This month’s creation went from being a left over and unwanted truck to a thing of beauty. Over the last 36 years I have seen our industry go through a lot of ups and downs. As times change, every once in a while, a person that orders a truck isn’t able to buy it. Then, the sales crew tries to find it a new home. Such is the case for this one pictured here. The truck was one of the last 389s built, and it had great running gear, but the exterior was not a popular color.
Enter Ivan Tino (40) of Hesperia, CA. Married for 14 years and together for 17, Ivan and his wife Tawnee have three children – a son named Roman (19), a daughter named Ivee (13), and a daughter named Allee (8). Like a lot of people we know, Ivan grew up in a trucking family, and it was almost inevitable that he would pick up a love for trucks at an early age. Ivan is one of four children to Raul and Aida Salay. Ivan’s dad, mom’s dad, and uncle all drove trucks while Ivan was growing up, and his dad Raul still runs a nice 389 Peterbilt.
After Ivan graduated from high school, he got a job at the mall for a small stretch. Getting his regular driver’s license at 18, just a few short months later he got his CDL – and hasn’t looked back. While driving for his dad in 2006, he met his wife and the love of his life, Tawnee, who had started working in the office, and the two hit it off. Both were unsure of what the future held, but they knew there was chemistry, so they met for dinner, and have been together ever since.
Ivan bought his first truck in 2011 – it was an old inexpensive Freightliner, and he paid cash for it. He ran it until 2013, then opted to take advantage of CARB’s “cash for clunkers” deal, then ordered a 2014 Peterbilt 389, which he has been driving ever since, racking up a little over 1.1 million miles on it. When it was time for a new truck, his friend Mike Leway of Double 13 Transportation told him he should call me. So, he did, and we hit it right off.
When Ivan called, things didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked. With some of the new restrictions in California, the truck would have to be used, or something built in 2023. At the time, we only had this orange truck, a 389X, and the farm show truck – a Peterbilt 589. Ivan really wanted to purchase the farm show truck, but he was second in line (I am happy to say Juan Cortes got it purchased and is out running it). Ivan passed twice on this orange truck, but when the 589 sold, he called and asked if I would be able to make the orange truck something he would want to own, to which I said, “Of course!” After agreeing to purchase it, he said, “I don’t want pictures or to know what you are doing, just let me know when you are done, and it’s ready to pick up… I trust you.”
It was really fun helping this truck go from unwanted to loved, and Mike and the crew at KC Pete really did a great job. My mom always said, “Do your best with what you get, and don’t worry about what you don’t.” I really love the end result. Ivan wanted to give special thanks to his wife Tawnee, his kids, his friend Walter Beltran (a brother from another mother) and, especially, both Mike and Teresa from Sina Transport (one of 10-4’s longer running advertisers). He has worked for Mike and Teresa at Sina for many years, and said they are just wonderful people and cannot thank them enough for all they do. Leftovers are not normally my favorite, but sometimes they hit the spot. And, in this case, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary was just a little “extra” – literally!
After receiving a partial payment, Pat the painter laid on the 90s paint scheme in a deep burgundy color, and while Pat was painting, Charles started gathering my grocery list of parts and pieces. After the paint, Mike installed NOS original factory 379 dual headlights, a RoadWorks grill and bars, a Texas bumper, steer axle dumps, a Bowfish stainless visor, stainless Hogebuilt fenders, and 5” top stacks. He also installed my three-light front and rear breather panels, dad chopped the screens, the right side box was lowered and a stainless cover was added, the DEF tank was hidden in the left side fuel tank, and quick coupler airlines were installed, along with a new driver’s side seat base.
