The Big Boys

Ah yes, the White Road Commander and Road Boss.....That is going back awhile.

 

Ah the memories, yes I remember most all those outfits and worked for some of them, like C&H ( never ran empty unless we wanted, since it was %, altough we would sometimes double or triple up from a bad area to a good area, one would haul the trailers, and another would haul the tractors minus the stacks, then the ones being hauled would pay for the fuel.) Jay Lines when they were out of Amarillo, also ICCC who was a sister company to Crete when Crete was all O/O, and yes I remember well Scheinder when they were union and out of Green Bay, Wisc., ran those 903 cummins, and wore green uniforms, and they used to tell me that if their hair or shoes got to looking bad Mr. Scheinder would call their attention to it. Oh what a time or was it I was just younger then?

 

Schneider Transport is still around, although with just a few drivers left. And they're still union. I talked to one of them last week in Green Bay. His truck was getting worked on and he was getting paid by the hour to wait.

The way to tell a Schneider Transport from a Schneider National truck is that on the side of the truck, there's a square-looking black and yellow "S" decal. Other than that, the trucks look the same.

 

Speaking of Road Commodes and International Transport, this was me about 1980

 

Whewee that is a sharp commode, and I T was one of the biggest back then. They say with alzheimers you return back to an earlier time in life, sort of something to look forward to isn't it.

 

I remember when Werner had some nice 359 petes and you could'nt go done the highway in new england without seeing a saint johnsbury truck.

 

Things were a lot different back then. I just wish I could remember more of it! LOL!!

I remember when Crete had the cheapest COE Freightliners you could buy- not even a front bumper. Gordon was Gordon's Fast Freight & they had a #####in narrow nose Pete. Everybody made fun of Willis Shaw drivers like they make fun of Swift drivers now. Way less control, fewer rules, no drug testing and some actual brotherhood between drivers.

When I think that after all these years I'm back driving, for the company I'm with (I remember seeing the first two trucks my boss owned go by when I was a teenager working on the family ranch and thinking they were awesome, all polish & chrome) and loving it, I cant help but feel that life is as entertaining as it is weird.

 

Its fun hearing the old names in trucking, some of which never went away. You hear alot about lease purchase. I did my first and last lease purchase with MIDWESTERN DISTRUBUTION, in 1978. If you can remember way back then, you also remember it took an act of Congress to shut them down. They were known as Dollar a Truck company, because all it took was a dollar down to lease your truck. Mine had a new paint job, in any color I wanted. a 290 Cummings, no trailer brake(because drivers used it instead of the service breaks) and would slow down if there was a hill 10 miles ahead. Single bunk, flat top cabover with a nine speed. ####, I loved that truck.

Safe miles to you all,

Larry

 

Yup I was behind one pulling a morning glory trailer today, we both had to make a left. I told him on the radio, this would be a good spot for a stoplight, he agreed. When he rolled left I saw the decal, and said your union good for you. The local teamsters locked them out, in 03 or 04, front page news. They worked something out , maybe let the old hands work to retirement.

 

wasn't there some new guy hired to transport that was posting on some schneider forum a couple of years ago? don't they have some reason that they HAVE to keep transport open, like some accounts that are worth big bucks and only accept ST trucks?