Anyone ever drive a cabover?

Parked next to this bad boy while checking in at Kroger in Blue Ash,Ohio

 

Who remembers.

reasonable and prudent manner

Rolling in Montana no speed limit.

 

And here’s another blast from the past. This came with my last scale ticket.
1968 GMC Crackerbox.

 

Yes, In 42 years of trucking as an owner operator i have run nothing but cabovers, for over 4 million miles.
1974 White Road Commander 290 Cummins 10 speed, single axle spring ride 138" wheebase
1978 IH 4070B, 290 Cummins, 10 speed, single axle spring ride, 134" wheelbase
1984 IH 9600, flat top 88" cab, tandem spring ride, 158" Wheelbase
1990 IH 9700 High rise, 110" cab, 444 Cummins, 13 speed air ride
and my present truck in the avatar
2000 Freightliner Argosy, 500 Detroit series 60, 13 speed, 110" high rise cab, 168" wheelbase with 1.8 million miles
All except the first truck were purchased new.
Yes the early ones were not comfortable, but conventional tractors had most of the same negative traits(hot/cold in the cab, harsh ride etc.) The Argosy is light years ahead of all the others, and of course the Europeans are light years ahead of us in technology. in their current cabovers. There is nothing you can do about wheelbase, but improvements in the suspension and cab mounting in a modern cabover has fixed most of the ride problems, but most people have never driven one.
There is an appropriate place for them in the logistics chain now. 2-3 day trips delivering whse to locations like Auto Zone, O' Reilly's, Dollar General, any fast food joint etc, where parking lots are small, and filled with cars.
But the carriers would rather let their drivers entry level clobber each other in truck stops and customer cars, so I don't see a change.

 

I just recently bought a 1985 Kenworth K100e, having issues with the cruise control, I got a crank beside the driver seat on the floor, been twisting it, but nothing happens, if anyone knows how to operate this??

 

First truck I ever drove was a Burlington motors freightliner cab over. Drove the International flat floors and the ultimate lemon the Argosy. Going down the road and the steps would open. What fun....brings back memories. All bad.

 

Well than you must have had an Argosy that was poorly maintained, or you are passing on an urban legend.
I have 1.8 million miles on mine, and the steps have never deployed unintentionally.
There are 4 separate circuits that will prevent the electric steps from opening up.
The parking brake has to be set
The truck has to be level
The door has to be in the open position
Neither of the switches that prevent automatic deployment can be depressed.
If something gets in the way of the closing steps, like someones hand, the electric motor senses it and stops motion. I have demonstrated that safety feature dozens of times to DOT officers and others.

It is possible if the linkage on the end of the motor is broken for the steps to come partway from the closed position. But of course you would have easily spotted that on your pretrip inspection. And then you would have followed the instructions on the inside of the baggage door to remedy the situation to allow you to get the steps services at your convenience. Most of the Argosy's that are built and exported today are equipped with the swing out steps, one of their most popular options.

Speak with the folks down in Australia who routinely put 3 trailers behind an Argosy with a GVWR approaching 158,000 lbs about whether they are "lemons" or not.