Suzanne Rodriquez designed her husband, Ray’s, work truck, “Uno Mas,” which they competed within the Pride & Polish contest at the Great American Trucking Show.From the dragon eye peeking out from under the truck to the fierce blue flames flickering up its sides, Suzanne and Ray Rodriquez’s 1999 Peterbilt 379 “Uno Mas” was quite the eye-catching competitor in the Pride & Polish contest at the Great American Trucking Show in August.
Suzanne designed the truck she and her husband competed with. Ray operates Lil Ray’s Transport out of their hometown of Salinas, California, and the truck is his workhorse. When it came to designing it, though, he was hands-off and gave Suzanne full control.
“When this was being built, I was at the shop every day making sure our parts are coming in, our paint, our electricians are working on our lights, getting the extensions ordered, and the lights connected,” Suzanne said.
Suzanne wanted the truck to have a dragon theme because she’s always liked dragons. The theme flows throughout the interior and exterior, with dragons on the floorboards, the back of the truck, and on the fenders. It took 60 days to complete.
“I was so excited” when the truck was completed, Suzanne said. “As it’s going on, you see a little bit of progress every day and you’re like you’re almost to the finish line when you’re putting the fenders back on and it’s done.”
“Uno Mas” won first place in the Bobtail – 2000 & Older category in the Pride & Polish truck beauty contest. It was the truck’s first time appearing at GATS.
“This is a daily driver. We put in 10,000 to 12,000 miles a month on it,” Suzanne said.
This is the fourth truck the husband and wife duo has designed, which is how it got its name “Uno Mas,” meaning “one more.”
“One more because we have four trucks and this is the fourth so when we were going to name it, it was one more truck,” Suzanne said.
Suzanne doesn’t have her CDL, but she rides along with Ray and helps handle some of the logistics of the business.
“I do our bookkeeping, a little bit of dispatching. I tell (Ray) I’m his storm tracker,” Suzanne said.
Suzanne Rodriquez designed her husband, Ray's, work truck.
The truck's name is "Uno Mas" and it is featured on the engine.
Suzanne had flames painted along the frame and engine, as well as the truck's exterior.
Blue flames are featured throughout the truck's design, including the hood.
When she was designing the truck, Suzanne wanted the flames to look like they were flickering, so they taper off as they reach up the truck.
A dragon is on the driver and passenger side floorboards.
It took 60 days for the work on "Uno Mas" to be finished.
The flames on the fenders form the shape of a dragon.
Suzanne started the truck's dragon theme with the large dragon on the back. It is wrapped around an icicle.
The lights on the truck are all spaced two inches apart. They light up blue, which compliments the flames.
Ray uses this truck as his work truck. Suzanne estimates they put about 10,000 to 12,000 miles a month on it.
Ray contributed to the truck's design by custom designing the light bars and having the lights spaced two inches apart.
A large dragon eye on the truck's back makes it look like a dragon is peeking up from underneath the truck, Suzanne said.
The truck won first place in the Bobtail - 2000 and Older category in the Pride & Polish competition at GATS.
