CAb over

VERY. Magnum in particular.

I spent many years in a Cabover dreaming of a conventional. Everyone made sure I never got a conventional until I wised up and joined a company with nothing but conventional. One cab over was enough to totally and completely deny the recruiter my soul.

I had a flaw in my upper retina which in certain angles hide People next to me in my cabover. Pick one, I had em all. There was a KW cabover with a diamond interior that was refined, well mannered and there you are collecting a trailer to teach the kids how to parallel park.

My last run in paying interstate commerce under Tier one was with JB Hunt. It is not a bad company and I had conventional on its way to me in December of that year after 9-11. A man in st louis rush hour on a friday night took over my left lane I was wanting in due to construction.

The rubber ball he had on the antenna on that S10 saved his life in the night. I stared at that ball inside my mirrior wondering WTF? freeze, saucer eyes looking at this floating ball. Oh (*&^^ horsed the tractor away. but too late. PUMP! Hit im in the truck bed ahead of his Rear meaning that I could have brought him across my bumper and then rolled him under.

JB Sent a insurance man with a check to write a nice decent don't sue me pay out to this man right there inside my cab Insurance man told me it's preventable but with a explanation due to the nature of that particular construction. As murphy's luck would have it there was a work computer just on the other side of the dent I made by punching the left front steer hub into his bed.

One cabover was unrestriced. Fuel pump quit at 116 and if you used the power of the pump as a downgrade momentum you could kick it from 116 to roughly 131 and hold it there. 1995 freightliner COE, 500+ detroit on a manual rockwell 9 short throw.

Miles burg hill on I-80 in PA westbound upgrade was this way... there is a ridge across the valley where there is a Buckhorn truckstop and old Kilns that hae been degrading these few dozen years past several hundred of operation. Oil prices followed by whipsawed gas as everyong converted left him with very fuel he did.

That ridge westbound was a downgrade. Due to the rather standard curve at the bottom exits to the truckstop and Milesburg PA you slowed to 120 to keep the whole thing from wrecking off the highway, then punched it the last 300 yards to hit the grade at around 115.

Loaded it would make the first 4 miles in the hammer lane slowing to 76 or roughly That was where the torque managed to get in full kick in that gear at 76 until I crossed over the top at 55 and regaining speed back towards 120-130 Snowshoe is up there. 3 hours to cross PA line to line westbound instead of 8 or a little more.

That company failed. Before they did they issued my first governer, 61 mph. It casterated the engine forcing you to shift between top gear and the next one down. They did that on purpose to make you slow to 53 to hold gear number 8 and if you went into 9th you ran out of the power at 60 and then lugged below toque and had to downshift again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

I hated the truck. Then I hated the company. Dispatch denied me a comcheck for a labor day weekend. I had a few hundred dollar payroll coming that week. They chose not to issue Comcheks what so ever to anyone. 225 drivers was looking for a job not long after.

How did I solve the comcheck denial issue? I played Joker Poker while on the fuel line at Manning SC. In 10 minutes I converted 10 dollars to 1000. Cash. Thta was a seed money which stopped the debt circle.

They cut off the fuel card and denied me the ability to visit my family in Ocean City that weekend via the Norfolk Bay Bridge Tunnel System which takes you out to sea approx 14 miles from either shore at one point. To see the 30 foot rolling main with a wave period of 16 seconds that night was seriously awesome, scary, motivating and a lesson from God that I was a nobody and living as one would be a grain of sand. Here today gone tomorrow. They were building a second span next tot he old one. Somewhat higher too.

It was and still is my personal favorite crossing in the USA.

The company was paid for cold cash for fuel all the way to maryland by me. They were paid for parking that 18 wheeler. They were paid, paid and paid. My little Labor day out of route and out of loading systems. was about 350 in fuel, tolls, phone card to communicate and so forth.

As far as time off, that was one of my favorite episoe.

Every labor day I think of that Sysco in Pokomoke City off US 13 at the 114 mile marker I think it was. It was my very favorite delivery destination of all Syscos. Apples from central Washington State got delivered here among many other food products.

 

Beautiful Pictures. Bitter sweet to see the three. The top one in particular is probably a '1994. Middile would be best guess at 1990 and the KW at the bottom was my favorite of the three. I can tell the KW was a nicer truck with a decent interior and room back there on the frame to cut out and build a Studio Areodyne sleeper version with a extended stand up area covering those fuel tanks back there. You would be for a certain amount of money able to build a apartment on that frame in the KW cabover. That one would be the one I buy if I had cash money and to choose. I don't know if it has the outstanding 18 speeds with the three splitter button followed by the Under drive options elsewhere on that stick.

I better back off and go away before my emotions get my goat. IT's easy to fall in love and #### hard to stay in it.)

 

Yeah, cabovers. I wouldn't quit a job or not take a job because of cabovers. It's still a truck, and that's the job. Case in point. When I got my union job for Brownberry Bread, 99% no over night, and was shocked when I saw what they were running. Set back axle Freightliner single sleeper cabovers with air ride cab, 325 Cat, 9 speeds. You've seen them, with the 6 mirrors on the right side. It was by far, the worst vehicle I ever drove, bar none. And I've driven just about everything. Who ever sold them those trucks could probably sell air conditioners to eskimo's. The shifter was typical cabover, "find and grind". That truck literally "pogo-sticked" down the road, and the worst clutch I've ever used. Something with the air ride cab, there was no friction point. Almost like a dog clutch, BAM. Just before I left, they got all new conventional day cab Freightliners, which rode great.
You could always tell a driver who was new to a cabover, they'd be running down the road with their right wheels on the shoulder. I agree, cabovers are great for in town, and I've known some guys with some really nice looking cabovers, and you're right, both my 359's( and Western Star w/Pete rear cutoff) didn't ride very well either, but were just plumb cool. The nicest riding truck I drove was a '99 Freightliner Columbia condo. I swear, you could put a cup of coffee in the holder, and not spill a drop.
Oh, one more, Diamond-Reo made a nice cabover, I was told. UPS used them for a while.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5186/5820602987_3fffb55f0e_z.jpg

 

Does anybody know what year JB Hunt and Schneider retired their last International cabover?

 

The retirement plan for those included a trip on a boat to the Philipines.

 

They're probably still using them in their intermodal operations to this very day.

 

Shortly after I parked the #### thing.

 

Years ago I ran up on a cabover out in West Texas, as usual I was in a hurry and just fell out in that left lane like I owned it. Right as I got midways of the old flat deck cow trailer he was pulling it blowed smoke and took off like a rocket. Wasn't long I caught him and same thing happened, enough being enough I split on up to the big hole and made my run. When he stepped on it that time I just kept coming when I made up to where I could see between the cab and trailer I see a girl hanging out the right window with a either can spraying the breather pretty hard. Then the white smoke went to blowing, race was over for sure at that point. I always wondered if they made it to town or had ta hoof it. Being that stupid I figured they would enjoy the walk

 

^^^Best story ever!

 

That's hilarious. I can hear it now, "duhhh, um, Pa? Yeah, Cletus here. The truck done did that thing again while Elly was a spraying the power juice in the air hole".