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Number 6

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Eric

This past August I was contacted by the people at Feedspot.com regarding a list they compiled of the Top 50 Youtube Trucking channels. Good old Daily Diesel Dose came in number 6. While it might not be a major award that comes in a large wooden crate with Italian lettering on the outside I still treasure the attention.

This ranking caused me to reflect on some of the videos I created this year. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a few and share some behind the scenes information.

The Disappointment

This past construction season witnessed the complete demolition and rebuild of the east bounds lanes of I-690 that pass through the City of Syracuse. I whiffed on getting any coverage from the west bound lanes demolition the previous year so this video helped to ease my tortured soul. I thought I captured some really get action shots of the large steel support girders crashing to the earth along with equally nice concrete crushing action. I even dressed up the video with captions that looked like road signs. Sadly, this video crapped out a 935 views and has received almost no attention in the past few months.

The Well Rounded

This past summer I went on a whirl wind tour of trucking hunting with Ryan and a few other equally obsessed truck guys. One of ours stops brought to the collection of Paul Sykes. I was able to get some great shots of both the outside and the inside of his of 1959 Oshkosh W-2211. Short of seeing this truck plow snow I think the video turned out well for being shot a warm summer day. Plus I think my font take on the History Channel hit TV show, Ancient Aliens, was out of this world. 😉

The Viral

This popularity of this video was a complete surprise to me and I was amazed to see the reaction it gathered it such a short period of time. With over 170,000 views, 546 comments, and over 2,000 like/dislike reactions, this video was by far my most popular of the year. Unfortunately this latest entry into the “Looking at Trucks” series became something of a lighting rod for the anti-government folks and cast a negative light on hard working DOT employees. Here are a few take aways from the smash hit, Government Surplus.

People will not read the description or watch the video to learn why the truck in the title slide is cut in half but will instead post a comment asking “what happened?”
Governor Cuomo is not popular on Youtube.
While a truck can have a rear differential, hubs, rims, and tires this does not mean it has an axle. More than a few people were willing to share this fact with me but I only began to listen after the 100th comment.
Every 3 out of 5 Youtube commentors is an experienced welder who could repair these trucks without breaking a sweat.

The Fun

The first early days of spring when the days are little longer and the nights a little warmer are always a welcome sight here the frozen tundra of New York. This time of the season is usually when classic rides begin to emerge from months of hibernation. In early May I stopped by to hang out with my buddy Dave and his Detroit powered Brockway 457. A magnetic mount for my GoPro allowed the camera to chill on the roof and again under the cab for up close access to parts of the truck rarely seen while running. The short introduction at the start with history of the truck and some vintage photos is a template I hope to mimic in the future on other videos. This video also did fairly well in the views department by racking up almost 16,000 hits in just a two month window.

So here is to 2019 and all that it can bring. Who knows, maybe there will be a new video series, Looking at Trucks with a Baby?

Posted in Youtube Finds | 1 Comment

Autocar Mondays – Cooking with Gas

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Eric

While browsing ebay for old truck memorabilia I came across this slide of an Autocar tanker truck. I don’t know the exact make of the truck but it looks very similar to the a past Autocar Mondays truck, an A75T owned by Ray Arnold.

Ray’s truck was spec’d to haul the heavy loads while being a lightweight marvel. Looking at the two it’s hard to not see the shared features including bumper, fenders, and dual beam bumper mounted headlights. Both trucks even hauled similar liquefied natural gas loads.

This particular Autocar was still hauling with best of them when this photo was snapped in 1984. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a ’65 model like Ray’s but I suppose we may never know for sure.

Do you have an Autocar truck you would like to see featured in Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Leave a comment

The 2018 Huskie Run

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Eric

Well…..getting around to this video took much longer than expected! Honestly, I forgot I had footage of this event. What a crazy year it has been! I have much more for the Brockway show that I just never got around to processing. Hopefully we will see more of this show soon!

Posted in Free and Easy | Leave a comment

Blowing and Throwing

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Eric

The land of big snow is back! Ryan sends in some photos of a Schmidt Caltrans blower working the Yuba Pass of I-80 in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I did some poking around trying to nail down the particular model but didn’t come up with much. Honestly, looking at the vehicle tells you all you need to know about its power and setup.

In the mountains it’s not only the government folks who need big iron to move snow. The Boreal Ski Resort in Soda Springs clean requires a Cat loader with a Larue blower to keep their parking lots clean.

To go along with his great photos Ryan shot some video that perfectly captures the ease in which these machines move snow.

It’s a double feature!

Thanks for the photos and video Ryan. We hope to see more from out west very soon!

