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White Drag-In

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Eric

It’s not Monday (Thank God!) but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look at this awesome early 40’s Autocar Wrecker. For reasons unknown (although I can take a guess) Andy was digging through the Tacoma Public Library online digital photo collection. I’m not sure he found what he was looking for but this photo is certainly a winner.

The photo caption reads as follows.

A Turner tow truck is lifting a big freighter on its towing rig. The freighter truck is pulling a trailer behind its regular load. The Turner truck cab has a dragon painted on the driver’s door and words, “Call Turner, White Drag-In”. Turner Towing was located at 2620 Pacific Avenue in Tacoma.

Interesting. I wonder what became of this fine looking truck. And no, I’m talking about that Peterbilt (?) out back on the hook. Great find Andy. Keep up the good work.

Credit: Tacoma Public Library 21215

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged white drag-in | 2 Comments

Always Be Prepared

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Eric

What is the second largest city in West Virginia? The answer might depend on the time of year when you ask. The Summit Bechtel Reserve is a massive scouting complex that in years past has hosted upward of 35,000 scouts and their leaders. I remember going to scouting jamborees as a boy and I can only describe the events as organized chaos during the best of times. I can’t image the work that must take place to keep such a facility in check. Obviously big trucks are needed. Here we see a Mack RD tanker with a few tasteful additions like quad air horns and a custom laser cut grill.

The task of the day was proving water for what appears to be a giant Slip and Slide. It was joined by a Ford L8000 which appears to be in great shape as well.

Cool stuff! Thanks for sharing Dave!

Posted in On the Job | Tagged summit bechtel reserve | Leave a comment

Not a Diesel

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Eric

It might not be diesel powered (a DD could be squeezed under the hood) but it is an International and that’s good enough for me! Jon sends in this shot of an truck that probably hails from the 1930s back when every tow truck was a custom built unit.

While it might not have the pull power of a modern truck I’m sure that this old rig found itself moving and towing more than its fair share of steel back in the day.

Thank the good Lord above that places vehicles don’t rot away in the pacific northwest as they do back here on the east coast. Cool shot Jon, thanks for sharing!

Posted in Lost and Found | Tagged International tow truck | Leave a comment

Northgate Ready Mix

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Eric

I had some time on my hands so I decided to clean up my Gmail inbox. The goal was to trim about 400 emails so the inbox total fell below 1,000 items. As I was deleting away I happened to come across some emails that contained truck photos destined for this site. Sadly they were lost in the chaos…until now!

Northgate Ready Mix of Windsor, California is rocking a new fleet of Western Star 4700s (and a Freightliner for good measure) with Kimble mixers. Ryan stopped by in August and took these great shots. Too bad they languished for eight months before being rediscovered.

[Show as slideshow]

Thanks for the shots Ryan!

As it turns out I found a few more items in my emails worth sharing. Stay tuned.

Posted in On the Job | Tagged kimble mixers, northgate ready mix, western star 4700 | 1 Comment

Autocar Mondays – Bring a Friend

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Eric

The government always has the coolest toys. Paul shares this shot of a crew cab Autocar from Hill Air Force near Ogden, Utah. Powered but a Cummins and connected to a automatic trans this truck is easy to drive for any enlisted personal and all their buds.

One can only speculate on the contents of the large white box behind the cab but most likely it is used to track UFOs.

Thanks for the share Paul! I guess we better keep watching those government surplus sites for this one!

For you eagle eye visitors the truck behind this Autocar is a Oshkosh K2358. Learn more by clicking here.

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

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged crew cab autocar, hill air force base | Leave a comment

Volvo VNX

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Eric

Yesterday Volvo dropped the redesigned VNX, the heavy haul flagship of their North American offerings. As with every redesigned vehicle of all time designers and engineers worked closely with existing customers to tailor the truck to exacting needs. God only knows what they would come up with if they were left to their own devices. Probably something like the Homer. Anyway, the new VNX will be powered by the Volvo D13 or the Cummins X15. Cab configurations include daycab, low roof regional sleeper and high roof 70″ sleeper. Axle configurations will include 6×4 tandem, 8×4 tadem and 8×6 tridem.

If you are so inclined you can read the press release here at Transport Topics. It’s full of useful information but the line I found most interesting was…

He said that the company offers these types of severe-duty models worldwide, including its home country of Sweden, and is ready to expand its presence in the segment in North America. He pointed specifically to Canada and upstate New York as regions where heavy-haul applications are prevalent.

Good ol’ Upstate NY at the center of the modern trucking world!

Check out the video below for some great self indulgence VNX imagery.

Posted in Industry News | Tagged volvo vnx | Leave a comment

Old Trucks Are Best

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Eric

A simple truth. Old trucks are best. And old trucks tend to look best in black and white photographs. Enjoy these photos from Dave of some neat old rigs that time and nature are slowly erasing.

A Mack Internationals

A Mack COE

Posted in Lost and Found | Leave a comment

International Workstar with M-B Chassis Conversion

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Eric

Yeah. I gotta start hanging out at airports more often. Check out this 2015 International Workstar of the Truckee Tahoe airport. As you might imaging this little airport can experience extremely heavy snow fall. To keep the runways open the International comes equipped with a 18 foot reversible M-B P5000 front blade along with a Henderson wing. All together the two provide over 20 feet of runway clearing power.

While the truck was built by International the 4×4 systems come from M-B as well. It’s a complete package that includes axles, transfer cases and transmissions. It truely is a custom system. Make sure to stop by the M-B website to check out the full details and browse through the other truely mega machines they build for airports around the world.

I know we all pine for the days when runway trucks were massively overbuilt Walter and Oshkosh units but this truck is a pretty decent modern take on those trucks. Perhaps Walter could have survived if they had taken to intergrating their technology into the trucks of the more conventional OEMs? Bring it up with your kids around the dinner table tonight. I’m sure it will lead to a lively discussion.

A massive thanks to Ryan for sharing these photos.

Posted in Snow Plows | Tagged henderson, international workstar, m-b, truckee tahoe airport | Leave a comment

Autocar Mondays – Three Wise Men

Posted on March 12, 2018 by Eric

Christmas is just around the corner….if you consider 288 days away to be the near future. Hugh was about and about recently when he came across this trio of Autocar Trucks still dressed for the holiday season. These trucks hail from the 40’s if my guess is correct. Most likely they are gas powered. Little else is know about their history other than the faded lettering that reads L.E. Beach, Springfield (MA presumably). Thanks for making the u-turn Hugh!

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

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged autocar, l.e. beach | Leave a comment

NTEA Work Truck Show 2018

Posted on March 10, 2018 by Eric

So last year after seeing some photos from Tom of the Work Truck Show it became painfully obvious that this is a not to miss show for anyone even the least interested in trucks. Not only do you have vendors of all kinds showing the very latest in truck related equipment but this year you had at least three major reveals in the form of the Hino XL, the International MV and the Silverado 4500/5500HD. So why again was I sitting back in CNY shoveling a foot a snow for what feels like the millionth weekend in a row? Guess I’m not as smart as look.

This truck is proof that you don’t have to have large stacks and shaved door handles do make unique ride. It’s a Kenworth T370 with a Paccar PX-9 350 HP Allison 3000RDS Fabco FSD-12 Front Axle Summit Body with 29 foot 12,000 lb Crane.

Enjoy the gallery below courtesy of Tom who has brought us coverage of this show for the past three years.