Hi I'm Jim Wood or as some know me J.E., Gambler, Woody, I started trucking in1955 in Detroit Mich. Then in1960 with Atlas Van lines . Had ten rigs & retired from A.B.F. freight Sys. in 2006 with twenty years in the teamers. It was a bit harder in the 60's but the Lord gave me a hobby that gave me a GOOD living. HE HAS BEED VERY GOOD TOME.
My dad started driving in 1946 when he got home from the service. Them guys had to have iron rearends because the trucks rode so rough. 30-35 was top speed when they were loaded and only 2 lane roads. Them guys were real truckdrivers not some of the steering wheel holders of today.
Thanks, this brought back a flood of memories for me. No, I didn't drive truck but my father did. He started back in the late 30's or early 40's while in the CCC. He's told of all the drivers having to maintain their own trucks. There were several occasions back around 1948 or 49 when dad would be heading back to the terminal, he'd come by the house, pick me up and give me a short ride to exchange the truck for our car. I really thought I was big stuff with my right elbow out the window. Wow, I couldn't have been over 4 years old at the time. Pleasant memories. Thanks. Stan
Wow.....Great video. Before my trucking time in the early 70's but i can still remember some of the trucks. Diamond ts, whites, internationals, Fords, chevrolets, and dodges. Remeinds me of an old truckstop dad and i stopped at several times on Rt.#2 between Toledo and Sandusky Ohio. Greys truck stop. An old greasy spoon from yester year from this era....not the cleanest place...BUT great food with large portions near(on) a bend in the road. When i traveled with dad back then i got to have my own 7-up and did not have to share with my sister. Strange the things a grown man remembers from his youth...as i wipe a tear from my eye. R.I.P "The Gambler" Harvey from Holland Mi....OH and the Marmons, the brockways, the autocars the........
Thanks for posting this. I saw a few things I only heard of previously, like the bunk house. I drove from 1997-2015. I always respected the drivers from the time period shown in the video.
My dad drove before a chauffeurs license was required. Heard stories of stepping out on the running boards for cooler air when climbing the grapevine. Shifted 2 sticks like butter. Him and his 3 sons bleed diesel.
Back in the days when swedes were real truckers and not just a simple wheelman 😊👍 in these modern days its nothing more then a computer on wheels with automatic gearbox and sensors and some more shit 🤮 i prefer old school, i wish i had been born in the good old days when trucks were trucks were and not garbage computers 🤮😂
A lot of similarities with early interstate trucking here in Australia too, most of these truckers were decent hard working men that are owed a lot of recognition for the work they did in those most difficult of conditions of the early days of road transport.
I enjoyed the video. It was before my time. I started driving in 1968 driving a 1958 Chevrolet single axle truck tractor hauling baled cotton and cotton seed from a cotton gin. Those drivers got to enjoy better meals at those truck stops than drivers of today can imagine. Those drivers were professional s and didn't have to go to school to learn how.
1946 federal 25m2 my grandfather drove and my dad following him. I just got it back 32 years later and the old flathead 6 is going to roar to life again!
Wow great pics. The golden years of truck driving. I have 34 years in. Trucking is nothing like it use to be. Truckers were curious and conducted theirselves like a professional driver, not like today. Laziness and NO professionalism at all None. Thanks for those old pictures
Dad & brother both short halers & OTR. I remember the old trucks..cold, drafty, steel dash boards, piss poor brakes, small engines, line of cars a mile long behind you, doing 10 mph at the top of a grade, vinyl hard bench seats, long old shifters( grinding gears)...geezer I could go on. You had to be there.
My first ride in a truck was sitting on my daddys lap at the age of 5 in a brand new 22 model White. In those days there was no power steering and in many cases no heater or defroster. A big heavy robe to put over your legs and a candle on the dashboard to defrost the windows. Turn signals were an option and when drivers wanted to turn they'd flash the clearance lights so folks would know they were going to do something and stay out of the way. When I started driving in 1964 it was in an R model International Harvester with an inline 6 gas engine and a five speed with a 2 speed differential. At the age of 19 I was hooked up to a pole trailer stretched out to 90 feet with 96,000 pounds of structural steel on it. My first week driving truck I worked 98 hours. I was a wee bit tuckered out.
Doug that's amazing I dream how it was back then my imagination runs wild and one day we will not have guys that can tell us with words how it was. In those days
great vidio ..love them old trucks, they eather slept in there cab our a bunk house, I drove for yrs, when I see this stuff makes me wonder if I could have done it back then
i started in a mack f700 1973 model.that was in 1985 out of rahway nj.i was there the day dad picked up the truck new with plastic still on the seats at the atlantic truckstop hwy 11 near bristol va.went by fast for those reading this.life is short no doubt.now 51 and still think like i am 20.need to grow the hell up but no not me .the smell of tires and diesel always bring those memories back.who would have thought.
