From Hummer to Peterbilt 362

I have this good friend, Joe who is an absolute Hummer fanatic. His wife tells me he even sleeps in a Hummer T-shirt and those old yellow Hummer logo boxers you used to be able to find on Ebay. He likes going offroad but is meticulous about cleaning his Hummer afterwards. He bought a power washer with a high volume low pressure unit just for his Hummer.

Try to imagine my surprise when parked in the driveway was a semi. I figured he had someone visiting. Joe was all smiles when he said, how do you like my new ride - It's a 1985 Peterbilt 362 unit with a 425 hp Caterpillar diesel and a 10 speed manual transmission. My first reaction was that Joe had gone off the deep end, but soon his kids were out with us saying, "Dad let's all go for a ride." He tells me he has the "deluxe NOS Peterbilt highway king, cruising chairs" for driver and passenger. These seats are HUGE and very comfortable with an infinite amount of adjustments.

Joe makes it sound like a logical step from going from his H2 to a semi because he enjoyed driving large vehicles. He told me with the recession and many trucking companies going out of business there are more units on sale than ever before for 50% what they cost a year ago. I looked for 6 months before I bought this beauty for $19,900, the same truck being 40k a year ago. I'm still in shock thinking maybe Joe has watched too many episodes of Ice Road Truckers on TV.

He proudly points to the two polished aluminum 150 gallon fuel tanks. "I wait till diesel is at its lowest price and fill up. This 14,000 pound rig gets 13 mpg in town and 14 on the highway, similar to my Hummer H2 (actually a little better), but I've got a 4000 mile range with full fuel, and diesel is cheaper than gasoline here." The mileage is all in how you shift it and staying in "high axle" he tells me. My wife loves it because she gets to drive my Hummer more now. I'm starting to realize Joe is serious about this. He tells me he looked at Kenworth's but the cab over Peterbilts are becoming classics and he's been to two car shows with it, or should I say truck shows.

Joe fires up the Peterbilt and we go for a ride. I immediately love the commanding view surpassing my Hummer and watch Joe nimbly shift a few times. That Caterpillar engine is music to both our ears and his train horns are awesome. The sleeper unit in the back, has a TV, stereo, small fridge and a microwave. He tells me the family went up to Maine in it and his wife was sold when after two hours she went back and sacked out in one of the air conditioned bunks.

Not all going has been easy though. Joe had to get a commercial driver's license in his state because his rig has a 52,000 lb Gross Vehicle Weight, even though he never intends hauling anything with it. Then the neighbors thought it was an eyesore and passed a new regulation forbidding semis to park in the neighborhood. Joe won out with his personality and promised to build a garage for it in the next two years and he was exempted. I'm also very careful about what time I start it up in the driveway and how long I idle it, because it is a little on the loud side, Joe tells me. Joe owns his own business, so the only thing he hears from his employees is how KEWL his truck is, no one is going to say the boss lost it!
Then there was the licensing and insurance problem. Joe has it licensed as a truck, but could have licensed it as a historic vehicle (limiting his driving and range) but much cheaper and then there was the shock with his insurance company. They didn't know how to insure it, but finally insured it as an "RV truck."

The wife has a hard time climbing in, up all the steps, with her small frame, so I have to give her a "trucker's rear end shove now and then." He put the GPS in himself and an updated CB radio and tells me, new carpeting is next. It's like trying to find parts for a classic car he tells me.
As I drive home in my Hummer H2 it feels small, I think to myself Joe might not be crazy at all, but smart as a fox and living life to the fullest.