Southern-Shaker

[RDY2GO!]

Oh yeah! Greenstein! Out of Pompano Beach! Big green large cars pulling stainless trailers! *lol* Heck yeah! Wonder what ever came of them?

Speaking of ice houses and bunkers got a trucking tale to tell. Bear with me y'all, I think you'll like it.

Loaded corn in Pahokee, Florida and was on my way to Baltimore with it. Normal procedure was to ice it in Pahokee and once again on the way up. I stopped in NC, Robinhood's T/S in Dunn maybe(?), and got iced down again. Anyone that's done this knows that after they blow it they'll water it to get it to work it's way down into the load. So for the first few miles water will pour out of the drain in the trailer.

I got back out on 95 and was truckin' up, just minding my own business when I heard a voice come over the C.B. saying "Big truck, do you know you've got something leaking out of the back of your trailer? I drove a truck for 20 years and I ain't never seen anything like that!"

Looking in my mirror I saw a four wheeler behind me that was wet and had it's windshield wipers running and it had a 102" whip antenna on the bumper. In what has to be one of my best moments of brilliance I grabbed the mic and hollered, "Oh ####! Don't let that get on your car! I'm haulin' battery acid in 55 gallon drums and one of 'em must have turned over!"

The car immediately pulled off to the shoulder of the road and I never saw him again. *lol*

[caretaker123]

Pahokee corn,,,loaded Straight load to South San Francisco about 1984,,, no where to top ice in 1984,, those days were gone ,,, but in Merced, Ca. at the truck stop they had a large water hose to use to use to wet down a load ,,my top ice was nearly all gone,,,,before I took across to So.SF market ,,I watered it down good,,,, receivers bragged on how good the corn looked..,,I started running Ca. like every other OO back then, hauling chickens and hot freight... Had to slip a 20 at the New Mexico Port a few times with Hot Freight....Hauled Back for Joe Carlon who worked for Joseph Land back then,,,also used Western Ag and Alvarez a few times,,,Made RollCall at Colton Truck Stop,,,,,,,Stayed away from ontario and cherry st...............Boy,I wish we had cell phones back then ,,,it would have made things so much better,,,Did anybody out there ever have to deal with that little sawed-off DOT officer In Yuma,,, He had a grudge against chicken haulers,,,
Caretaker's out

[RDY2GO!]

You know what's funny... I'm sure your going to know exactly the spot I'm about to describe Care Taker.

I was just down in Clewiston and when leaving to come home we went through Belle Glade. Going east bound on SR80 there has been a bowling alley in the middle of a bend in the road, before you get to the hospital that has also been there for years. The parking lot has "grown" to include a piece of land on the south side of the building where sugar cane used to be planted. In that "new" parking lot is a fairly new looking, old fashioned truck ice house.

Can you believe it? I figured citrus had taken over, but they must still be moving enough produce that someone thought it'd be a good idea...

Found a link to a picture of an old Greenstein truck. Top row of photos, in the middle.

[Rollover the Original]

I remember Ridge Runner! Good to hear that handle! Then there was Geronimo, Two Dog, and Taz from CXI in the early 90's when they went company and cut the trucks to 68! I think I met Shaker some where off of 40 around the old stop at Statesville and another hand just after I bought my own truck a black 359. I don't remember as I had just gotten off of I-77 and was just hitting speed when he blew the paint off my door but I managed to catch up to him before he put his blinker on to pull off and I was joking with him to just hold on to my paint and I'd get it from him when we stopped on the fuel island but he said he was parking to eat and I joined him then!
This was back in 88 or 89 when I ran the "Little George" handle before I got my arse run over at Harry's Farmers Market in Roswell in '92 and that's when I changed my handle to "Rollover!"

I remember Cat House Mouse and that white with blue striped COE he drove! The last time I saw that big guy was in about '87-'88 at the TA in Ktown when we ran from Big A to there and ate dinner. I had to deliver the next day and he left with Hard Head heading north to Motor City. I think I talked to him a few more times but that was about the last I saw or heard of him. But I almost always saw Cat House on I-75 heading North and once or twice actually in Florida!

And how can I forget the 76 in Wildweed, Fl! Or dropping more than 2 for Ranger! And mysterious stuff leaking out of a trailer! I had a load of mustard from Frenches here in Springfield that I hooked to and headed to Campbells Soup in Napoleon, Oh with. Well they shipped this mustard in 30 gal cardboard drums on pallets but they didn't put any load locks on the load and it was sealed and we couldn't break the seal but when I looked in the inspection door the drums were against the door so I didn't worry about it! That is until this driver pulls in behind me as we're heading up 24 out of Indiana and he yells at me and says "hey driver you have some kind of brown paste coming out of your drain hole and it's flying all over the place." I answer him that it's some kind of hazmat I'm hauling and I asked him was it really pouring out of the trailer but when I looked in the mirror he was quickly stopping his truck and I just about died and had to tell him it was only mustard but he was stopped and out of the truck looking at his front end! I had to get the next west bounder to stop and tell him that it was Frenches Mustard and not to worry! I think he got the message as I heard in broken CB,.... kick..ss....dead...OB.....head! I was glad I had to turn south when I hit town as he might have been able to catch me and I really didn't feel like fighting that day! I might have lost that one!
It turned out that a barrel had slid off the pallet and broken open. It was such fun taking the trailer to the truck stop and getting them to wash the stuff out before they would unload it!

Yeah the things that bring back old memories!