I started on a 34 chain drive Mack at US Truck Detroit, it pulled a 500 gal tank of "spread oil" with 4 rail ties chained behind and dragged the 24 acre lot for 3 weeks, that was when they evaluated an apprentice, then 6 months as a dock worker/switcher. You either gained the knowledge and the will or good bye. I'm retired now and really glad to be off that road out there, a guy with 30 plus years hit me head on at 60+mph in New Mexico March before last and I just lost the will to do it anymore.
Surely understand. A friend of mine was hauling calves in Colorado , a van pulled out in front of him , he ended up on one side of the trailer , why it didn't go over on its side , the Lord only knows. This man has driven for around thirty years , he pulled to the side for a long time. Don't know if he brought the livestock or if someone else did the job. I do know he no longer drives. Sold the truck and all his trailers.
i have been a trucker for 25 plus years my experiences have mostly been offroad i never ran freight or been a long haul guy there are just so many rules the long haul guys have my respect, it is a tough business . I myself am an anomaly i learned to drive old school never even had a truck in top gear until my 2nd season i have built mines, logging roads, hauled wood with a 5 axle trailer in nw ontario and ran vac trucks in the oilfeilds from sask to bc it has been an interesting life for sure .
I started in a Mack U model 5 speed single axle. Fumes came through the floor more than out the stack. No heat and no air no power steering. lol But you learned real quick to make the turns and back-ins. LOL It was the way of the real trucker to get his or her start.
My dad worked for the Mason -Dixon Lines.When I was four years old he took me for a ride in a B Model Mack.I can see it just like it was that day. I was so excited I couldn't believe.it. Wish he was still here.
Not an easy job, hats off to these men and women,that includes todays truckers too, so many people just take you for granted, i don't, thanks for all you've done and all you do for our country.
Very grateful to all of the very first truck drivers who have passed away that hauled all kinds of different things to market in very slow moving trucks! Thanks to all of today's modern truck drivers that put up with the 4 wheeler drivers that don't pay attention to what they are doing! Be safe out there on the modern highways an by way's I am very grateful for everything that you all are doing! From a retired professional truck driver 👍!
Being 68, I recall this as the norm in trucking. It wasnt until the late 60's that the whole new updated container system took over the "mom and pop truck and trailer" cargo delivery. And living in the SF Bay area. I recall the immediacy. By 1973, it was a whole new ship and container industry bringing short turn around foreign business right to you. The good old days were so quickly dismissed.😔
My dads old 68 mack didn't have power steering or ac and my grand dad logged out of the sierras with it, long tough days those must have been. i agree trucking just isn't what it once was... as a mechanic i see alot people who will go home if the a/c isn't working correctly.
Trucks may have been slower and hauled less in those days but they still got the job done. Freeways such as the Indiana toll road, the Ohio turnpike, NYS Thruway, etc were built end to end in 2-3 years. Today it take a year for them just to do an overpass or bridge.
my grandpa passed away in december of 14 just a month before his 93rd birthday, up until his death when asked he would say the best truck he ever owned was a 58 mack cherry picker with 24 gears, which he ran until 75 whan he bought a cabover kw. he would say that after the mack he had faster an fancier trucks but still the mack was the best.
Love this video..., the neighborhoods look like the one I live in now because most of our homes, buildings, streets, etc. was built between 1900 and 1945. I even get my retired friends old 1949 IH LF330 log truck to restore, so maybe this is why Kelso looks like we still live during the Korean war unless You visit the mall. Ahhhh, a bygone era I miss.
Trucks back then didn't have sleepers, so many truck stops had a room with a bunch of bunk beds where drivers could sleep, or they slept in there truck with there feet hanging out the window because the seat wasn't long enough
My grandfather drove for Associated transport when i was a little kid he would let me sat in the truck from that time on l was Hooked and still am you cant beat truckers god bless them
Really nice...back when many trucks had parts of their hoods removed for better ventilation and you could tell a Ford from a Dodge from a Chevy. 🧐Sharp ol trucks! 🤩
Back in the days before power steering, radial tires, tubeless tires, Bostrom air seats for the driver, and Jake brakes. I drove a few holdover trucks from that era for local jobs when I entered the workforce in 1969, and all I can say is Thank God for modernization.
This is when you worked hard for your money swearing and sweating saying you won’t do it anymore and went home dragging your feet and miss the challenge the whole time you were home. Some of us is still trucking just like this. I prefer my old rig over any other new fancy shiny rig on the road. It gets the job done and just keeps going through anything!
Great video! Grandfather owned Atlantic States Motor Lines in the '40s & '50s with Corbitt tractors. Dad enjoyed fresh cheesecake from Philly when he was stationed at Cherry Point. Remember, "If you bought it, a truck brought!"
I started out with an International cabover with a 6-71 Detroit and a 4x4 Spicer and the guys in these pictures would have loved it compared to what they had. It didn't have enough power to get out of its way but was considerably better than most of those old gas engines. Those drivers were of tougher stock than what we are today.
