Let's visit back to a time before GPS, cell phones, satellite radios and all those creature comforts a lot of truckers can't seem to live without these days.
Man!!!! I started in 1999.. caught last of the good times.. I bet it was an amazing experience in the 70s. No eye in the sky, cell phones or any kinda tracking devices.. Drivers helped each other in so many ways!! Good or bad routes, low bridge areas, etc. that’s what I caught the last of. Drivers eating in restaurants chit chatting and exchanging information!! I learned so much from just talking and listening to the ole timers!! All those folks have no idea how they helped me.. All I have tried to do is pass on the information and knowledge that was passed onto me.. wonder if any of them will remember me… gods speed folks
I started in the early 90's. I ran with an old man that told me one day that trucking used to be fun. I never understood what he was talking about until now. I remember walking into restaurants and trying to get a booth with a phone, looking at load boards on a TV monitor, pay phone booths, and guys that actually used CB's. Those days are long gone.
@@roy1531 I’m with you!! The flying J had those sound proof phone booths.. standing there with pen and pad looking at load board then running to booth and dial 800 first!! How I miss the good days man!! Safe travels man
When I was a young driver back in the 70s the old timers told me the good ole days of trucking were over. Now I’m telling you drivers from the 90s onward the same thing. The good ole days of trucking are long gone.
Sad to think the passionate ones like that guy right there are few and far between these days. True passion for the job. Can't get enough of it. One with the truck. Someone who takes the best care of the rig regardless if it is his or he is just the driver. They say if you love what you do you never work a day in your life and that's his story. Before I ended up taking over operations of our trucking outfit and was a trucker I had that same passion. Like the fella says, "it's in my blood". Now a days there's more that do it for a check than it is guys that are proud to call themselves a trucker
This is back when you had to love trucking to do it, walking beam suspension, no power steering, on most trucks anyway, those trucks would beat you up, I started out with a 71' freightliner cabover, 250 Cummins, 10 speed, 4spring suspension, no power steering, wish I had that truck again, I hauled lumber for our family lumber company, I miss the good ole days 🇺🇸💪
I hauled plywood for champion papers out of Tucson AZ. It was 1972 drove both cab over and space saver cab. At 6'2" my knees hit the dash board on the cabover. The space saver hauling doubles was a real dog. Took forever to get going and got passed a lot.
"Breaker 19 for a 10-36? Brush your teeth and comb your hair mile marker 80. There's a beaver broke down twixt mile marker 49 and 50 North bound, help her out if you hear this."
How 'bout "my tire's shinier than your tire", to the driver that hit the git off ramp, and just gittin back in his truck?!! Used to get a lot of laughs out of that one!! "Eagle Claw" on the flip.
Those old trucker caps they looked the part ,steel guitar were common in Country Music unlike today filled with rock guitar and this BroCountry stuff ,the highway’s were freedom today it’s just fines ,regulations and for the most part bad food
I got my CDL when I was 19 I'm almost 24. I always tell people I think trucking found me. I never thought of being a trucker until one day it just hit me. I got my CDL and just drove and I absolutely love it. But it's definitely not what it use to be. I've always had that old bone in my body. My dad doesn't like that fact I'm a truck driver. I just tell him until you know this feeling of being on the road and free you can't say anything about it. We need to bring the old spirit back
Thanks for sticking it out young gun. It damn sure ain't what it used to be. I started out back in 1977, and decided enough was enough in 2019. I Figured 42 years and almost 5 million was enough. Be safe out there and wish you could have been a part of the "Good ol' days". Twilight Zone, Murphy NC.
Back when hauling freight was fun. Thank got I am out of the game now. Retired in 90 just as it started to go bad. Poor fools today don't realize how bad they got it.
started riding with my dad in ‘82 i’m glad i got pictures to flip thru! still have my ‘96 not for hire just puts around in it an go to a race here and there, when you have something that long it’s like my kid especially when you do allll the paint and body work, stretching it by myself …can’t let it go✌🏻
I hear ya hand! I still have my '79 359 63" Pete. I got her in 1980. Had36 more of them over the years, but I could never part with this one! I did a full Rotisserie on her in 2020. Took a year and a shit ton of money, but damn if she isn't quite the ride now! Dropped a KT-600 in her and talk about eatin' Asphalt? lol. Be safe brother. Twilight Zone, Murphy NC, out.
Great clip! Man, if he paid $70,000 for that truck brand new in the early 70s (when that song on the radio was released) that would be between $400,00 to $500,000 today!
Ain't that something, I was in Indiana getting my truck worked on....the Kwhop dealer did indeed have some at the 400,000 and 500,000 mark....my mom worked for EMD in the 1970s....had a order for 135 SD40-2 model locomotive for Chicago and northwestern.....then they were 347,000 a peice
My guess is this was late 70's, or maybe early 80's. One big difference between this truck for $70, and today's for $170, is that when he drove off the lot with that truck it probably didn't go back to the dealer for 3 years. The $170 truck will be back in 3 months. And they won't have the parts you need...
