There is a special bond between fathers and sons – especially when they work together in the same industry or business. Josh Roberts (39) of Ellensburg, WA is building a successful trucking operation, and the cornerstone of his ever-growing fleet is a special truck that was once owned and operated by his father, John Roberts (67). Watching his son work hard and build his business, called Josh Roberts Trucking, something John himself had always wanted to do before getting sidelined with an illness, makes him very proud. Making your dad proud is one of the not-so-often discussed desires most sons have in life, but Josh is very humble and excited to be able to fulfill that goal, and to include his dad in the journey with him, as well.
This story starts way back in the late 1800s when Josh’s great great grandfather Thomas Roberts came to America from Wales (a small country that is part of the United Kingdom located just west of England). Back in Wales, most of the family were fisherman, but in America, after homesteading a piece of land in Washington with his brother, they became ranchers and farmers in Conconully, WA. In the 1940s, Josh’s great grandfather Henry Roberts sold his portion of the ranch and moved to Omak, WA where he ranched and farmed, as well.
Ranching in Omak is where the C-BAR-C or “double oar locks” brand came to be, in honor of their fishing heritage back in Wales. Oar locks are those C-shaped rings on the side of a rowboat that hold the oars in place, and Henry designed the ranch brand using two of those oar locks, each facing a different direction. In western culture, that brand looked like two “C” letters, connected with a bar, so it got translated into C-Bar-C, and is typically read like that – but it isn’t really that at all. I only mention this here because that “brand” was painted on the door of John’s truck, and now that Josh owns it, he kept it on there as an homage to the family history.
Moving on to the next generation, Josh’s grandfather Johnny also lived in Omak, WA and he had several businesses dating back to the 1960s including cattle ranching, a beer distributorship, an excavating company, and a feed store. Josh’s father John (67) was born in 1957, and he began learning how to drive from his dad at an early age in a beer truck and also made deliveries for their feed store. Later, he got into a bigger truck for his dad’s excavation company, driving a 1957 International dump truck with a gas engine and a 5+3 transmission. Johnny eventually “got bored” and sold everything in 1977 and moved to Alaska to become a commercial fisherman. He died in 2024 at the age of 87.
After Josh’s grandpa moved to Alaska, his father continued to drive a dump truck (for someone else) until he bought his first truck in 1985 – a silver 1976 Peterbilt 359 with orange stripes and a 36” flattop that he affectionately named Girdy (it would later be known as Girdy 1 since all of John’s trucks were named Girdy). After a few years, things were not working out, so John sold that truck in 1988 and went to work as a driver for S&D Trucking, hauling produce back and forth between Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest for the next two years, then moved to Whitley Fuel, hauling gas in tankers.
In August 1991, John was involved in a truck wreck that could have taken his life – but, thankfully, it didn’t. Driving an A-model KW truck and trailer for Whitley, on its last trip before it was to be traded in for a new truck, a young driver fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning and crossed the center line. John tried to avoid the oncoming car, but there was nothing he could do. The car struck the driver’s side steer tire, causing the fuel truck and its loaded trailer to explode, and then sent it off the highway into a ditch, where everything burned down except the cab. John does not remember much of anything, but he miraculously survived the wreck after being thrown out of the truck and clear of the fire. Paramedics found him some time later when he wandered out of the woods, with a bloody head, clutching the truck’s single stack. He ended up with 13 staples across the top of his head and lost half of one of his ears, but with all things considered, that wasn’t too bad.
John stayed at Whitley until 1996 when he got the itch to buy another truck – Girdy 2 – which was a teal blue 1986 Peterbilt 359 short hood with a 60” flattop. He used that truck to haul wood pellets in a dry van for a while and then went to Rees Transportation, where he pulled a set of their A-trains, hauling “maxi loads” of various building materials. In 1998 John bought a set of brand-new Western A-trains (40’ front trailer and 20’ pull trailer) which his son Josh owns today (and has since restored). He drove that truck for several years until he decided it was time for an upgrade in 2003.
Girdy 3 was ordered brand-new in 2003 and was delivered in August of that year. The 2004 Peterbilt 379 was loaded with all the goodies, including an American Class interior package. With metallic silver paint and metallic black fenders with gold flake, a 250” wheelbase, and a 475-hp CAT “Bridge” motor hooked to an 18-speed, Girdy 3 cost $110K new, and, oddly enough, some 21 years later, is valued at $120K today – she was a good investment, for sure. John drove that truck until 2019, putting 1.2 million miles on her. Unfortunately, John was diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) in 2018, which forced him to sell the truck in 2019 to one of Josh’s friends (Aaron) and retire from trucking.