Yes they were. My daddy in law had a half cab (just a single driver's side cab , no cab for shot gun rider) . Had a 4 cylinder Detroit , 2 cycle engine. Never knew what the trans. was. He had a 38 foot cow trailer. By the time was around him he bought a 57 white freightliner cab over with a 262 Cummins with a five speed trans hooked to a three speed rears. Then he built a 40 foot cow pot out of the 38 foot cattle trailer. This truck and trailer was what you would call "A Going Jessie". Times have changed a lot since early 60' sixties.
my dad delivered tomatoes to Campbell Soup off 106 acre farm on a Dodge straight truck when he was 15. Farm became Rider College baseball fields and tennis courts in late 60's. I started on Emeryvilles when I turned 17 and was pulling tankers interstate at 19 before OSHA, bottom loading, suits, etc, hauling formaldehyde, phenol, acetone, and special oils. Since deregulation, I can't believe how messed up this industry has become and it continues to dig its own grave.
This brings back memories. I bought three trucks from Merchants Cartage in St Paul. Nice people to deal with. They are still in business, but at a smaller scale.
I sometimes wonder what happened to all those old trucks and trailers. I'd be all giddy if I could find a "matching" truck and trailer from the 50s. Especially if I could afford it.
I think that truck driving & motor cycles have one thing in common. Once you've ridden one it's in your blood & you just gotta do it some more. My first ride in a semi was the summer of 1966, 10 going on 11. Dad got a summer job driving for a local transporter just 2 miles from home. He was a day tripper. Hauled loads out of Canada back to the yard where the OTR guys took them to their destination. So dad would call home about noon & if I was there, he'd say make me a brown bag lunch & meet me at the end of the driveway in 20 minutes. I was like Augy doggy, YAh. Yah yah! I'd ride with him & on the way back to the yard he'd drop me off at our driveway, we lived on the main hwy that ran right past the terminal. That was in a 1958 R 190 cornbinder. 506 cid gasser with a 5 speed main & electric 2 speed rear axel. The next yr. Dad got a 1962 white conventional. It had a diesel, I never heard dad say what hp it was but it had a fuller 10 speed, Oh Boy now that was trucken. Dad's gone now & after I put in 33 yrs in an industrial complex, I retired. Went straight to a CDL school & started driving myself. I'm a driver, not a trucker. Been driving for 12 yrs & still learning every day.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this video!! Music by Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings was absolutely perfect also. Thanks so much for putting it on for all of us to look back at our heritage on the lonesome highway.
I miss those old truck stops much better than the chain ones we have now. The bunk house I think is a good idea would still work to a point. Same as a hostel.
Cleon...you are so right! I've been driving for 21 years, although I've always had it pretty easy equipment wise......I was taught by old school instructors. there is very little courtesy out there anymore.
I started trailer trucking in the service in 75 with an old 5 ton 6x6 gas job pulling a 5,000 gallon fuel tanker ( small compared to today’s) . It had a 5 speed main with a hi lo transfer. We’d start out in low and grab all 5 gears then grab the transfer lever with your left hand and the main within your right and at the same time put the transfer in hi range and the main back in 3rd and get 3 more to top out at 62 mph. No heaters or defrosters or insulation with a s canvas top with that old Continental 6 cylinder gas job just screaming out of the side pipe, only good thing was it had power steering. Yeah that was trucking. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. In my 44th year right now and maybe 4 more God willing
I agree. I’ve been trucking OTR two years now and I keep dumbbells and weighted vest on my truck. I workout 4 days per week (inside the truck) and eat as healthy as possible on the road. All it takes is determination.
My hat is off to these drivers of yesteryear. I have had the chance to drive some of these old trucks on the farms and for sawmills around the area. I have a 1974 GMC Astro 97 Cab Over with a 6V Silver 92 Detroit and a 13speed trans. I use to pull my 35ft Beaver dovetail trailer. I haul my 7-G Allis Chalmers Dozer and my 6-G front crawler behind the old GMC. It has the single bunk sleeper and I replaced the old style York Air Conditioning system with a Cartier camper AC unit. The old truck still has the old style Dayton Lug wheels with split rims and tube type tires. Tube Tires work good for field and off road work.
Yes it's true that trucks back in the old days had few if any of the comfort features that a modern truck has, but they also didn't have to deal with the road rage assholes who think their five or ten minute commute to work or home is more important than a trucker's Philly to San Francisco run.
That was a real flashback I can remember some of that was still around when I was a kid. Being a truck driver myself when I run into a old timer from those days I say my hates off to you, I don’t know how they did it. I’m used to driving in rigs that are Computor controlled and air conditioned with air ride cabs.
All of these trucking companies long gone, these old timers had it rough, no creature comforts, no nothing, shout out to the rough riders, back in the day..Prost!
