What happened to cabovers?

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-coe-semi-tractor/

 

I have also heard (from a JB Hunt Recruiter) the reason they got rid of theirs was mostly because drivers didn't like them, too bouncy. I drove a 9670 International though that rode as smooth as any conventional Ive ever driven, course it had a long wheel base and I pulled a dry bulk tanker.

 

The 9670 (83) 79 KW
The KW didn't ride too good course it had been turned over before I got it but the 9670 rode good

 

You wake up one cold winter morning and have to take a dump. you have a choice between a warm heated toilet seat or a cold one. What do you choose?

Some places have so many rules they don't have a choice.

 

I've had my dealings with cabovers.. good riddance, I say!
I still, on occasion, run an 84' K100 for my old boss man to get hay for him. I wouldn't do it if I thought anything less than the world of the guy.
Although I do appreciate the maneuverability aspect. I remember running the "tail of the dragon" on US129 in North Carolina running an 84 Astro with a 45x96" flatbed and a Donkey lift on the back of that... sometimes I'd get stuck behind these guys with conventionals and 48s or 53s, and they certainly had a hell of a time with it... could I have done it? Sure. But I certainly did not want to be in their shoes. It wasn't necessarily easy with that setup, but a hell of a lot more so than the conventional/53' setup. Although pissing blood at the end of a day of driving that thing never ceased to freak me out.
As for the emissions, saying it "killed" the COE is a bit ridiculous... they were a bit of an oddity already by that time. What did they do? Maybe speed up a process slightly which was already in motion... a final nail in a coffin which was already nailed shut at that point. Let's face it... if there was a substantial market for the COE in the US, it would be made available. Emissions didn't cause a lack of demand which was already present well before then.

 

I heard they got rid of them because too many Swift newbies didn't know which end went against the dock?

My first truck ride was in a cab over log truck. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

 

I drove a 9670 from 1991 through 1999 in the early days/years of my government driving job. Cat 3406B. 10spd. Bunk the back. Good truck. Easy to drive. Good visibility. In gov, we do not put the miles on as much as OTR. I just ran the length of Cali in it. I would say it was one of the best trucks I have ever driven. We still have it, but it is a back up truck and I personally have not driven it since early 2010. It gets out once or twice a month, if that. I am now in a 2011 Cascadia day runner, supers on the tandems, autoshift, and smooth as silk, but not as much fun as the old 9670. That was a truck. You had to drive.

I am thinking about buying an old K100 or Freight, maybe even an old 9670, restoring it up, and running empty shuttles around SoCal with it on weekends since I am home every weekend. A hobby of sorts. I can put $10 grand into it after purchase.

Cabs are great as far as I am concerned. But, yeah, I have never been in a wreck in one. I knew one guy who got taken head on by a suicideer on 99 near Fresno but he walked away with just a brown out in his BVDs. He was in a K100 that held up. Amazing.

 

Gotta love cab overs. The only truck when it was time for a p.m. You had to tie everything down or throw it up in the windshield. The mechanics would jack up that cab for service and here comes the Cooler look out.

 

I think one of my favorite features on the Argosy is the swing out stairs, as a friend said to me "you can walk right into the cab with your supper plate in one hand and cup of coffee in the other", lol.