I started in 1992 with JB Hunt I can remember calling the shipper and receiver try to get directions to them we didn't have no GPS back then and the best thing was no E Logs to deal with and truckers wore shoes and not slides
Brett; No it isn't me in the video. But it could've been. I was answering someone else's comment. Lots of comments attached to my original 2 cents worth about the CDL/Class "A"/Chauffeur's License, or whatever you want to call it. The first rig I hauled loads with was a 1958 Peterbilt, COE with a 220 Cummins and a 5-speed main box, with 2-speed rear end. No power steer, no air seat, no A/C, no radio, no anything.@@brettanderson2621
My 76 K- 100 was $ 33K 350 Cummins, 10 speed, Hendrickson extended leaf, train tractor. 411’s top speed 66mph. Chances are the tires on the trailers couldn’t take that speed on a hot day. 138,000 lbs gross.
What I liked was to see that drivers were sitting like normal people......and not like somebody driving a Carolla, low riding all the way.... I don't like them low riding seats. That is not a comfortable position to be drivin' in.
What a great era, I trucked in the 70s . No computers no cell phones really trucks and paper logs my I miss that and most of all drivers that had there shit together
i had no problem making a living. I was young then and worked hard but in 1993 a bought a brandnew Peterbilt (83000.00) a new house(76000.00) with 3 acres property and a new Harley Davidson FL STN , AND HAD NO PROBLEM MAKING A LIVING
Everyone talks about the 70s being the good ole days. Those that lived it sure didn't think it was. Read the news articles from back then. Look at the historical data. Drivers in the 70s said the 50s & 60s were the best. Just think in another 30 or 40 years we will look back on the 2020s and say those were the good ole days. Find your happiness and roll with it!!!!!! Keep Trucking Brothers!!!!!
True I think my opinion each year or decade they changed this or that and well changed everyone's lives so probably the first truck driver had the "good Ole days" lol to us younger guys yes I like to say what I hear and have very very little experienced 80s early 90s was a great time because it was better than today's day an age
@@dr9299 Actually the CDL didn't hit until the early 90s, I hit the road in 1987, and I'm still out here, and I had a Special Chauffeur's License from the state of Tennessee for years before it became federal law that everyone had to get a CDL. I partied like hell on the road all of the way up until about the year 2000 and after that it wasn't fun anymore all of the whiners and wackos came out, the industry became oversaturated with both foreign and domestic greenhorns who were just out to make a fast buck and now instead of being American trucking it's an international freakshow.
@@relaxationstation7374 I'm with you on the international freak show.....lol. boy when your a young man you think things will stay the same. What a fool I was for thinking that!
@@dr9299 I would have said "Class A License", which is what I really got, but I figured I would get gouged for saying that because most folks who watch these vids would think I made that up. So, I just said CDL because I figured everyone would understand what that was. I am 73 yrs. old, give me a break. This is exactly why I rarely comment on a video because there are guys like you out there that just have to try and hate on whatever someone has to say. Have a nice day my friend. Keep the shiney side up.
I Just said CDL because I didn't think anyone would know what California called a Chauffeur's License in 1971. It was officially known as a "Class A License" in the State of California in 1971.
Have an old friend that started trucking as a co-driver in the mid-70’s for a then company out of Ft.Scott, Kansas. His pay started out at 6 cents per mile. After a few trips west in the junk Freightliner cabover he was assigned to, he ended up taking a Greyhound home after they were stuck in some truckstop out that way for a few days waiting on a load. Seemed like the old saying “ call me back in 5 minutes “ from the company dispatcher got old real quick, come on!
They had best trucks and cars and music I put road house on and ride singing. I was riding with gramp 70s 80s kept biirth certificate in his truck so I could go in Canada
My Dad had a 1979 K100 VIT. Grey over red. Lit up... Lights on the quarter fenders. Pullin that hill...poppin them pills... Doin that deal. And im back quiet.
The 1970's through the early 1990's were seriously the best times in Trucking. I started in the early 90's and worked with guys from that golden era. The 90's truck stops still had a lot of nostalgia back then. Truck stops starting turning in big convenience stores in the early 2000's and trucking, in general, went to crap.
When the DJ is on the air, did anybody notice that Waylon Jennings sign on the wall? I have one of those it was given to me by a record store Owner back in the 70s I just found it the other day and hung it back up on the wall.
