Jeremy Graves is a self-proclaimed dreamer. “Dreaming about trucks takes up a large part of my life,” the Kansas-based owner-operator says. When Graves was five he dreamed of owning a tanker truck so he could be like his father and grandfather. But not any truck; he wanted to own one that was like no one else’s.
His dream almost came true: his father and grandfather “gave” him his first truck, a 1981 359 Peterbilt. But too young to drive, ownership simply meant keeping it clean and polished.
Over the years Graves’ father and grandfather, owner and founder, respectively, of Anthony, Kansas-based Farmer’s Oil Company, continued to instill pride of ownership even when he became a real truck owner with the company.
Grave’s dream of being the owner of that very special tanker followed him for more than three decades. Then last year, on a trip to Kentucky to look at another truck, Graves’ dream materialized in the form of a highly customized 2007 379 Peterbilt Legacy: Keith Everett’s “High Call,” Limited Mileage Best of Show at the 2007 Overdrive Pride & Polish at the Dallas Great American Trucking Show.
With the opportunity to make a lifelong dream a reality staring him in the face, Graves became its new owner. Now his young son would learn the same lessons he did as a kid.
He got to work right away to make the 379 suit its new name: The Bucket List. He replaced most of the truck’s bolts with stainless and electropolished ones. Then it went to First Class Services, a fleet and customizing shop owned by Graves’ cousin Randy Stroup, where they added stripes in a sleek silver-and-black marbleized design using PPG paint to achieve a Seminole scheme. “It’s the only one I’ve seen like it,” Graves says.
When he’s on the road, Graves rocks out to sounds from strong a Blaupunkt audio system, the amps painted red to match the truck and custom-mounted to the cab ceiling and the 10-inch Kenwood subwoofers mounted in the closet area.