[jbatmick]

I think a woman ran GREENSTEIN TRUCKING , based in Pompano.Fast trucks.
The ferry running from Norfolk to the Eastern Shore of Virginia carried a lot of trucks up until about 1964 [?]. I was just a kid, but remember crossing it with Dad in an early 60's GMC C/Over with a Detroit. 2 speed rear axle. no sleeper, like the old "CANNONBALL" TV truck show.
Remember the ice house off of 95 in Kingsland , Georgia ? Used to give you 2 bucks back as coffee money if you iced there. I used to run the putt-putt motors for the bunker blowers to cool the produce when I first learned to truck. How about the belly mount transi-cold reefers ? We used to all run 40 foot trailers, then 42 1/2 long, we thought 45's were as long as a train when they first came out. 318 Detroits were the ' work horse' engines back then, along with 'shiny 290' cummins ". Cats were very few and far between. Turned around transmissions [ switching the top 2 gears in the tranny box ] provided our over-drive. Mostly no ac , some had air assist power steering, using a metal rod jammed between the dash and accelerator to keep your engine revved up to keep the bunk warm on cold nights.Very small and narrow sleepers, but #### they felt good to climb into after running 24 straight to make a market.
Fueling at the small mom & pop truck stops, where they remembered you, and if you needed to replace a blown tire, you could pay them next trip.We all got advances using paper checks, signed by the truck broker and cashed at the truck stop.No plastic cards.
Remember Bingo Cards and the stamps from each state ? And fuel stickers all over your door.
Mississippi measured your fuel with a stick as entered the state, then as you left. Had to show proof of purchase for miles run in the state.
Good, quick food at the stops, and the waitresses knew your name.
No cb's, 8 tracks were new about 1968. Used hand signals to signal other truckers. Mostly 2 lanes at first, Interstate being built.
As a kid I used to work for brokers at night. leading trucks to packing houses. That was in North Florida.
Lots different, but you know, I enjoyed trucking more back then.

[RDY2GO!]

Now that you mention it, I do believe I remember hearing stories about "Ol' lady Greenstein"...

[puncher]

Boy I sure enjoy hearing all these stories. I remember all this, the hand signals, and using turn signals to let another truck know it was safe to come around, and turning headlights off when being passed so other driver could see better. I remember all the 76's and alot of others having little ice house's some operated on coins, also remember all the free coffee at all the wh@re house's. Me and alot of my friends here in E.Tennessee used to do the produce thing out of Fla.,Az., and Ca., we loaded alot with Tribble bros.,Alverez,Chester Starling and others. Another great time in my life was driving for Stiles & Witt out of Knoxville, they were leased to Interstate Contract Carriers but did their own dispatching, we had a dedicated contract with Revlon cosmetics. We had about 30 trucks and about 1/3 would run New Jersey and back, the other 2/3's of us ran to Phoenix(stickerpatch) and back. We had to run it in 36 hours which isn't bad, but usually had to drop and hook, and do it again(had to stop alot in El Paso and see Lefty,LOL). Please keep the stories coming. Oh by the way I see Eddie from time to time.

[RDY2GO!]

Being in the current employment situation I'm and considering my return to trucking I've been giving some thought to how I learned to truck. Notice I didn't say 'learn to drive'... The man and his son that got me started taught me that being a Trucker involved a heck of a lot more than just being able to drive a truck.

Not that learning how to drive from what I'll call a perfectionist wasn't an involved process. I remember after he got me where I could move the truck around in more than a parking lot we went out on some lightly traveled two lane back roads. The truck was a '74 (I think...) cab over KW double sleeper with a 1693 T/A Cat(the original four and a quarter) and a 13 sp. It's no wonder I've always preferred big trucks, that's what I learned in, anyway... There was a cup holder mounted on the passenger side of the dash and my mentor put an open cup of water in the holder. At first it wasn't even half full, but as time went on he filled the cup up further so that the water was closer to the top. Why? Because he was a sick and demented individual, thats why! *lol*

He kept a wooden yard stick with him while I was driving. If I spilled any water while I worked my way up through the gears, or if I miss shifted and ground a gear, or if I stopped to abruptly and quick, he would take that #### yard stick and from across the dog house pop me in the knuckles of my right hand with it. Then he'd laugh a hardy guffaw and say something like "If my trucks gonna suffer you're knuckles are going to bleed!" and laugh some more.

Obviously it didn't take long for me to get silky smooth with his truck...

He would say that a Trucker was so smooth that he could work up through the gears and never make the cab torque lift or jump and stop it in a slow, smooth, controlled manor. To his way of thinking, it was not only easier on the equipment and professional looking, but if you ran as a member of a team, your co-driver could rest better if you gave him a good ride.

Think one of the driving school instructors will be sitting next to me with a yard stick? *lol*

[jbatmick]

I can remember standing around with other truckers, watching a driver take off, and someone would mention how smooth the driver was. Or, if someone was snatching a truck around and being rough,that would be talked about also. The smoother the driver, the more respect he got. Not to mention the repair bills from jerking a truck around mounted up quickly,and we were O/Operators.Came out of our pocket.
We had pride in what we did.

[shakey1946]

Anyone remember the ol' driver who's handle was, "Southern-Shaker"?

if ya do let me know asap!

yes i do, he was a living legend..i used to know his christian name, but its lost in my memory archives..he built and drove the best and the finest..he was a reefer hauler..mainly an east to west driver..shakey