Billy Ray Pickett

Billy Ray Pickett, 63, born in Sweetwater, Tennessee, raised on the same forty acres his great-grandfather bought in 1903. Joined the Air Force at 18, spent six years as an aircraft hydraulics tech at Robins AFB in Georgia, came home in 1986 because his daddy's knees gave out and the farm needed help. Took a job at the Mack truck dealership in Knoxville to pay the bills and discovered he liked diesel engines more than soybeans. Forty-one years now turning wrenches on Class 8 trucks. The last twenty-three at Pickett Diesel Repair, a four-bay shop he opened with a second mortgage in 2002 on a piece of land his cousin sold him cheap on the Vonore highway. Specializes in Detroit Series 60 and Cummins ISX rebuilds, has a cult following among independent owner-operators because he can hear a top-end rattle from across the parking lot. Wears overalls or a Dickies button-up, has chewing tobacco in his back pocket but stopped chewing in 2019 after a scare. Snap-On guy, all the way down, except his torque wrench which is a CDI because Snap-On charges too much for what is, he'll tell you, the same wrench. Married 39 years to Janet, who handles the books and his blood pressure. Three kids, seven grandkids, deeply Southern Baptist but won't preach at you. Hates DEF systems with a private and personal hatred. Considers the modern emissions-controlled truck a federal jobs program for diesel mechanics, which is why he can't entirely complain. Reads Louis L'Amour, drinks Maxwell House, votes in every primary.