A few editions back of Autocar Mondays I wrote a sappy piece regarding a trio of trucks found in a slate quarry. At the time I wondered if they were done, destined to be scrap. Thanks to a timely update by Clarence I am happy to report that these trucks are still with us and still working. The 318 Detroit powered example you see below remains at the original location and works everyday. The other two have been shipped further east for similar careers.
It’s not everyday that an Autocar truck looks tiny but that Volvo A35C is big boy.
Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com
Internationals towing Fords. Fords powered by International built diesel engines. Is there a connection to be made here? By now we all know how the relationship between the two ended. Decades of mutual cooperation and profitability wiped away in a sea of lawsuits and finger pointing. I could spend days filling this page with jokes, acronyms, and yo mamma jokes relating to these two storied brands and their failures but instead let us just enjoy some photos of heavy trucks. In the effort to avoid blatant yellow journalism I’ll admit that I’m not even sure if either pickup is equipped with a diesel.
You may recall this CENTRO wrecker from a few years ago.
On the lighter side we have this International 4700 for the City of Syracuse. Conveniently for both drivers the disabled truck broke down in front of a Dunkin Donuts.
It may not look like it but you will hear this Freightliner FLC112 long before you see it. This is the equivalent of sleeper truck in the construction community. Why it even has a normal, stock look exhaust stack. Don’t be fooled, it can growl with the best of them.
I know we all love well maintained older equipment so here is an International S-Series (note the DT-466 hood emblem) 4×4 hailing from the same company, Oliver Enterprises.
Sorry, but I have no idea if the DT-466 sounds like the Cummins from above. I’m guessing it doesn’t. 😉
Did your hear about all the snow that fell in Buffalo last week? It was kind of a big deal even for a part of the world that is used to getting dumped on in one fashion or another. Long time DDD contributor Dan was able to live the dream (my words, not his) and saw all the clean up action up close and personal. Public and private crews from across the state and the northeast pulled a string of non-stop days and nights to dig out western New York. Below you get see the action from the drivers seat. A massive thanks to Dan for sharing.
Recently the website Jalopnik has stumbled across a great selection of diesel and truck related videos. Usually the site revolves around the Japanese sun that is the Miata but occasionally something much cooler, like a drifting S-Series International, sneaks into the mix. The poster of the video tells us his friend Ben recently performed some upgrades to the humble DT466 that “really woke her up”. Just like throwing cold water in sleepy baby’s face.
Formual1 cars are marvelous feats of engineering capable of performance that is unrivaled in any other form of motorsport. Toss in a Renault semi jumping off a ramp and you’ve got one fantastic video. I love what happens to the pavement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVBcEg6klJI
Adding to the list of things I never thought I would see, a drag racing backhoe. Capable of reaching speeds of 100mph because, well, just because.
Here we have an International Loadstar 1600, the lightest truck of the model line. I’m filling this old IHC under the Lost and Found category simply because it was sitting in a field. Despite the very rusted fenders suggesting years of rotting, this truck is sporting modern gold and blue New York plates along with a registration sticker current to November of 2014. I didn’t look under the hood but it’s safe to assume a gas engine would have been found. None of the surrounding businesses provided any clue about the possible owner but nearby Hafner’s Farmer Market is a strong contender. The irrigation pipe sticking past the door provides ample security, something like a primitive version of The Club.
Coming soon to an auction lot near you! Two like new Autocar ACL64B’s from the Town of Sullivan.
Joe stopped by his old stomping grounds a few weeks ago and found trucks number 10 and 17 being prepped for auction photos. As mentioned, both are ACL64B’s with Cummins LTA10 285’s with Jakes and have Fuller Roadranger RTOF-14708LL transmissions.
For twenty two year old trucks they look they have some plowing life left in them. Thanks to Joe for sharing.
I first saw this Western Star 4700 for Syracuse Haulers a few months ago while returning bottles and cans for my hard earned deposit. Always claim your deposit people. You don’t want to give your state more money than their entitled do you? Anyway, this truck stood out mainly because it’s a Western Star in an all Mack fleet of roll off trucks. To be precise the fleet is all Mack if you don’t count the one hard as nails and still working Autocar. At the time of the first sighting I wasn’t able to take a photo but I knew my time would come. Last week as I wandered the streets of downtown looking for anything to shoot I heard my personal siren call, the wail of an OSHA approved back up alarm.
The Syracuse Haulers colors look good on this rig and fit all the chrome that come standard on these trucks. I hung around for awhile watching as the driver placed and moved bins around parked cars in a narrow alley way. All in days work for man and machine.
By now you have probably heard of the apocalyptic snow that has obliterated parts of the Buffalo area. Areas south of city took the major body blow with between 7 and 10 feet of snow being reported while sections north of the city saw no more than a few inches. While the snow has stopped the clean up is just beginning and with a major increase in temperature foretasted for the weekend time is of the essence. Crews from neighboring counties, towns, and states have been mobilized to help dig out the region. Yesterday I learned that the County of Onondaga and the City of Syracuse were sending men and machines to help provide relief. They were set to assemble in a mall parking lot and convoy out together. I was able to swing by and grab a few shots before they rolled out.
As you can see none of the trucks are sporting plows. At this point the snow needs to be trucked off streets and sidewalks were in resides in massive piles. You can only push so much before you just have to get rid of it all together.
All told the County of Onondaga set 28 workers from a variety of county agencies along with seven dump trucks, three loaders and one backhoe. The City of Syracuse also provided three dump trucks and three loaders and twelve employees. Those crews were arriving as I was leaving so I don’t have any photos other than two shots of loaders being pulled by Moulton’s Towing.
Thankfully a photographer for the city was on hand to grab some wonderful shots of the convoy rolling out under the cover of darkness. Click here to view. Below is a short video that is self explanatory.
The support crews are expected to work 12 hour days with the City and County being reimbursed for their time and expense from New York State.
For more Buffalo blizzard coverage check out the Facebook group DOT Plow Trucks. You will find more shots of the storm and the men and machines at work. There is also a lively discussion about NYS turning away help from neighboring states.
I received this photo yesterday from South of 5 & 20 who spotted a NYSDOT convoy heading west Wednesday. I wonder if the pumps slowed down when that VW showed up? 😉
Life is struggle. This fact becomes even more real when basic necessities like water and medical care are lost due to a natural or man made disaster. The new International MVP is a vehicle designed to provide these vital services in one efficent and reliable truck package. Working with Terranova, an Internatinoal DuraStar is transformed into a mobile relief center capable of purifying water, providing first aid and fighting fires.
And onboard filtration system is capable of purifying up to 5000 gallons of water a day from a variety of sources including streams, lakes and failed municipal supplies. The mobile medical unit is idea for emergency rescue and triage situations.
You can learn more about the DuraStar MPV by reading the press release here.
