In today’s ever-changing world of trucking, being a diverse operation can be the difference between failure and success. And one way to be diverse is to never say no! Whenever someone asks Bobby Vaz (46) of Robert Vaz Trucking (RVT) based in Paso Robles, CA if he can haul something for them, without hesitation he always says, “Yes, we can do that,” regardless of whether he has the proper equipment or knowledge to do it at that moment. Not to imply that he lies or leads people on, Bobby just doesn’t like to say no to any work, so he always finds a way to get it done – and get it done right!
In his current fleet, Bobby has a bevy of different types of trucks and trailers, including ten tankers, eight flatbeds, one refrigerated van, two dry vans, one lowbed, livestock trailers and more, which allow him to haul bulk wine and other liquids, oversize loads, any and all refrigerated or dry products, hay, livestock, containers, and more. And to add to all that, they are currently building a transfer, so things like sand, gravel, rock, glass, and other building materials you might haul with a transfer can be added to that long list, as well. Bobby Vaz is one of the hardest working guys we have ever met, and he is not afraid to try new things. One of the sayings he kept using during our time together was, “If you put it on my plate, I’ll eat it!”
Going back to Bobby’s roots, on his father’s side, his great grandfather Evaristo Vaz got in the dairy business in Northern California back in the 1930s. His grandfather Everett drove trucks and operated equipment for a concrete and aggregate outfit called McPhails located in San Rafael, CA for 38 years before retiring. Everett’s brothers, Raymond and Paul, got into the dairy business and trucking, respectively. Paul Vaz was in Lodi, CA and had close to 50 trucks at one point, which included bottom dumps, transfers, tankers and vans.
On Bobby’s mother’s side, his grandfather John Dompeling, who was in Turlock, CA, had about nine cattle trucks and operated from about the 1950s through the 1980s. He passed away in 1998. One of his drivers and best friends, Angelo, took Bobby trucking a lot when he was growing up. Sadly, Angelo died in a wreck when he overturned his cattle truck on the Grapevine in the early 90s after driving for probably 50 years. Grandpa John and his friend Angelo were two of Bobby’s earliest trucking influences.
Born in July of 1978 to Robert (Bob) and Catherine Vaz in Turlock, CA, Bobby’s dad Bob hauled hay and milk in California’s Central Valley. When Bobby was just two years old, his father died in a head-on collision in September 1980 while driving his hay truck at the young age of 26, so Bobby never knew his dad and has no memories of him. Bobby’s mother Catherine remarried in 1984 to another trucker named Bob Rylaarsdam from Chino, CA. Bob hauled cattle and hay in Southern California, and Bobby loved going out trucking with him.
At seven years old, Bobby can remember going out with his stepdad to a ranch in Corona, CA to pick up cattle and then taking them down to the kill plant in Escondido, CA. Bob would let Bobby sit in his lap and “drive” the truck – a green 1962 Freightliner cabover truck and trailer – all the way home. This is where Bobby really fell in love with trucking! And today he has that truck sitting in his yard, waiting to be redone!! Living with Bob in Chino for just a few years, the couple got divorced in 1987 so Bobby and his mother, along with his two sisters, moved back to the Central Valley (Denair, CA) where Bobby attended elementary and middle school.
After another move to the Paso Robles area in California, Bobby started high school in the small town of Templeton, CA, and then his mother moved back to the valley. Bobby did not want to be in the valley, so at the young age of 16 years old he got emancipated from his mother (took legal responsibility for himself) and went out on his own. Moving back to the Paso Robles area and going back to high school in Templeton, he rented a room from his cousin and got several jobs, while still going to school, including hauling hay with his pickup, working at a local gas station and a car wash, digging holes with a backhoe for local almond farmers, and cleaning out horse stalls – whatever he could do, he did it.
Halfway through his senior year in 1997, Bobby graduated early and went on a work/study program and took a full time job, working as an assistant to a truck mechanic, who had lost his driver’s license. Doing parts runs and driving trucks around the yard, Bobby learned a lot while at this job. At 18, his next job was at Whirlwind Excavating, but when the winter hit and the work stopped, he decided to get his CDL (in 1998) and went to work at Oak Creek Ranch for Ed Bernard, a local hay hauler, running the squeeze and delivering hay.
