AUGUST TRUCK OF THE MONTH: Jason Whitty’s brief drive in a Peterbilt during a visit to the US state of Iowa turned into full-blown obsession, tracking down a 379 model north of the border in Canada
Jason Whitty is a man with a Peterbilt addiction and Matty Easter is the friend that launched that Peterbilt addiction. Jason would rate Matty as “a bloody good mate” while Jason’s wife Nobuko might be a little more circumspect. For it was Matty that accompanied Jason, previously a Western Star advocate, over to the 2017 Walcott Truckers Jamboree in the US. It was Matty that organised Jason to have a bit of a cruise along in a 379 Pete. Therefore, it was Matty that ignited the love affair with what Jason describes as the ‘Cadillac of Trucks’: the 2006 379 extended hood Peterbilt.
Jason grew up in a trucking family. From the time he could lace up his work boots he was neck-deep in diesel and detergent. Before his father Clive became known for his stunning QFM Western Stars he was running around Sydney with Mitsubishis, Accos, S-lines and the like, doing all sorts of distribution work.
Jason would spend every minute he could immersed in the transport world with his dad. If he wasn’t helping with deliveries, he was washing the trucks. If he wasn’t busy assisting with maintenance, he was busy washing trucks. If he wasn’t doing his homework, it was because, once again, he was washing trucks. It was in his blood.
At age 13 he moved with his family up to Queensland’s Gold Coast where his parents had bought a boat hire business. As enjoyable as life on the water was, Jason was thankful his dad was still running trucks as well. That was definitely where his passion lay.
By the time Jason could legally drive, QFM was in full flight. I say ‘legally’ because, though he never admitted it, with that much diesel in his veins you can’t tell me he wasn’t getting some practice in with dads’ trucks.
I still remember those outstanding looking QFM Western Stars with more lights than a Las Vegas Boulevard and more shine than an oiled-up body builder. They were the epitome of cool and that’s the world Jason was indoctrinated into.
It will be no surprise to learn then that QFM was where Jason earned his stripes and where he would eventually end up buying his first truck. At the age of 28 he purchased his first Western Star and ran in the middle of the QFM fleet.
Jason would go on to run four trucks, all contracted to QFM. He loved it. Eventually though he found something he loved more – his family.
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Jason Whitty is an extremely happy man. He’s found the perfect truck to feed his trucking addiction, and the right work to keep him busy, but not overly so
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With his wife Nobuko and his two kids Jake and Jessica at home, Jason made the call to sell up his trucks and spend more time with his family. By this stage Jason’s dad Clive had begun another business that he would end up selling to Jason – Highway Lights. This business was created out of necessity. Admittedly it was a self-created necessity for the Whittys.
The Whittys loved indulging in extra lights and bling for their trucks. However, it was getting harder and harder to find people who could do it in a timely fashion. After consultation with one of his trusted mechanics, Bernie McLean, it was decided to start doing their own work, adding lights and bling to the company trucks.
Eventually this led to doing work for others as well and ended up creating a standalone business: Highway Lights. Bernie also branched out and shifted up to Toowoomba where he started Blaze Industries.
By the time Jason was looking to find a job that would have him home more often, Highways Lights was growing beyond the inhouse role it had begun as. It was the perfect purchase for Jason. It allowed him plenty of family time while also ensuring a new challenge to keep him busy.
Jason spent the next decade working on, under and in the middle of all manner of trucks. What started as a home-based company fitting lights to company trucks eventually grew to become one of the most trusted customisation facilities in the country.
Eyes on Iowa
Roll in 2017 and what would be another change in direction for Jason. This was all courtesy of his mate Matty and what I can statistically assume was more than a few top shelf drinks. Although Jason was the one that talked Matty into popping over to the 2017 Iowa 80 Walcott Truckers Jamboree, it was Matty that played tour guide at the world’s largest truck stop.
The Iowa 80 Truckstop caters for all the things you need and most of the things you didn’t even know you needed. Matty had been before and among his many connections was the owner of a 379 Peterbilt who was happy to give Jason a bit of a ride.
“We did a lap around the block and I just loved it,” Jason recalls, though using slightly stronger wording.
“It was so comfortable, no wonder they are known as the Cadillac of trucks.