@@pawelpawel8892 I can tell you from my perspective this much. I was an O/O and pulled for ICX out of IL. I hauled reefer on a West Coast turn from Seaford DE out west to the greater bay area. I would pull produce from Modesto back east. I went and looked at my old records and was pulling for $2.12 west per mile, and between $2.25-$2.45 back east. If any loads were considered "hot freight". Then there was a bonus of $500 per load. And that was money paid to my rig. ICX took their cut off the top 1st. I'll have to dig and see what their contractual % was. I was making enough money from '81 through '88 that my wife and I paid off our 1st house in Herndon VA. And managed to put down enough and bought several other properties that we rented out. We formed an LLC and I got my own authority in '85 and started my own company which quickly grew to a fleet of 22 power units and roughly 46-50 trailers. I enjoyed pulling reefer and I continued doing that for the bulk of my driving years. But my companies main focus was pulling various stage and musical productions for the entertainment Industry. My company was called Rokit Transportation Inc. When I closed down in 2019. I sold all my accounts to a very well known Co. in Nashville TN.
I've only been driving three years. I just took up my first full time driving job a month ago. I'm home every night and I'm thankful that the company is honoring that request. After a couple higher mileage trucks that needed quite a few trips to the shop the company gave me a pretty darn nice 2020 T800 with an 18 and an ISX 15 with 250k on it. I hate the def but it's a solid truck and I consider myself lucky. I could be in a Freightliner Cascadia with a gutless Detroit and and automatic.
This man and a lot more like him helped to shape my life that KW was the best coming from a Peterbilt Man in the 80'S I met a salesman Barney Barnes Engs Peterbilt Fontana Ca I bought a 84 359 hood from him he was the best he explained why KW was so much superior to Peterbilt I had a 69 KW hood I Wanted to trade in Barney said My Boy and went on to tell me why the craftmanship was so much better Mike Thanks for sparking so many great memories and boy do I remember that radio station 👍👍
42’6” reefer. The “ Iron Curtain “ states on either side of the Mississippi weight restrictions were 73,280 lbs. bordering states where 80,000lbs. That W900 would be about an 80-82 ? I had the same steering wheel in my 82 KW VIT. It’s a small diameter wheel, so it’s definitely got power steering. Those short trailers were very common in the reefer trade. Lots of hand bombing, as the tandem didn’t slide. When I’d be hauling frozen boxes of beef trim I’d load front five rows 3 high, then go up to 5 high till I got to the last 6 rows, then go 8 high. 450 boxes. Hauled from various provinces in Canada, to various states. Eastern states max length was 55 ft, then went to 65 ft total length. These long wheelbase Pete’s and KW’s you see at the truck shows didn’t exist in the east. You’d only find them in the western states. Trucks of 150” wheelbase where the order of the day. All the food markets where from the horse and wagon days, you couldn’t get “big trucks “ into the neighbourhood little own the customers dock. Some guys would make a deal with another driver to take his trailer into the market, and bring it back out. Most places you had to drop your trailer at the dock, if you where hooked to it no one could get by you. So there you are paying a lumper to help you, so your count would be right with one eye, and wondering if your tractor being broken into with the other. Dumpster fire meant get back to your truck.
Last new truck my mom and dad bought was 2005 379 Peterbilt, with 144 inch Indiana Custom Trucks Sundowner sleeper. And he had a great dane spread Drive-van with a shiny hiney 😂 cross the back doors it said- Just Doin' What I Was Made to Do "
Sheeeeit hand! I drove from 1977 until 2019 with almost 5 million on the boulevard, and I'm still kickin' ass and takin' names! Don't rule us old farts out just yet, you'll get where we are all too soon! lol
Great memories used go with my Dad when I was like 6 to 13. He drove all over the east coast and New England. He has a 361 Brockway. So many different males and models back then, now like 4 or 5 now a days.
A few days to ago I saw an 86 Mack cab-over for sale at a truck stop in New Salem,ND. It was a farm truck judging by the caricature "Barley Bart", so it was very well maintained in original condition and nothing funky about it. On my 30min I just sat in the drivers seat for a while and felt like I wanted to cry.
Wondered about the price... in 1974 a K100 with 350 Cummins 13 speed, Alcoa front wheels would run $28500. By 1979, same tractor was probably 54,000. Hard to see a conventional running that much more.
They weren't. I bought my 1st Pete 359 in '81, which was decked out for the time for $48k. The 1st owner said he paid $61k for it. o The only reason he was selling it was his wife was really sick, and he had to come off the road to look after her.
Three of my 38 drivers are reliving the 70's still. Two are each driving 1976 W900 Bicentennial Edition Aerodynes, and the other a 1976 Peterbilt 359 Patriot.
That was back in the days of 55’ overall length limits before 1982 in the eastern half of the US. Maybe the western states had more liberal overall length limits. Guys running conventional with bunks had to run 40’ trailers and not 45’ trailers, which necessitated a single bunk cabover. Then there were the Barrier States from MS up to IL that had the old 1956 maximum gross weight limits of 73,280lbs with 32,000 lb tandems and 9,380 lbs on the steer axle. Those states retained those gross weight limits into the mid Eighties.