Over the next few years, Bobby worked for a few different people including Michael Dusi, his great uncle Paul Vaz, Nick Barbieri, and Gary Abatti hauling everything from hay, wine, beer, glass, propane and 200-proof pure alcohol. He also did some interesting work for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) at the nearby Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in San Luis Obispo, CA. Every so often they would shut down one of their two reactors/generators to make upgrades and repairs, and when they did, PG&E would bring in a bunch of short-time workers – Bobby was one of those, working on a winch crew, on three different occasions.
In 2010 Bobby went to work for David Crye General Engineering in Morro Bay, CA, driving a transfer, pulling end dumps, and running various types of construction equipment. David Crye helped Bobby buy his first truck in 2011 – a blue 1990 Freightliner cabover – which he used to haul hay on the weekends and do some work for David. You might know David from the articles our contributor Clint Moore has done on some of the trucks he has ordered and/or built for him. Bobby loved working for David, but in 2013 he sold that truck and went back to work for Ed Bernard at Oak Creek Ranch hauling hay.
Getting older, Ed brought Bobby in to help him run his operation, and over the next few years, Ed became the dad Bobby never had. Hauling hay exclusively at first, Bobby helped him to diversify, and they began hauling grapes and cattle, too. In 2015, after feeling the pressure from CARB to upgrade their truck, Ed ordered a custom 2-axle 2015 Peterbilt 389 with a small sleeper for Bobby. Painted dark metallic brown and cream, this truck was a real head turner, and Bobby loved driving it.
After battling cancer for just over a year, Ed passed away in January of 2019. Bobby’s mom passed away that year, as well, so it was a particularly tough time. Not knowing what was going to happen, Bobby bought a couple used trucks from our mutual friend Mark Pounds at Central Valley Transport in Bakersfield, including a 2-axle 1999 Freightliner FLD and a 3-axle 2003 Freightliner Classic, and formed Robert Vaz Trucking (RVT). A few months later, Ed’s family decided to shut his company down and sell all the equipment (you might remember this brown and cream cattle truck because it appeared on our April 2020 cover after Terry Wright bought it from Ed’s family).
Getting a loan from the bank, Bobby was able to buy Ed’s hay squeeze and a set of 1976 Merritt double cattle trailers and, using those two Freightliner trucks, he began hauling whatever he could find. Around this same time, Micheal Dusi Trucking of Paso Robles, CA – another past cover truck feature (October 2013) – abruptly went out of business, as well, so Bobby bought one of his tanker trailers. Hauling grapes and then eventually wine with that tanker, Bobby never looked back!
Over the years, Bobby has bought and sold plenty of used trucks, but after incorporating the business in 2020, RVT got its first new truck – a 2020 Peterbilt 389 daycab – painted in the RVT colors of Peterbilt Cream and Omaha Orange. With a 240” wheelbase, this truck (which Bobby still has) is equipped with a 525-hp Cummins, a 13-speed, an air-ride front axle, and rides on 255 rubber all around. When Bobby first got this truck, he hauled anything and everything with it. Today, Bobby’s son-in-law and right hand man Ryan Johnston drives the truck, which is typically hooked to a tanker or hauling equipment. With about 400,000 miles on the odometer, which is a decent amount considering it doesn’t run long haul, Ryan takes great care of it.
Over the next two years, Bobby ordered several more brand-new cream and orange trucks, including two 2021 Peterbilt 389s with 48” flat tops, and then two 2022 Peterbilt 389s with 36” flat top sleepers, one of which was a 2-axle and the other a 3-axle (this is Bobby’s current sleeper truck to this day). His personal truck – the 3-axle 2022 Peterbilt 389 with a 36” sleeper – was ordered “plain Jane” with no cab lights, no visor, no fenders and no vertical pipes (it has a weed burner exhaust underneath), and was then sent to Kyle at Transportation Services in Sacramento, CA to be customized.