Born in 1986 and raised in Omak, WA, Josh spent a lot of time on the road with his dad. At about ten years old, he started going out with him in the summers, and they were often out for weeks at a time, but Josh loved it. At around 13 years old, John started letting Josh jump into the driver’s seat and pilot the truck along quiet stretches of open road, and by 16, Josh was driving and shifting on a regular basis. After graduating high school in 2004, Josh got his CDL permit and went to work for a man named Joe Philleo, who continued Josh’s driver training in a really nice 2000 Peterbilt 379 daycab, in exchange for Josh washing all his trucks and trailers. He learned a lot from Joe!
One of Josh’s friends had a used car lot, and at just 18 years old, Josh was selling cars and managing the place, and also trucking on his days off. At 20 he took a job at David Hannah Transportation of Tonasket, WA as a co-driver, getting experience and seat time, and at 21 he finally got his CDL. His very first solo run was a load to Trail, B.C. (Canada) in a 2000 Peterbilt 379, pulling a set of double hoppers filled with acidic fertilizer. And, if you know anything about that town (Trail, B.C.), it’s located at the bottom of a very steep hill, and since it was winter, Josh got a lot of experience, very quickly. Later, he started doing the I-5 shuffle, hauling apples to Southern California and produce back.
In 2010, at 24 years of age, Josh was approached by Gene Thornhill and his son Chris and offered a driving job at their company, PGH Excavating in Enumclaw, WA. But, to take this opportunity, he’d have to move to the coast (the Tacoma, WA area). After a month of thinking about it, he took the offer, moved, and began driving for PGH, hauling open-top containers filled with contaminated dirt. Things were going good until Josh screwed up and got a DUI in his car, causing him to lose his CDL for a year. Advice from Josh: “Don’t do that!” Moving back to Omak that year and selling cars, once he got his license reinstated, he went back to work at PGH.
In 2012, he moved over to a company called Port Pass, hauling containers, in a beautiful lime green Peterbilt 389. Running all over Washington, Oregon and Idaho, he did that for about a year, and then went to JL Leasing, also in Enumclaw, WA, hauling very long pipes, some as long as 210 feet. In 2016 Port Pass became Dash Point, but Josh did not last there for long. By now, he was pushing 30 years old, his wife was pregnant, and he was at a point where he felt like he needed to get his life going.
Josh and his wife were just getting ready to buy a house in 2017, but they decided to use their downpayment money to buy a truck and start their own company instead, and Josh Roberts Trucking was formed. Purchasing a brown 2013 Peterbilt 389 with cream stripes, a truck Clint Moore had built for someone else and featured in his September 2013 article, the truck has a 48” flattop, a 280” wheelbase, a 525-hp Cummins ISX, and an 18-speed. Leasing back on at Dash Point for about six months and pulling containers, he then got the opportunity to begin hauling steel, and he never looked back.
Pulling someone else’s trailer for a few months, Josh eventually bought his own – a 2000 Ravens stepdeck with a Conestoga top. About a year and a half later, he bought a sweet 2008 MAC Conestoga with a 12-foot spread, previously owned by Vinnie Diorio of Wisconsin, and then painted it to match his brown and cream truck. He still owns this truck and trailer and is currently in the process of refurbishing the combo. In 2020, Josh got the opportunity to buy a 1997 Peterbilt 379 that came with a 2018 Western quad-axle curtain van, a driver (Matt), and a dedicated fruit haul, and he took it.
Unfortunately, on the way back from its maiden voyage, the engine in this 1997 Peterbilt blew up. Desperate to keep his steel haul covered and this new fruit deal intact, he called Aaron Smith, his friend who had purchased Girdy 3 from his dad, and said, “You told me if I ever wanted the truck back, just call. Well, I’m calling!” Josh bought Girdy 3 back in 2020 and it became his third truck, too. Eventually, the 1997 Pete got fixed and then Josh hired another driver, Jaime Perez, to drive for him. Jaime is still with Josh, and over the next few years, the company built up to 17 trucks. Today, Josh has 15 trucks and is running 13 of them – but Girdy 3 is still his pride and joy.
In 2022, Josh took Girdy off the road for about a year to give her a little love. Buying a 2021 cutoff with very low miles and a Peterbilt Low LowAir suspension, Josh and his friend Jody Lovejoy cut the frame just behind the sleeper, welded it up, and stretched the wheelbase to just under 300 inches. They also smoothed out the frame by shaving all the bolts and then repainted everything black. Much of the original metallic silver paint is fading and peeling – especially on top of the hood, cab and sleeper, but Josh has no intentions of repainting that part of the truck, opting instead to embrace the patina. He would, however, at some point like to have the faded front fenders repainted in their original metallic black with gold flake color.
Other changes Josh made to Girdy’s exterior include a 12 Ga. front air ride kit, a new stainless grille and insert, along with a stainless visor and 20” front bumper, all made by Brad at Outlaw Garage Kustoms in Custer, WA. The truck also got double-round headlights on Double JJ brackets, 34” Hogebuilt stainless rear quarter fenders, stainless covers over the front fender braces, new scripted “Peterbilt” badging, 7” RoadWorks stacks, a custom painted (black) steel rear light bar made by Matt Riley, and 3” stainless cab and sleeper extensions. It also got a ton of LEDs with clear lenses, underglow lighting, polished one-piece mirror brackets, a painted Shox Box cover behind the sleeper, and a painted Merritt deck plate, with an inset connection box, made by Brad at Outlaw Garage Kustoms.
