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Lost and Found – White Road Boss 2

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Eric

The White Road Boss 2. What a name. It reminds me of action movie sequel. I came across this one two years ago when I was returning from the ATHS Hudson Mohawk truck show in Ballston Spa, NY. I don’t know much about this model but I can tell you that a Cummins lurks under the hoods and the cab is the ever popular White corporate cab. White and later Volvo certainly made their money back on the tooling for this driver cage. Nearly every truck they produced from the late 70’s to early 90’s sported this cab. It doesn’t take much looking to find one on the road today. Sharing a similar cab among many models is nothing new and is an idea that is still very popular with truck manufacturers in our present age.

Most wouldn’t consider this old White much to look at but I think it has plenty of great features like daytons, round fuel tanks, a few different fleet numbers, and vintage paint scheme. How about that bumper up front? Reminds me of one you find on a larger GM trucks like the General or Astro. If you’re an expert please feel free to chime in on the bumper or the Road Boss.

While we’re on the topic here is the original generation Road Boss. As you can see, the old style cab found on so many White and Autocar trucks was still in use. The hood is more straight and flat. The grill does not protrude as it would on the RB2.

This truck was also at the 2012 ATHS Hudson Mohawk show. In fact, there were two Road Boss trucks in attendance. I was looking at some unpublished video footage from the show and almost didn’t catch it. They look very similar at first glance. Please enjoy this “lost” footage.

Know of any old trucks or heavy equipment in hiding? Email Me!

Posted in Lost and Found | Tagged white road boss 2 | 2 Comments

Wintery Mix

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Eric

Two days ago the weather was perfect for plow spotting but miserable for nearly any other daily activity like driving, walking, and drying laundry on the clothes line. For me the day provided many a great opportunity but sadly I was off my game and made horrible photo/video choices the majority of the time. When I should have been taking photos I was shooting video. When I was shooting video I should have been taking pictures. For example, on the walk to work I heard the rumbling of plow. Turning around I was pleased to find one of the Marmon-Herrington 4×4 trucks for the city. He was still about a block away so I had time to set up the shot. I was going to take just a picture but then I noticed truck 267 coming from a parallel street. Photo or video. Photo or video. I chose video but then cars started to rolling the frame so I switched back to photo. Slow camera response resulted in me not getting much of anything but the video still seen below.

Indecision kills! I continued to stroll around downtown hoping to cross paths with at least the 4×4 (truck 278) again but that was not to be the case. Attempting to guess his route ended in only frustration for me. I would see it passing through intersections that only moments ago I was standing near. Truck 278 has become my white whale. We will meet again. A consolation prize came in the form of this International 2500 for ProScapes salting a private parking lot.

Arriving home for the day I was instantly greeted by the Town of DeWitt and their Freightliner M2 112V. Below is a video still that turned out okay.

I also came across a NYS DOT International 7400(?) and an International 2574 for the Village of East Syracuse with both providing excellent video footage. In case you haven’t figured it out I am in the process of assembling a “supercut” of plow footage from this winter, hence all the video stills. Looking for it to hit YouTube toward the end of March!

[Show as slideshow]

Oh, at least I didn’t end up like this guy during my travels!

The Decade of Western Star

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Eric

If you have been a regular visitor of Daily Diesel Dose you know by now that snow plows are a constant part of the site during the colder months of the year…..and pretty much any other time. With all the attention they gather on this site (and Flickr account) maybe you have noticed the developing trend of Western Stars becoming the new truck of choice for plowing. Based purely on anecdotal evidence I am ready to proclaim Western Star trucks as the official plow of various villages, towns and cities throughout the Upstate New York region. I wouldn’t be surprised if this a trend taking place across the snow belt of the United States. As you know, I swing by my local heavy truck dealers (Mack/Volvo, Freightliner, Western Star, Kenworth, International) on a regular basis to see what new rigs are on the lot. Out of this esteemed group, the local Western Star dealer, Tracey Road Equipment, never fails to have a new Star Car waiting for upfit or customer delivery. Regardless of the season this appears to be the case. No other brand comes close. For example, this nice looking 4700SF for the Town of Mexico that appears to be nearing completion.

Also on site, but not pictured, were two twin 4700s wearing a shade of red for the Village of Minoa, NY. I know that three trucks do not make a convincing argument so here is a comprehensive list from the past year of new Western Stars that most likely replaced a truck from one of the manufacturers previously mentioned.

And many more! I only swing by dealers on the weekends a few times each month. Plenty of trucks come and go that I never know about. Keeping in mind that each of these plows will be expected to last at least ten years the decade of Western Star is well under way. Looking back I would classify the previous generation (2002-2012) as a mix between Sterlings, Internationals and Volvos. The generation before that (1992-2002) was solidly International we more S-Series and 2574’s models on the road than you could shake a stick at. Going back even further a deep run was made with Autocar/Volvo ACL units as the truck of choice for departments east and west, north and south.