This is a good assortment of pictures it would be nice if they could talk. The story behind the picture makes you look at it more closely. Nicely done thanks for sharing.
Just makes you think about the truck drivers that do complain about the problems they have in the trucks they drive now. Imagine having to sleep with a bunch of people you didnt know in a bunk house,or sleeping in your cab on the side of the road with no bed. I cant wait to start driving. After seeing this video,if i even think about having a complaint ill just think about how hard it must of been back then. That will shut me up!! Ha ha. Cool video.
Different kind of people today...too lazy to think for themselves...have to be told what to do...Theyre not Truckers...just drivers...My hats off to the Truckers still putting up with added regulations and having time for drivers....Keep up the Good work BROS!!
Oh how I remember. Chicago, Halsted and 26 th. St., Stockyards to the South, slattted truck, stench, bleat, 1950's . Red streetcars. Snowballs to conductor's face. Big boys run. Eyes full of wonder.
As a Proffesional truck driver with 39 years on the road it's safe to say that 80 percent of the drivers today, if they weren't behind the wheel of a truck, they would be living with Mommy, living under a bridge, or in prison.
What happened to truckstops that appreciated the truck drivers.I remember free showers and free coffee that wasn’t a cup of colored water makes you think
LOL Dam Merchants I started out with them back in 1966 then went to work for Scroops Express in 1973.Jees this make me feel old.Trucking sure has come a long way since then, Holy Shit was that old man Warner that started warner thats all over the road today
Hi
I'm Jim Wood or as some know me J.E., Gambler, Woody, I started trucking in1955 in Detroit Mich. Then in1960 with Atlas Van lines . Had ten rigs & retired from A.B.F. freight Sys. in 2006 with twenty years in the teamers. It was a bit harder in the 60's but the Lord gave me a hobby that gave me a GOOD living. HE HAS BEED VERY GOOD TOME.
I started Driving in the 70s Thought mid 90s. I Had Family Drove in the 60s. I Early Drivers Realy Was Hero's. 🥰
My dad started driving in 1946 when he got home from the service. Them guys had to have iron rearends because the trucks rode so rough. 30-35 was top speed when they were loaded and only 2 lane roads. Them guys were real truckdrivers not some of the steering wheel holders of today.
Thanks, this brought back a flood of memories for me. No, I didn't drive truck but my father did. He started back in the late 30's or early 40's while in the CCC. He's told of all the drivers having to maintain their own trucks.
There were several occasions back around 1948 or 49 when dad would be heading back to the terminal, he'd come by the house, pick me up and give me a short ride to exchange the truck for our car. I really thought I was big stuff with my right elbow out the window. Wow, I couldn't have been over 4 years old at the time.
Pleasant memories.
Thanks.
Stan
Wow.....Great video. Before my trucking time in the early 70's but i can still remember some of the trucks. Diamond ts, whites, internationals, Fords, chevrolets, and dodges. Remeinds me of an old truckstop dad and i stopped at several times on Rt.#2 between Toledo and Sandusky Ohio. Greys truck stop. An old greasy spoon from yester year from this era....not the cleanest place...BUT great food with large portions near(on) a bend in the road. When i traveled with dad back then i got to have my own 7-up and did not have to share with my sister. Strange the things a grown man remembers from his youth...as i wipe a tear from my eye. R.I.P "The Gambler" Harvey from Holland Mi....OH and the Marmons, the brockways, the autocars the........
I would love to hear a lot more from the folks who did the music. Crisp, clean and athentically old timey country bluegrass.
I believe this is Gillian Welsh singing this song. 🤔 Check her out. 😉
It's Gillian alright but the song is white Freightliner blues
Charming music and really would like to go back in those American 60's and 70's. And 80's
god bless this video Ive always respected the pioneers of trucking...My dad was a trucker from 1956 till 1977 god bless yall
they really doing a great job hun
how are you doing
All I can say is that trucking has changed a lot over the 60 years that I have seen those big rigs on the roads. Thank for the history lesson.
Can you imagine driving some of old gas pots with a flathead 6? You had 80-100 HP at your disposal. Tons of respect out to the old-timers.
Chad Anderson wait what only a V6 on a semi truck wtf?
A lot of semis now are inline 6... but diesel of course most big trucks were diesel by the late 40's though
@@redtra236 actually gas engine trucks survived well into the 60's
Garrett Smith : what??? Very few diesels in the 30's.
Sorry that was a typo I meant to say 40's. There were some diesels even in the 30's though.
From twin sticks to Automated transmission ......life goes on..
When I was 16 I started driving a 1958 auto car 220, 10 speed no air no powersteing. Good truck.
Thanks for posting this. I saw a few things I only heard of previously, like the bunk house. I drove from 1997-2015. I always respected the drivers from the time period shown in the video.
