Back in the day . . .

How about...

JP courts...

trip leasing...

watermelon loads 'on the floor' on hay...

Union O/O steel haulers...

FASH... Fraternal Order of Steel haulers...

Risk getting shot when the Teamsters went on strike and you didn't...

'Porch Lites' so other drivers knew you had a CB radio... sometimes you'd only see two guys per day with a radio! But you could talk 15 miles barefoot!

Fridgid-King roof mounted air conditioners...

Cab doors with opening vents to cool the cab... and you!...

Aftermarket shift knobs in metalflake colors...

 

yes the good ole days.

i'd like to hear about the 50's and 60's.

 

Some of the memories I have that I haven't seen posted yet are:

Not only did we get green stamps but also gold bond stamps when you purchased fuel.

If you asked the fuel desk for a wake up, many times they knocked on your door with a cup of coffee in their hand.

We put alcohol in the air lines to keep them from freezing up. You constantly had to drain the water from the lines.

In the summer we would shut off the water valve to the heater just to make it a little cooler in the cab.

Nearly every truck had a big old fan mounted in the front aimed directly at the driver to keep from melting down. I don't miss that part of the good old days.

If a driver looked like they may be having some trouble backing in, another driver didn't think twice about getting out of their truck and being a ground guide.

Before de-regulation truckers actually made a good living.

 

Jap Freightliners...

 

That one is fancy. I had a 69 model

 

I don't remember having too much trouble finding a shower. Most of the TSA's ( Truckstops of America) and the 76's had women's showers. Which I understand were alot nicer than the men's. LOL The women's was a private shower and many had a bathtub back then. I started driving in 1978 so, before that I can't comment.

 

Just yesterday I was thinking about how nice it is to not have to drain the air tanks any more. Air dryers were not even invented in the 70's I think. If they were I never heard of one.

 

The Driver knowing how to adjust brakes is a must. A little story here before I know exactly how to adjust brakes. I stopped in western Idaho and asked the shop at the truck stop to adjust my brakes being I was heading west. I went and ate breakfast and came back while the brakes were being adjusted. Took one look and told the shop mechanic you just backed all my brakes off.