*Please note the above was authored by someone sitting in an armchair with no direct connection to anyone in the position of knowledge or experience relating to the purchase of snow plows or other snow related equipment.*

Posted in At the Dealer, Snow Plows | Tagged tracey road equipment, western star 4700sf snow plow, western star trucks snow plow | 1 Comment

Autocar Mondays – Steel Mill Worker

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Eric

Have you ever noticed that no matter how broken, battered, and scarred an Autocar becomes it always looks ready for more? You could almost argue that an Autocar earns its stripes not from the badge on the hood but that dents that come from the job.

Today we have one beastly looking A-Car still employed by a steel mill hauling scale that results from the forging process.

I came across these pictures on the bigmacktrucks.com forum. User mackmb212 was kind enough to allow me to share these photos on Daily Diesel Dose for all to enjoy.

That’s one hell of dump body!

If you have a moment stop by and check out the thread started by mackmb212, there are some nice shots of massive Mack DM’s also used at the steel mill for various activities. Click here to visit.

Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged Autocar Dump Truck | 1 Comment

A Team Effort

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Eric

Cooperation. It’s a word many of learned on Sesame Street. Here we see the word in action as National Grid and Verizon crews work to moving service lines from an old pole to a new pole. Someday I hope to see this same team work take place outside of my house as I’ve had two poles in my front yard for well over a year. I didn’t see any trucks in this collection to help fill out the National Grid bingo board. Even with odd ball International (rare for NG) none of the truck are new to the game. Oh well. Still fun. Also in the line up but barely visible is a Kenworth with a vacuum body. I’m not sure what role in plays in the pole removal process. Anyone out there have any ideas?

Posted in On the Job | Tagged national grid trucks, verizon truck | 2 Comments

Contingency Plans

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Eric

FYI, tomorrow is Super Bowl XLVIII. You may have heard a few things about it over the past week. Why just the other day some wacko mailed a white power substance to multiple locations across the NYC metro area. And who could forget about the weather. The constant monitoring. The perpetual scanning of the horizon. Will it snow? Will it be windy? Will the football be hard to catch, throw or kick? It’s like the game has never been played outside the confines of dome or warm weather location until this very weekend! No one is 100% sure what will happen but we do know that the NFL, government agencies and a multitude of private contractors are ready to wage war on any snow flake foolish enough to fall in New Jersey tomorrow.

Last weekend a practice run of sorts took place when around 12 inches of snow fell on the grounds of MetLife Stadium. Over 850 workers (passing stringent background checks) are employed to chase snow from the stadium itself. They move row by row shoveling snow into long tubes that run down to the field (tarped of course) to be removed by machines. Nearly 30 front end loaders prowl (here) the massive parking lots surrounding the stadium. The New Jersey DOT has 820 vehicles in a 30 mile radius with the capability of spreading 60,000 tons of salt. Estimates place the total clean up time at 18 hours from start to finish of any storm.

NY1 has put together a good video of equipment in action as well a recount of the many facts barfed out above. Click here to watch the magic.

Posted in Snow Plows | Leave a comment

Road to Redemption

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Eric

The past few years have not been kind to Navistar, the parent company to International Trucks. Revenues fell, warranty claims increased, the EGR strategy failed, historic factories closed, CEO’s came and went. It’s enough to make some wonder if a buy out or bankruptcy is the near future. With those thoughts in mind Forbes has compiled a look at the struggles facing Navistar in 2014 as it strives for a return to profitable balance sheets. To say the challenges are great may be an understatement. The article points (click here) out that since 2011 International has seen its market share decrease in nearly every category with the greatest drop coming in Class 8 trucks. Gaining those customers back will be a challenge that International hopes to meet with the news that the ProStar (with Cummins ISX15) and TerraStar have both been named the American Truck Dealers trucks of the year for the respective classes. The ProStar bested the Kenworth T880 and Peterbilt 579 while the TerraStar surpassed the Hino 195-DC, Kenworth K370, and Peterbilt 220.

International ProStar – Click to Enlarge

In the effort of full disclosure I own an International Truck so please excuse any bias you might find in this post. No matter what brand claims your loyalty I think we can all agree that another American truck manufacturer falling into foreign hands are simply ceasing to exist would be a sad day for us all.

Image/Press Release: Navistar Sweeps 2014 ATD Truck Of The Year Honors

Posted in Industry News | Tagged atd truck of the year, international prostar+, international terrastar | Leave a comment

GM New Look Bus

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Eric

Andy sent me this photo yesterday of GM New Look he spotted at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, Mass. The New Look design is affectionately referred to among busophiles as the Fishbowl due to its large windshield. Fist introduced in 1959, the New Look would remain in production for the next 25 years. During that time over 44,000 were produced for transit authorities across North America. The ol’ Fisbowl is now considered an icon in bus design worldwide.

