Tag: MATS: Page 2

Custom Rigs

'Pretty good life' for Gary Jones' short-hood '79 Peterbilt 359

Truck show mainstay Gary Jones, owner of SPB Trucking, showed off his latest build at MATS 2025 -- a 1979 Peterbilt 359 day cab with just 630K original miles, and a rare sight among Jones' trucks, which often sport custom big bunks.

May 15, 2025

Custom Rigs

Every smart mod to Trucker of the Year's 4M-mile 1995 KW T600

With 2024 Trucker of the Year Alan Kitzhaber's long career coming to a close and his long-running T600 up for sale, this video look at the rig's modifications show his prioritization of efficiency, increased comfort and durability. Also: His custom dashcam solution, dating back to 2013.

May 8, 2025

Custom Rigs

Up close with Tony Justice's newly-custom Bennett 2006 'Purgatory' Peterbilt 379

Overdrive's 2024 Trucker of the Year Alan Kitzhaber caught up with trucker and country singer-songwriter Tony Justice at MATS to talk about this recently-customized 2006 Peterbilt 379, a big part of Justice's trucking career.

May 1, 2025

Custom Rigs

Owner-op's '24 Pete 389 radiates hot-rod vibes

North Carolina-based Brandon Smith picked up a second-place trophy at the Mid-America Trucking Show with his custom 389, built with 12 Ga. Customs and MBH Trucking.

April 24, 2025

Partners in Business

Truck-spec, goal-setting lessons from two decades as an owner

In the annual PIB conversation with Red Eye Radio at MATS, longtime owner-operator and Overdrive contributor Gary Buchs detailed an "a-ha moment" with this career retrospective: what his peers had to say about his purchase of the Freightliner Century he drove for two decades --"It's a fleet truck!"

April 23, 2025

Custom Rigs

MATS when the sun goes down: Show trucks built to shine

Catch views of the annual PKY Light Show from the 2025 Mid-America Trucking Show.

April 22, 2025

Overdrive Radio

Truck drivers' English-language proficiency and the inspection problem, other issues

The importance of English-language proficiency regs when it comes to inspections, flagged in this Overdrive Radio edition by OOIDA's Lewie Pugh and others. Said Pugh of inspectors: "They’re not getting under a truck with somebody that doesn’t speak English. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t, either."

April 21, 2025

Custom Rigs

Bill Warner & Son's 'Hillbilly Hampton' 1988 Peterbilt 362

Bill Warner Jr. and Cody Warner's "Hillbilly Hampton" 1988 Peterbilt 362 was custom-built for the 2025 MATS Big Rig Build-Off. Catch plenty views of the rig, and all the custom work put into it, in this video walkaround.

April 17, 2025

Channel 19

FMCSA's new ID verificaton test-drive, live from the Mid-America Trucking Show

FMCSA hopes its new ID verification tool for owners registering with the agency will stop fraudsters from infiltrating the system but be a breeze for legitimate, verifiable entities. At MATS, we took this test-drive to kick the tires on the new system.

April 17, 2025

Business

Congress looks to tamp down cargo theft | Another former trooper guilty in CDL fraud case

The bill would establish a multi-agency coordination center to increase collaboration between law enforcement agencies around cargo theft. Also: Flatbed rates still rising in mixed market; former Mass. trooper pleads guilty of CDL fraud scheme; more.

April 16, 2025

Custom Rigs

No. 1000 walkaround: First of the last of the W900s, Kenworth's 2025 Legacy Edition

This walkaround video of the first, No. 1000 special-edition Kenworth W900 at MATS gives a look at some new edition-specific accessories from Paccar Parts.

April 11, 2025

Custom Rigs

Old-school perfection: 'Bossman' Bryan Martin's ’87 Pete 359

The 359 entered the MATS Big Rig Build-Off with defending champion Davis Brothers Designs out of Owensville, Indiana. 4 State Trucks owner Bryan Martin bought the truck in the early '90s, yet never got around to building it out himself.

April 10, 2025