Comfort & Style

This month’s cool creation was built for Adam Croney out of West Concord, Minnesota. Looking for something a little different, Adam (35) opted for a new-style of rig that is gaining popularity for its balance of comfort and style – the 567 – which is sort of the “little baby brother” to the ever-popular 389, but with an aero twist. And when you’re making money sitting down and burning fuel, you want your truck to be as efficient and comfortable as possible.

Raised by his mom, Donna, Adam’s dad wasn’t in the picture. His mom had a boyfriend for several years that eventually proposed to her, but he was unfortunately killed in a car accident just three days later (Adam was 14 at the time). Not long after that, his mom moved Adam and his sister from Northfield, Minnesota, to Kenyon, Minnesota, to start a new chapter. That’s where Adam and his new-found friends, who all grew up around trucks, caught the trucking bug.

Even though his mother and sister are both involved in the school system, Adam was never a stellar student. In fact, one of his teachers once told him, “You can’t make any money looking out the window.” To that, he now says, “I guess maybe you can!” School wasn’t his thing, so he worked a lot of different jobs – from restaurants to milking cows – during his school days. As soon as he could get his CDL, he started working for various companies near him.

Driving before he was even 21, Adam snuck a few loads out of state to Texas and Iowa, and caught the bug bad. When he was 22 years old, he bought his first truck – a used Freightliner for $4,000 – and away he went. Hauling grain and such, he ran that truck until it caught fire while it was being repaired at a Freightliner dealership in Arkansas. Ending up on the short side of that stick, he sold the truck and went to drive for someone else for a while. In 2005 he bought a 1996 Volvo White from Knott’s Trucking in Kenyon, and then sold it seven months later. After that, he bought a 1998 KW in 2006 and ran it until he replaced it in 2014 with a 2005 W900L. He ran that KW until he ordered the truck pictured here.

Adam pulled power-only units for four years, but when his wife became pregnant he leased-on with Iron Horse Express out of Faribault, Minnesota. Over the years, Adam has had a close friendship with Luke Schaffer, who is also leased to Iron Horse. When it came time to get a new truck, they went to Kansas City Peterbilt together. Originally, Adam wanted to order a new 579 aero truck and make it cool, but when they got to the dealership, they had a new 567 Heritage limited edition truck sitting on the showroom floor. Adam really liked the 567, which had a plush interior, so he decided to order one for himself.

The new rig is a 2017 Peterbilt 567 “Heritage Edition #090” with a 279-inch wheelbase, black and silver factory paint, a car-hauler front axle and an air-ride front end. Powered by a 500MX Paccar engine and an 18-speed transmission, all sitting on a Low Leaf suspension, the truck also has a Heritage brown interior, Comfort seats with both heat and A/C on both sides, two beds, a refrigerator and a power inverter. Since the new trucks don’t like to idle, they had a Thermo King TriPac APU mounted under the sleeper (which helps to make the wheelbase look good), and then mounted the condenser on a sweet headache rack from Brunners.

Married to his wife Melonie for two years, who has a daughter named Arvil (12), the couple has a ten-month-old girl named Ella, too. This is not a “traditional” truck by any means, but it is a new style of rig that feels more like a pickup when you drive it – it’s comfortable and quiet. Adam really likes it, and figured, if he was going to “make money looking out the window” he might as well have a comfortable seat while doing it!