There are only a handful of builders out west that truly “define” what west coast cool looks like, and Pickett Custom Trucks is one of them. The founder and driving force behind this iconic company is Rod Pickett (53), who now hails from Buckeye, AZ, after originally building his name and his business in Washington state. In addition to building his brand, Rod has also created a style that is uniquely his. This style is embraced and extremely evident in his latest creation – a totally custom jet black luxury RV, built on a Peterbilt 389 chassis, that absolutely does not disappoint, and definitely has that unmistakable “west coast cool” vibe.
We were proud and honored (and lucky) to have Rod debut this amazing new rig at our charity truck show (Truckin’ For Kids) back in April 2024, and it was one of the main topics of conversation with many of the folks at the event. Over our three decades of featuring trucks, we have featured a few built by Pickett Custom Trucks on our cover (Phil Miller, Billy Ezernack of Double E, Ron Kelsey, Scott McDaniel, and Leon “Popcorn” Wheatley to name a few), but we have never featured any of Rod’s personal trucks, and he’s had a few over the years. After seeing this black beauty, we figured it was time to pull the trigger and get this deal done!
Flying down to Phoenix in early June (2024), we got to spend a few days with Rod, our longtime friend and 10-4 helper Ron Kelsey (who is also one of only a few people to get his same truck on the cover twice), and see Rod’s amazing new shop in Buckeye, which is huge. We also got to spend a few days with this cool RV, shooting pictures at both Rod’s house and a local park called White Tank Mountain Regional Park near his home, which had a paved, winding, four-mile driving loop through the desert, and provided some awesome Arizona backgrounds.
Born to parents Dale and Karen Pickett in 1970, Rod came from a family of dairy farmers on his mother’s side, and construction (building custom homes) on his dad’s side. Not wanting to follow in their footsteps, Rod’s father Dale started trucking in 1968, hauling gas in Oregon, for Shell Oil. In 1975 he bought his first truck – nothing fancy, just an A-model Kenworth with a standard hood, and then began building a small fleet. Not long after that, Dale got a big contract hauling for a local grocery wholesaler, pulling reefers from California and Oregon to Washington, doing that infamous (and often envied) I-5 shuffle.
Relocating the family to Washington in the late 1970s, in 1980 they moved to their location in Marysville, WA where Rod (and his brother Kevin) would grow up and start their businesses. Over the next few years, Dale built his operation up to four trucks of his own and three leased owner operators before selling out to a local guy in 1986. After working for the new owner as a mechanic for a while, he got a “real job” with the county, also as a mechanic, where he stayed until he retired in 2012. Today, he and Karen also live in Arizona near Rod, and Dale works part-time at the PCT shop, where his specialty is wiring.
By the time they moved to Marysville, Rod was already ten years old, and he was already greasing trucks. He began driving at just 17 years old, right out of high school, hauling heavy equipment with a “thrashed” 1975 Peterbilt 359 with one stack, which he eventually got looking pretty good. His brother Kevin, who is four years younger, grew up in this same environment and also began doing truck stuff at an early age. They both have always had their own separate businesses, but they often worked together. The first trucks they customized were their dad’s, who had nice W900A Kenworths, but later, when they got their own trucks, they started doing “cool things” to them, too.
One of the cooler things that Rod was doing when he was first getting started, back when he was only 19 or 20 years old, was customizing exhaust systems. Larger sized straight pipes were just coming out, and Rod had a certain way he liked to set them up for his customers, which included deep drop elbows bent and sized a certain way. At the time, he was ordering so many of these custom elbows from Dynaflex, they started calling it a Pickett elbow. Eventually, the folks at Dynaflex offered Rod some money for the rights to sell them to other customers, agreeing to keep the name in his honor, and he took it. In hindsight, since they still sell these “Pickett” elbows some 35 years later, he should have taken a royalty deal instead of a one-time payout. But hey, hindsight is always 20/20.
Back in the early 1990s, there were not a lot of readily available accessories for trucks, so if you wanted something different, typically you had to make it yourself. For this reason, truly custom trucks were not in abundance back then (most of the accessories available were what they called “lick and stick” pieces of shiny trim). The brothers started building custom light bars, deck plates, and light brackets, and eventually the word got out. Rod officially started Pickett Custom Trucks in 1993 and began selling custom parts through word of mouth. At the time, he was still trucking, and his “shop” was just a small one-bay building next to their house.
The first full build Rod did was a two-tone blue daycab Peterbilt 379 owned by John Kooy Jr. in 1996. This was one of the first really long and really low trucks out there, featuring that “sterile” simple look, while still being highly customized in a subtle way. Another first for this truck was painting the engine the same color as the body. Up until that point, there were plenty of chromed-out and customized engines, but none that Rod could think of that were painted to match the truck.
This build was a collaboration between Rod and Kevin. At the time, Rod was running Pickett Custom Trucks and Kevin owned and operated Pickett Repair, a business that focused more on mobile repair work and truck maintenance. I remember seeing this Kooy truck (and taking pictures of it) at the Cherokee Truck Parts show in Stockton, CA in 2003 and thinking, “Man, this thing is really different!” Funny thing is, this build was already seven years old, proving these guys have always been ahead of the curve.
