It could be worse

[broker]

OK, maybe I can show some that times are not so bad, by replaying just how bad they were in what some think were the good old days.

I started my over the road trucking career at the tender age of 18. It was 1971 and I probably became one of the youngest cross country owner operators back then.
Always have been an O/O T/T until now.

Now sit back and enjoy knowing you never had it this bad.

1971 GMC COE, for you younger ones a COE is a Cab Over Engine truck. Pretty rare to find many COE's today.
To say they ran like a lumber truck is being nice.
Back then:
No air conditioning, air ride suspensions, power steering, power brakes, cruise control, AUTOMATICS, tilt or telescoping steering wheel, steering wheel was about 2Ft around, no air ride seats, no arm rests, sliding 5th wheel, front windshield so big it felt like the sun was sitting in your lap, no cell phone, GPS, QC's, no storage for extra clothing, a single narrow bunk behing you that you climbed into (not walked into), No TV, VCR, DVD player, you had one single light in the center of the cab interior, loud mufflers, No radial tires for smooth ride, no cool air deflecting body parts, No engine brakes, Power mirrors, power windows, heated mirrors, remote mirrors, carpeted floors, sink, wndows in the bunk area, no nice little cup holders, not even door pockets, headlights that were no brighter than oversized flash lights, no such thing as backup lights and all signs were painted, not easy to take off decals. All steel body so noise was unbareable at times, not only felt but heard every bump in the road.
I could keep going but I think most are starting to feel a little better in the truck driving department.

I'll come back another time soon to talk about just how bad roads and driving was back in the good old days.
Then I''ll talk about the frieght economy, followed up by the frieght companies.

The hardships of trucking and frieght today seem like bumps in the road to me.

Maybe when I have finished this topic others will also feel a little better about things.
BIG JOHN

 

[x06col]

Wuz she a rivet popper with a whopping 238 Detroit. If so I understand. Cut my teeth on a round faced White pulling a bull rack.

I'm amazed at the folks also these days. Relaying to us the hardships of todays trucking and the discomfort. Being "stuck in a truck" with tv, air(apu), showers at most truck stops. Yada,yada. She's tuff these days. Ya know.

 

[Poorboy]

OK, maybe I can show some that times are not so bad, by replaying just how bad they were in what some think were the good old days.

I started my over the road trucking career at the tender age of 18. It was 1971 and I probably became one of the youngest cross country owner operators back then.
Always have been an O/O T/T until now.

Now sit back and enjoy knowing you never had it this bad.

1971 GMC COE, for you younger ones a COE is a Cab Over Engine truck. Pretty rare to find many COE's today.
To say they ran like a lumber truck is being nice.
Back then:
No air conditioning, air ride suspensions, power steering, power brakes, cruise control, AUTOMATICS, tilt or telescoping steering wheel, steering wheel was about 2Ft around, no air ride seats, no arm rests, sliding 5th wheel, front windshield so big it felt like the sun was sitting in your lap, no cell phone, GPS, QC's, no storage for extra clothing, a single narrow bunk behing you that you climbed into (not walked into), No TV, VCR, DVD player, you had one single light in the center of the cab interior, loud mufflers, No radial tires for smooth ride, no cool air deflecting body parts, No engine brakes, Power mirrors, power windows, heated mirrors, remote mirrors, carpeted floors, sink, wndows in the bunk area, no nice little cup holders, not even door pockets, headlights that were no brighter than oversized flash lights, no such thing as backup lights and all signs were painted, not easy to take off decals. All steel body so noise was unbareable at times, not only felt but heard every bump in the road.
I could keep going but I think most are starting to feel a little better in the truck driving department.

I'll come back another time soon to talk about just how bad roads and driving was back in the good old days.
Then I''ll talk about the frieght economy, followed up by the frieght companies.

The hardships of trucking and frieght today seem like bumps in the road to me.

Maybe when I have finished this topic others will also feel a little better about things.
BIG JOHN

You sure brought back a lot of memories!!!!