Just as a fun point of interest, a lot of greenhorns don't know that, before that advent of the CDL, you could have a drivers license in as many states as you could pass the test in, so many old hands had 6 ~ 8 drivers licenses so that if they blew one license they'd still have 6 ~ 7 more licenses to drive on. Yunguns also don't know that, running 1,000 ~ 1,499 miles per day didn't make you a bonafide renegade trucker, it made you a 2nd class renegade trucker because 1st class renegade truckers were running 1,500 miles in just over 24 hours 2 ~ 3 times per week. A feat which I only managed to accomplish once in 35+ years of trucking. I could handle up to about 1,300 miles per day a few times per week but that was my absolute limit, I was only ever dependably a 2nd class renegade trucker but, I'm still alive to tell the tale with a chargable accident free record and I'm still rolling up on 5,000,000 safe driving miles, I have waaaaay more than 4,000,000 miles right now. Between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 miles is a red zone that many drivers don't survive statistically, like the 300 hour redzone for pilots.
Man!!!! I started in 1999.. caught last of the good times.. I bet it was an amazing experience in the 70s.
No eye in the sky, cell phones or any kinda tracking devices.. Drivers helped each other in so many ways!! Good or bad routes, low bridge areas, etc. that’s what I caught the last of. Drivers eating in restaurants chit chatting and exchanging information!! I learned so much from just talking and listening to the ole timers!! All those folks have no idea how they helped me.. All I have tried to do is pass on the information and knowledge that was passed onto me.. wonder if any of them will remember me… gods speed folks
I started in the early 90's. I ran with an old man that told me one day that trucking used to be fun. I never understood what he was talking about until now. I remember walking into restaurants and trying to get a booth with a phone, looking at load boards on a TV monitor, pay phone booths, and guys that actually used CB's. Those days are long gone.
@@roy1531 I’m with you!! The flying J had those sound proof phone booths.. standing there with pen and pad looking at load board then running to booth and dial 800 first!! How I miss the good days man!! Safe travels man
When I was a young driver back in the 70s the old timers told me the good ole days of trucking were over. Now I’m telling you drivers from the 90s onward the same thing. The good ole days of trucking are long gone.
They had bear in the air back then. I remember the cb chatter when they were flying in the area. Cb was huge back then.
God speed, Driver. Stay safe!
Back when trucking was trucking
Back when u didn’t need CDL
Sad to think the passionate ones like that guy right there are few and far between these days. True passion for the job. Can't get enough of it. One with the truck. Someone who takes the best care of the rig regardless if it is his or he is just the driver. They say if you love what you do you never work a day in your life and that's his story. Before I ended up taking over operations of our trucking outfit and was a trucker I had that same passion. Like the fella says, "it's in my blood". Now a days there's more that do it for a check than it is guys that are proud to call themselves a trucker
This is back when you had to love trucking to do it, walking beam suspension, no power steering, on most trucks anyway, those trucks would beat you up, I started out with a 71' freightliner cabover, 250 Cummins, 10 speed, 4spring suspension, no power steering, wish I had that truck again, I hauled lumber for our family lumber company, I miss the good ole days 🇺🇸💪
At least by 1971 the seats had become mostly air ride. Yes, the lack of P/S was a real bear!
bro, thats when you could do meth all day, take lsd cross 4 states, i dont think you realize, some of these guys were blitzed on something,
Bro, I WAS one of those dudes!! "Cross tops" were my preferred method of madness. That is why I have full dentures now.@@emailercc3565
I hauled plywood for champion papers out of Tucson AZ. It was 1972 drove both cab over and space saver cab. At 6'2" my knees hit the dash board on the cabover. The space saver hauling doubles was a real dog. Took forever to get going and got passed a lot.
@@emailercc3565take lsd??? Really?? Some took speed I’m sure but lsd?? Doubtful
Anyone else here remember "Movin On" starring Claude Akins and Frank Converse? Sonny Pruitt sure had one cool looking Kenworth!
One for my favorites!
No cell phones just country music and the CB blaring!!
You know it 😁👋
"Breaker 19 for a 10-36? Brush your teeth and comb your hair mile marker 80. There's a beaver broke down twixt mile marker 49 and 50 North bound, help her out if you hear this."
How 'bout "my tire's shinier than your tire", to the driver that hit the git off ramp, and just gittin back in his truck?!! Used to get a lot of laughs out of that one!! "Eagle Claw" on the flip.
Those old trucker caps they looked the part ,steel guitar were common in Country Music unlike today filled with rock guitar and this BroCountry stuff ,the highway’s were freedom today it’s just fines ,regulations and for the most part bad food
Man, what a flash back! Brought back memories of Movin On!
