COVER FEATURE - NOVEMBER 2009
“HOT WHEELS” HAULER
PAUL STANCHIO’S “HOT” CAR CARRIER
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor
Growing up, Paul Stanchio always liked Hot Wheels, and he always liked the color orange. Today, he gets to drive “Hot Wheels” every day – and its bright orange! Over the years, Paul has made a name for himself in the towing business, the car hauling business, and on the truck show circuit. Although none of his trucks have ever been “show trucks” per se, he has still racked up a ton of trophies, and his latest ride is continuing the tradition.
Paul (46) was born and raised on New York’s beautiful Long Island – in fact, he still lives there today. In fact, he has only lived in two towns his entire life and they are right next to each other! Paul was born and raised in Port Washington, then he moved to Great Neck, and then he moved back to Port Washington, where he still lives today.
Paul did not grow up in a trucking family, but his grandmother lived next door to a yard where a local construction company parked their trucks and equipment. Paul and his cousins used to jump the fence on weekends and play in the trucks. Sometimes, they would even find a key in the ignition and, you guessed it, actually move the trucks around the yard. Paul is pretty sure that the owner knew what they were doing, but since they never tore anything up or damaged any of the trucks, he “looked the other way” and let them have their fun. This is where Paul’s original fascination with trucks began.
Paul has always been a hard worker and a bit of an entrepreneur. In the winter when it would snow, Paul and his friends would clear driveways and sidewalks, and in the summer they would trim trees. By fourteen, Paul was working at a local gas station that had a few tow trucks. Eventually, he began driving the wreckers around the yard, moving cars and such, and sometimes, when there was nobody else, the owner would send Paul out on the road to hook a stranded car – at only fourteen years old. By the time Paul was seventeen, he was out on his own. His love of trucks, along with working at the gas station and driving the wreckers, eventually got him into the towing business.
After graduating from high school in 1981, Paul went to work at a local towing company, but he quickly realized that he wanted (and needed) to have his own truck. In 1983, he bought an old wrecker and formed Paul’s Towing Service. Over the next few years, Paul bought and sold many older tow trucks, and then in 1987 he purchased his first new wrecker. Over the years, he built his fleet up to five light and medium duty trucks. By 1997, he had pretty much taken his company as far as he wanted to take it and was getting a little bored, so he sold the business. Unsure of what to do next, Paul considered getting into the construction business as a union dump truck operator, but before he could actually start that job, something happened that steered him in a completely different (better) direction.
It’s funny how little things that happen can make a big impact on our lives. One day, while driving on the Long Island Expressway just days before he was scheduled to start his new dump truck driving career, a bright red Peterbilt car hauler drove by and caught Paul’s eye – so much so, he followed it back to its yard and got the name of the company off the sign on the fence. He went home and tried to find out more about this company (Tread Transport) but couldn’t find much, so the next morning he headed back to the yard. Once there, he found a few guys and asked them if they were looking for any help. To his surprise, one of them answered, “Yea, we are looking for help.” About that time, one of the other guys in the yard recognized Paul from the towing business, and sent him inside, with a good recommendation, to fill out all of the necessary paperwork. Paul was hired on the spot.
The guy in charge gave Paul one quick lesson on loading cars and then sent him out to haul a load. At that time, Paul had a Commercial Drivers License and plenty of experience towing cars, but he had no experience driving a big truck and he had never loaded a multiple-car carrier. He also knew nothing about trucking – he didn’t know how to fill out a logbook, he didn’t know where the truck stops were, he didn’t know the laws or rules, nothing – but he headed out in that Peterbilt 377 with a seven-car trailer anyway, and he did just fine. After about six months, Paul was moved into a Peterbilt 379 with a one-car head rack and an eight-car trailer, and then, about a year later, he was moved into a Peterbilt 377 with a three-car head rack and a seven-car “stinger” trailer. Paul worked at Tread Transport for about two years, and is very grateful for the opportunity and training they gave him.
In 1999, Paul left Tread and took a job driving a truck leased to Fleet Car Carriers, a car transporter company based in Denver, Colorado, that runs in all 48 states. Fleet Car is one of the largest car hauling companies out there, but they have no company trucks – their entire “fleet” consists of 400-500 leased owner operators. Paul was treated very well by the owner of the truck he was driving, but like his early tow truck days, he knew that if he was going to make any real money, he would have to buy his own truck. He drove for this man for about two years, and used that time to really figure out how the Fleet Car system worked – buying a car carrier would be an expensive investment, and Paul wanted to be sure that it was a financially-sound choice before jumping in head-first.
In 2001, Paul was ready to buy his first truck. He found a company in Denver, Colorado called United Equipment Funding that had many good used car carriers to choose from and then bought a 1999 Peterbilt 379 with a ten-car carrier from Mike Martin. After picking out the truck, Andrea West at West Coast Enterprises in Fresno, California, helped Paul get financed, and off he went to Fleet Car. A year later, he ordered a new blue 2003 Peterbilt 379 with a custom three-car head rack and a seven-car Cottrell trailer, and then proceeded to add a bunch of extra chrome and lights. After another year or so, he bought three more good used units from Mike Martin, put drivers in them, and then signed them on to Fleet Car.
Two years later, in 2005, Paul ordered another new blue Peterbilt 379, but this one had a Boydston rack and trailer. Like his previous truck, Paul added extra chrome and lights, but he tricked this one out even more, adding orange flames to the front of the truck and the back of the sleeper, more custom pieces, and even more lights. Many of you might remember this first truck that Paul called “Hot Wheels” because he took it to many shows and did very well.
