The Mack Brothers

Back in the warmer months I spotted this truck at the local Mack dealer. It belongs to the NYS Department of Transportation and most likely is used to haul a lowboy around. You can see the folded down “oversized load” sign on the front bumper. It’s a sharp looking unit and will probably be part of the fleet for years to come.

NYS DOT Mack Granite – Click to Enlarge

A few months later I spotted the brother to this Granite at the same Mack dealer. For some reason this truck sports a larger selection of storage bins. Both photos also show how far back the front axle sits on each truck.

NYS DOT Mack Granite – Click to Enlarge

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The Ford COE Lives

Ford may have left the North American Class 8 market decades ago but such was not the case for many of its global operations. News surfaced yesterday regarding the next generation of Ford COE heavy trucks that should soon be available in markets like South American and Eastern Europe. The styling cues apparently adhere to other global Ford products. Cabovers are essentially dead in North American and a truck that looks like this won’t bring them back. Details on the power and weight ratings are still hazy but Ford has already confirmed this truck will not see the shores of North America in the near future. For the full story check out Autoblog by clicking here.

ImageSource: Autoblog.com

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Lost and Found – White 3000 Asphalt Tanker

Time for a blast from the past. Visitors that have been with Daily Diesel Dose from the start may recall the story of this old White 3000 tanker truck. If you would like to read the unabridged story click here. For everyone else, here is the quick version. Two years ago I noticed the shadow of an old truck resting in the wooded area of an industrial no mans land. For the majority of the year the truck is hidden by tall weeds and trees. My reward for digging through the trees was a White 3000 wearing faded red paint and setup as an asphalt sprayer. A few days ago I was feeling nostalgic so I decided to repay the 3000 a visit. This time I was on foot which made access to the truck much easier.

The truck has not changed much in the two years since my original visit. The rust is still growing, the door is still missing. If anything, it has probably sunk lower into the ground. Apologies for the shaky video but the terrain around the White is anything but smooth.

 

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

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On The Job – National Grid Freightliner M2

This is for all my Freightliner Business Class fans. You know who you are.

Freightliner M2 – Click to Enlarge

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Surrounded by Plows

My house is situated on a busy residential street that separates a village from a town. Most of the time I am annoyed by the steady traffic but there is one huge plus; constant plow traffic. While the actual plowing responsibilities of this street fall to the county both town and village trucks pass by on a regular basis. Three different government bodies running different styles of trucks and equipment. All of which can be viewed from the comfort of my porch. When I feel adventurous a quick one block walk south puts me right on the route of the NYS DOT. What more can you ask for?

Village of East Syracuse – Click to Enlarge

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Highway Thru Hell: Heavy Rescue

When one towing show ends another one begins. A few weeks ago the NatGeo channel premiered a reality tv show named Hell on the Highway. The show chronicled the life of tow operators who make their living working the dangerous mountain roads of the Sierra Nevada. It appears the show has run its course but fear not towing junkies, another show is set to premiere. Highway Thru Hell: Heavy Rescue is set to take the stage this Wednesday at 10PM. The official synopsis reads as follows…

It’s the Bermuda Triangle of truck accidents — the Coquihalla Highway in British Columbia. In good weather the expansive highway is an engineering marvel, but when the weather turns bad, it’s one of the most dangerous roads in North America. NGC follows one of the few rescue crews equipped with the experience and heavy-duty gear to tow a disabled big rig off this treacherous road.

You can visit the official page by clicking here.

Highway Thru Hell – Premieres Jan 23 on National Geographic Channel

Image Source: National Geographic Channel

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On the Job – John Deere 225D LC

Demolition is underway of penicillin contaminated buildings at the Bristol-Myers Squibb plant in East Syracuse, NY. Apparently once a building has been used to manufacture penicillin it is forever contaminated and therefore unsuitable for future medical research or manufacturing. The main demolition contractor appears to be Cleveland Wrecking Company. They have an arsenal of equipment onsite and believe me, these machines are very large and very intense. Sadly, this post won’t deal with any of them because they were hiding down a hill and behind a building. My only access to the work is what I can see from the road and through a group of trees. That is where I spied this Deere 225D LC working to sort various metals from broken concrete and brick. The amount of scrap metal on this site is insane. The local scrap guys must be drooling when they drive by.

For more details and images of the project you can visit the official Cleveland Wrecking website by clicking here.

Hopefully I can grab some shots and videos of the larger machines in action. In the mean time….video!

 

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A Daily Diesel Dose PSA

Thomas, our friend from Texas, is back with somber images of rescue vehicles that have met an untimely end. The rigs below are considered to be a total loss, apparently only viable for spare parts at the most. One can only hope that the crews and the people they were helping walked away unharmed from the accidents. Most of us know that an emergency vehicle with flashing lights and a blaring siren has the right-of-way. You are instructed to pull over to the right or clear a intersection until the vehicle has passed. If you hear a siren but can’t identify the source the NYS DMV instructs the following.

If you hear a siren or air-horn nearby but do not know exactly where the emergency vehicle is, you should safely pull over to the right-side edge of the road and stop until you are sure it is not approaching you.

Straight from the source!

 

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Town of Herkimer – Freightliner M2 112V Plow Truck

Another day another dollar. Mo’ plows, mo’ problems. What do you think about this Freightliner M2 112V setup for plowing the streets of Herkimer, NY? I happen to like it. The fender guards are a nice touch. As you can see from the photos below it is teamed up with an Everest plow and a Hi Way E2020XT spreader.

Freightliner M2 112V Snow Plow – Click to Enlarge

Enjoy the multiple angles, soak it all in.

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License Revoked

Many of the large national carriers operate their own driver training programs to help fill the ranks of their growing companies. Most of the time instruction is provided using their experienced staff and company trucks. After all, finding a skilled driver to learn from a truck to drive can be the largest obstacles to obtaining a CDL. Swift Transportation had one such “academy” in Millington Tennessee. The Millington location even contained a satellite DMV office. Talk about one stop shopping. Swift and the Tennessee State government became so close that road tests eventually stopped using state personal in favor of Swift trainers. Soon, the road test dropped from a open road 45 minute exam to a quick five minute drive around the block. Fearing that a terrorist could gain easy access to a license from these methods the Federal government invalidated nearly 9,000 CDLs earned by graduates. WOW! Many of the graduates were no longer employed by Swift and thus lost their jobs and careers when their licenses were terminated. A class action lawsuit soon followed. Swift eventually agree to pay for retesting, retraining and equipment rental to the drivers but some feel that is not enough. What do you think? CDL Life.com has the full story which you can view by clicking here.

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