Posted in Free and Easy, Snow Plows | Leave a comment

Room with a View

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Eric

We had a bit of snow last week. It was more than enough to coat the roads and bring out the plows. Usually this is the type of weather that would send me searching for action but with a newborn in the home it just isn’t the best idea at the moment. Thankfully the Town of Sullivan Highway Department follows a fairly reliable schedule that happened to coincide with one of the many feedings and diaper changes that now make up my life. Here we see one of their Mack Granites making a turn at the end of my street.

As suggested in the past by some witty individuals maybe I should change the name of this website to Daily Diaper Dose?

Posted in Snow Plows | Tagged mack granite, town of sullivan | 1 Comment

Autocar Mondays – New England Trio

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Eric

Back in the good old days every other heavy duty vocational truck in New England was either an Autocar or Mack. The numbers have changed dramatically over the years but you don’t have to look to hard find an old rig still working away or resting in the weeds. Hugh recently found three such trucks in the same location that help bolster my wild claims.

This old tri axles seems to have been parked for more than a few days.

Of the three this ten wheeler seems to be the one still able to bring home the bacon on a regular basis.

Classic New England trucking right here. Despite being parked they don’t seem that far away from full time working status.

Thanks for the awesome find Hugh! If you have an Autocar you would like to see feature in Autocar Mondays email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!

Posted in Autocar Trucks | 1 Comment

Preston – The 151 Line

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Eric

Preston, the 151 line. While the company is now a fallen flag it once had a service territory that included much of the country found east of the Mississippi River. It was difficult to travel any stretch of interstate and not see their name in large block letters traversing the length of a trailer. As with many LTL companies pup trailers, doubles, and even triples were the preferred combination.

Here we see the mudflap of Preston truck. In the early 1930’s it was determined by ownership that a tag line was needed to help differentiate the company from it’s competitors. It was observed one day that 151 pieces of equipment made up the the growing giant that was Preston. The rest is history.

Remnants of the company can still be found at a local moving company in the Syracuse area. They must have bought the entire contents of the local terminal as they have no less than 30 trailers around the property wearing the once proud Preston name.

All that history brings us right up this moment in time. You have may have noticed that content on this website the past few weeks, months, and most of the year has been slow to appear. The reason being? A baby. For the past nine months my wife and I have been anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child, a son. As you might have guessed, his name is Preston. Now I never set out to name my kid after a defunct truck company but one fateful day my newly pregnant wife crossed paths with a flight attendant named Preston. She came home with the name on the shortlist and when I mentioned that it was also the name connected to trucking history Preston just continued to hang around while other names fell off one by one.

It became official this past Sunday, 11/11 at 9:40AM when Preston joined our family. Please continue to hang in there with me as navigate early parenthood and find away to keep a few post a week on this aging part of the internet.

Posted in Free and Easy | 30 Comments

The International Lineup

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Eric

Earlier this week International unveiled the final truck in their completely revamped lineup, the CV. As we’ve discussed before the CV is a joint venture between International and GM with both companies receiving their own unique model to sell through their respective dealer networks.

The CV comes equipped with the International 6.6 diesel engine which from what I understand is a Duramax tuned to International specifications. A six speed Allison automatic will be the common transmission of choice. A tilting hood, similar to those found on larger trucks, allows easy access to the engine bay. With the addition of the CV International now produces a truck model through all classes of heavy truck, 4-8.

This lineup of new or heavily refreshed trucks represents the final phase of International’s rebuilding program following the disastrous Maxxforce engine years in which the company saw market share decrease while warranty claims exploded through the roof. By all accounts the plan is working as market share has increased 2.7 points over the previous year while it’s share of the 13L engine market, the all important Class 8 market, has more than doubled.

Posted in Industry News | 2 Comments

2018 ATCA Northeastern PA – The Photos

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Eric

You might have seen the videos from the 2018 ATCA Northeastern PA classic truck show but have you seen the photos? The answers is no because I have not posted them until this very moment.

Better late than never is the moral of the story.

[Show as slideshow]

Posted in Truck Show | Leave a comment

The Class of 2018

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Eric

Here they are folks, the new plows of 2018. Below, a Western Star 4700 for an unknown recipient.

The Town of Dewitt Highway Department is located .3 miles from the Tracey Road Equipment HQ. Here is their brand new 114SD.

Many miles away and many months ago I spotted this Volvo VHD at a dealer. It appears to be spec’d the heaviest of the three trucks.

Someday I’ll start to take a closer look at these trucks. I might even get out of the car and record some of the details. Until that day your imagination will have to suffice.

Posted in Snow Plows | Leave a comment