In 1998, Rod purchased a 1977 Peterbilt 359 with the intention of cleaning it up and then selling it. This truck was originally owned by none other than Bill Frampton of Artesia Ice in SoCal, which was well-known for having one of the coolest fleets on the west coast back in the day. After changing hands a few times, it ended up in Rod’s shop, but it turned out to be in worse shape than Rod thought. By the time he went through everything, he was in it too deep to sell it, so he kept it, using it to haul cars for a while. Rod quit trucking in 2000 to focus on Pickett Custom Trucks full time and never looked back.
This black 359 daycab eventually got a small 36-inch sleeper, and with its dark purple frame and accents became very well-known as Pickett’s signature ride, winning several awards over the next few years (this truck was a game changer for many)! After he quit trucking, he used this truck to pull his race trailer and haul his drag car all over the west, competing in the Premier Street Car Association (PSCA) “Outlaw 10.5” class, which was all heads-up drag racing. He owned and raced a 1966 Chevy Nova with a 700 cubic inch big block engine and three stages of nitrous for almost 20 years, among other race cars. Powered by a 400-hp B-model CAT and stretched to 300 inches, Rod still has this old Peterbilt 359 tucked away and has plans to freshen her up in the near future.
The year 2006 was a turning point for not only Rod Pickett, but also his brother Kevin, and a group of other well-known customizers. It was also a turning point, in general, for the world of truck shows, and all the businesses that fed off them, including we here at 10-4 Magazine. So, what happened in 2006? The television show Trick My Truck made its debut on CMT (Country Music Television) on February 3, 2006, and was an overnight sensation! Created by Varuna Films, the “reality” series featured a group of truck customizers known as The Chrome Shop Mafia who renovated the trucks of deserving drivers in response to letters and calls from family and friends. The “mafia” included Rod and Kevin Pickett, Bryan “Bossman” Martin of 4 State Trucks, Ryan “Ryno” Templeton, Rob Richardson, Rick “Scrapyard Dog” Stone, and C.B. Grimes, along with a few other characters that rolled in and out of the show from time to time.
Filming the show at 4 State Trucks in Joplin, MO, because they had the space, it was a lot of work and a lot of travel for the Pickett brothers, who were coming all the way from Washington, on a regular basis. After the pilot episode got the largest audience of any show in CMT’s history up to that point, several more shows were ordered, and before they knew it, three seasons were in the can. The first season was fun and groundbreaking, and it really changed the way the general public – and quite frankly truckers, too – felt about big rigs. True customization saw a giant surge, and truck shows started popping up all over. It was a good time to be around trucking, for sure, and the camaraderie and cool culture it created was unprecedented.
Of course, like anything else, the show had its flaws, and as time went on, the builds became more ridiculous, the dialogue became more scripted, and creative control was all but lost for the members of The Chrome Shop Mafia. With that in mind, most of the original cast quit the show in 2008 after the third season, and a new crew was brought in to replace them. That was a train wreck that lasted one season, and then the show ended in 2009. But for what it was worth, the show opened a lot of doors for Rod and Kevin, and Bryan “Bossman” Martin, one of our longtime friends and supporters, took the opportunities from the show and used them as a springboard (The Chrome Shop Mafia is still a big thing around 4 State Trucks to this very day).
Tired of the wet weather and traffic, Rod decided to take the plunge and move himself and his business to Arizona in 2012. Hauling nine semi loads of stuff down south, he found a warehouse type of space in Tolleson, AZ with four bays and two doors. Quickly realizing he needed to step up his game to cover all this new overhead, he ramped up his workload and added employees. His new space was about 10,000 square feet, so they could now work on several projects at once, while also building the parts they sell, like cab and sleeper panels, visors, deck plates, shaved headlights, battery boxes and covers, light bars, light brackets, big-hole wheels, and more. He also became a dealer for most of the accessory manufacturers, so they can now sell just about everything!
In early 2022, Rod decided that he wanted to build an RV so he could take it to truck shows and, hopefully, on some vacations. Those of you out there who own small businesses know how hard it is for the owner to take a vacation! But, since he is a big rig builder, he decided he wanted to build the ultimate luxury motor coach out of a Peterbilt truck. He originally was going to build an older 359 Peterbilt, but after driving a new one and realizing how quiet and comfortable it was, he decided to start with a brand-new truck. Ordering one of the last 2023 Peterbilt 389s through our friend and contributor Clint Moore at Kansas City Peterbilt, the black rig is powered by a 525-hp Cummins, hooked to an 18-speed AutoShift (that’s right, it’s an automatic, and Rod loves it), with locker rear-ends, and a 380-inch wheelbase, the longest Peterbilt will go.
