This month’s creation was built for Robby Renfroe (41) of Lovelock, NV. Running under the name Renfroe & Daughters, Robby drove the same Pete cabover – his very first truck – since it was new in 1995. With the ELDs coming, he figured he’d might be spending a little more time in the sleeper, so he decided to get something more comfortable (getting into bed in the COE wasn’t so bad but getting out of it wasn’t so easy anymore).
Getting married right out of high school, Robby and his wife had three girls – Natalie (21), Nicole (19) and Naomi (18). While the girls were still young, the couple got divorced. After the divorce, Robby didn’t want to get married again, but he did have a girlfriend for a while, and they wound up with another awesome daughter (pictured here) – Rylee (11). After splitting up with Rylee’s mom, around eight years ago at a local “Frontier Days” event, Robby saw Danielle, a girl he recognized from high school. They knew each other back then but were both too shy to ask each other out. They started dating and then four years ago got married. Danielle is an awesome, hard-working lady, who takes care of everything on their ranch when Robby is trucking!
Robby’s grandparents had three boys – Ted, John (Robby’s dad) and Billy. They moved to Fallon, NV and started a dairy and then eventually ended up trucking, hauling swinging meat from Colorado to California, back in the day. John started driving when he was 18 and has trucked ever since.
John’s two brothers are both retired now – one from the local Water District and the other from the military – but John still works every day. Robby’s parents got a divorce 20 years ago, but they both still truck – just not together (his mom hauls for UPS Freight, and his dad just recently switched from hauling hay to pulling a low boy and moving heavy machinery).
After graduating high school, Robby was offered a scholarship to go to college, but his dad wanted him to truck, so he bought him a new 1995 Peterbilt 362 COE hay truck and pups. A year later, Robby’s younger brother Toby was in the same situation, but he chose a 2-axle conventional hay truck.
Robby wanted a COE, mostly because that’s what his dad had, but also because they were way cool. The first truck Robby really remembers spending time in was a 1976 Pete 352 COE with a set of doubles called “Ol Blacky” – she was cool, and Robby thought all trucks should be like her.
After driving the ’95 Pete COE for four years for his dad, Robby bought the truck from him and then drove it for the next 18 years, until just a few weeks ago. Looking for more comfort, he decided it was time to upgrade to a new conventional. His dad had always bought from the dealer at home, so he went to talk to them. But, after a week or so of not hearing back from them, he was talking to his good friend Phil Miller, who used to live in Lovelock, too. Phil told him to call me, so he did. Robby’s a super-nice guy with an ornery streak, which I like, and he loves his truck like family.
Wanting the new truck to match the family colors, we ordered it in blue. The truck is a 2018 Pete 389 flattop with a 280-inch wheelbase on Low Low Air, a 565-hp Cummins X15, an 18-speed with 2,050 lb. ft. of torque, and loaded with all the good stuff, including a Platinum interior and a long slide 5th wheel, so he could pull some single-axle trailers, too.
When the truck showed up, Tyler in our service department moved the DPF to make room for some dummy pipes. After that, the body shop guys tackled the rest by hiding the DEF tank and then adding a Texas bumper, dummy stacks, a drop visor, seven bullet lights, breather lights, painted cab and sleeper skirts, low seat bases, stainless Hogebuilt half-fenders on hidden brackets and a nice wood steering wheel. Pat in our body shop laid out and painted some stripes in Robby’s colors and scheme down the sides and around the back. We chose to go straight with the stripes, instead of following the huck row, like we normally do. Then, Pat and I laid out and painted matching stripes, like the exterior, on the dash panels, as well.
Not knowing what his dash plate should say, I picked “Gitten’ Old” for him – he wasn’t totally feeling it, but he couldn’t decide, and it eventually got too late to change. But, it kinda sums it all up – we aren’t getting any younger, so why not be comfortable? And, if you can look good while doing it, it’s a win-win situation! Winning!!