“After that ride I just wanted to have one,” he says. “But it had to be the right one. I wanted the 379, I wanted the extended hood, I wanted the 70-inch Unibilt sleeper and I wanted a pre-Euro 5 truck.”
That last requirement was merely to avoid the hassles that were plaguing those diesel particulate filter motors at the time.
Now, don’t think this was purely a ‘boys-and-their-toys’ kind of desire. Jason was loving the work with Highway Lights but his kids had developed that annoying habit of growing up. This horrible affliction timed in with Jason’s natural body clock ticking away and reminding him of how much he loves the open road and loves trucking. Therefore, the choice to get himself a 379 Pete wasn’t merely because he could, it was also so he could get back to his trucking purpose.
Never a man to waste an opportunity, Jason already had a Canadian vacation planned for the family in August. A mere month after Matty had whisked him away to Iowa, Jason and his family were going to be road tripping throughout Canada. While Nobuko was busy Googling and mapping out their road trip itinerary, Jason was on the other computer browsing the pages of Kijiji, Canada’s version of Gumtree.
While perusing the site, Jason managed to find a truck that ticked all his boxes. Yes, there was a small issue of having a small detour to go check it out, but what’s a mere 1,500km among family, right? Mind you, it was 1,500km each way.
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“It’s basically a brand-new truck now, with everything under warranty,” Jason says
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It turns out that 1,500km in Canada is quite a long way. There isn’t the wide-open roads with 110km/h speed limits that we have here. It is up and down mountain ranges and around and around tight turns. While Jason never actually said how much the family enjoyed the added travel time, he also never said they didn’t. Hence, we will think positive and assume they loved it.
On the subject of actually buying the truck, however, Jason did mention his loving wife was none too amused at the time.
“Yeah, I did get in trouble with the missus, but at least we were able to get on with our holiday without any more detours,” Jason jokingly remarks.
In fairness to Jason, he really had no option. The truck was damn near perfect. It ticked all the boxes, including price, and for a second-hand truck in the middle of Regina in Saskatchewan, it was in remarkable condition.
Texan bulls
Why was it in such good nick? This is where the story gets even cooler. Jason would be the third owner of this pristine Peterbilt. While he found the truck for sale in Canada, it had spent most of its life in the US. It’s original vocation and its birthplace was the great state of Texas where it had been hauling bulls.
Here’s is a little lesson in the obscure US trucking regulations for you guys as well. The bull haulers over there don’t run on logbooks or electronic work diaries. They just run. Once they are loaded, they just go. The idea is to get to the destination and get them off. Hence, when Jason bought the truck, it had extremely long legs, running 336 diffs. It only had 13-speed ’box though, which was attached to the Cat C15 Acert twin turbo motor. The truck had been designed to haul.
The truck’s second life could not have been more diametrically opposed to Texas bull haulers. It would become the workhorse of a small Mennonite community outside of Regina.
The Mennonites are much like the Amish faith except they are not prohibited from using electricity, telephones and, most importantly, motorised vehicles. Hence the truck was purchased by a Mennonite community to assist with the transportation of the community’s grain and produce.
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With the exception of the steering wheel being on the right side, the truck is all USA inside
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It turns out the community loved the truck so much they sold it. I know that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron but it’s true. The Peterbilt did such a great job they wanted to upgrade to a new one. They sold the 379 and brought a brand new 389. This meant the truck had just landed on the lot when the Whitty family were ‘holidaying’ and Jason found the perfect truck for his next chapter.
Step two in the procedure was getting the truck to Australia. Stuart Campbell, who ran Retruck Australia and was a leading conversion specialist for Peterbilt, helped out immensely. He was able to steer Jason towards a Brisbane-based company that could pick it up from Regina and safely deliver it to his doorstep, jumping through all the hoops and red tape for him.
Now, while the company ‘could’ pick it up in Regina and get it down to a boat in Vancouver, where would the fun in that be? Particularly when Jason could fly over and drive it down to Vancouver himself, purely to save money mind you. It had nothing to do with the opportunity to traverse the famous Rogers Pass in British Columbia. Nope, it was purely a business decision to cut transportation costs, although I heard rumours that the bar tab he and his workmate accrued on the journey to Regina may have counteracted any transport savings.
In the end, Jason and one of his Highway Lights colleagues eventually got the big Pete safely into Vancouver.