Back when trucking was a brotherhood. I've been driving for 26 years and these days a lot of these drivers are as bad if not worse than 4 wheelers
I've been looking for this comment, I agree driver, I agree
You damn sure ain't just whistling Dixie on that one hand!
Feet on them dashboard, watching tv on their iphones. Its vacation for them nowadays
I got my CDL when I was 19 I'm almost 24. I always tell people I think trucking found me. I never thought of being a trucker until one day it just hit me. I got my CDL and just drove and I absolutely love it. But it's definitely not what it use to be. I've always had that old bone in my body. My dad doesn't like that fact I'm a truck driver. I just tell him until you know this feeling of being on the road and free you can't say anything about it. We need to bring the old spirit back
When it feels right it must be the right choice.
Hang in there man. Enjoy the ride!!
Thanks for sticking it out young gun. It damn sure ain't what it used to be. I started out back in 1977, and decided enough was enough in 2019. I Figured 42 years and almost 5 million was enough. Be safe out there and wish you could have been a part of the "Good ol' days". Twilight Zone, Murphy NC.
WOW I used to listen to KLAC when I was a kid in California. That alone blew my mind.
Great Memories. Back when Truckin was Truckin.
Oh fantastic! 👋😉
I remember KFRG k frog back in the 80s
Hello there nice to meet you I’m Anna
I spent my summer vacations in the cab of my fathers rig. 1976-1979. Best years of trucking.
Back when hauling freight was fun. Thank got I am out of the game now. Retired in 90 just as it started to go bad. Poor fools today don't realize how bad they got it.
started riding with my dad in ‘82 i’m glad i got pictures to flip thru! still have my ‘96 not for hire just puts around in it an go to a race here and there, when you have something that long it’s like my kid especially when you do allll the paint and body work, stretching it by myself …can’t let it go✌🏻
I hear ya hand! I still have my '79 359 63" Pete. I got her in 1980. Had36 more of them over the years, but I could never part with this one! I did a full Rotisserie on her in 2020. Took a year and a shit ton of money, but damn if she isn't quite the ride now! Dropped a KT-600 in her and talk about eatin' Asphalt? lol. Be safe brother. Twilight Zone, Murphy NC, out.
Great clip!
Man, if he paid $70,000 for that truck brand new in the early 70s (when that song on the radio was released) that would be between $400,00 to $500,000 today!
No doubt!
Yep
Ain't that something, I was in Indiana getting my truck worked on....the Kwhop dealer did indeed have some at the 400,000 and 500,000 mark....my mom worked for EMD in the 1970s....had a order for 135 SD40-2 model locomotive for Chicago and northwestern.....then they were 347,000 a peice
My guess is this was late 70's, or maybe early 80's. One big difference between this truck for $70, and today's for $170, is that when he drove off the lot with that truck it probably didn't go back to the dealer for 3 years. The $170 truck will be back in 3 months. And they won't have the parts you need...
Brings back good memories as a kid . Dad ordered a 75 W900 from Colorado Kenworth, had the roll up glass between the bunk and cab.
I bet he only paid about $30 grand for it back then.
Wow that's cool
33,987
Hello Brandon Good morning to you
I started in 1992 with JB Hunt I can remember calling the shipper and receiver try to get directions to them we didn't have no GPS back then and the best thing was no E Logs to deal with and truckers wore shoes and not slides
Less technology and better times, funny how that worked.
Or Pajamas! lmao
When the video first started out I thought it was an episode of “Movin on”
Very similar.
That’s back when truck drivers didn’t sit on the floor with the seat so far back they looked like their in the bunk great way to destroy your back
I bought a used 1979 352 Pete, bit interior 400 Cummins, 13 speed, 355 rears,was a nice truck for the time. New in 1979 it was 38,000$.
Curious to know how this mans life turned out.
I am now retired and having a blast with my grandchildren. I am 73 yrs. old and could still handle the big road.
@@oldtrucker672was that you in the video?
Brett; No it isn't me in the video. But it could've been. I was answering someone else's comment. Lots of comments attached to my original 2 cents worth about the CDL/Class "A"/Chauffeur's License, or whatever you want to call it. The first rig I hauled loads with was a 1958 Peterbilt, COE with a 220 Cummins and a 5-speed main box, with 2-speed rear end. No power steer, no air seat, no A/C, no radio, no anything.@@brettanderson2621
New Trucks back then starting at 50K, god damn wow
My 76 K- 100 was $ 33K 350 Cummins, 10 speed, Hendrickson extended leaf, train tractor. 411’s top speed 66mph. Chances are the tires on the
trailers couldn’t take that speed on a hot day. 138,000 lbs gross.
Wish I could fine more videos like this to watch.
I'll take that truck any day over these new ones
How fun would that be. A W900 with actual country music going through the speakers.
