auxiliary behind it with 2.64 rears.
A friend of Duncan’s who builds hot rods took the hood panels and added louvers. Duncan “always wanted louvers” in his hood, he said.
The louvered panels he took back to Love, and back to the rig they went.
He also added an all-new interior with a 359 kit and “kept it really simple,” Duncan said.
They painted the floors and dash red to match the exterior.
BMR Custom Interiors out of Paris, Texas, leather-wrapped the dash.
Throughout the process, at times no doubt difficult for Duncan and the business, “I’m glad that my family stood behind me and waited it out, and they enjoy the love that I enjoy,” he said.
The truck boasts all new lights, too.
[Related: 1983 359 with KTA 600 Cummins power, originally purchased by NASCAR legends]
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David Duncan: I had talked to some other shops about finishing my truck, and then when I found out Stretch was coming to Texas, I got in touch with him. And man, it's been a good trip.
David Duncan, it's Double D Trucking or David Duncan Trucking, Emory, Texas.
Overdrive: All right. How long have you been in the trucking business?
David Duncan: All my life. I'm third generation. My granddad did it. My dad did it, and I've been doing it 25 years.
Overdrive: All right. What kind of work do you do?
David Duncan: Mostly flatbed drop deck. A little bit of heavy haul.
Overdrive: Are you pretty local, regional around Texas, or do you haul all over?
David Duncan: All over, coast to coast.
Overdrive: Tell me about the story behind you. Oh.
David Duncan: Well, it's a long story. Ordered a 2017 glider in 2016. I built it, put a Cat engine in it, and I trucked it for five years. Had a small wiring fire, put it out, was going to rebuild it, and it didn't work out that way. I bought this 359 from a buddy and was wanting to build and have two trucks.
But anyway, the funds weren’t there to rebuild it 389, so I put the 359 on the 389 chassis. And I'd always follow the Stretch’s work. And he was in Canada at that time, and I had talked to some other shops about finishing my truck, and then when I found out Stretch was coming to Texas, I got in touch with him, and man, it's been a good trip. Over the top with the way it turned out.
Overdrive: All right, well, kind of walked me through the build process, some of the things that Stretch did to it.
David Duncan: Well, I took it to him, all torn apart. Like I said, I took him the chassis of the 389 and then the hood and the cab and sleeper of the 359. He repainted everything and re-paneled all the hood cabin sleeper. And then we put a new content 6NZ and a new 18 speed in it and auxiliary behind it. Got all new interior in it. Everything's new. All new lights.
Overdrive: What kind of stuff's done on the interior?
David Duncan: We just went with a basic 359 interior kit, but we kept it really simple. Painted the floors and stuff, did some a little bit different things on the on the side panels and stuff. Just kept it really simple. Painted the dash and leather-wrapped the dash and stuff. BMR, they did that, right outside of Paris, really happy with them. They worked with me really nice. So like I said, it's a brand-new truck. I went up there a few weekends to help him, but he's done everything himself, and he's done stand up job.
Overdrive: How long did it take him to build it?
David Duncan: He's probably been on it a year, but I'd say a really 7 or 8 months been hard on it.
Overdrive: Was the louvered hood already on it, or is that something y'all added after?
David Duncan: So, I have some really good friends local to me that build hot rods, Jeff Kinsey. Since we was re-paneling the hood, I took the side of the panels to the hot rod shop, and they, I always wanted louvers in it and they louvered it for them. And then I took the panels to Stretch and he put it on the hood for me.
Overdrive: And is the red something that, is that what you had on your other truck, or is that totally different?
David Duncan: My granddad always liked red trucks. My dad's trucks was always red. We've just always liked red. So.
Overdrive: All right, well, is there anything else about the truck that you know that you're especially proud of?
David Duncan: I'm glad that my family stood behind me and waited it out, and they enjoy the love that I enjoy.