My dad drove before a chauffeurs license was required. Heard stories of stepping out on the running boards for cooler air when climbing the grapevine. Shifted 2 sticks like butter. Him and his 3 sons bleed diesel.
Back when Trucking was Trucking... I really wish I lived during that era to see it, I was born in the wrong time period.
thats soo true lol
hope you good hun
Back in the days when swedes were real truckers and not just a simple wheelman 😊👍 in these modern days its nothing more then a computer on wheels with automatic gearbox and sensors and some more shit 🤮 i prefer old school, i wish i had been born in the good old days when trucks were trucks were and not garbage computers 🤮😂
Anybody can drive a new truck, getting it there with equipment that has seen better days takes a real driver.
Way back when men were men and the women were glad of it.Great music,awesome photo's of days long gone.Thanks!!!
A lot of similarities with early interstate trucking here in Australia too, most of these truckers were decent hard working men that are owed a lot of recognition for the work they did in those most difficult of conditions of the early days of road transport.
I enjoyed the video. It was before my time. I started driving in 1968 driving a 1958 Chevrolet single axle truck tractor hauling baled cotton and cotton seed from a cotton gin. Those drivers got to enjoy better meals at those truck stops than drivers of today can imagine. Those drivers were professional s and didn't have to go to school to learn how.
1946 federal 25m2 my grandfather drove and my dad following him. I just got it back 32 years later and the old flathead 6 is going to roar to life again!
Классные машины,правда?
Rusted n busted Mopars just built a rat rod out of a 1948 Federal motor truck. It looks like the old Diamond T. I have lots of fun with it.
Wow great pics. The golden years of truck driving. I have 34 years in. Trucking is nothing like it use to be. Truckers were curious and conducted theirselves like a professional driver, not like today. Laziness and NO professionalism at all
None. Thanks for those old pictures
No sweat pants or flip flops on these Men
Or gay crocks
Soy free!
And the lot lizard had a dress on!
Robbie Triplett
😂
and they all spoke english
Dad & brother both short halers & OTR. I remember the old trucks..cold, drafty, steel dash boards, piss poor brakes, small engines, line of cars a mile long behind you, doing 10 mph at the top of a grade, vinyl hard bench seats, long old shifters( grinding gears)...geezer I could go on. You had to be there.
Loved this video! Thanks for taking the time and effort to create such a neat glimpse into the past at men and machine.
My first ride in a truck was sitting on my daddys lap at the age of 5 in a brand new 22 model White. In those days there was no power steering and in many cases no heater or defroster. A big heavy robe to put over your legs and a candle on the dashboard to defrost the windows. Turn signals were an option and when drivers wanted to turn they'd flash the clearance lights so folks would know they were going to do something and stay out of the way. When I started driving in 1964 it was in an R model International Harvester with an inline 6 gas engine and a five speed with a 2 speed differential. At the age of 19 I was hooked up to a pole trailer stretched out to 90 feet with 96,000 pounds of structural steel on it. My first week driving truck I worked 98 hours. I was a wee bit tuckered out.
Driving in central Arizona in my younger day there was no DOT or scales so we worked as many hours as we wanted to.
Yes ! Sitting on an old milk crate, the REAL jumpseat !
Doug that's amazing I dream how it was back then my imagination runs wild and one day we will not have guys that can tell us with words how it was. In those days
Me,also b-61 mack
Doug Fever that’s a understatement
great vidio ..love them old trucks, they eather slept in there cab our a bunk house, I drove for yrs, when I see this stuff makes me wonder if I could have done it back then
i started in a mack f700 1973 model.that was in 1985 out of rahway nj.i was there the day dad picked up the truck new with plastic still on the seats at the atlantic truckstop hwy 11 near bristol va.went by fast for those reading this.life is short no doubt.now 51 and still think like i am 20.need to grow the hell up but no not me .the smell of tires and diesel always bring those memories back.who would have thought.
I started on a 34 chain drive Mack at US Truck Detroit, it pulled a 500 gal tank of "spread oil" with 4 rail ties chained behind and dragged the 24 acre lot for 3 weeks, that was when they evaluated an apprentice, then 6 months as a dock worker/switcher.
You either gained the knowledge and the will or good bye.
I'm retired now and really glad to be off that road out there, a guy with 30 plus years hit me head on at 60+mph in New Mexico March before last and I just lost the will to do it anymore.
Surely understand. A friend of mine was hauling calves in Colorado , a van pulled out in front of him , he ended up on one side of the trailer , why it didn't go over on its side , the Lord only knows. This man has driven for around thirty years , he pulled to the side for a long time. Don't know if he brought the livestock or if someone else did the job. I do know he no longer drives. Sold the truck and all his trailers.
i have been a trucker for 25 plus years my experiences have mostly been offroad i never ran freight or been a long haul guy there are just so many rules the long haul guys have my respect, it is a tough business . I myself am an anomaly i learned to drive old school never even had a truck in top gear until my 2nd season i have built mines, logging roads, hauled wood with a 5 axle trailer in nw ontario and ran vac trucks in the oilfeilds from sask to bc it has been an interesting life for sure .
