**Everything You Need to Know to Get Up to Speed on Peterbilt**

The world of transportation has undergone significant changes over the years, with many things replacing the horse as a mode of transportation. However, one aspect that has remained relatively unchanged is the importance of rivers in facilitating travel and trade.

In this article, we'll delve into the world of Peterbilt trucks, exploring what makes them unique and why they're an essential part of the transportation industry. We'll also take a look at the people who make it all possible, from the truck drivers to the manufacturers and partners who support their work.

**The History of Peterbilt Trucks**

To understand the significance of Peterbilt trucks, let's first look at how they've evolved over time. The company has been around for many years, with its history dating back to the early days of transportation. One thing that has remained constant is the importance of rivers in facilitating travel and trade.

As we navigate through the world of Peterbilt trucks, it's essential to appreciate the hard work and dedication that goes into operating these vehicles. From the truck drivers who spend long hours on the road to the manufacturers who design and build these machines, everyone plays a vital role in keeping our economy running smoothly.

**The People Behind the Trucks**

As we explore the world of Peterbilt trucks, it's essential to recognize the people behind them. The truck drivers, for instance, are the backbone of the industry, working tirelessly to ensure that goods reach their destinations on time. Their dedication and expertise are what make the transportation system tick.

In addition to the truck drivers, there are many others who contribute to the success of Peterbilt trucks. From the manufacturers who design and build these machines to the partners who support them, everyone plays a vital role in keeping our economy running smoothly.

**The Power of Nos Energy Drink**

One partner that stands out in particular is Nos energy drink. This company has partnered with donut and Up to Speed, providing the necessary energy boost for truck drivers and others in the industry. Without Nos energy drink, it's unlikely that many people would be able to get through their workdays without a little extra help.

**James' Thoughts on Peterbilt Trucks**

As we wrap up this article, let's hear from James himself. When asked how he felt about the intro to his video, he was left speechless. It's clear that he's passionate about Peterbilt trucks and the people behind them.

"I just... uh... speechless," James said when asked for a comment on the intro. "There are so many people I want to thank right now for getting me to this point."

It's clear that James has a deep appreciation for the work of truck drivers, manufacturers, and partners who support the industry. His passion is infectious, making it easy to see why he's become such an important part of the Peterbilt community.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, Peterbilt trucks are more than just machines – they're a vital part of our transportation system. The people behind them, from truck drivers to manufacturers and partners, play a crucial role in keeping our economy running smoothly. As we've seen, even small things like Nos energy drink can make a big difference.

Next time you see a Peterbilt truck on the road, remember the hard work that goes into making it happen. And if you're ever feeling overwhelmed, just remember James' advice: "Button up your plaid shirts and hold onto your hats with mesh in the back!"