On AM no less! lol
What I liked was to see that drivers were sitting like normal people......and not like somebody driving a Carolla, low riding all the way....
I don't like them low riding seats. That is not a comfortable position to be drivin' in.
Very good observation.
They look like fools when you can just see a little head popping up from the window lmao
What a great era, I trucked in the 70s . No computers no cell phones really trucks and paper logs my I miss that and most of all drivers that had there shit together
When truckers were treated like grown ups!
How much were you making back in the day? Were wages then better than nowadays?
i had no problem making a living. I was young then and worked hard but in 1993 a bought a brandnew Peterbilt (83000.00) a new house(76000.00) with 3 acres property and a new Harley Davidson FL
STN , AND HAD NO PROBLEM MAKING A LIVING
@@johnstecz9169hell yeah 👍
I wonder who this guy was
Nice clip its nice to see trucking in the 70s thank u👏🏾
Glad you enjoyed it.
Everyone talks about the 70s being the good ole days. Those that lived it sure didn't think it was. Read the news articles from back then. Look at the historical data. Drivers in the 70s said the 50s & 60s were the best. Just think in another 30 or 40 years we will look back on the 2020s and say those were the good ole days. Find your happiness and roll with it!!!!!! Keep Trucking Brothers!!!!!
You're making a lot of sense.
True I think my opinion each year or decade they changed this or that and well changed everyone's lives so probably the first truck driver had the "good Ole days" lol to us younger guys yes I like to say what I hear and have very very little experienced 80s early 90s was a great time because it was better than today's day an age
That was cool. I started in 1976
Thanks Boston trucker for the great memories of the industry
It's my pleasure.
Boston trucker as bad as it has got now days please keep the videos coming it gives me inspiration to keep going
Mikey, did you ever think your little 3-minute video was going to evoke so many great comments, and bantering?@@TheBostonTrucker
Hello there nice to meet you I’m Anna
Wonder what the guy is doing these days 🤠
he died in 1980 he was my brother
what happened ?@@goregore9647
Last decade of the Golden Age of Trucking. Got my CDL in 1971. Let the good times roll.
Thank you for posting this Mike.
How exactly did you get a CDL in '71, when CDL's were only started in the late 80's?
@@dr9299 Actually the CDL didn't hit until the early 90s, I hit the road in 1987, and I'm still out here, and I had a Special Chauffeur's License from the state of Tennessee for years before it became federal law that everyone had to get a CDL.
I partied like hell on the road all of the way up until about the year 2000 and after that it wasn't fun anymore all of the whiners and wackos came out, the industry became oversaturated with both foreign and domestic greenhorns who were just out to make a fast buck and now instead of being American trucking it's an international freakshow.
@@relaxationstation7374 I'm with you on the international freak show.....lol. boy when your a young man you think things will stay the same. What a fool I was for thinking that!
@@dr9299 I would have said "Class A License", which is what I really got, but I figured I would get gouged for saying that because most folks who watch these vids would think I made that up. So, I just said CDL because I figured everyone would understand what that was. I am 73 yrs. old, give me a break.
This is exactly why I rarely comment on a video because there are guys like you out there that just have to try and hate on whatever someone has to say. Have a nice day my friend. Keep the shiney side up.
I Just said CDL because I didn't think anyone would know what California called a Chauffeur's License in 1971. It was officially known as a "Class A License" in the State of California in 1971.
Have an old friend that started trucking as a co-driver in the mid-70’s for a then company out of Ft.Scott, Kansas. His pay started out at 6 cents per mile. After a few trips west in the junk Freightliner cabover he was assigned to, he ended up taking a Greyhound home after they were stuck in some truckstop out that way for a few days waiting on a load. Seemed like the old saying “ call me back in 5 minutes “ from the company dispatcher got old real quick, come on!
That's how it was back then.
Now that’s a truck😎😎😎👍👍👍
Them were the good old days
They had best trucks and cars and music I put road house on and ride singing. I was riding with gramp 70s 80s kept biirth certificate in his truck so I could go in Canada
My Dad had a 1979 K100 VIT. Grey over red. Lit up... Lights on the quarter fenders. Pullin that hill...poppin them pills... Doin that deal. And im back quiet.
Damn, back when they were only using 48' footers and no GPS.
Think they were 45's back then.
45ft ers
You meant 45' with a side door no less! lmao
Great Video brought back memories of back in the day 70,s were great. 👍
The 1970's through the early 1990's were seriously the best times in Trucking. I started in the early 90's and worked with guys from that golden era. The 90's truck stops still had a lot of nostalgia back then. Truck stops starting turning in big convenience stores in the early 2000's and trucking, in general, went to crap.
When the DJ is on the air, did anybody notice that Waylon Jennings sign on the wall? I have one of those it was given to me by a record store Owner back in the 70s I just found it the other day and hung it back up on the wall.