Inside, much of the truck’s American Class interior is still relatively stock, however it did get a whitewashed wood floor, custom Bostrom low-back seats mounted on Iowa Customs bases to get them slid back for more legroom, an SCI steering wheel, a silver glitter shifter knob, and a few glass watermelon lights mounted under the dash. The rosewood door inserts and armrests (from Rockwood) were added by John when he owned it, but Josh upgraded the stereo to a flip-down screen system with (2) 10” JL Audio subs and several smaller speakers from Infinity, along with a 1,000-watt amp.
Under the hood, the original 475-hp CAT C15 “Bridge” motor was rebuilt to be a “tuned” 550-hp CAT 6NZ. Currently, there is nothing fancy done to the engine, but Josh plans to eventually paint the motor metallic silver with black accents and add polished air intake tubes. Josh also had all the original pinstripes, door logos, and the family ranch brand, along with both his dad’s name and Josh Roberts Trucking, hand-painted back on the truck, but made to look old and a bit faded, to match the rest of the truck.
The trailer is a 2015 East Conestoga with a Quick Draw tarpaulin system. The entire chassis and side rails were polished out by DS Wheel Polishing in Yakima, WA. There are also polished stainless boxes between the spread axles, a custom stainless panel, made by Matt Riley, in front of the front suspension, and plenty of lights (this trailer was mostly built for shows).
The big question is always, “Where did the name Girdy come from?” Well, I asked the same question, and Josh’s dad John said that he used to call his mother-in-law “Girdy” (probably not an endearing nickname), and he also always said to the kids, when he wanted them to pick up the pace of their work or get moving faster, “Come on Gravel Girdy, let’s go!” From that, somehow, all of John’s trucks became Girdy.
Along with Girdy 3 and Josh’s first truck, the brown and cream one, he has a few other well-known rigs in his fleet. One of those is a very popular 2007 Peterbilt 379 that, like Josh’s other truck, was originally built by Clint Moore and featured in one of his first articles with us back in February 2007, titled, “This One Actually Got Too Low!” Back then, the truck was blacked out, including the wheels, and had a red frame. The truck ended up being repainted a grey color and our friend Jeff Houts from Oregon (and past cover trucker) owned it for a while. Josh always loved this truck, so when he got the opportunity to buy it, he jumped at the chance. He also owns an old 2017 RoadWorks show truck (they built one each year), which was originally ordered by Clint Moore, that is blue with white stripes.
These days, the company hauls a lot of steel and other types of flatbed freight, along with some fruit, too. Running all over the United States (except the upper northeast), they also haul into Canada from time to time. Half of their trailers are Conestoga setups (a covered flatbed where the entire top slides open) and the other half are curtain vans (a flatbed with a fixed top and just the sides open), but they also have a few multi-axle “maxi” setups, as well.
Married to his wife Emily for the past ten years, the couple has two young daughters – Mia (7) and Jade (6). Emily was a nurse before having kids, but she stopped working for a while. Now that both girls are heading off to school, she is getting ready to rejoin the workforce. Josh also has an older brother named Ryan (42) who drives for the company, and when these two guys have time, they enjoy collecting, buying and sometimes building diecast truck models (Josh says he has about 500 of them). Josh’s parents, John and Ellen, have been married for 50 years, and the family hopes dad’s health will improve so he can be around for a lot longer.
Comfortable with the current size of his business, Josh says he will grow if it is required, but he’s not looking to do that. For years, Josh did everything – driving, dispatching, loading, working with customers and drivers, payroll, taxes, everything – but he recently hired someone to help him in the office, so he is excited about being able to get out and drive more. Some of the people he wanted to especially thank for helping him get started and supporting him along the way include his dad John, his wife Emily, Joe Philleo, David Hannah, and Kam (this one’s for you, buddy). He also wanted to thank all his drivers for keeping the wheels turning and being a part of the Josh Roberts Trucking family. He couldn’t do this without all of you!
The last question I asked Josh during our three-hour interview was the last question I always ask: “What is most important to you?” And without hesitation, and a small crack in his voice, he said, “Making my dad proud.” His dad always wanted to do what Josh is doing, building a company, he just never did it. And getting to take his dad with him to the shows and showing off Girdy 3 and all his other nice rides together has been a dream come true for Josh. And, based on what I witnessed at the show, at the photo shoot, and on the phone interview (John joined us for a bit), I got the feeling that John is very proud of his son. Josh, if making your dad proud was the goal, mission accomplished. Keep up the good work and keep on truckin!