Giant Holiday Rig Dazzling Flag On Wheels

A Peterbilt Model 379 and tanker-trailer with 40,000 red, white and blue lights is visiting Giant Travel Centers throughout the Southwest, giving miniature American flags and American flag lapel pins to the crowds that gather around it.

"The Freedom Hauler has created a tremendous amount of attention wherever it goes," says Leland Gould, Vice President of the Arizona-based Giant. "People are really thrilled to see such a dramatic expression of how most Americans are feeling. Trucking is often called the backbone of the nation, and at no other time in our history has it been more important to help promote that image."
For the past four years, Giant has decorated a truck and tanker with colored lights arranged in a holiday theme. The truck would make stops among the company's 180 travel centers during the holiday season, and the lights would be taken off when the truck was ready to be put back into service hauling crude and refined petroleum products. This year the company purchased two trailers that will be dedicated for this purpose.
This is also the first year Giant has put two themed trucks on the road. The other is designed to look like a holiday peppermint stick
The design of The Freedom Hauler is the creation of Leo Marquez, Operations Manager for Giant's facilities based in Farmington, N.M., and Bloomfield, N.M. He sketched out the concept - as he has for past trucks - and did much of the assembly.
Utility fence is wrapped around the trailer and the design is marked on the fence to guide the installation of the lights, which are held to the fencing by plastic cable ties. For the cab of the Model 379, the lights are securely fastened by duct tape, colored to match the areas of the truck where it is affixed. The lights are powered by three generators -- two on the trailer and one on the cab -- that supply a combined 20,000 watts of power.
Marquez estimates the project took between 300 and 400 hours.
The truck is driven by several different Giant operators, and Marquez says it's a much sought after responsibility.
"It's a phenomenal experience. When it pulls into one of our travel centers, it just goes crazy there for about an hour," he says. "The CBs go nuts and truckers come by to look at it and take pictures."
When it isn't visiting Giant Travel Centers, The Freedom Hauler is on display at Rawhide Wild West Town in Scottsdale. Rawhide -- a popular, Old-West themed tourist attraction -- is a co-sponsor of Giant's themed trucks.