I started in a Mack U model 5 speed single axle. Fumes came through the floor more than out the stack. No heat and no air no power steering. lol But you learned real quick to make the turns and back-ins. LOL It was the way of the real trucker to get his or her start.
My dad worked for the Mason -Dixon Lines.When I was four years old he took me for a ride in a B Model Mack.I can see it just like it was that day. I was so excited I couldn't believe.it. Wish he was still here.
Very cool. A treat for the eyes and ears. My dad was a truck driver and I would tag along. He's gone but not forgotten.
Nothing else like that feeling you get when you deliver that load and arrive back home and see your family looking out the door watching you pull up.
How simple trucking was without anyone tracking your everymove back then.
Your average Truck Driver works a hundred hours a week, we tell the cops we work 70, and we get paid for 50.
Way she goes.
amen true very true
You sir are a fool .
Yep. And now that the e-logs kicking in and the companies and Petro remain greedy, it's time to pack up and move on.
Bring on the driverless truck 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Get rid of the transport management and the whinging driver who sold his soul to the company 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻
OH - I enjoyed watching and listening to this - NEATO - thank you. Have a safe and nice day all. CHEERS from AUSTRALIA.
Not an easy job, hats off to these men and women,that includes todays truckers too, so many people just take you for granted, i don't, thanks for all you've done and all you do for our country.
The drivers who paved the road and the way for us ty to the little man
them old rigs had a style all their own.
Very grateful to all of the very first truck drivers who have passed away that hauled all kinds of different things to market in very slow moving trucks! Thanks to all of today's modern truck drivers that put up with the 4 wheeler drivers that don't pay attention to what they are doing! Be safe out there on the modern highways an by way's I am very grateful for everything that you all are doing! From a retired professional truck driver 👍!
Nothing like the old school truckers the first truck I drove was a b model mack still love my mack trucks god bless all the truckers 😁🤗
Being 68, I recall this as the norm in trucking. It wasnt until the late 60's that the whole new updated container system took over the "mom and pop truck and trailer" cargo delivery. And living in the SF Bay area. I recall the immediacy. By 1973, it was a whole new ship and container industry bringing short turn around foreign business right to you. The good old days were so quickly dismissed.😔
I wish that I would have paid more attention to my grandfather when he told stories of his trucking career.
My dads old 68 mack didn't have power steering or ac and my grand dad logged out of the sierras with it, long tough days those must have been. i agree trucking just isn't what it once was... as a mechanic i see alot people who will go home if the a/c isn't working correctly.
As a retired truck driver, it would have been fun to drive one of those old trucks for just one day. It would have been a real experience.
Эх,если б ещё что понятно было ....
I love the old school song. I wood like to bay the By the album of that song even more than all truck driving songs
2 transmissions 1 up 1down equals a split
Trucks may have been slower and hauled less in those days but they still got the job done. Freeways such as the Indiana toll road, the Ohio turnpike, NYS Thruway, etc were built end to end in 2-3 years. Today it take a year for them just to do an overpass or bridge.
I drove an F700 Mack and the truck was actually the truck was fast.
some did have optional higher gearing, others just pushed them to higher rpms. Macks were pretty good trucks.
my grandpa passed away in december of 14 just a month before his 93rd birthday, up until his death when asked he would say the best truck he ever owned was a 58 mack cherry picker with 24 gears, which he ran until 75 whan he bought a cabover kw. he would say that after the mack he had faster an fancier trucks but still the mack was the best.
my grandpa also said that when he first got the 24spd mack that it was a b-t-h but after he got used to it he said you could not beat that s.o.b
Love this video..., the neighborhoods look like the one I live in now because most of our homes, buildings, streets, etc. was built between 1900 and 1945.
I even get my retired friends old 1949 IH LF330 log truck to restore, so maybe this is why Kelso looks like we still live during the Korean war unless You visit the mall.
Ahhhh, a bygone era I miss.
Trucks back then didn't have sleepers, so many truck stops had a room with a bunch of bunk beds where drivers could sleep, or they slept in there truck with there feet hanging out the window because the seat wasn't long enough
Yes! Yes Sir!
God Bless ‘em those
Big Rig Driver’s who served a life time behind that wheel
Amen!
My first truck was a 1960 White Freightliner day cab, hauling lumber and cross ties.
What fabulous photographs...I'm not a trucker, but love seeing and hearing about the history of the industry....
Those were the days my friend, we taught they'll never end....
Great upload. Truckers with a cap and tie...makes them look so professional.