Arriving in May of 2022, the truck spent the next three months in Sacramento getting done up by Kyle and his crew. Much of the truck was painted cream including the tanks (fuel and air), mirror brackets, rear full fenders, battery boxes, cab and sleeper drop panels, visor and breathers, which also got painted front panels with (3) watermelon lights. The truck was also fitted with 8” dummy stacks, custom orange Peterbilt emblems, a custom orange tail plate with (14) recessed watermelon lights, and a custom orange “I-Panel” between the fuel tanks with (6) recessed watermelon lights (all with clear lenses). The back of the sleeper also got (6) recessed watermelon lights, three on each side, and the DEF tank was hidden.
Much of the truck’s exterior (and interior) is accentuated with tastefully applied pinstriping, including the custom painted deck plate, complete with recessed connections (there are air and electrical connections out the back of the truck, as well). To finish off the exterior, the back of the polished front bumper is painted orange and pinstriped, too! Moving inside, the door and ceiling panels are painted orange, pinstriped, and feature a total of nine watermelon lights overhead. There are also billet foot pedals, a custom steering wheel, and a painted shifter floor plate. The dash panels are also painted orange, but the interior is not overly done.
Putting the truck in service in August 2022, Bobby also bought a reefer trailer and painted it all to match, debuting the combination at the first Bobtail Apparel show in Dixon, CA a month or two later (where we first saw it). Although it is typically hooked to a tanker, Bobby will use this truck to pull just about anything. Admittedly, Bobby doesn’t get to drive as much as he used to, but when he does, he rides in style. And if the load he has to move is hay, he gets to be even cooler! With deep roots in dairy farming and cow relocating – and especially hay hauling – that go back almost 100 years, Bobby has a special truck for that job… the Peterbilt cabover truck and trailer seen on the cover and centerfold this month (and on some of these pages here).
Purchased from John Oliviera in Gustine, CA back in 2021, the 1995 Peterbilt 362 truck and trailer was in pretty good shape when Bobby got it. John had been running the truck for years, but mounting pressure from CARB to replace it finally motivated John to sell it – and John’s loss was Bobby’s gain. Originally powered by a Detroit and a 10-speed, and equipped with a 12,000-lb. front axle, John re-powered the Peterbilt cabover with a 6NZ CAT (with a DPF filter) and a 13-speed and upgraded the front axle to a 14,000-lb. version. Painted white and red, John also added 13 bullet-style cab lights up on the roof, along with a big front bumper, which by the time Bobby got it, was a bit rotten with rust.
After purchasing the cabover, Bobby drove it like he bought it for the first few months but then stopped while on a trip down south at Vic Caliva’s place in Los Angeles, CA to get a new bumper installed (Bobby wasn’t cool with having a rusted-out bumper on his ride). That winter, they spruced up the COE by tearing it apart and fixing a few things. Installing a new clutch in the truck, they also replaced the shocks, air bags, shifting cables, and fixed some cracks in the rear ends. They (Bobby and Ryan) also did some maintenance on the truck bed and trailer, and installed new tail boards, as well.
The following year, in August of 2023, it was time to really get serious and get the truck and trailer repainted. Taking it to Calvin Cox at Starcraft Commercial Big Rig Painting in Exeter, CA, Bobby opted to keep the paint scheme and striping the same and just update the colors – all the white parts were painted Peterbilt Cream, and all the red parts were painted Omaha Orange, to match the rest of his fleet. They also painted the fuel tanks, which were later pinstriped. After getting the fresh paint, Ryan and Bobby did everything else you see now, including installing all new lights (including a bunch of watermelons underneath), new fenders and stacks, polished and painted the emblems, and polished the steps (and anything else they could).
With its big one-piece front windshield and triple wiper setup, old Peterbilt 362 cabovers like this are getting harder to find – and much more desirable. The bed on the truck is 27.5 feet long, and the trailer is 28.5 feet long, which allows Bobby to haul 480 standard small bales of hay, or 544 of the newer-style compressed bales, which weigh the same and have the same amount of hay, they are just a little smaller in size. All the pinstriping on this rig, which is lime green, silver, purple and orange, was done by Harry’s Auto Signs… aka Harry’s Custom Paint… aka Harry’s Auto Art, located in Hollister, CA.
