Companies that run older trucks?

Hey, good for you, and I mean it. Some companies still accept older trucks. I think intermodal isn't picky. When I put my '72 Pete( in avatar) on with a guy in Green Bay, who didn't care about age, he said, I was a fool. I showed him. I did okay. Be advised, right now, older trucks are falling through the cracks as far as emissions, and it won't be long before Uncle Sam puts the lid on that too. I saw a King Soopers trailer being pulled by an Aerodyne KW cabover, and a guy with a Ford 9000 too, so they are out there. Mostly local, as Hawk sez. On a recent CC car trip, I could could on 1 finger how many older trucks on a CC deal. Local stuff, different deal. I saw a farm that was getting rid of poop to the fields, and ALL old conventionals, going maybe 4 miles. While a fan of old trucks as opposed to new, I rented a new Kis for the trip, and couldn't imagine doing that in my 30 year old, non-a/c Jeep. The same is true with semis. Trucks got cushier for a reason, and memories of cc travel in a R model Mack are still haunt me.

 

I’m curious as to which brokerages that you’ve had such experience.
I’ve never had a broker ask for the age of the truck

 

Go to work for the YouTube famous gentry and sons, their selection of old trucks might be just what you’re looking for.

 

The several friends that I know who have their own numbers have to give certain documentation, proof of insurance, etc, to the brokers, all of which would indicate the descriptions( and ages) of the vehicles that are involved. Some high value broker loads I have hauled through my last company were given a copy of the registration before we hauled them.
Routine information mostly. and wide latitude given, probably 20 years old or more.
But the OP was considering using trucks from the 1950's. 70 year old equipment. that would be highly unusual, if anyone noticed might cause an issue.

 

Just for the record, (if you meant “toad suck, Arkansas”
I’m just 30 mins northwest of there and have about any 379/359 part you can imagine.
83/84/97/99/06 running to New England and back daily. Lol
Does it suck, sometimes. But the people on the road that DO talk to you, are some of the best you’ll ever meet. 2023 guys don’t talk to the old trucks for some odd reason.

 

20-30 year old trucks have 20-30 year old truck problems even if they still only have modest miles on them. I am at the point now where age of equipment actually concerns me more than miles. And how many previous owners and drivers it has had. Old trucks generally turn into local/limited use rigs or play toy projects for a reason. A truck you’re realistically trying to turn Seattle out of Chicago with and expect to not be on the side of the road waiting for a $1000 tow to the nearest shop every other week probably shouldn’t be a project play toy or have a 30 year old electrical system in it if you realistically ever expect to not lose your shirt in this game.

 

So to the OP, you have to understand how this all works, no one wants to employ a truck that breaks down for work that will have the customer look somewhere else for a truck to haul their product.

I get the desire for it but you will burn up your time working on it, waiting for parts, and so on with something that is unreliable, you would lose a lot of money when that load is taken from someone who has to move it to the final destination and charges a lot more than you make but less than a tow.

 

and there is a VERY fine line between hobby trucking with a clapped out old project toy that’s still halfway reliable (sometimes), and a truck that’s still new and straight enough to do battle on the front lines of hauling for revenue with every day without sending you into bankruptcy trying to prove a point.

 

Well, I have to disagree, I ran "older" trucks, not as a hobby, it was all I could afford, and they were very much reliable. I think today we are bambozzeled into thinking older trucks weren't reliable, and that's just not true. Even my '72 Pete( in avatar) in the 90s was over 20 years old, I never missed an appointment. One of the reasons I quit trucking was I wouldn't be seen in a new Volvo( or whatever) with gee-gaws and warning symbols I don't understand, that may very well take 8 hours to change a turn signal bulb.

 

I pull with the same trucks every night in the oilfield. It’s a mixture of old and new. For some reason the past 3 days there have been 5 broke down on the side of road and they were all newer ones.

There are some clapped out POS’s and they are out here everyday without fail. My 98 FLD turd box is one of them. These roads and hill’s aren’t easy on these trucks in PA/WV/OH. The results speak for themselves.