Over the years we have seen many cool heavy duty service trucks, and even considered putting a few of them on our cover. But we never have – until now! This month’s cover truck is a custom service truck built and owned by Doug Veerkamp General Engineering in Placerville, CA and it is very unique. Although they call it their “Stellar ‘66” – and it is – it also isn’t. The cab and hood are from a 1966 Peterbilt 351A with a butterfly hood, but that is where the ‘66 ends. The cool classic cab and hood were retrofitted atop a modern 2016 Peterbilt chassis that not only has a 605-hp Cummins ISX stuffed under the hood but is completely CARB-compliant!
This rig was built to work and is currently in the process of being loaded with tools and all the final items needed to put it into everyday service, maintaining Veerkamp’s huge fleet of trucks and heavy equipment. The original idea came from Matt Veerkamp (41), Vice President of Doug Veerkamp General Engineering, and now the one in charge of day-to-day operations of the family business, which was started by his father Doug Veerkamp (67) back in 1983. The project was then handed off to Brandon Shultz (42), a Heavy Duty Repairman at Veerkamp for the past ten years, along with a team of dedicated mechanics and helpers at the company. The entire build was done in less than six months, and the truck made its debut at the enormous CONEXPO 2023 construction convention last March in Las Vegas, NV – and it was a huge hit.
A fifth generation El Dorado County native, Doug Veerkamp was born in 1956. Both sides of his family settled in the area during the Gold Rush in the 1850s as cattle ranchers and farmers. Growing up, Doug’s dad was a heavy equipment mechanic, and two of his uncles (Mo and Kenny) were log truck drivers, so Doug was exposed to the world of construction and trucking at an early age. After graduating from El Dorado High School in 1974, following his mother’s strong suggestion, he headed to college, but that did not last long. His mother always said, “If you don’t go to college, you’ll end up being a ditch digger,” and that is exactly what he did!
In 1975 Doug took a job with Joe Vicini at his company that focused on excavating, grading, paving, and trucking. His father worked there, too, and Doug has fond memories of when the two of them got to work together on service jobs. Staying there for eight years, in 1983 Doug went out on his own, starting with just one small D4 Cat dozer, a Case 580C backhoe/loader, and a 1965 Peterbilt transfer. Because of his amazing work ethic and determination, the company grew fast, and the rest is history.
Today, over 40 years later, Doug Veerkamp General Engineering has almost 200 employees and over 380 pieces of on- and off-road rolling stock, including transfers, low boy trucks, dump trucks, excavators, loaders, backhoes, dozers, scrapers, paving machines, rollers, service trucks, and more than 60 company-owned Ford pickup trucks, just to name a few. As a leading construction company serving El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Amador, and surrounding counties, they specialize in excavating and grading, paving, underground utilities, retaining walls, trucking, emergency repairs, and demolition. They do all the prep and finish work at both commercial and residential construction sites. The only thing they don’t do is build the actual structure.
Although Doug is still very involved in the business and a hands-on kind of person, his son Matt is now in charge of all the day-to-day operation of the company. Matt was born in 1982, just one year prior to his dad starting the company, so this business is all he has ever known. He grew up in the company and loves it. Like his dad, Matt’s work ethic is unparalleled, and whenever the day comes for him to take over the business, he is 100% ready and able.
Matt started operating heavy equipment as a teenager before he even had a license to drive a car. And once he got that license and was able to drive himself to job sites on his own, there was no stopping him. After school he would head directly to a site and run equipment until it got dark. He graduated from high school on a hot Friday in June of 2000, and started working full time at the company on Monday morning – and he’s never looked back.
Everyone loves classic trucks, and Matt and Doug are no different. However, they also have an affinity for antique tractors and equipment, along with an amazing collection to prove that fact, but we will get into that later. Over the years they have built many antique vehicles, and these vehicles are often seen at various shows, events, and in parades. But Matt wanted to build an “old” truck that could actually be used every day, and with the big CONEXPO show coming up, he came up with the idea of building this unique, classically styled service truck, on a modern chassis around September of 2022.
After calling two companies that build quality service truck bodies and pitching the idea, Stellar Industries in Garner, IA jumped at the chance to be involved with this project. They immediately committed to building and supplying a custom mechanic service body and then displaying the finished rig in their booth at CONEXPO 2023 in Las Vegas, NV. And with the show being held in mid-March of 2023, the race was on!