Running at least one load a week with this unit, how can Bobby operate it when others can’t? Paso Robles is located in San Luis Obispo County, and that county, as well as many around it, are part of a NOx-exempt area, which allows Bobby to operate his cabover within these areas. In fact, he can legally run between Santa Barbara County, all the way up to Santa Cruz County, along California’s Central Coast. One of the places he frequently delivers to is a place called Stepladder Ranch & Creamery in Cambria, CA. Established in 1870 and located way up on a hill with a tight driveway, Bobby was able to deliver a load of hay for their goats (they make goat cheese there) with the cabover. The guy there said, “This is the first hay truck we’ve ever had all the way up here to the barn in 150 years. They usually deliver it to us one block at a time!”
Currently, the RVT fleet includes 13 power units and a bevy of trailers, as mentioned before. Bobby could not run this company without the help and support of his awesome wife and partner, Brenda. The two met in the early 2000s when they both worked at Michael Dusi Trucking (MDT) – Bobby was a driver, and Brenda worked in the office. Back then, Brenda was married to another driver at MDT, and coincidentally, Brenda’s sister was married to Michael Dusi at that time. Bobby and Brenda started dating in 2009 and got married in 2015. Brenda has four grown children – a son named Austin (31) who has his own rig and works in the family business, twin daughters, Kyleigh (30) works in the wine industry and Kelsea (30) is a hairdresser, and daughter Kenda (29), who is married to Bobby’s right hand man and driver Ryan and owns her own salon. The couple also has four young grandchildren, with another on the way.
With nine employees and many subhaulers (depending on the time of year), Brenda runs the entire office and does all the billing. Bobby said, “Brenda is the peanut butter to my jelly!” They also get help from Brenda’s sister, Melinda, who handles all their accounting and compliance stuff. And, as mentioned before, the company is very diverse and can (or will) haul just about anything. In addition to Brenda, Bobby wanted to thank his son-in-law Ryan, who helps him keep all the trucks looking good, his stepson Austin for all his help at the company, and all their drivers for helping to keep the wheels turning.
And speaking of wheels, there is one more set of wheels we have not mentioned. After being rolled over in an accident in December 2023, one of Bobby’s 2-axle Peterbilt 389 hay trucks, with a 36” sleeper, has been being rebuilt and totally customized by Kyle and his crew over at Transportation Services. This truck, which is scheduled to make its debut at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY this month, will be a head-turner, for sure. Down about as low as a big truck could ever get, this rig features tons of custom body work and a special metallic tangerine orange and cream paint job. Along with a custom interior, this rig will sport a diamond theme – there are several diamond-shaped windows (including peep hole windows in both doors), and the taillights are also shaped like diamonds. The goal is for Bobby to have this new truck, along with the cabover, at MATS.
Lastly, I wanted to talk about where we took most of the pictures for this feature. What was once an 1,150-acre thoroughbred racehorse facility known as Cardiff Stud Farm in Paso Robles, CA, which cost over $30 million to build and was rumored to once be worth about $60 million, is now a wedding venue and home to acres of vineyards called Windfall Farms. The property, which is mostly vacant today, has over 22 miles of fencing, 25+ beautiful horse barns, three big hay barns, a full vet clinic, an owner’s residence, three employee houses and a huge shop. Once owned by TV game show host Alex Trebek, it is sad to see the place empty, but one can still imagine what it was like in its heyday.
If diversity is the key to survival in today’s tough trucking industry, then Bobby Vaz and RVT should be okay. He not only has a wide variety of trucks and trailers to handle almost any type of haul, he also isn’t afraid to try something new and invest in whatever equipment he might need to make that venture possible. Like Bobby says, “You can’t pull the trigger if you don’t have any bullets!” Bobby was raised the right way, at the right time, and in the right place to appreciate and enjoy all that the best of trucking has to offer. And it doesn’t get much better than an old school Peterbilt hay truck and trailer! Apparently, never saying “no” has its advantages.