Old timer question. Before cell phones and load boards

when power steering first came out
the old timers didnt want it
said they couldn't feel the road
would be more wrecks

 

Finding a payphone in the morning to call in was sometimes a challenge Also finding a pay phone after a delivery where you could actually fit your truck and trailer. One thing too is you could always get on the cb when coming into a city and ask for some local and actually get some good info from other drivers who looked out for each other. Phone cards at .25 cpm where popular in the 90's and useful in the phones in the truck stop booths. Reading a map running down the road trying to find a exit number was also mind racking.

 

I carried lysol or alcohol in a little spray bottle and cleaned the phone before putting it on my face. Some of those phones were nasty and smelled horrible due to drivers coughing, sneezing, eating while talking on the phone.

Sometimes some joker would put a little dirty fifth wheel grease on the ear and mouth piece of the phone. The next driver using the phone would try to figure out why everyone was snickering at him.

Heard some elderly people talking one time about the huge phone room and showers signs. They said it's not hard to figure out what all that's about; there's prostitution going on here; why else would they have all those phones and showers.

 

Kee-rist this thread is making me feel old!

 

Trailers weren't as long as today. Most were 40' or 42'. I remember seeing a lot of long straight trucks running long haul. I think they were probably 40' long. They came out with 45' trailers around 1970? Most long haul west coast trucks were cabovers due to California length laws. There were some long hoods. We could not haul 80,000 (legally). We never turned off our trucks. We were told that it was cheaper to keep the engine running that to stop and start it. Phone booths and phone banks were commonplace. For those who don't know what a phone booth is, it is a group of pay phones in a room. You could have 20 or more payphones in a room. Often there were only a couple of phone booths outside. I actually stopped at a truck stop not long ago that still had a phone bank. I think the phones had been taken out. Most truck stops had a restaurant and each had their own uniqueness. You could make a call for a dime and that later became a quarter. When I was younger you could make a phone call for a nickel. You could not call far without it being long distance.

We didn't have fuel cards. Most of the time you were given cash to get you going or to make the entire trip. Some companies would use Western Union. It seems that every truck stop had a Western Union office. You could receive or send money from any of them. Many truck stops near state borders would sell trip permits. I remember having to purchase a permit for a 53' trailer to go into California not that many years ago. You better not get caught in the state without the permit.

I don't remember any having a TV room. Some played cards or sat around enjoying a good conversation. There were about as many or more gas burners as diesels in the 60's and early 70's. Most truck stops of any size had offices for brokers or carriers where drivers could check in and find a load. Sometimes, you would drive to different shippers and ask if they had a load.

Most trucks were underpowered, but we also had some that would put most trucks of today to shame. I remember some old cabovers (new at the time) that would do triple digits. All three of the major U.S. engine manufacturers mad engines with a lot of torque. Some made a V12 that would run up any hill with the heaviest load and not have to drop a gear. My first truck had a 238 Detroit. You could hear it coming for miles.

The cops didn't bother us too much other than some of the smaller towns. That is why most owned a CB. It was a good way to find out what is going on ahead. You had to have a license to operate a CB and we didn't have 40 channels. You had to identify yourself when you signed on and off your CB. And, you better not get caught using profanity on the radio. We often used hand signs to signal police or other things going on ahead.

If you were lucky enough to have a real sleeper, it was no bigger than 36". In order to get into some of them, you had to exit the cab and then enter the sleeper. You had to crawl over a big doghouse to get into our out of the sleeper in a cabover. My first truck didn't have a sleeper. I had to sleep across the seats. Some were fortunate to have a board to put across the seats. I didn't have air conditioning until later and didn't need a heater in my first truck. It had a partial doghouse that would heat the truck up just fine. It did get a bit warm in the summer. You started the truck with a button or used your foot to push the starter button and killed the engine by shutting off the fuel, if it was diesel. It was not uncommon to see a flatbedeer with cables or rope to secure his load. Try that today. Actually, you could use the steel cable, but you would not want to use rope. Trailers had spring ride. I don't remember any that had air ride. There was a carpet mill that had some unique trailers. The would resemble moving vans today. But, they had the ability to raise the trailers to dock level so they could load or unload from any standard dock.

Today's trucks are much more comfortable, but things were much simpler back then. Communication is much easier today. Most are much more stressed today. Drivers would often call collect, if at all, or send a postcard or write a letter to stay in touch with family. It was a real event when dad came home from a trip. Most men earned the living and women ran the home and took care of the children.

 

OMFG (nod to the new gen) I completely forgot about the grease on the phone thing!! Too f'in funny now but boy did it piss me off then cause the grease monkey was every-freakin-where back then. I thought about it at the truck stop - BANG, got me at the rest area one. Thought about it at the rest area - BANG! got me at the grocery store. Never occurred to me back then to carry a solvent. I kept a stolen shop rag in my pocket. Lotta good THAT did with all the gunk on it. All it did was spread it all over. Fifth wheel grease is funny stuff and it got EVERYWHERE. You could take a quarter teaspoon of the stuff and cover a whole house with it and good luck getting it out your clothes. This lithium stuff now comes out pretty good. Too funny China . . . now.

HEY, Wait a minute. Were you in . . . THAT'S why you carried the solvents!! You knew where you put the ear tags!!

Funnin', just funnin'. You wouldn't do that.

Would ya?

 

Didn't have cell phones or pagers. Your CB was your life line to the outside. You could drive with a group of drivers from west coast to east coast. Talked about what's ahead on the road to where we stopping to eat. Or grab some sleep.

You could have very intelligent conversations on the CB. Smokey reports traveled fast and took priority.

"Plain brown wrapper". Under cover no lights cop car.

Kojack with a Kodak- cop shooting you with radar gun.

Beaver, seat cover. You can guess that one.
Ya. Didn't have to worry about your cab over or long nose truck. Most could drive any if not all on the road.

I Was running to hunts point team driving. Guy I was training got sick, couldn't drive. So the trucks I was running with let me sleep in his coffin sleeper. Then had another driver drive my truck. Made it to my drop bought the other driver dinner. Other driver got better when we let out to Delaware water gap.

Miss the long conversations to keep ya awake, on the long drives.

And meeting up in parking lots. Was a huge deal. Then some new guy would be a mouthy CB Rambo. Till someone spotted his truck. Then look out. Now a days cops enjoy the silence on the CB, easier to get the speeders...

 

Uh, no comment! I did see a pretty good looking gal at a truckstop in GA strutting around inside the building. Big smudge of black grease on her ear and cheek. She seemed to think everyone was staring and smiling because she's so cute.

 

I remember one time at night a Roadway truck was parked in a truckstop, which was very unusual for those guys. While he was parked there, some good buddy was looking for friendship and advertising on the CB. A couple of drivers said, OK, where are you? Some guy said, "I'm in the Roadway truck." Immediately the Roadway driver turned his headlights on and took off for the highway. He had some pretty harsh comments for those "ignorant scabs" that said he was the good buddy.

 

Good buddy and. Dome lights ...

Pickle parks. Lol

I almost forgot about that. First thing the old guy who showed Me how to drive. Said don't mess with your Dome light. Hell it was 4 years before I stopped and slept in a rest area lol



OK OK. Remember when cab over were everywhere. You nose up parked to another cab over. Driver sleeping on steering wheel and CB is always on. Your 2 foot apart on windshields.

Scream in mic "Look out. Head on crash". hit headlights , yank air horn and jerk steering wheel. Darn near give the other driver heart attack. All