The importance of networking at trade shows is difficult to overestimate. Just ask Wayne Borsuk, whose Classy Truck is largely indebted to a manufacturer he connected with at the Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) Show.

The fourth-generation owner of John Holm & Son in Monroe, New Jersey, Borsuk has been in the waste management business for 50 years, so he knows what he likes. And when it comes to trucks, it’s Peterbilt.

“It’s a brand we like,” says Borsuk, whose fleet includes nine trucks, mostly Peterbilt. “They seem much more driver-friendly."

Borsuk recently submitted his black 2017 Peterbilt 567 to Pumper magazine, which featured it in print as one of its Classy Trucks. Progress Tank built out the truck with a 5,000-gallon (all waste) stainless steel tank and 440 cfm Utile HD L320T pump.

“It’s very well designed — Progress Tank did a great weld,” Borsuk says, noting that it was the first time he has used the Kansas City, Missouri, company. “Not a lot of companies are willing to do the extra work.”

Borsuk says attending the WWETT Show helped him learn more about companies such as Progress Tank.

The truck is powered by a PACCAR MX-13 engine tied to an Allison Transmission 4000 RDS-P automatic transmission. Borsuk credits that with the truck being so quiet. “The new chassis are so quiet and so driver-friendly,” he says. “It’s like driving a car. The motor is so quiet you barely hear it coming into the yard. Even the engine brake is much quieter than we’re used to.”

Borsuk purchased the truck new — something he believes in. “We buy everything new. We find that seeing as the tanks are stainless steel, we want the chassis to last just as long,” he says, noting that he prefers stainless steel. “The tanks stay clean inside. You don’t have the rust or corrosion.”

The pusher axle is self-steering and rated at 20,000 pounds. The truck features fully enclosed hose trays, rear 4- and 6-inch load/dump valves, an additional 4-inch inlet on the street side, 20-inch top manway, heated valves front and rear vent valves, sight tube, LED body lighting and rear- and side-mounted work lights, and a cabinet housing 300 feet of 3-inch suction hose.

The company, which serves a mostly rural area of New Jersey, offers residential and commercial septic work, as well as grease trap and liquid sludge pumping. Employee Jorge Hidalgo uses the 2017 Peterbilt for his runs. Creature comforts include air-ride driver’s seat, air conditioning, stereo and Bluetooth.

Overall, Borsuk is pleased with his Classy Truck. “One of the things I do like about it is it looks similar to the other trucks in our suite,” he says. “It’s matching colors, matching skirting. It gives us a cohesive appearance to the public. We’re pretty happy with it, but we’ll probably put a few more lights on the next one.”