My grandfather drove for Associated transport when i was a little kid he would let me sat in the truck from that time on l was Hooked and still am you cant beat truckers god bless them
Mad respect for all you Truck Drivers out there! 💪
Really nice...back when many trucks had parts of their hoods removed for better ventilation and you could tell a Ford from a Dodge from a Chevy. 🧐Sharp ol trucks! 🤩
Back in the days before power steering, radial tires, tubeless tires, Bostrom air seats for the driver, and Jake brakes. I drove a few holdover trucks from that era for local jobs when I entered the workforce in 1969, and all I can say is Thank God for modernization.
The song is called White Freightliner Blues. Originally by Townes Van Zandt but I think this is Gillian Welch. Cool video
Matt Davis it is the underated Gillian
Yes, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: Snow on Albuquerque Album
😅checkout Bobby Bares version of that song
This is when you worked hard for your money swearing and sweating saying you won’t do it anymore and went home dragging your feet and miss the challenge the whole time you were home. Some of us is still trucking just like this. I prefer my old rig over any other new fancy shiny rig on the road. It gets the job done and just keeps going through anything!
Great video! Grandfather owned Atlantic States Motor Lines in the '40s & '50s with Corbitt tractors. Dad enjoyed fresh cheesecake from Philly when he was stationed at Cherry Point. Remember, "If you bought it, a truck brought!"
Ah the good old days, back when truckers helped each other. No one was ever stuck on the side of the road.
I started out with an International cabover with a 6-71 Detroit and a 4x4 Spicer and the guys in these pictures would have loved it compared to what they had. It didn't have enough power to get out of its way but was considerably better than most of those old gas engines. Those drivers were of tougher stock than what we are today.
Yes they were. My daddy in law had a half cab (just a single driver's side cab , no cab for shot gun rider) . Had a 4 cylinder Detroit , 2 cycle engine. Never knew what the trans. was. He had a 38 foot cow trailer. By the time was around him he bought a 57 white freightliner cab over with a 262 Cummins with a five speed trans hooked to a three speed rears. Then he built a 40 foot cow pot out of the 38 foot cattle trailer. This truck and trailer was what you would call "A Going Jessie". Times have changed a lot since early 60' sixties.
my dad delivered tomatoes to Campbell Soup off 106 acre farm on a Dodge straight truck when he was 15. Farm became Rider College baseball fields and tennis courts in late 60's. I started on Emeryvilles when I turned 17 and was pulling tankers interstate at 19 before OSHA, bottom loading, suits, etc, hauling formaldehyde, phenol, acetone, and special oils. Since deregulation, I can't believe how messed up this industry has become and it continues to dig its own grave.
speedskiff2 deregulation killed trucking
This brings back memories. I bought three trucks from Merchants Cartage in St Paul. Nice people to deal with. They are still in business, but at a smaller scale.
Man, this some OLD time trucking for sure. Very nice job.
I sometimes wonder what happened to all those old trucks and trailers. I'd be all giddy if I could find a "matching" truck and trailer from the 50s. Especially if I could afford it.
Back in the days when many trucks only had a small round mirror extending from the driver's side door.
I think that truck driving & motor cycles have one thing in common. Once you've ridden one it's in your blood & you just gotta do it some more. My first ride in a semi was the summer of 1966, 10 going on 11. Dad got a summer job driving for a local transporter just 2 miles from home. He was a day tripper. Hauled loads out of Canada back to the yard where the OTR guys took them to their destination. So dad would call home about noon & if I was there, he'd say make me a brown bag lunch & meet me at the end of the driveway in 20 minutes. I was like Augy doggy, YAh. Yah yah! I'd ride with him & on the way back to the yard he'd drop me off at our driveway, we lived on the main hwy that ran right past the terminal. That was in a 1958 R 190 cornbinder. 506 cid gasser with a 5 speed main & electric 2 speed rear axel. The next yr. Dad got a 1962 white conventional. It had a diesel, I never heard dad say what hp it was but it had a fuller 10 speed, Oh Boy now that was trucken. Dad's gone now & after I put in 33 yrs in an industrial complex, I retired. Went straight to a CDL school & started driving myself. I'm a driver, not a trucker. Been driving for 12 yrs & still learning every day.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this video!! Music by Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings was absolutely perfect also. Thanks so much for putting it on for all of us to look back at our heritage on the lonesome highway.
Great video. Wasn't a truck driver but I grew up in the trucking buiness, my father was a North American Van Lines agent from 1959-1996.
Wonderful slide show and soundtrack..!
Love these songs about the old trucks they were truck drivers then
I miss those old truck stops much better than the chain ones we have now. The bunk house I think is a good idea would still work to a point. Same as a hostel.
Great video. That's when trucks were trucks!!!
Cleon...you are so right! I've been driving for 21 years, although I've always had it pretty easy equipment wise......I was taught by old school instructors. there is very little courtesy out there anymore.
That was awesome :-)! Thanks for the look back. Man, if a '30s Teamster could see us, now...