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(engine revving)- Breaker one-nine,there's some diesel bearshasslin' a chicken truckin a cab-over Pete at 32 yard stick.I'm south bound, hammer-down,bein' cool on the stool.How's it lookin' overyer shoulder good buddy?Wind 'er up and let 'er go, c'mon!Kentucky Cobra over and out!Over the last hundredplus shows, we've talkedabout a lot of thingsthat replaced the horse.But we've never talkedabout anything that replacedthe horse and the river?So button up your plaidshirts and hold onto your hatswith the mesh in the back.(truck horn blowing)This is everything you need to knowto get up to speed on Peterbilt!Toot, toot!(video game music)(bell ringing)- James, thatwas quite an intro we just saw.I know it might be hard, butcan you try to put into wordshow you're feeling right now?- Speechless really, just, uh, speechless.There's so many people thatI wanna thank right nowfor getting me to this point.First and foremost, I wannathank Nos energy drinkfor partnering with me,partnering with donut,partnering with Up to Speed.I don't think I couldagot through that introwithout Nos energy drink.Also, I wanna thank this falcon.I've never met this falconbefore but I saw him flying upin the air while I was doingthe intro and I thought,"Man, I'd really liketo make Nos energy drinkand this falcon proud of me."- You did good, James!You did good!- Thank you falcon.From here on out, I'm justgonna try and make you proud.I'm gonna live to make Nosenergy drink and this falconproud of me, thank you very much.(applause)Majestic.(bell ringing)Who was Peter and what did he built?!We're talkin' 'bout semis baby!(truck horn honking)In the 1930's a guy namedTheodore A. Petermanowned a lumber mill in Tacoma, Washingtonand he needed wood for his mill.Luckily, the pacificnorthwest is full of treesand lumberjacks who cut them down.But once the trees becomelogs, there wasn't a quickand easy way to transportthem to the mill.They were either floated down a river,or hauled by steam-powered tractors,or real actual live, buff horses.I don't know if you've noticed,but those things aren't very fast.And they weren't cuttin'it for T.A. Peterman.So, he started picking upold surplus military trucksand rebuilding them into tractor trailersthat could haul his logs.I hope this is one of theepisodes where he talks fast'cause I gotta drop a log right now.Statistics show that mostof you are dropping a log.Youare pooping.(laughter)Every time he got another truck,he improved it in some way,like replacing hand-crankstarters with electric ones.When the Great Depressionleft a lot of small businessesin big trouble, he bought the bankruptFageol Motor Company in 1938.They'd been making buses,trucks, and tractors inOakland, California.That allowed Peterman tostart building his own truckchassis and thus thePeterbilt company was born.Toot-toot!- Toot-toot!- Toot-toot!- Toot-toot!Toot.The first two modelswere the steel-cab 334and the chain driven 260.And they went on saleto the public in 1939.As you might expect, thechain driven truck idea,didn't work out that welland they dropped it pretty quickly.By 1942 almost the wholeworld was all pissedoff at each other andthe production shiftedto the war effort instead.Petermans sadly passed awayjust before the war endedand his wife sold thecompany to seven employeesbut kept the land thatthe business sat on.Once the war was over,commercial business quicklypicked up. Especially overthe next ten to fifteen years.By then Peterbilt wasalready known for makingquality trucks with strong performance.They introduced the Model 280 and the 350with the long nose cabdesign that would becomethe classic semi truck shape for decades.(Horn blows)The next 281 and 351 models had super longnarrow front ends thatearned them the nicknameNeedlenose.They were in productionfor over twenty yearswhich is probably why youridea of what a stereotypicalsemi-truck looks like isbasically a Peterbilt Needlenose.They mostly ran fourteenliter Cummins dieselsmaking around two hundred forty horsepowerand six hundred and eighty toeight hundred pound feet of torque.(Engine revving)Top speed probably wasn'teven seventy miles per hour.Peterbilt also made cab-overversions with funny bubble noses.See cab-overs were popular back in the daybecause trucking was highly regulated butin 1935 Motor CarrierAct. A truck length waslimited to sixty fivefeet with the cab over theengine the truck would havea much shorter wheel base.That allowed more space for more cargo.And that means more money.But they are not as safe.They are harder to workon and they're not ascomfortable for drivers asconventional curb sniffers.Hmm? (Laughter)When the trucking industrywas deregulated andthe length limit wasextended to seventy five feetcab-overs fell out of favor.You don't see flatnosetrucks in the State much anymore.Mostly just in Europe and Asia.But they call 'em Lorries.Probably because the alllook like Hugh Lauriewho is a famous British actor.As the 1950's rolledon construction of thenew interstate highwaysystem got underway.Smooth paved roads thatcrisscrossed the countrymeant goods could bequickly shipped by trucksvirtually anywhere. Andin 1956 containerizedintermodal shipping was invented.So tons of stuff could beshoved in a big metal boxand moved directly from shipto train to truck to Walmart.- For even this variable some kind of atruck is bringing in something unique.- Business started booming big time baby!In 1958 Peterman's widow Aida decided tosell the land out from under the factory.Peterbilt shareholdersjust couldn't stomachhaving to build a wholenew plant so they soldthe company to Pacific Car and Foundrycompany which is now known as Paccar.Pacific Car and Foundrybuilt them a brand newfactory, just down theroad in Newark, California.Where they'd stay for almost thirty years.The sixties brought alighter cab made fromaluminium. And theUnilite tilt-over cab thatcould be pivoted a full ninetydegrees for better access.A flying bird hoodornament was added abovethe red oval badge. Twothings that unchangedin new Peterbilt trucks until today.In sixty-seven the widenose model 359 came outand solidified Peterbiltas one of the top namesin the long haul big rig game.You could order a 359any way you wanted it.Just like Lamborghini.There were endless engineand transmission combosto choose from and options likealuminum sleeper cabs,chrome breather canisters,tall exhaust stacks and bling ass grilles.The last four hundredproduced were numberedspecial editions with custom paint jobs.And they're worth bank today!By the 1970's truckerculture was a full on thing.Truckers were seen asmodern cowboys and outlawsand everyone wanted plaidshirts, mesh hats and mustaches.They drove long stretchesof desolate highwayand warned each other about highway patrolusing sick lingo on their CB radios.It's romantic as f****!