Tennessee-based owner-operator Gary Johnson followed a familiar path to trucking -- he grew up in the business and became a third-generation trucker.
Johnson said his grandfather was a pioneer of cross-docking, less-than-truckload and lumping out West, noting that he “kind of grew up in the box industry.”
Gary Johnson
He started his career pulling a flatbed for a couple of years before moving to a step deck and eventually into RGN and more specialized work.
[Related: Finding your niche haul: The tradeoffs and triumphs of freight specialization]
Johnson’s doing his heavy-haul work today in the 2026 Peterbilt 567 featured in the video up top. At the 2026 Mid-America Trucking Show early this year in Louisville, he spoke to the approach to what's certainly a unique model on truck show lots.
In fact, his was the only 567 competing in the PKY Truck Beauty Championship this year.
“Being in the heavy-haul industry for almost 20 years now, I always wanted to build a show working truck,” Johnson said, who strove for something different from the standard long-and-square-hood trucks you see at truck shows across the country. While those “are all gorgeous,” he said, “it’s the same thing, repetitive. Everybody has their own taste; this is my taste. It’s a vocational truck, and I wanted to make it pretty.”
He's always kept his trucks polished, nice, but took the 567 here a step further. "This is the first truck working show truck that I’ve built,” he said.
Starting with the paint scheme, Johnson laid on Peterbilt’s Legendary Purple as the primary color with Legendary Gray front fenders, yielding the “Purple Reign” nickname.
Under the hood is a 605-hp Cummins X15 paired with an 18-speed and 4.30 rears. The truck's double-framed and boasts a 20K steer axle, a 20K pusher and 46K rear axles to complete the spec. “This truck will pull up to 300,000 pounds,” Johnson said.
All the watermelon lights on the truck are glass and switch from amber or red to purple.
The truck boasts 35 lights under the frame rails, between the rear fenders “and all the way down the truck,” Johnson said. In total, there are more than 75 lights around the rig.
Most of the bright parts are stainless, with the only aluminum being the wheels, tanks and headlights. “Everything else is 100% stainless,” he said.
Behind the cab, the 567 truly stands out. The Brunner headache rack, deck plate, rear fenders and rear panel are all quilted stainless, hand-bent by the team at 4 State Trucks in Joplin, Missouri.
That quilted headache rack and other quilted pieces add a unique look to the rear of Johnson's heavy-haul worker.
Johnson kept the quilting there -- he didn’t want to go “overboard,” he said. “You’ve got quilted to the rear, you’ve got flat stainless to the front, and it just builds and gives character to the truck.”
The Pete 567 had only about 16,000 miles on it at the time of MATS this past spring. He said he’ll average about 80K miles a year with it in his business.
Johnson’s Hustler Heavy Haul was operating with two trucks as of late March with plans to add two more as the year went along, yet his “Purple Reign” 567 is ”the pride of my fleet,” he said.
[Related: 'Brand-new' 1984 Pete 359, for third-gen owner-op David Duncan]
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Gary Johnson: I'm the only 567 out here. Everybody else has 379s, 389s, 589s, which are all gorgeous trucks. But to me, I'm not going to say it's played out, but it's the same thing, repetitive. Everybody has their own taste. This is my taste. It's a vocational truck; I wanted to make it pretty.
My name is Gary Johnson. I own Hustler Heavy Haul LLC. I'm out of East Tennessee. I'm a third-generation trucker, grew up in this industry. My grandfather was one of the pioneers of cross-docking and LTL and lumping out in the West. Kind of grew up in the box industry, and the only one of my family to go heavy haul.
Overdrive: What drew you to heavy Haul?
Gary Johnson: You know, the open deck experience, the challenge. Every single day is something different. You know, you get out, you work your load, and you're not just kind of bumping a dock and swinging some doors.
Overdrive: All right, well, you've got a beautiful new truck behind you. Tell me how you came to own it and a little bit of work you've done to it.
Gary Johnson: So being in the heavy-haul industry for almost 20 years now, I always wanted to build a show working truck. All of my trucks that I own. I've always kept polished, I've always kept nice. But this is the first true working show truck I've ever built.
This is a 2026 Peterbilt 567. It's got the 605 Cummins, 18-speed Eaton-Fuller transmission, all heavy-duty. It's got a 60-inch slide. It's all double framed on 24.5s. This truck will pull up to 300,000 pounds with a 4.30 gear ratio. And it is absolutely the pride of my fleet.
Overdrive: It's a pretty interesting color. How did you come up with that idea?
Gary Johnson: You know, I wanted something different. You'll see purple trucks out there and they're kind of a bright purple, or you'll have some dark purples. This is Peterbilt's, one of Peterbilt's signature colors. This is called Legendary Purple. And the gray is called Legendary Gray. It is all a basically two-stage, high-gloss paint. Not only does it have metallic in it, but it's also got glass dust in it that helps give it that extra pop in the sun.
Overdrive: You know, what was kind of the idea with the build process? What were some of the additions you made to it?
Gary Johnson: Well, if you'd like to follow me around with the camera, we'll talk about it a little bit. Every single watermelon that you see on the truck is all glass watermelon. They're all a dual revolution light. They all turn from amber to purple or red to purple. Stainless all throughout. The only thing aluminum on the truck is the wheels, the tanks and the headlights.
Everything else is 100% stainless, and as you come around to the back, this is the most important part where I wanted to be 100% different. From the headache rack to the frame rails all the way down to the fenders, and the rear panel is 100% quilted, hand bent by 4 State. The rack was built by Brunner Industries.
They sent the laser cut pieces over to the fab shop in 4 State. They did all the bending. Brunner put it all back together. Then we took the truck over to 4 State and 4 State decked out the truck and everything else. The bumper is made by Valley Chrome and again, something different, something that you don't see. And I was asked why I didn't continue the quilting to the front, and I felt like if you stop halfway down the truck, it's equally unique. You've got quilted to the rear, you've got flat stainless to the front, and it just builds and gives character to the truck. Because sometimes you can go a little overboard, and that's what I didn't want to do, is cross that fine line.
We've got, which you can't see now, we've got 35 underglow lights, again with the watermelon, all dual revolution, all underneath the frame rails. We've got them in between each fender well, and all the way down the truck.
Overdrive: How many total lights you got on it?
Gary Johnson: A little over 75, I want to say it is -- 75 to 100 lights. And tonight for the light show, she's going to shine bright. So this is a working show truck. We've still got grease on the fifth wheel. And I didn't want to scrape it off because it's a pain to get it back on, you know. So it's been a true beautiful labor of love. And this truck will continue to stay polished even through my, you know, my workings.
And some folks will have the they'll be of the opinion and say, well, why didn't you go spend $3-400,000 on a show truck when you just going to win a trophy? This truck will still make me money. Will I bring a trophy? Who knows? I would be grateful if I did, but if I didn't, I still get to be here for the kids. Growing up in trucking, you know, these are big Tonka toys. You know, when my teacher asked me in third grade what I wanted to be and I said, "I want to be a trucker," and she said, "That's no life for a man, that's a gypsy life."
And I, you know, I went home crying that day to my grandfather, and he said, "Son, you be what you want to be." And trucking is where it's at. So having this is prideful, it's honorable. And, you know, to remain humble in your beginnings and where you come from. That's what it's all about.
