Old timers, was it really better before technology?

Cluck cluck chicken truck was all it took.

 

So WS drivers were the start of the whole she/he/them/chicken hauler pronoun thing?

 

No not at all…. The catch phase used to be … If you was big and tall you drove for Willy Shaw the out law. They use to move a lot of frozen chicken for Tyson foods….. Then there was the real deal large car chicken trucks

 

Wow, sure woke up the old timers. This video is getting harder to find, but this pretty much how it was, except I don't remember the military. Look at all the cabovers! Just hearing this gives me goosebumps. Not at the time, however. Notice the blooper? Cabover Pete is a Freightshaker. "Swindle sheets"?( log books) Most of those companies are all gone now. It was a fun time, 10-4.

 

I only did long haul for 6 months when I started, but enjoyed it, and found it interesting as hell, going to all the different places, got my winch bar stolen by a homeless guy in downtown detroit, had an air cleaner almost stolen off the truck in Gary Indiana I caught the guys stealing it because they woke me up. I worked at the truck stop in Rogers MN growing up, that right there proves how stupid I am, I should have learned right there to stay away from trucks, but I couldn't do it. Moved to food service after long haul, that was way harder, they'd just hand you a stack of invoices and make you go find the 15 restaurants and figure crap out on your own, had routes for that that covered 500 miles and had over twenty stops, got stuck with the Green Bay route when Farve was bringing them to the superbowl, so had to put up with that crap, and as a Minnesotan and a Vikings fan at the time that was rough. I wouldn't change any of it though, I have tried three times to get out of trucking, but I always come back. The truck I have right now, is an 18spd and a big motor, pretty much the same truck I did otr with minus a Cat instead of a Detroit and an 18spd instead of a 13spd. It's an elog truck and I honestly don't even remember how to paper log, its been about ten years since I ran paper, I wouldn't change the elog, how ever, the cb conversations, the comradery between truckers, the great food at alot of the truck stops, and the shenanigans at the truck stops in the back rows, those are all missed. I am guilty of not even turning on my cb most days now, unless I am listening to the tracker (bear tracker uniden) because no one uses one anymore in Minnesota .

 

Time to bring out the big guns, remember "pimps" or tattletales(speedogragh), wig-wags, ether starts, alcohol injectors, 6 volt trailers ( before my time), 5th wheel pins for adjustment, loud reefers with that big belt that always flew off, those little fans on the dash, draining air tanks and the goo that came out, mostly oil, compression releases, armstrong steering, ( as mentioned), hoods and doors that rattled, yep,,we've come a long way when it's put like that.

 

Don’t forget air assist steering, Pop had a Cabover Freightliner with that setup, switch was on top the dash to turn it on and off. In good shape they helped a little.

Used a couple compression release in my earlier years. Sometimes had to give them a little help with a wiff of something, I preferred using gas on a rag wrapped 1/2 way round the breather intake. Used it many times on older dozers and hoes….

 

Don’t forget …..air starters, split rims, bird dogs, dog houses, and a lot TS having fuel island attendants.. fuel your truck for ya

 

Yea I remember the fans, worth their weight in gold at times….