- Breakerone-seven for the sleepy eye?- You got thesleepy eye, bring it on back.- The freedom and romance of the open roadcaptured everyone'simagination and made its wayinto a lot of popular entertainment.In 1971, Steven Spielburg'sfirst movie, Duel,featured an unseen truckerin a rusty PeterbiltNeedlenose tanker chasing a manin a red Plymouth all over the desert.In 1976 the CB lingo song, Convoy(Music Playing)About a bunch of truckersavoiding toll boothsand speed traps was numberone on the Billboardcharts for a week! Snowmanthe bootleg truckerhad bandit, Bert Reynoldsin a Fire-chicken, broughtCB slang and kitschy radiohandles into the mainstream.- (Rambliing)because the snowman is coming too!- There was so many trucker movies thatpractically every seventiesaction star got one.Actually this is startingto sound like a really coolSaturday night, do youwanna watch these together?That's ten-four roger, I'm coming over.By the 1980's though truckers hada scuzzier reputationand the masses shiftedtheir attention to hair spraysynthesizers and teen angst.But there was still onegood trucker, Optimus Prime!(Music playing)The original OptimusPrime was a cab-over semi.Where would we bewithout the Transformers?Frickin' nowhere! That's where.We certainly wouldn't have the baddestass costumes you've ever seen.(Mysterious music playing)Semi-trucks found anotherhome off the highwaysand out of the larger public eye.When truckers took a break from workingthey started to race atlocal ovals and drag strips.Truck tuners cranked up the boost andstarted to roll some serious coal!The eighties also sawthe launch of the mostpopular Peterbilt ofall time. The model 379.Older operators bought moreof them than any other truck.And they were a favoriteon the show circuit.Yeah, there's semi-truck shows.Big rigs drive over ahundred and seventy fivebillion miles a year in the U.S. alone.Delivering sixty eight percentof everything that we buy.That works out to about sixty thousandpounds of crap per person, every year.That's eight hundred andtwenty three inholentsEven though the originalOptimus Prime was a cab-over,A live action Optimus Primewas a 379. Which is......Not accurate to Canon!It's also the truck inthe heist from my sonNolan's favorite movie of all time,The Fast and the Furious.That was supposedly a 379.Or maybe it was a 359.I'm gonna admit thatI can't tell them apart andthe internet says its both.And if you're an experton semi-truck things,please let me know on thecomments below, which one is it?As time went on,Peterbilt started fancyingup their interiors.You could even get fourdifferent dash colors. There was overthree million long haultruckers in the U.S.And a lot of those people live intheir rigs for most of the year.Today these long distance trucksare like tiny motor homes.You can get a Peterbiltmodel 587 sleeper cabwith a thirty inch aisle, swivel chairs,closets, and under-bunk storage.Or the new 579 Ultraloft High-roof Sleeperwith double bunks for driver teams, spacefor a full size microwave,a thirty two inch TVand a cabinet specifically designedfor storing two see pap machines.Now those are for treating sleep apnea.That's a medical conditionthat causes snoring.At the next party you goto, you're kinda nervous,just like walk up to someone and say,"Hey do you know whata see pap machine is?Did you know OptimusPrime was originally acab-over truck?" And then just stare.Just stare at em. It'll workokay, found a girlfriend.Modern Peterbilt trucksare more aerodynamic andmore fuel efficient than ever.The Peterbilt 386 was actually the firstsemi-truck to be designated,Environmentally friendlyby the EPA. So good job Peterbilt.Another way big rigs arebecoming more efficientis by switching to automatedmanual transmissions.(Music playing)You'd think that thiswould've happened earlier.I mean we've had automatictransmissions forover half a century butthey're not traditionalautomatics with torque converters.They're really just what they sound like,Automated manuals that still use a clutch.Fuel economy in these isbetter than regular manualsand the transmission isup to four hundred poundslighter than an automatic. That meansthe truck can haul fourhundred pounds more payload.That means more moneybaby! More money baby!New trucks are starting toget all the new car tech.Stuff like adaptivecruise control for stopand go traffic, forwardcollision prevention,and lane keep assist. Lane keeping isprobably the biggest help for truckers.You spend literally allday making small steeringcorrections just to stay between lanes.Peterbilt and othercompanies are also working onPlatooning technology thatdigitally links trucksin a convoy. The truckswill automatically talkto each other so theycan follow at super closedistances at the samespeed, which reduces trafficand improves MPGs. They're draftin' baby!Let's get into what youreally wanna know about,them big old diesel boy engines!What does it take to hauleighty thousand poundsdown the road? Peterbiltsrun a couple versionsof a 12.9 liter inlinesix engine that weighstwenty six hundred pounds dry.The top of the line MX-13 engine makesfive hundred and ten buff horses and up toeighteen hundred andfifty pound-feet of twistand nine- nine hundred RPM.That's the opposite of Vtec. Hm...They're designed to sixtyto seventy five thousandmiles between oil changesand run on a millionmiles, a million miles,before needing a rebuild.Five hundred is a bigfigure for stock dieselhorsepower, but sled poolingand drag racing semisare now running compoundturbo set-ups and ableto put out over threethousand buff hrs babies.(Engine revving)2019 is Peterbilts eightieth anniversary.Happy birthday buddy.And this past Januarytheir one millionthtruck rolled out of theirDenton, Texas factory.They gave it away toa certified Peterbilt super-fan atthe Mid-America trucking show.- Rick Mclarkin, Peterbilt'snumber one superfan!- You know what? That'sa damn fine tributeto a long legacy of impressive big rigs.(Soft music playing)