With brash and intense paint jobs often screaming “look at me” and big rides rolling down the highway, it’s always a pleasure to see understated cool and simple styling taken to a striking effect. Though the bold and outsized styling of many working show trucks (and often the personalities of their owners) have their place, Barry Unruh (48) of Galva, Kansas, has been keeping it clean with the two-tone silver-and-grey 379 Peterbilt seen on these pages. A firm believer in work ethic and the blessings of family and friendship, Barry’s 379 is a testament to hard work.
Coming from a trucking family, Barry’s father, Ellwyn Unruh, originally drove truck, which eventually led Barry to taking up the profession, as his father did. Often spending time riding with his father, he also learned to work on the trucks, helping his dad in the shop, as well. Barry’s first proper drive was in one of his father’s Internationals, after earning his CDL at 20 years old. First owning a 1995 Peterbilt for quite a few years, now with 28 years behind the wheel, Barry’s current ride is the 2002 379 Peterbilt seen here.
This Peterbilt has been Barry’s ride for well over a decade, and it’s always been clean and well presented. That comes as little surprise considering I first met Barry in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, at the Busted Knuckle Truck Show, put on every September by our friends, the Wilkins family, of Wilkins Oklahoma Truck Supply. Laid back, but always shining, Barry and his Peterbilt have an understated and uncomplicated appeal. Featuring silver-on-chrome, minimal visible lighting, and restrained striping, the truck isn’t there to slap you in the face, but instead, to simply look right.
Over the years, Barry has plied his skills as a driver pulling RGN, lowboy, stepdeck (including over-dimensional), dry van, and pneumatic tanker, as well as a host of agricultural trucking like bulk dairy and milk transport, grain, livestock transport, fertilizer, and occasional loads of propane and other compressed gasses. Moving what pays and keeps the truck busy, other transports have included stretch loads exceeding over 100-feet overall length, and super loads upwards of 20-feet wide. Primarily running local these days, Barry’s career has taken him all over the continental United States, especially points West.
The truck is a 2002 Peterbilt 379 with an Ultracab and a 70-inch Unibilt stand-up sleeper. Powered by a 550-hp 2WS CAT 3406E, the truck is turning an 18-speed Eaton transmission routed through 3.55 cogs out back, all sitting on a 282-inch wheelbase. For the shiny stuff, the rig features a polished stainless drop visor, 8-inch turnout stacks, dual round headlights on Double JJ brackets, a 20-inch bumper, an oval-punched grille with a polished grille surround, stainless boxes, and dual breathers. With front and rear drop fenders, painted-to-match window chops, trimmed sleeper fairings, and the frame and frame-mounted APU matching the darker grey striping of the tractor, the truck has a very clean, low, and understated visual appeal.
The interior is well appointed, too. With a Rockford sound system, the cab features Sears Seating, left and right, as well as painted-to-match interior and dash panels throughout. Other custom touches include a downsized stainless steering wheel, stainless shift tower with glitter knob, stainless pedals, chrome switches and vents, as well as necessary gear like satnav and CB radio. In the sleeper you’ll find a 32-inch flatscreen TV, along with, as Barry puts it, a “very important” coffee machine (certainly superior to truck stop coffee)!
Having been home from trucking in Alaska for a short spell recently, I had the opportunity to make the trip to Kansas and put together a photo shoot of Barry’s truck. And, what a weekend we chose! Driving out, shortly after Oakley, Kansas, temperatures were just right for a solid 200-miles of freezing fog. Having just flown out of Anchorage with temps in the teens and arriving home in Denver, CO, to wind chills well below zero, I couldn’t help but find a little humor in the inescapable nature of Winter. With muddy, half-frozen, half-bog county roads in every direction, we opted to simplify the shoot and do something a little different – take all the photos inside the shop! This provided us with a warm and dry location, that also displayed some of Barry’s toys, too.
Along with his wife Amy, Barry is an avid outdoorsman and archery hunter when he can be, showcased by his side-by-sides and similar toys in the shed. Often going on rides with his sons and daughter, Barry is a firm believer in the value of family. Naturally, as an owner operator, Barry spends a lot of time keeping up his ride – and it shows! Frequently seen at the Busted Knuckle Truck Show, Barry is a well-known ride and face around the Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma trucking circles.
Today, Barry is leased to Double H Trucking of Hutchinson, Kansas. Double H is run by Nate Hoskinson, a previous feature in 10-4 Magazine, along with his wife, April, way back in March of 2014. Though Nate is now running a Pete 359, it’s no less well presented as his Western Star previously featured. Focusing on liquid and tanker transports, Double H largely pulls fuel tankers, compressed gas tankers, as well as fertilizer tankers, and other related bulk commodities. A family-forward business, just like Barry, Double H aims to keep the farms and ranches running, the equipment fueled, and the heifers topped off.
Foremost, Barry would like to acknowledge and give thanks to God for the myriad and manifold blessings he’s received. A man of family, Barry also wants to thank his wife, Amy, for her steadfast support in their marriage, as well as his supportive children, Nicole, Cody, Wyatt, Dawson, Tylan, Cordell, and Ethan, who stand as exemplars of the Unruh family name (in fact, Dawson is now driving for Double H, as well). Barry would also like to acknowledge Nate and April Hoskinson of Double H Trucking for always keeping him as busy as possible, even if it’s at the truck shows! Last, for the family and friends over the years who have helped him in his career and building the clean, subtle, and very cool ride seen on these pages.
I’d like to extend a thank you to Barry for taking the time and effort to getting his ride cleaned up and ready for a shoot in mid-January. Agricultural trucking is dirty work, worse so in the Winter, and January is a hard press for a photo shoot, but that didn’t stop Barry. And a special thank you to Derek, as well, Double H Trucking’s most recent addition, for helping prep the shop and aid in the shoot. Fresh from Utah, this young man is building his own ride and reputation as we speak, and with folks like Barry and the Hoskinson’s to aid him, I’m sure he’ll soon be a standout on the prairie, as well.
Barry Unruh exemplifies what hard work, family, and faith can do for the individual. A God-fearing man and a strong family man, Barry’s faith and family are underscored by his success. Keep an eye out on those Kansas byways and backroads for Barry and this simple, uncomplicated, but sweet ride, because nobody said you had to be over-the-top or super loud to get noticed and stand out in a crowd. A little bit of “understated cool” goes a long way!
