J. Ritter Transport

[J. Ritter]

J. Ritter Transport is a company based out of Flagstaff, AZ. Its primary focus is flatbed and hauling agricultural and farm equipment. There is also some focus on tanker and hazmat, and a small concentration of dump hauling.

While not as dazzling as scenery shots, let's look at some garage shots of the signature trucks in the JRT fleet. JRT is an all-Peterbilt fleet. J himself has a few other brands of trucks, but they are not JRT branded, and might eventually be part of a smaller spinoff operation.


The first ever JRT truck was a flattop 379 Model. This truck is the inspiration for the JRT business cards/logo (as seen in my signature), and is still in the fleet today. It is primarily used for lowbed work for medium-sized equipment with some flatbed work mixed in. It can pull heavy loads, but is not the dedicated "heavy haul" truck in the fleet.

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The next truck is J's primary ride, and is his favorite truck. This 579 was purchased new, but was very basic. Since then, it has been customized with new chrome, lights, grills, etc, and has turned into a looker of a truck. It's primary work is flatbed and stepdeck, but this truck can do about anything, and has pulled lowboys and tankers as well.

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The boss's other truck is a 389, and is the primary heavy haul truck for JRT. It was purchased as the successor to the 579, but it was then decided that J would keep using the 579 for its primary duties, and stretched this one and added a third drive axle. This truck pulls lowbeds with heavy loads 99% of the time.

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Yvonne was J's first driver. For her constant dedication and work ethic helping the company grow, he bought her a 389 Pride & Class Edition. This truck primarily pulls flatbed and some lowbeds.

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Another great driver for JRT is Arthur. He was hired due to his tanker and Hazmat experience. He was issued a custom 379 with a special silver paint scheme. It's primary purpose is hauling petroleum products out of Page, Az.

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Here is a regular spec 579 for JRT, some have the aero spoiler on the sleeper, some do not. This one still has some custom options. J. Ritter likes to attract good drivers by treating them well and giving them nice trucks.

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There was an opening to haul trash out of Phoenix, so J said "why not," and picked up a walking floor trailer, hired a driver, and got a good deal on this used 377.

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The latest news for JRT is the picking up of a dedicated Natural Gas delivery account. JRT spec'ed out two single axle 579s to pull tube trailers, and gave them a special paint scheme as well, since they are dedicated trucks.
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There are other trucks in the fleet as well, but these are the ones that stand out. Most of the others are a variant of the 379/389, or the 579 with the black/light silver JRT scheme. Next post will be some action shots, I promise!

[BK Vissers]

Nice fleet! I look forward to seeing it on the road.

[J. Ritter]

Appreciate it, BK. Thanks for commenting.

JRT was busy this weekend.

Here is the original 379 hauling some iron pipes from Phoenix to Albuquerque. Yes, I took a left turn, lol.

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One of the zippy new 579s shuttling CNG between Fresno and Bakersfield.

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J himself hauling some diggers from Bakersfield back to AZ.
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[J. Ritter]

J. kept the roads hot all week. After leaving Bakersfield he drove into the night with the small diggers. After sleeping at his own place in Flagstaff, he made his appointment to drop them off just outside Grand Canyon Village.

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[J. Ritter]

J had phoned one of his drivers the day before. He needed him to take one of the fleet's Fontaine Phantoms to a customer just a block away from the terminal to be loaded with machine parts. After making the drop off at GC Village, J returned to the HQ in Flagstaff and dropped off the stepdeck, and pick up the loaded Phantom. The shipper requested a sidekit be used. J. hooked it up, and hammered down, making his delivery to Raton, NM with just an hour left on his clock.

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After sleeping at the receiver, J disassembled the sidekit, and picked up a suicide coil at the BNSF Raton yard, destined for Las Cruces. He thought that was kinda cool, because he used to have a model train, complete with a Santa Fe boxcar that advertised their 'Raton Route" on the side.

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[BK Vissers]

What is a sidekit?

[J. Ritter]

A sidekit is what is attached to the flatbed in the above post (minus the last picture). It's the panels, hoops, and tarp system that give the trailer the "covered wagon" appearance. Here is a good video of one.

Watch on YouTube

[BK Vissers]

Very cool, thanks for the link!

[J. Ritter]

You're welcome! Thanks for the traffic on my post!

[BK Vissers]

No worries, I have my own pic/story threads as you can see so I understand how nice it is when people comment.