Considering that the New Look was produced by GM it doesn’t take much thought to figure out what powerplant was used. That’s right, Detroit Diesel (Demand Detroit), most often the 6V71.

So what do we know about this piece of transit history? From Andy’s account and photos we learn that this bus now sports upgraded seats with LED lighting present in the cabin. Looking at the rear of the bus we learn that C&J Coach is the current operator. Up front the destination sign still wears the name of its past employer, Golden Gate Transit. If you stop by GGT they actually have a New Look bus in their logo. At some point this bus was hauled across they country to run the roads of the northeast. More digging online reveals that this New Look to be a TH8-5306A model. If we break down the code we can learn all the juicy details about old Golden Gate Transit 778. The T signifies the bus was constructed as transit model which means it was setup for everyday stop and go inner city bus traffic. The H tells the transmission is an automatic. The 8 signifies a Detroit 8V71. The 53 tells us the length of the bus, 40 feet. The 06 tells us the series while the A equals air conditioning. This guy was styling back in the day! Now before you applaud by bus knowledge please know I cribbed all this info from wikipedia. Click here to revew the complete arcticle that has more info than you may care to learn.

While researching this bus I came across a group dedicated to old buses. They gather together on occasion to share their passion for mass transit vehicles. You can check out their facebook page by clicking here. I was also able to find a few videos of this bus from a meet they held this past November. If you skip to the 17:29 mark you can watch 778 in action. To see the bus in its natural habitat (stuck in traffic) skip the the 31:22 mark and enjoy the sounds of an idling 8V71.

And just incase you needed more here it is again driving through the snow. This video provides the best engine sound of the two. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M1r4qCYDkM

Thanks Andy!

Posted in Vintage, Your Submissions | Tagged c&J coach gm new look bus, fishbowl bus, GM New Look bus, golden gate transit bus | 2 Comments

Vac Truck Blues

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Eric

With the modern age we live in I expected this truck to have a different way to let operators know when the tank was full that wasn’t a floating arrow on the side. The KISS principle in action I suppose. I had to sneak under an overpass to get this photo while avoiding a group of eagle eyed DOT workers. The camera jacked the contrast up but I like it. I may have stumbled upon this truck a few years back when it was parked on the Tracey Road Equipment lot but I can’t be sure. Click here to view from 2012 and cast your vote.

Posted in On the Job | Tagged freightliner m2 vac truck, nysdot truck | 3 Comments

75 Years of Peterbilt

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Eric

It seems like it was just the other day in 1939 when Peterbilt trucks began to roll out of a factory in Oakland, California. Actually, no, it doesn’t but you get the point. The American trucking industry reaches another milestone this year with Peterbilt celebrating 75 years of building those red oval rigs so many of us love. In honor of this momentous occasion there will be a limited edition, individually numbered Model 579 made available with styling points direct from the original 1939 Peterbilt. Below you will find a few of the unique options to this limited edition truck.

• Exclusive 75th anniversary emblems on the sleeper exterior
• Highly polished hood crown surrounding a grille with a new oval design reminiscent of Peterbilt’s heritage
• Chrome-finished, three-piece steel bumper
• Bright sunvisor, side air intake bezels and rearview mirror housing
• Optional two-tone paint design with exclusive Diamond Red color evocative of the original Peterbilt model
• Exclusive bright rocker panels that complement the anniversary paint design
• Anniversary logoed mud flaps affixed with stainless-steel hangers
• Exclusive Platinum Titanium interior that creates an integrated design theme through the cab and sleeper with a dark dash top, door pads and sleeper cabinets with blackwood trim and complimentary colored carpet
• Anniversary dash emblem which includes the unique production number of the truck
• Multi-function steering wheel leather wrapped with custom stitching
• Exclusive black leather Evolution LX seats embroidered with the anniversary logo on the headrest
• Interior bright accents such as anniversary logoed shifter plate with polished shift lever and blackwood knob (manual transmissions only); gauge bezels; chrome interior door handle; and chrome billet throttle, clutch and brake pedals

Ooooh boy, collectors item for sure. If your pockets don’t happen to be deep enough keep an eye out for one special 579 as it travels the country as sort of a mobile museum. Hauling a trailer full of company memorabilia and exhibits it will make stops at various dealers and industry trade shows. I have yet to find dates or locations but will keep you posted.

Below is a photo supplied by Peterbilt that includes the original 1939 model, a 389 and the new 579. Looking at the photo it struck me that I have seen the ’39 model before. Turns out the truck is real and still exists and that I most likely saw it at the 2003 ATHS national meet in Syracuse, NY. ~~Chances are high that I have photos of it! I’ll dig through my archives later and update this post if I find it.~~ Nope, don’t have one but I did find someone else who bothered to take a picture at the same show. Click here.

Congratulations to Peterbilt! Here is hoping for another 75 years.

Source: Peterbilt Trucks

Posted in Industry News | Tagged 1939 peterbilt, peterbilt 579, peterbilt 75th anniversary | 1 Comment