At this point, they did not have the old truck or the newer donor truck – they were literally starting from scratch. After doing a little bit of research, Matt decided that a mid-60s truck, with a butterfly hood, would be perfect. It had to have that classic look, but not be too old, because they were going to be retrofitting newer stuff to it. Finding two 1966 Peterbilts with butterfly hoods locally, both of the owners were excited to be part of the project, and both gave them their truck for free. Both trucks were complete (one was a long hood, and one was not), but neither of them had run for years. Next, they found a used 2016 Peterbilt 367 transfer, which would become the foundation for the service truck.
Unfortunately, at the time, the company was busy with a big job, so they had to put the donor transfer truck to work for a month, before finally “releasing” it to Brandon to begin the teardown and build. Because of this, he lost another month. Now, the pressure was really on. Brandon has been with Veerkamp for almost eleven years, and a truck and heavy equipment mechanic for most of his life. He began by stripping the donor truck of the transfer gear, and selling it off, to recoup some of their expenses. The donor truck was powered by a 605-hp ISX Cummins with 2,050-ft. lbs. of torque, hooked to an 18-speed, so this “old” truck would be sufficiently motivated.
Taking the best parts from each of the 1966 donor trucks, to accommodate the big Cummins, a new butterfly hood was made two inches longer than usual by Courtland Truck Works. As you can imagine, mating a 1966 cab and hood to a 2016 chassis and powertrain was a complicated task that included fabricating custom cab mounts, completely re-wiring everything, and a host of other modifications. Removing the truck’s third axle, Brandon reset the wheelbase by relocating the remaining axle. The original rear suspension was replaced with a LowAir system, the front axle was rebuilt, and then an air-ride system from 12 Ga. Customs was installed (dump valves and over-inflates were added, as well).
Once the chassis was prepped and painted and the cab and hood were set, it was time for the exterior paint to be sprayed and the interior to be done. Using Legendary Blue and Legendary Silver, which was mixed by the folks at Stellar Industries so they could spray the service body, the remaining paint from the same batch was sent to Veerkamp to ensure that it would match perfectly. The truck’s blue paint and silver stripes were sprayed by G&O Body Shop in Placerville, CA. Veerkamp’s in-house restoration specialist Shawn Stover, Matt’s right-hand man and also the guy in charge of all the heavy machinery GPS systems, completely re-wired the entire truck, which was no easy task. Shawn also did all the lights on the truck, including an extensive amount of underglow lighting.
Going to work on the interior, all the rocker switches and gauges from the 2016 Peterbilt were mounted in a totally custom dash. The truck got a wood floor, a chrome tilt steering column, a billet and wood steering wheel from Steering Creations, and custom mid-back seats, mounted as low as possible. All the diamond-stitched brown and black interior pieces were designed and made by Shawn Patterson Upholstery, a local outfit, and a polished stainless ceiling insert, with the Peterbilt logo cut into it that lights up, was mounted overhead to the headliner. A two-stick setup from 12 Ga. Customs was also installed, with the second stick being the splitter. Not only does this old truck look amazing, but it has all the modern conveniences like air conditioning, cruise control, and electric windows, so it is very comfortable and easy to drive.
Some of the final exterior accessories added include 8-inch Lincoln Chrome stacks, new shutters on the front that operate by a switch on the dash, high-intensity LED headlights, installed in the original dual round headlight buckets and mounted on the original brackets, a custom visor from Courtland Truck Works, and mirror brackets from 12 Ga. Customs. The DEF tank was hidden inside the fuel tank under the driver’s door, the breather screens were chopped, and air-operated wipers were added. It was almost done. All it needed now was the service body.
The all-aluminum 14-foot mechanic service body made by Stellar Industries was delivered shortly before the deadline date, and it was already painted and ready to be bolted on. The Veerkamp crew installed the TMAX 2 body, which was built in a custom configuration just for this project, and included a 12630 crane, capable of lifting 12,000 pounds, with a 30-foot reach. Made with a special welding platform, Brandon and the Veerkamp crew mounted a 500-amp Lincoln Electric Vantage 441X welding machine, capable of performing all types of welding. Final touches included a large air compressor, grab handles made out of box end wrenches, and a custom speaker and light rack, built by Rack-It Truck Racks in nearby Shingle Springs, CA. This cool rack holds marine grade speakers for the stereo, flashing lights, and features support posts cast to look like wrenches and bolts!
