How much better was it back in the day

Why were rates higher...? Because it took more than $300 to get your authority. The bar was much higher to get in.

Ever since deregulation it been a race to the bottom........

 

The rooftop a/c units would make my shoulder ache, blowing that cold air down on me, plus they would drip water everywhere.

First power steering I had was an air assist system. Not the greatest system ever invented but it worked, somewhat.

First air suspension truck I drove I thought I had died and went to heaven.

 

That’s the new safety mantra now, the drivers back in the 70’-80’ and even in the 90’s before Qualcomm etc were all pill popping, illegal running dangerous drivers.
Then along came the safety conscious megas that cleaned the industry up.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality it was a profession and truck drivers had respect. Yes there were some bad actors but by and large it was a good job.

 

Not really. As far as wrecks, you need to remember a lot of driving was done on two lane roads and brakes were fair but not like they are today.
Bottom line was that a man had to know his limitations.

 

I remember outside payphones with hour long lines, and brokers telling callback in 5 minutes, I remember sleepers where you had to get dressed in the shotgun seat not enough room in the back, or loading to keep your steers light cause the only power steering was your arms. running stretched out to make it ride better, no airbags then.... Or brakes on the steers for that matter. 225 hp stroke detroits with a 4 speed main and a 5 speed brownie. A/C if you were lucky was 2 6 inch fans mounted to the center of the dash, Yea those were the days.... People forget the good stuff,,,,

 

Go to the SAFER web site and check them, surprisingly not really

 

Ha, Ha, Ha, your awesome X1Heavy, and there is very few of us left. Cook the books, and make it look good. And that we did. Ha, Ha, Ha