 

[Turtle]

​

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Boy memories is right! Thanks for the reminder...WHICH

brings us back to our pampered and spoiled drivers of to-day...the A/C breaks down and they have go out of O/S to get it fixed.

Expecting the economy to support their chosen lifestyle complaining when the rates don't match the truck payment!
200,000 dollars monuments committed to comfort not practicality.

 

[gotta go]

One of the surprises to me when I came back out on the road, was that you no longer need to tighten all the screws inside the cab everytime you're stopped.

 

[nightcreacher]

Yep broker, those were the good old days.I was in a 1976 International COE,Hendricks suspension,and it wasn't air ride,my first truck.Although I never drove a truck with the 238,mine was a 90nothin,903 Cummins for you young whiper snapers,climb in single bunk,no tv or any aminities,truck stops did have showers,but no private ones.When you went up hill,you didnt know if you would make it to the top,but wow you could fly down it.Hit a bump,and the roads had plenty of them,your head would hit the ceiling,almost knocked my self out once.If you drove 500 miles a day,at the end of it you were worn out.Some times to tired to get in the sleeper, so you slept on the dog house,thats what the area over the motor was called.
I'll get into the roads.We had interstates when I started,if you could call I 80 an interstate.In PA.,55 mph was actually to fast to be running,road was to bumpy,to many chuck holes.Most of everywhere we ran ,we ran on 2 lanes.
My second truck was in 1981,a 1977 KW single bunk,still no air ride although the trailer I bought did have the air ride.The airconditioner was in the roof,and moisture would drip on your arm.Motor,well this was why I bought the truck,it had an industrial cummins,420 hp,had no proroblem going up hill,but no jake so had to becarefull going down the other side.I ran produce from California to New York,Fuel was cheap,but at 2 mpg,a 1 way trip would cost me 1500 bucks,between fuel permits,tolls and fuel,and I would do 3 round trips a month.Although in revenue was relatively high,expenses at $9000 and that was just road expense didnt leave you much in your pocket.
Were those really the better years?

 

[dabluzman1]

Having only had my CDL for 12 years I am in comparison to some of you old timers a newbie.
Yet I have been around enough years ( 56 ) to have witnessed first hand the changes
mentioned.
It comes to mind that while "old" truckers dream of how it use to be that necessity brought
about all these changes. The necessity created by all you "old" timers.
12 years ago all the new fangle options had already become standard as you guys needed
these changes to continue your job. If the need wasnt there, nobody would have tried to
create a better truck.
So a great big THANK YOU goes out to all you "OLD" truckers who wanted an easier way of
doing this job.
Makes my vacati.....er job so much easier.

 

[broker]

Now this has turned into a great and positive topic.
I am so glad none of you younger drivers took it as I was calling you cry babies, I just thought if I could show you how much nicer it is than what it was, it might ease your pain some.

Keep those old stories coming "good buddies" Yes, we used to call each other that. before someone decided the term ment something else.

Another "veteran" touched on showers. Again, they were like the community showers you took in gym class at school, only worse, no lockers to put anything in.
Almost forgot NO SHOWERS FOR THE LADIES YET.
I remember going to a cheap motel and rent the room for a couple hours so the wife could take one.
Many a time I'm sure the motel manager thought I was washing down a lot lizard.

BIG JOHN

 

[gotta go]

Another "veteran" touched on showers. Again, they were like the community showers you took in gym class at school, only worse, no lockers to put anything in.
Almost forgot NO SHOWERS FOR THE LADIES YET.
I remember going to a cheap motel and rent the room for a couple hours so the wife could take one.
Many a time I'm sure the motel manager thought I was washing down a lot lizard.

BIG JOHN

That reminded me, the laundry facilities at 76s were in the men's room

 

[Wingnut]

Our first expeditor truck was a ford 550 with a coffin sleeper. Truck had no A/C and rode like a sherman truck. Picture 2 adults and one full grown black lab riding in a truck like that for 2 - 3 months at a time. Aaaaaah...the 'good ole days'!!!!