Finishing the project on time, the truck was sent to Las Vegas, NV and displayed in Stellar Industry’s booth March 14-18, 2023. CONEXPO is a huge construction convention, and this year it had 139,000 attendees, over 2,400 vendors, and filled over 3 million square feet of exhibit space! Held once every four years in Las Vegas, this show is massive. After making a big splash in the city that never sleeps, it headed north to Reno – the “Biggest Little City in the World” – for the ATHS National Convention and Antique Truck Show, held at the Grand Sierra Resort on June 8-10, 2023. We had heard about the truck and seen pictures, but this was the first time we laid eyes on it, and from that moment on, we knew it was destined to be on our cover.
Heading to Placerville in early July, we had the privilege of spending two full days and nights with these nice folks. We did the photo shoot at their property in Placerville, which used to be their main shop, until they moved it to Cameron Park, about ten minutes down the road. To our surprise, we realized the Placerville location is now known as the “museum” or antique yard, where all their antique trucks and tractors are built and stored. And we were absolutely blown away by their massive collection, which includes mostly super rare and one-off pieces. Focusing primarily on early models of C.L. Best and Holt tractors from the early 1900s, the collection then goes on to include a plethora of early Caterpillar tractors, and a whole lot more.
C.L. Best and Holt were bitter rivals in California, and after years of legal battles over various contractual, trademark, and patent infringement lawsuits, the two companies merged in 1925 to form the Caterpillar Tractor Company in an effort to keep them both from going broke. Re-branding their existing products with the Caterpillar name, they continued to build both company’s existing tractors and equipment, until 1927, when they finally introduced their first fully designed and built tractor – the Caterpillar 20. As luck would have it – for real – Matt Veerkamp has the first Caterpillar tractor ever made in their possession at the museum.
Brandishing the serial number EXP 0000-L, the “Expo Twenty” was built about a year before production was set to begin to be displayed at county fairs and other public exhibitions. This rare machine, built in San Leandro, CA in 1926, featured custom white paint with nickel plated and polished brass touches (Caterpillar switched from gray paint with a red logo to their signature yellow color in 1931). This tractor is the real deal, and the pride of their collection. But don’t think it ends there. They currently have over 50 fully restored pieces in the antique shop, along with about 30 runners outside, in various states of restoration, and well over 100 pieces in the boneyard, some of which would make awesome projects, as well. They also have five restored log trucks from the late 1940s and early 1950s, in honor of Doug’s family heritage.
Everyone loves the old tractors, but they are Matt’s passion. He was the one that took the collection to the next level. He loves to get out there and work on them when he can, but that isn’t very often anymore. For years, a man by the name of Jim Chapman did most of the restoration work and ran the antique shop, but sadly Jim passed away at 80 years old in November 2022 from cancer. Over the past few years, Brandon has become one of the main restoration guys, along with Shawn Stover. Matt scours the entire country looking for these antique gems, which are getting harder and harder to find. It would be fruitless to try and describe their impressive collection here in detail, but I will just say this, if you ever get a chance to see it, take it!
Building the “stellar” service truck was a huge undertaking that required many people to step up and get stuff done. Doug and Matt both wanted to thank Brandon for leading the project, along with much help from Shawn Stover, Scott Rutz, Mike Poderick, Adam Minor, and Kyle Carey. Some companies that also deserve special recognition include Stellar Industries, Courtland Truck Works, Dobbs Peterbilt, Rack-It Truck Racks, G&O Body Shop, Shawn Patterson Upholstery, and Soundoff Signal (for the lights). Thanks to Big Rig Chrome Shop in Oshkosh, WI for helping Brandon find all the accessories he wanted and needed. Brandon is now installing all the necessary hose reels, the vice, and filling all the drawers with tools, getting ready to abandon his current service truck – a red 2012 Peterbilt 335 with an IMT “Dominator” body – and finally put the ‘66 into service. And he can’t wait!
Married to his high school sweetheart Lori for the past 46 years, she and Doug are an amazing team. Not only did they build this company together, but they also made a family, which includes their son Matt (41), and daughter Loni (44). Loni is married to Justin Brewster, and both have been involved with the company for decades, but just recently moved to Texas to do what so many of us want to do – get out of California. Matt has been married to his wife Gretchen for 14 years, and the couple has three young children. We also got to spend time with Brandon’s daughter Jersey (14), who is a sweet young lady, that we had a lot of fun with.
It’s not often you get the best of two worlds, but Brandon Schultz will soon be getting just that – he gets to drive a classic Peterbilt, that has all of today’s creature comforts, and enough power to get the job done. And, like all the Veerkamp fleet, it is CARB-compliant with all the emission junk, so he doesn’t have to worry about being stopped or harassed. It is the best of both worlds, and a true win-win. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many, including Doug and Matt Veerkamp, this 1966-ish Peterbilt is one stellar service rig we won’t forget.