“We took our time over Rogers Pass, it was very icy,” Jason remembers. “We were bobtail and getting passed like we were standing still.”
In Vancouver the truck was driven straight onto the boat and, by December 23, 2017, it was rolling onto the docks in Brisbane.
“Unfortunately, they found some leaves in the radiator so it had to get quarantined,” Jason says, recalling how close he was to his ultimate Christmas present.
“I could stand at the fence and almost touch it, but sadly had to wait until the new year before I could get it.”
Jason didn’t want a rushed job; he wanted the conversion and repaint done properly and was willing to wait until there was a chance to get a spot in the Retruck Australia production line. As it would turn out, he got the last spot. Jason’s first Peterbilt would be the last one done by Stu and his team before they sold Retruck Australia.
Conversion process
Along with the obvious need to convert the left-hand drive 379 to a right-hand drive, Jason also wanted to give the truck an all-new paint job and basically rewire the whole thing while it was apart.
“The Peterbilts were known for some wiring problems,” Jason explains. “So, when we were getting the conversion done, we got the whole thing rewired.”
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There’s no shortage of space in the back of this thing. While Jason may only spend limited time away from home these days, he could happily go for weeks
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Engine and running gear-wise, the truck was in pretty good nick. Being a bull hauler it didn’t have scary kilometres, only 800,000 miles, but had a fair few engine hours on it – 43,000 to be exact.
During the rebuild any slightly worn of damaged parts got replaced with new, ensuring by the time it was back together it was in mint condition. Colour-wise, the original champagne gold had to go.
“I wanted to honour my dad and the trucks he ran by going with a maroon colour,” Jason says. Add in some traditional lines and the end look is just outstanding.
Once Retruck had finished doing the cab conversion, painting and the rewiring, the truck made it down to Jason’s Highway Lights store for the finishing off and final preparations. The team added a few extra lights and a little bit more bling. The desired look involved not overdoing it, keeping things subtle and clean but maintaining the ‘wow factor’ that classic Petes possess.
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There’s nothing better than the big yellow block of a Cat engine
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Although there’s not a lot of sleeper air systems fitted in North America, it was something that Jason definitely wanted fitted here.
“I added a 240V caravan air-con and heating system run off five lithium batteries,” Jason says. “It’s plumbed through the original sleeper system and it’s all run off a digital display that tells me how many hours and battery life I have.”
The system can run cold for around 13 hours and heat for around seven to eight, which is more than enough for any trip north or south.
The truck was completed in time for a great 2018 Christmas present for Jason, all shined up and ready to back under his drop deck and head off to work. The contacts he had in the industry meant he was able to find suitable jobs for his 65 tonne-rated piece of eye candy. Jason wasn’t interested in working flat out and has found work running the east coast of the country. It’s perfect for a man that just wants to get out and enjoy the job of trucking.
Now, if you have looked through the photos before reading the story, you are probably noting there is a photo of a yellow motor resting in the chassis rails. The keen-eyed observer will note the C15 only sporting a single turbo, not the twin turbos I mentioned earlier. Here’s why. It seems while all the work was going on rebuilding the truck, the big Cat got a little too bored and impotent with nothing to do. When it finally got to work again it had been enjoying doing nothing for so long that it lasted only 10,000km then decided, ‘stuff it’.
On his way home from down south the truck dropped a liner and that was it. Instead of rebuilding the big C15, Jason found a gentleman in Toowoomba that lived and breathed Cat engines and just happened to have a refurbished single turbo C15 out of a written-off Kenworth. The motor was practically brand new, so the big Pete got a whole new heart.
Jason also took the opportunity to replace a few other parts, like removing the 13-speed and replacing it with an 18-speed ’box. He paired that with a new Easy Power clutch and, to avoid any over-heating, put in a new six-coil radiator.
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“It’s basically a brand-new truck now, with everything under warranty,” Jason explains.
All up, the Garfield motor (lazy Cat, get it?) cost Jason a bit more time off the road but the end result was worth it. The big 379 extended hood looks a million dollars on the outside and is basically brand new underneath as well now.
There’s a long life ahead for Jason and his dream truck. Let’s all be thankful and just appreciate this stunning piece of classic US automotive engineering.
For more on Jason Whitty’s Peterbilt, grab a copy of OwnerDriver magazine’s August edition.