The first true snow storm in the area always brings the media out in great numbers. News crews descend on local DPW garages to film footage of trucks loading up on salt while photographers seek out that quintessential storm photo. Jeffery alerted me to one such photo from the Oneida Daily Dispatch as they covered the “snow event” that struck upstate New York a few short weeks ago. The truck in question happens to be his 2000 Autocar ACL 64B powered by a N14 435 H.P. Cummins connected to the traditional Eaton-Fuller 8LL transmission. When not plowing in the winter Jeffery and his Autocar haul blacktop to the paving crews of the Madison County Highway Department. A truly fine looking machine captured in time doing what it does best. Thanks for the tip Jeffery!
Photo Credit: Oneida Daily Dispatch/John Haeger
That’s my good friend Jeffery Colburn at the helm of number 76. He had been recently telling me about the extensive refurb process on this truck. By the looks of this nice photo from the Dispatch, it paid off big time as the truck looks great for being almost 15 years old. There aren’t many Autocars left in the Madison County fleet, this one and its twin number 66, and much to my surprise old number 9, a 1988 ACL64B still in service at the Morrisville division shop.
Jeff is coming up on his 36th year with Madison County and is what I would consider to be a master truck driver (twin-stick transmission shifting expertise included!) and a wealth of knowledge about the Madison County highway’s history. This is no doubt aided by the fact that his father started with the county in 1951 so he literally grew up around the highway department and its truck fleet. We have spent hours sharing war stories and going over details that only truck nuts would consider interesting. I am glad he and number 76 are represented for Autocar Monday!
A bit of trivia for everyone- the previous truck to wear the number 76 in Madison County’s fleet was a 1969 GMC 9500 (JE9710) tandem dump with a 637 V-8 gas engine mated to 5 speed main & 2 speed auxiliary transmissions.