This month’s creation was built for Rob Ferreira (43) of Dirt & Iron, Inc. in Kingsburg, CA. When Rob was young, his father ran a rock crushing plant, and Rob remembers climbing the big rock piles and, of course, the equipment. Married to his wife Katie for 20 years, the couple has two boys – Cole (14) and Carson (11). Rob is the second of four boys from Dave and Becky Ferreira of Escondido, CA. Rob is currently the only one in trucking, as his dad is a marriage counselor, and his mom is a retired teacher.
Every summer, Rob spent a week at Hume Lake Christian Camp, a popular retreat in King’s Canyon National Park. One year, after graduating high school, he decided to stay at Hume Lake as a full-time maintenance helper running small equipment. Wanting to get his CDL so he could run a snowplow, at age 19 he took the test in a straight truck and got his license.
At the time, the camp decided to line a creek bed with big rocks, so they asked Rob to locate a truck and line it up. Rob was fortunate to find a 1984 Peterbilt 359 10-wheeler with a BC 400 Cummins and a 9-speed, then began hauling four loads a day from King’s Canyon to the camp. The camp hired a lowboy truck to haul in a D6 dozer, and this guy named Robert Jantz pulled in with a long nose Peterbilt lowboy truck with a low-rider seat, and right then and there, Rob told himself, “One day that’s going to be me!”
In 2002 at age 22, Rob moved to the San Luis Obispo, CA area to run equipment. He kept seeing cool lowboy trucks, but his initial plan was to land a job at CAL Fire as a dozer operator. In addition to the cool trucks catching his eye, while water skiing one day with friends, Katie caught his eye, as well. Being shy, Rob’s friends would take his phone and call her number and then hand him the phone. He would immediately hang up – until one time he didn’t.
Katie’s uncle had a trucking company called Greenfield Transport, and he gave Rob his first driving job. Rob learned a lot from Randy over the six months he worked for him. Katie was going to school in Southern California, and they were trying to make the best of it. Eventually, Rob decided to head south to be near Katie and get a lowboy job with little to no experience. Tom Kasper at Lowbeds Limited not only hired Rob, but also taught him the world of running lowbed and, most importantly, how to be cool under fire when things weren’t going well with the load.
After Katie and Rob got married, they moved to Reedley, CA (near Fresno) to lay down some roots and start a family. Katie finished her schooling at Fresno State and then landed a teaching job. They wound up buying a home in nearby Kingsburg, where they live today. Rob was looking for a lowboy driving job but ended up working at the local CAT dealer. After working at the CAT dealer, he spent a few years at Jones Heavy Haul, driving and dispatching, and then decided to buy a truck – a 1986 Peterbilt 359 with a 3406C he bought from Uncle Randy. He ran this truck after hours and then hired a driver for it. That driver eventually retired in 2021.
In 2011, Rob bought a lowboy truck – a 2004 Peterbilt 378 with Jakes, a retarder, and 2-speed rears. He ran this truck until 2019, and then called me to order a new 2021 Peterbilt 389 day cab. Quickly realizing that he wished he had ordered one with a sleeper, he called and asked if he could get on the list for another 389, and since he wasn’t in a hurry, we were able to secure one of the very last slots I had available to order him the truck you see featured here.
The truck is a 2024 Peterbilt 389 with a 36” (now called a 44”) flattop sleeper, a 605-hp Cummins with 2,050 torque, an 18-speed, and a modest wheelbase. When it arrived, Mike was chosen to dial this one in, and Cody helped with some of the lighting, as well. Mike hid the DEF in a big box, then installed one of my Tommy visors, along with nine cab lights that strobe, breather lights, under lights that strobe, load lights that strobe, and work lights. The seat bases were lowered, and an air horn was added, as well.
After picking up the truck, he took it home and then had the lowboy ramps done, swapped around the 5th wheel, installed the rear stainless half-fenders, and went to work. While growing up, Rob learned from his family to have a good work ethic and do your best to stay out of debt. His parents also taught him that you always let your “yes mean yes and your no mean no.” The Bible verse Rob lives by is Mark 8:34-38. If you have a Bible, look it up, because it is a good one. He loves trucks and he loves dirt and iron, but there is more to life than just that stuff.