Forever Rollin’

Being a car hauler can mean many different things – everything from hauling wrecks and used beaters to scrap yards and used car lots to rare super cars and exotics for the ultra-wealthy and famous celebrities. For Chris Peruzzi of Castle Rock, Colorado (a short drive south of Denver), it is the latter. Hauling for Lamb Transport, Inc. of Centennial, Colorado, Chris runs around the country in his “Stickerbilt” 379 – a stretched-out long-hood Peterbilt painted Medium Metallic Blue that is dedicated to the memory of his late step-father.

Since the beginning, trucking has been a family affair for Chris Peruzzi. Learning to drive from his step-father, Harold King, he began running with Harold when he was only eight years old and started getting time behind the wheel when he was only twelve. Driving for 12 years now (“officially”) at 29 years old, Chris has never lost sight of the man who taught him so much. Unfortunately, Chris’ step-father passed away due to leukemia this past year at age 57 about a week before Father’s Day. To make things that much worse, Chris was just finishing up “Stickerbilt” as it sits now. Though Chris’ truck is wild from front to back, it is also unassuming and cut down in its look. With numerous details throughout, his rig, more than anything else, is a rolling memorial for his hero, his step-father Harold King.

Chris’ 2000 Peterbilt 379 has come a long way to get to its current condition. Originally operated by his step-father, Harold put the first 135,000 miles on the truck after taking delivery of it in 1999. After that, Chris took the truck over and continued to operate it to its current odometer reading of 750,000+ miles. In fact, in just the past nine months, the truck has seen an additional 100,000 miles! There’s no question that Chris’ truck is a work truck, and with help from Kenny Lamb and Johnny Vonslochteren (April 2010 Howard Elliot article), Chris has taken this stock Detroit-powered dirt and rock hauler to the amazing, custom ride you see here now.

Now Detroit-free, Chris had the motor in his rig switched out to a Cat 3406E and loves it. Outfitted with a 70-inch Unibilt stand-up sleeper, the truck has been extensively worked on and now features an air-bagged front-axle, one-piece side windows and a stretched frame (from 265-inches to 310-inches). The truck also features an enormous drop visor, seven-inch turnout exhaust with Pickett elbows, an American Eagle front bumper and extra cab lights. Drop front fenders, as well as WTI full rear fenders, cover the ultra-thin 255 rubber on all ten wheels of the truck.

Because of the tire size, the truck is also spun with 3.08 rear-ends behind a 13-speed Eaton transmission, due to the effective gearing change caused by the smaller tires. The truck is certainly fast, making it undoubtedly easy for Chris to peg the speedometer if necessary.

Other details on Chris’ slick Pete include a painted deck plate, flipped mirrors, oval-punched grille, shaved doors with poppers all the way around and painted tanks with polished straps and ends. The color is a factory color, Medium Metallic Blue as Chris calls it, but a relatively uncommon color to see on trucks painted at the factory. Chrome was kept to a relative minimum with only the breathers, bumpers (front and rear), steps, stacks and a few other small pieces being polished out. Chris’ truck has a simple, clean, ground-scraping look to it that is very appealing.

The interior, though still a work in progress, currently features low-slung wide-ride Bostrom black leather seats, as well as numerous chrome gauges and a chrome shift knob and tower. The rig’s interior also has plenty of polished and stainless panels, a wood and stainless steel steering wheel, and wood-grain dash panels. Besides the stainless and wood grain pieces, the interior also has some matching blue details on the doors. Much of the rest of Chris’ truck remains stock on the inside, but it still looks real nice and is very comfortable.

Chris currently hauls exotic, rare and vintage cars for Lamb Transport, Inc. based in Centennial, Colorado. Chris got his official start in trucking hauling dirt and then later pulled a flatbed – he even pulled a reefer for a short period of time. For the vast majority of Chris’ trucking career, however, he’s been hauling fancy automobiles for Kenny and Gretchen Lamb, coming up on eight years running for their operation.

Hauling exotic, rare and unusual vehicles presents its own challenges. For one thing, it’s not always easy to get those wide-based super cars into a trailer just wide enough – sometimes he has to remove parts to get the clearance he needs. Over the years, Chris has hauled everything from American classics to Lamborghinis and Ferrari’s, and one time he even hauled a late 1800’s horse-pulled hearse. Getting assistance from others, Chris and his helpers manually pushed the entire hearse into the trailer. Chris usually pulls an enclosed car-hauler, similar to what race teams use with full lift gates, although Lamb Transport does operate several open-rack car-carrier trailers, as well. Having hauled cars for average Joes to celebrities, Chris is no stranger to putting his truck into some tight spots – and with a long 310-inch wheelbase and a full-length car carrier trailer, that is not always an easy task.

Family is very important to Chris, and his “Stickerbilt” truck is a testament to that. By the way, the story behind the funny name goes like this: Chris likes to buzz his hair pretty short, and when he does it feels like velcro. For this, his friends began calling him “Stickerhead” for obvious reasons and the nickname stuck (pardon the pun). Since he did much of the work on this truck, he thought it was only fitting to call it “Stickerbilt” when it was finally completed.

Chris wanted to send up a special “thank you” to his late step-father and hero, Harold King, for all that he did for him. As evidenced by the epitaph on the back of Chris’ sleeper that says, “In Loving Memory / Harold King / Forever Rollin” it is obvious that Chris really misses his mentor. Chris would also like to thank his little brother, Sean Peruzzi, for his continuous help with the truck, and Johnny Vonslochteren for his help, too. Finally, Chris would like to thank Kenny and Gretchen Lamb, proprietors of Lamb Transport, for providing him with a job that he truly enjoys doing every day. Chris also recently reunited with an old girlfriend named Ashleigh, and we wish them all the best.

We at 10-4 Magazine would like to thank Chris Peruzzi for taking time out of his busy schedule for our photo shoot. Having had an unfortunate run-in with a deer not long before the original date planned for the photo shoot, Chris didn’t hesitate to get high-quality repairs done quickly to make sure that his truck was ready to roll for the rescheduled shoot a few weeks later.

Now that Chris’ rig is done, it looks as good as some of the cool cars he hauls inside the trailer. But, more importantly, he is now “forever rollin” in memory of his hero – the late Harold King.