I noticed.
Wish we had picture and videos of all the old rigs
Yep, I started in 1974
Now a truck costs around $$250, 000 dollars
Well a KW900L costs about $233,000 for 2024. Don't seem like much have changed with prices.
@@TT.4_ What about wages? Was it better then or now?
@@pawelpawel8892 I can tell you from my perspective this much. I was an O/O and pulled for ICX out of IL. I hauled reefer on a West Coast turn from Seaford DE out west to the greater bay area. I would pull produce from Modesto back east. I went and looked at my old records and was pulling for $2.12 west per mile, and between $2.25-$2.45 back east. If any loads were considered "hot freight". Then there was a bonus of $500 per load. And that was money paid to my rig. ICX took their cut off the top 1st. I'll have to dig and see what their contractual % was. I was making enough money from '81 through '88 that my wife and I paid off our 1st house in Herndon VA. And managed to put down enough and bought several other properties that we rented out. We formed an LLC and I got my own authority in '85 and started my own company which quickly grew to a fleet of 22 power units and roughly 46-50 trailers. I enjoyed pulling reefer and I continued doing that for the bulk of my driving years. But my companies main focus was pulling various stage and musical productions for the entertainment Industry. My company was called Rokit Transportation Inc. When I closed down in 2019. I sold all my accounts to a very well known Co. in Nashville TN.
If I had a time machine I’d use it to go back in time a drive a real truck and live the old school trucker life
Those were the days my friend we thought they’d never end. Keep on Truck’in. 1977 and still at it
Me to driver I started in 75 and this January I turning in my keys.
Back before the Motor Carrier Act of 1980
yes exactly
Oh My God !!! There’s a truck driver that speaks English !!! Ahh shocks this film was taken in the 70s he’s got to be retired by now ;(
And he's not wearing flipflops!
Lot of cool factor, do you know the source of the clip?
I don't remember.
I've only been driving three years. I just took up my first full time driving job a month ago. I'm home every night and I'm thankful that the company is honoring that request. After a couple higher mileage trucks that needed quite a few trips to the shop the company gave me a pretty darn nice 2020 T800 with an 18 and an ISX 15 with 250k on it. I hate the def but it's a solid truck and I consider myself lucky. I could be in a Freightliner Cascadia with a gutless Detroit and and automatic.
I'm in a cascadia no balls lol
This man and a lot more like him helped to shape my life that KW was the best coming from a Peterbilt Man in the 80'S I met a salesman Barney Barnes Engs Peterbilt Fontana Ca I bought a 84 359 hood from him he was the best he explained why KW was so much superior to Peterbilt I had a 69 KW hood I Wanted to trade in Barney said My Boy and went on to tell me why the craftmanship was so much better Mike Thanks for sparking so many great memories and boy do I remember that radio station 👍👍
The good old day MIKE
Yes sir
This is awesome! Where is this clip originally from?
I can't remember but it's from a longer video that I cut up and edited.
Speed and hookers
Ahhh the life
Dont do it until you die
37k for the tractor… now you get a sedan for that
😁
Trucker Jonah Hill
🤣
Anyone catch the title of the song the woman in the background was singing? TIA
Living the dream loving it
42’6” reefer. The “ Iron Curtain “ states on either side of the Mississippi weight restrictions were 73,280 lbs. bordering states where 80,000lbs.
That W900 would be about an 80-82 ? I had the same steering wheel in my 82 KW VIT. It’s a small diameter wheel, so it’s definitely got power
steering. Those short trailers were very common in the reefer trade. Lots of hand bombing, as the tandem didn’t slide. When I’d be hauling
frozen boxes of beef trim I’d load front five rows 3 high, then go up to 5 high till I got to the last 6 rows, then go 8 high. 450 boxes. Hauled from
various provinces in Canada, to various states. Eastern states max length was 55 ft, then went to 65 ft total length. These long wheelbase Pete’s
and KW’s you see at the truck shows didn’t exist in the east. You’d only find them in the western states. Trucks of 150” wheelbase where the order
of the day. All the food markets where from the horse and wagon days, you couldn’t get “big trucks “ into the neighbourhood little own the
customers dock. Some guys would make a deal with another driver to take his trailer into the market, and bring it back out. Most places you had
to drop your trailer at the dock, if you where hooked to it no one could get by you. So there you are paying a lumper to help you, so your count
would be right with one eye, and wondering if your tractor being broken into with the other. Dumpster fire meant get back to your truck.
Last new truck my mom and dad bought was 2005 379 Peterbilt, with 144 inch Indiana Custom Trucks Sundowner sleeper. And he had a great dane spread Drive-van with a shiny hiney 😂 cross the back doors it said- Just Doin' What I Was Made to Do "
Awesome ty for sharing it mike!!!