 

[broker]

And,
Back when I started you had one and only one truck stop chain, the goold old Union 76.
No choice (for a place that had everything?)
Pretty clean but best of all, a large paved parking lot.
All the other Ma and Pa's had mostly dirt lots. Just imagine truck after truck flying in and out of a dirt lot on a warm dry day.
Still, no room full of games or cool driver lounges with big screen TV's and don't forget, most every truck driver smoked and you had to sit in it everywhere in the truck stop.

Want to fuel up your twin tanks. No double pumps yet to fill off of. Fill one tank and toss the pump under the truck and pull it out from under it to fuel the other tank. Yes, you could jump in the truck and turn it around, if another truck didn't pull in while you were getting that big rig turned around.
Me, I would carry it across the back of the cab and jump down with it. (lot younger then)
You know how long it takes to fill twin 150 gallon tanks with one pump, FOREVER.
BIG JOHN

 

[pelicn]

I love this topic...please keep it up. Hubby began driving in 2002 and I started in 2004. I freely admit that I'm a whimp and I have a great deal of admiration for those women that came out here when women were "taboo".
Do any of you guys have pictures of your old rigs?

 

[fastman_1]

My first Truck was a 1975 International Cab Over 4070b, 318 Detroit and a 10 speed, Leaked Oil Faster than it Burned Fuel, I sure miss that old Truck.

 

[davekc]

I use to like those old GMC/Chevy trucks. I thought they were so innovating for the time with the huge glass windshield and the wrap-around dash board. Lost my interest on the huge windshield when we found out the heaters were worthless in them. Never bought one but later we went to KW100 areodyne cabovers and used them. That was shortly after we decided the Roberts ford 550 "C" units were a little too small.

 

[Scuba]

Started driving a straight truck old ford with a flip cab. It really sucked when you had to get on the breaks real hard sometimes the cab would flip up. Then the boss moved up to a gmc gas unit and you had to carry a screwdriver and a match book.
the screw driver was to take the distributor cap off the match book was so you could reset the points. Then i went big time and got into a 77 gmc astro with a 318 had to love that truck. It sounded like it was going 100 mph sitting still you would scare the crap out of highway workers if they had their back to you. Next truck was a 73 Pete cabover with out power steering ahhhhhhhh those were the days. THANK GOD THEY ARE OVER

 

[broker]

Hey Dave, talking about that big front window, sure made having the air conditioning on worthless huh?

Don't forget about insulation or should I say the lack of it.
Heat would escape out of the cab faster than you were blowing it in. Add insult to injury, going down the road you would swear the wind was finding all those openings the factory would leave. Guess they felt we didn't need an air tight cab.

Anybody want to explain how to thew youngsters how to operate an 18 speed double clutch?
Made you look like you had Popeye muscles, IN ONE LEG.

Going down the Grape Vine, with no help from an engine brake (Jake Brake) would have you up on the edge of your seat. To make matters worse, those old Astros came standard with a 10 speed, so using gears to help you go down was mute. Never could figure out why they would put a city transmission in an over the road truck. Could be they were selling more trucks for local hauling.

Much more later. Just emptied and we need a little sleep.
BIG JOHN and Kathy

 

[aristotle]

Got my trucking sea legs in a Conestoga wagon riding along side of Ward Bond... it was heck fighting off Indians, malaria, revenuers, etc. Navigated by sextant and dead reckoning. If somebody died enroute, we just buried 'em right there by the Wilderness Road. Didn't give it no-never-mind. *L*

 

[nightcreacher]

Wuz she a rivet popper with a whopping 238 Detroit. If so I understand. Cut my teeth on a round faced White pulling a bull rack.

I'm amazed at the folks also these days. Relaying to us the hardships of todays trucking and the discomfort. Being "stuck in a truck" with tv, air(apu), showers at most truck stops. Yada,yada. She's tuff these days. Ya know.

Col. That 77 KW I had, had a Texas 10 speed,remember those?Two trannies.6speed main box and 4 speed auxillary.This truck kept my drivers liscense in jeopady.I was barred from Pa. for 6 months,that was tough,Delivered every sat in Pittsburgh,needless to say had no PA. permits