The truck arrived at Rod’s shop in January 2023, then he and his team spent the next four months customizing it. After installing air-ride on the front with dump valves, they did a body drop, installed nine cab lights, 7-inch Dynaflex exhaust with Pickett elbows (of course), and a 379 stainless grille surround from 12 Ga. with 13 Kenworth grille bars. The truck also got 359 headlights, Pickett air cleaner lights and cab extensions, old-style Pickett battery boxes, a Picket/RLK visor, GGE chrome wiper arms, 12 Ga. mirror brackets, and a tapered front bumper from Valley Chrome, along with Pickett’s popular big-hole wheels, chopped breathers, and custom scripted “Peterbilt” hood logos from Dominguez Iron Work. A cool final touch is a vintage swan hood ornament off a 1953 Packard.
In April 2023, once the truck customizing was done, Rod took it to 1492 Coachworks in Oklahoma City, OK where it spent a year being fitted with a 37-foot luxury motor coach body. Made to order, this all-aluminum custom RV frame and shell features four almost invisible flush-mount slide-outs and windows, a king size bed, 1.5 baths, a full-size refrigerator, fireplace, big screen TV, and opulent wood throughout. Everything is controlled through four handheld tablets including the lighting, slide-outs, climate control, fireplace, TV, awnings, and cameras. There is purple accent lighting both inside and outside, and the entire exterior is covered with over 100 glass watermelon lights!
The coach was delivered to Rod just a few days before our TFK truck show in SoCal, and as stated previously, it made its debut at our show. Simply put, this is an amazing and luxurious motor coach, and Rod hopes to use it often. Their first big trip is scheduled to be Sturgis in South Dakota this coming August. Rod is also currently building a matching 30-foot Pace “stacker” trailer with a lift inside for vehicles so he can take a car, motorcycles, or whatever with him on trips. He might do a little more racing someday, and if so, this trailer will be good for hauling a race car, and everything else, as well. When finished, the trailer will be black like the truck, and have 90 glass watermelon lights.
Wanting and needing a bigger location, Rod purchased a 3.5-acre farm on the outskirts of Buckeye, AZ in 2023, and then worked in a few “open” bays for about eight months while the new shop was being built. The large new metal building is 200-feet long, 100-feet wide, and 36-feet tall, and has approximately 20,000 square feet of space inside. It has two main areas – one for customizing that holds 10+ trucks, and the other for paint and body work, which holds four or five more. The structure was built extra tall to help dissipate some of the heat down on the floor, and also to build offices and storage – and eventually a chrome shop – on a second level. With eight full-time employees, PCT is a diverse business that keeps busy doing insurance work, customizations, full builds and restorations, fabricating and selling custom parts, accessory sales, and general repairs.
Having built a beautiful home a few years ago not too far from the shop, Rod lives there with his girlfriend of five years, Jessica, and their two cool dogs – a one-year-old American Bully named Gotti, and a three-year-old French Bulldog named Capone. When landscaping the yard in front of their house, Rod included some rusty old “yard art” in the form of a 1946 Kenworth, a 1929 Ford truck, and a 1956 Ford tractor, along with all the usual palm trees, rocks, cactus, and lights. The couple is planning to get married in 2026. Jessica has one son and two daughters, and she currently handles all the paperwork for the company.
For the past two years, Pickett Custom Trucks has hosted a truck show in conjunction with an NHRDA drag racing event at Firebird Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ. Dubbed as “the biggest show in Arizona” by NHRDA, while that might be true, there are not many shows at all in Arizona, so it might be a bit misleading. However, the first year, without hardly trying, they had about 100 trucks, and this year (2024), held one week before our TFK show at the end of April, they had over 200 trucks on the lot! That’s a big jump. Rod and the crew at PCT make cool custom trophies for the event that are highly sought after. They enjoy doing the show and look forward to doing it again next year.
And speaking of shows, Rod and his brother Kevin have recently embarked on another big journey together – a new TV show! Although still in the development phase, filming is scheduled to begin at the end of the year. This new show doesn’t even have a name yet, but it will air on a brand new streaming service to begin soon called Outlaw Television, which is a collaboration between builders and creators Jesse James, Paul Teutul Sr., and Billy Lane. This new streaming service will feature content specifically created for gearheads, and it will be a member-driven network for those who embrace craftsmanship, creativity, and lives devoted to the handmade. You can go to www.jessejames.com and register for free to get on the wait list, like I did.
We had a great time hanging out with Rod and Jessica and realized what a laid back and chill guy he really is. I think some might have a preconceived idea about what they think Rod Pickett is like, but I would guess most of them would be wrong – we found him to be friendly, easygoing, fun to talk with, and attentive – and he’s also crazy about trucks. Seriously, he really loves them. He wanted to thank his parents for always being supportive, and I would like to thank Ron and Jan Kelsey for taking such great care of us while we were in Arizona.
Not wanting his business to grow anymore, Rod is happy with how things are going and hopes to one day soon start slowing down a bit so he can really take advantage of this cool new RV he built. As a very hands-on owner, Rod still goes in every day and oversees all the projects. Many of Rod’s customers come to him because they want their truck to have that signature “Pickett” look, and he is happy to oblige. That “look” just happens to be his personal style, and it has helped define that “west coast cool” vibe for decades now. Rod Pickett is humble, but proud of everything he has created, and excited for what’s still to come – and so are we!