In 2007, Paul decided to leave Fleet Car to see if the grass was greener on the other side of the fence, and signed on with United Road. While he was working at this other company, he ordered his current truck – the one you see on these pages and on our cover/centerfold this month. The truck, a 2009 Peterbilt 388 daycab, was ordered in February of 2008 from Rush Peterbilt in Florida. Paul ordered the truck in Hugger Orange, a color made famous by the 1969 Chevy Camaro, and with just about every option imaginable including a big horsepower Cummins 600, an 18-speed transmission, disk brakes all around, low-leaf air suspension, a car hauler front axle, Michelin Super Singles, and all the switches and gauges available. But this was just the beginning – building this cool, custom car carrier was a huge job, that involved several companies, and took over a year to complete.
In June of 2008, the Peterbilt factory sent the truck to Fontaine Modifications in Garland, Texas, to have the cab and sleeper chopped six inches to accommodate the head rack. After that, in July, the factory delivered the truck to Indiana Custom Trucks (ICT) in LaGrange, Indiana, to be fitted with a custom 70” fully-skirted sleeper of Paul’s design. Utilizing the extra space on the outside of the frame rails that was created by the full skirting on the sides, this sleeper is equipped with a full shower and toilet, a microwave oven, refrigerator, closet and flat panel television, as well as a rear window, a bed and a generator. Woody and Chad at ICT did a great job of building the perfect sleeper for Paul’s needs.
After spending two months at ICT, Mike Horan from Roadworks Mfg. personally drove to LaGrange to pick up the truck and bring it back to their facility in Lafayette, Indiana. Once Mike got the truck back to their shop, in September of 2008, he installed a custom bumper, front and rear visors, chrome windshield trim, custom side steps on the tanks, hood trim, custom (painted) trim pieces at the top of the doors to give it more of a “chopped” look, a custom grille and chopped air cleaners. The truck spent an entire month at Roadworks – many thanks go out to Mike and his boss Susan Linson for all of their great work.
In late October, Paul picked up the truck from Roadworks and took it to Anthony Pesce at Elizabeth Truck Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey for paint and more customizing to the interior and exterior. Anthony brought in veteran artist Bill Streeter to give the truck an “inverted” flame paint job, which gives the flames more depth and detail. Using Purple Passion, Magenta and Lime Green, and then outlining everything with Gold, the flames are truly spectacular. Anthony and his crew also installed fiberglass front fenders from Cool Truck Components, painted the fuel tanks, frame and front axle, as well as the back of the visor, and then went to work inside the cab. First, they painted the dash, floor, shifter boot, steering column, ceiling and door panels orange, and then proceeded to add flames to the door panels, floor and ceiling. By the time all of this work was done, November was coming to an end – and the truck still had one more stop to make.
The day after Thanksgiving, 2008, Paul borrowed his cousin Barry’s truck and Landoll trailer, picked up the truck from ETC and took it to T & C Welding in Jacksonville, Florida for the custom three-car head rack. Being a holiday weekend, there were a lot of people on the road, and Paul (and the truck) got a lot of attention during that trip – and the truck was still not complete. It was at that point that Paul realized that he was about to hit a home run with this rig. While at T & C, owner Milton Tolin Jr., with help from his crew (Dan and Layton), built the custom head rack to Paul’s specifications. Utilizing his vast experience and expertise, Paul modified the head rack to work better and be lighter. While the head rack was being built, Cottrell Trailers out of Gainesville, Georgia, built the matching 2009 seven-car “stinger” trailer and then sent it to T & C. After finishing the head rack, T & C further customized the entire combination by adding extra stainless pieces and 350 Maxxima LED lights. Special thanks go out to both Dave Whiteman at Cottrell Trailers and Peter Flynn at Maxxima for all of their help and support.
Finally, Paul took delivery of the truck on March 17, 2009, and drove it directly to the truck show in Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the truck beauty competition there. Because the truck was brand new, Paul had to enter it in the “Limited Mileage” category, which is usually for professional show trucks, which can be tough to beat. Paul ended up winning the Best of Show award, along with trophies for Best Paint and Best Lights. Since then, he has entered the truck into three other shows and won many more awards, including Best of Show in Wildwood, Florida and Best of Show in Englishtown, New Jersey.
Just a couple months ago, Paul left United Road and went back to Fleet Car Carriers. Today, all four of his trucks are back “home” at Fleet Car, and Paul is pretty happy about that (I guess the grass wasn’t much greener after all). He isn’t planning on competing at many truck shows next year, because the truck will be too busy working. And besides wanting to change out the steering wheel and shifter to something new and unique, the truck is done. As he put it, “At some point, you just need to stop.”
When Paul is not out trucking, he enjoys spending time with his longtime wife Maryanne and their sixteen-year-old daughter Pattiann. His company, P.M.P. Trucking, stands for Paul, Maryanne and Pattiann. Paul’s sister Tracey and her husband Drew also live in Port Washington, as does Paul’s mother Patricia. Drew, who is an officer in the Port Washington Police Department, helped us find some of our photo shoot locations and gave us a police escort as well. Paul is also a big fan of Brockway trucks, and whenever he can find the time, he enjoys working on his current project – restoring a 1974 Brockway tow truck with a Holmes 750 wrecker.
Loading and unloading cars is a dirty job. It takes Paul about 2-3 hours to completely load and secure ten cars, which gets him pretty sweaty and smelly, which is why he wanted to have a shower in his truck. Wanting to convey a more professional image, and be fresh and clean, Paul loves having the shower in his truck and couldn’t imagine life on the road without it.
In just eight months, Paul has already put over 80,000 miles on his new truck, even after shutting down for four shows (this “show truck” really is a working rig). Paul’s first “Hot Wheels” truck was hot, but this second one is even hotter. Just imagine if he ever builds a third “Hot Wheels” rig – it might just burn up the road!