I'm loving these old clips!
YES I STARTED FULL TIME TRACTOR TRAILERS 1989 TILL 2019 MY HEALTH WENT DOWN. I MISS IT SO SO BAD. "THE KID"
Kenny of the 70s ..
Peace and quiet amigo..🇩🇿
Back in the day when we had real truck driver's on the road I drove for 29 year's
Ten fo
Nice Classic Trucking Video
Glad you enjoyed it
Yes it was my dream of running up and down the slab as a kid. I used to talk on the base station with the drivers. Great times in an era long gone.
that ole fellow has probably passed on to trucker heaven
Could be in his 70's
Sheeeeit hand! I drove from 1977 until 2019 with almost 5 million on the boulevard, and I'm still kickin' ass and takin' names! Don't rule us old farts out just yet, you'll get where we are all too soon! lol
That about wright.
My dad drove from 46-82. Trucking was different. They spoke English ( maybe with a southern drawl 😂) and ate at sit down restaurants
@@genroll those places gave a driver a nice place to rest and eat healthy food ( most of the time ). And to build friendships
Ola,👌💪🏻🙏
So why American cars started with automatic and the trucks with manual
They didn't lol. All cars began as manuals.
Basman trucking was fun. He ain’t no more.🤣🤣😎💯
Great memories used go with my Dad when I was like 6 to 13. He drove all over the east coast and New England. He has a 361 Brockway.
So many different males and models back then, now like 4 or 5 now a days.
A few days to ago I saw an 86 Mack cab-over for sale at a truck stop in New Salem,ND. It was a farm truck judging by the caricature "Barley Bart", so it was very well maintained in original condition and nothing funky about it. On my 30min I just sat in the drivers seat for a while and felt like I wanted to cry.
Ahhh dude that's awesome!😁
Wondered about the price... in 1974 a K100 with 350 Cummins 13 speed, Alcoa front wheels would run $28500. By 1979, same tractor was probably 54,000. Hard to see a conventional running that much more.
I had a 71 W900, 350/air 4X4, 4.44 rears on torsion and I think the guy who had it first paid $27,400. Yes it had a sleeper.
They weren't. I bought my 1st Pete 359 in '81, which was decked out for the time for $48k. The 1st owner said he paid $61k for it. o The only reason he was selling it was his wife was really sick, and he had to come off the road to look after her.
1:10 Trucker Jonah Hill
😆
Old truckers never die. They just get a new peterbilt 😂
😁
Yes
👍
Three of my 38 drivers are reliving the 70's still. Two are each driving 1976 W900 Bicentennial Edition Aerodynes, and the other a 1976 Peterbilt 359 Patriot.
You hiring? 👋😁
How do I get a company that that you work for I collect hat's
We don't really have any hats anymore.
Oh okay thanks you're company runs nice fleet
What about t shirt??
How come on yr dump you have to get out n unscrew the handles all my being around dumps I've never had to do that
I don't have to but I choose to because it makes me get out of the truck and visually check the trailer ears are locked.
Love yr channel can't drive due to eye issues but been around trucks n equipment all My Life
1974 - 1980. Produce and freight. 1800 - 2100. No lugging in those days.
That was back in the days of 55’ overall length limits before 1982 in the eastern half of the US. Maybe the western states had more liberal overall length limits. Guys running conventional with bunks had to run 40’ trailers and not 45’ trailers, which necessitated a single bunk cabover. Then there were the Barrier States from MS up to IL that had the old 1956 maximum gross weight limits of 73,280lbs with 32,000 lb tandems and 9,380 lbs on the steer axle. Those states retained those gross weight limits into the mid Eighties.
How long would it take him to pay off that truck n trailer? 100k in the 70s, big money
A few awkward pauses but otherwise great.
Just as a fun point of interest, a lot of greenhorns don't know that, before that advent of the CDL, you could have a drivers license in as many states as you could pass the test in, so many old hands had 6 ~ 8 drivers licenses so that if they blew one license they'd still have 6 ~ 7 more licenses to drive on.
Yunguns also don't know that, running 1,000 ~ 1,499 miles per day didn't make you a bonafide renegade trucker, it made you a 2nd class renegade trucker because 1st class renegade truckers were running 1,500 miles in just over 24 hours 2 ~ 3 times per week.
A feat which I only managed to accomplish once in 35+ years of trucking.
I could handle up to about 1,300 miles per day a few times per week but that was my absolute limit, I was only ever dependably a 2nd class renegade trucker but, I'm still alive to tell the tale with a chargable accident free record and I'm still rolling up on 5,000,000 safe driving miles, I have waaaaay more than 4,000,000 miles right now.
Between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 miles is a red zone that many drivers don't survive statistically, like the 300 hour redzone for pilots.
Shame on all of you saying good old times why the hell not bringing back those times uh?