What started as a ‘basic build’ went well beyond

It wasn’t something OOIDA member Robert Bryant ever thought he’d own. But after decades as a professional truck driver, Bryant now spends his days in a customized Peterbilt 379 show truck.

Bryant, an owner-operator from McAlpin, Fla., is the lone driver for Robert Bryant Enterprise LLC, hauling mostly reefer and flatbed loads in the rebuilt truck he’s named “Egotistic.”

What started as a basic build went well beyond that, Bryant said.

“I’ve had a CDL for 27 years and been all across the country and even the lower provinces in Canada,” he said. “I bought the truck with the intent of just doing some basic repair, maybe give it a fresh paint job. It’s a used truck, a 2007 Peterbilt. The more I got into it, I found out that someone had smoked in it, so I needed to do the interior. I’ve always been fascinated by the trucks that were stretched. I had this truck stretched to a 300-inch wheelbase. And then there were just little things here and there, like installing over 200 LED lights.”

Florida’s Finest Customs in Tampa, Fla., did the interior work – from the floors to the dashboard and everything in between. It also custom-built the bumper and visor, as well as anything stainless that Bryant wanted customized, even selling him on a black-and-green theme.

“Black and green has never been my favorite color combination,” Bryant said. “I’m more of a black-and-red kind of guy, but this one turned out pretty well.”

Customized Trucks of Tampa handled the framework, while Bryant’s friend Paul painted the exterior of the truck, which took seven weeks. Other close friends and colleagues have also had a hand in the process.

“My 14-year-old son has helped out quite a bit. He wants to drive it,” Bryant added.

Sure, it’s a show truck, but Bryant’s intentions are to help in giving back to others. So he won’t be taking it to just any truck show.

“I actually only plan on attending shows that have some sort of benefit, like the Make-A-Wish Foundation or different things like that,” Bryant said. “The first truck show will be at Raney’s Chrome Shop in Ocala, Fla., for the Road to Wishes Truck Show. The goal there is to raise enough money to grant eight wishes for Make-A-Wish kids. I’m new to the truck shows other than attending them.”

There’s also a family connection to the trucking industry that provided inspiration in building the truck.

“I’m the youngest of three children, and both of my brothers were truckers at some point in their lives,” Bryant said. “They are both deceased, passing away in 2013 from a birth defect that neither of them knew they had. I also lost my mother to cancer, and my father passed away last year. He was a truck driver as well. I built this truck with a little bit of everything from my family.”

Bryant added that he’s happy with the finished product but admitted it was a painstaking effort.

“It’s taking a lot of time and been mentally stressful,” he said. “I came into this with a plan on the basics I wanted. Collectively, everyone provided input, and I would mix that in. We had a few roundtable meetings before we moved forward on certain things. I feel like it came out pretty well. So many people have helped me with this out of the goodness of their heart just because they wanted to see me succeed. I’d like to thank each and every person that had their hand in it.”

Bryant has been doing much of the maintenance – outside of internal engine and transmission work – in his own shop for years, and that will remain the case with this show truck.

“Brakes, suspensions, tires and safety-related things, I do all of that stuff here, in house,” he said.

When Bryant spoke with Land Line, there were still loose ends to tie up.

“I’m still not completely finished with the truck; I still have a couple of ideas to add to it as time goes by,” he said. “I have reached the point where it’s time to go to work and start bringing some of the income back in to put into it. I’m looking forward to making more modifications in the future. It will definitely be a continuing work in progress.”

In helping build that income over the long haul, Bryant credited OOIDA in numerous ways.

“OOIDA had helped me a lot over the course of my career with compliance, authority and drug testing,” he said.

Bryant also said he will be adding at least one more show truck to his operation, with plans in place to start building another one within the next year.

No word on a name for that truck just yet. LL

Land Line’s truck show calendar of events is available online.