A long-haul trucker's only job is to transport lots of heavy cargo from point A to point Z, so the sweet rides they get to drive in must just be a bonus of sorts. All big rig trucks appeal to a certain aspect of everyone's inner child.
Even still, some trucks and the loads they carry are more interesting than just a big pile of manure. Some get to carry really awesome things around while looking badass in their own right. Let's take a look at a few trucks with payloads that'll make your mouth water.
Fire up the diesel engine, throw on your favorite music and buckle up. We're looking at some long-haul trucks that haul things a lot more exciting than a pile of logs or a mound of dirt.
B.A. Barbeque: A Full BBQ Restaurant On 18 Wheels
It's pretty rare that the automotive and culinary communities share space in the same article. Whenever they do, expect any petrolheads' mouths to start salivating. The mad idea to gut out a tractor-trailer and stuff in an open kitchen and a full-sized wood smoker came from the mind of a young Pennsylvania entrepreneur Jake Johnson.
It took three months to strip out a long-haul trailer and matching Peterbilt extended cab truck for service as one of the largest mobile eating establishments anywhere in the world. Most cool vehicles measure specs in ways like zero to 60 times, horsepower figures, and thousands of pounds towed, this truck measures specs in giant stacks of smoked meat. A Dakar rally racer it may not be, but it doesn't need to be.
At 68 feet long and 30 feet tall, this is a kitchen that any executive chef would be envious of. Inside sit ten full-sized grills and an extra-large wood smoker to accommodate customer's insatiable appetite for pulled pork, smoked brisket, and sauce-slathered baby back ribs; with each mouthful being even tastier than the last. That should be enough to justify the countless thousands of pounds of meat these people churn out.
These Eastern Pennsylvania boys tour the east coast cooking for state fairs, custom parties, and charity events of all kinds. So far, they've donated their services for breast cancer awareness as well as different veterans affairs charities like wounded warriors.
Outlaw Grill: Once Hauled Freight, Now Slinging 800 Pound Burgers.
Thought a 30-foot long barbeque restaurant on 18 wheels was a crazy idea? Imagine a custom truck that does the same thing but on an even larger scale, welcome one and all to the Outlaw Grill, the largest fully mobile grill the world has ever seen.
Every piece of this truck from the paint job to the decals and of course the 80 foot hydraulically operated trailer where the grill stores away was all custom made. It's not known how much it cost to build a truck of this magnitude, but expect to at least cover the cost of a high-end supercar.
In its stowed away mode, the trailer on the back of this truck looks like it could contain anything from milk to crude oil. But a push of a button causes a set of hydraulics to whirr into life. Unveiling the world's largest mobile grill lying underneath a metal sarcophagus.
Like B.A. Barbeque, The Outlaw Grill travels annual state fair and charity even circuits serving up mouth-watering meals and has the capacity to put out thousands of pounds of food in a single event day. The grill even has the ability to slow cook a 650-pound hamburger patty for the purposes of assembling a hamburger that weighs a scarcely believable 800 pounds or nearly half a ton.
Big Taste Grill: The Original Custom 18 Wheeler Restaurant Conversion.
If you couldn't tell, quite a few food trucks are vying for the title of the largest food truck in the world. The Johnsonville sponsored Big Taste Grill's been grilling up goodwill wherever it's gone since before any of its competitors even came up with the idea.
The original iteration of the truck was completed in 1995 and global pandemic notwithstanding has toured the country from April through October of every year to grill up sausages to raise money for charities. The Big Taste Grill project's raised over four million dollars for charities like the American Cancer Society and USO among others.
Unlike the last two tracks, which both used Peterbilt chassis' as the foundations for their food trucks, Johnsonville's Big Taste Grill rides on an International chassis with a very nessicary flame decal set to let you know exactly what delicious things get made here. If you've subconsciously opened up a grub hub or door dash tab since you started reading this, we're not responsible for the hunger-induced credit card payment you may or may not be about to make.
Sources: Johnsonville, Travel Channel, Pennlife.com
Next: 10 Of The Sickest Big Rigs We've Ever Seen (10 We Want To Unsee)