Those old beds in the bunk house remind me of a platoon bay in the Army Reserves at Fort Drum in the old wooden barracks
That was really sweet. I loved the music too! My mom lived in that era.
As a third generation freight hauler this sure brings back some good memories!
These were before you were born
Boy do us new bloods have it good these days. Hats off to the classics my brothers.
Gappie Al Kebabi what you do for a living mr high iq.
I started trailer trucking in the service in 75 with an old 5 ton 6x6 gas job pulling a 5,000 gallon fuel tanker ( small compared to today’s) . It had a 5 speed main with a hi lo transfer. We’d start out in low and grab all 5 gears then grab the transfer lever with your left hand and the main within your right and at the same time put the transfer in hi range and the main back in 3rd and get 3 more to top out at 62 mph. No heaters or defrosters or insulation with a s canvas top with that old Continental 6 cylinder gas job just screaming out of the side pipe, only good thing was it had power steering. Yeah that was trucking. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. In my 44th year right now and maybe 4 more God willing
All slim and fit looking not like the blimps in modern trucks!
I agree. I’ve been trucking OTR two years now and I keep dumbbells and weighted vest on my truck. I workout 4 days per week (inside the truck) and eat as healthy as possible on the road. All it takes is determination.
Rally sharp old pics, thanks for sharing.
Great stuff thanks for taking the time to show us all.
My hat is off to these drivers of yesteryear. I have had the chance to drive some of these old trucks on the farms and for sawmills around the area. I have a 1974 GMC Astro 97 Cab Over with a 6V Silver 92 Detroit and a 13speed trans. I use to pull my 35ft Beaver dovetail trailer. I haul my 7-G Allis Chalmers Dozer and my 6-G front crawler behind the old GMC. It has the single bunk sleeper and I replaced the old style York Air Conditioning system with a Cartier camper AC unit. The old truck still has the old style Dayton Lug wheels with split rims and tube type tires. Tube Tires work good for field and off road work.
Aren't those ones called a "Crackerbox"?
Yes it's true that trucks back in the old days had few if any of the comfort features that a modern truck has, but they also didn't have to deal with the road rage assholes who think their five or ten minute commute to work or home is more important than a trucker's Philly to San Francisco run.
How true? But never forgotten...
And the world wasn't overpopulated like it is now.
@@littleturtle1610
The overpopulation are usually arseholes.
Brian Sylvester wp
That was a real flashback I can remember some of that was still around when I was a kid. Being a truck driver myself when I run into a old timer from those days I say my hates off to you, I don’t know how they did it. I’m used to driving in rigs that are Computor controlled and air conditioned with air ride cabs.
REAL music, REAL singing ! REAL great.
Who was that singing
All of these trucking companies long gone, these old timers had it rough, no creature comforts, no nothing, shout out to the rough riders, back in the day..Prost!
Warner is alive in August 20q9.
The song is White Freightliner Blues, by Townes van Zandt, covered by Gillian Welch.
yeoldecatskinner my god, these were the driver's and some of the iron I grew up with, I have 43yrs under my belt thanks Mr b,a, for the memories.
I remember when trucks looked like these, I use to drive an old 1940 Diamond-T in 1945.
This is a good assortment of pictures it would be nice if they could talk. The story behind the picture makes you look at it more closely. Nicely done thanks for sharing.
Thanks for posting this video. I love seeing these old-school highway tractors :D
Just makes you think about the truck drivers that do complain about the problems they have in the trucks they drive now. Imagine having to sleep with a bunch of people you didnt know in a bunk house,or sleeping in your cab on the side of the road with no bed. I cant wait to start driving. After seeing this video,if i even think about having a complaint ill just think about how hard it must of been back then. That will shut me up!! Ha ha. Cool video.
Different kind of people today...too lazy to think for themselves...have to be told what to do...Theyre not Truckers...just drivers...My hats off to the Truckers still putting up with added regulations and having time for drivers....Keep up the Good work BROS!!
You are 100 % correct !
Tim Zarifis that's why i turned off my cobra years ago.
They will realize the nite China invades us and they slaughter us like chickens
Oh how I remember. Chicago, Halsted and 26 th. St., Stockyards to the South, slattted truck, stench, bleat, 1950's . Red streetcars. Snowballs to conductor's face. Big boys run. Eyes full of wonder.
Thank you for this - gave me an insight into my family's history+++
Thanks for making the video. Lots of cool pics
As a Proffesional truck driver with 39 years on the road it's safe to say that 80 percent of the drivers today, if they weren't behind the wheel of a truck, they would be living with Mommy, living under a bridge, or in prison.
What happened to truckstops that appreciated the truck drivers.I remember free showers and free coffee that wasn’t a cup of colored water makes you think
LOL Dam Merchants I started out with them back in 1966 then went to work for Scroops Express in 1973.Jees this make me feel old.Trucking sure has come a long way since then, Holy Shit was that old man Warner that started warner thats all over the road today