Usually when a new class 8 truck hits the street I don’t lay eyes on it for nearly a solid year after full production begins. Such is the burden of not having a direct connection to the trucking industry. This year Trucktoberfest was pushed back and happened to coincided nicely with the release of Mack’s latest OTR offering, the Anthem. No more waiting for me!
Join me as I take the five minute tour of this all new truck.
One of the best truck shows out there has to be the event hosted at the Mack Trucks Museum and Customer Center in Allentown, PA. For diehard Mack fans this show is as close as you will come to heaven while on this earth and to be honest, it’s pretty cool for just about everyone else. The best part of the day happens when the Pedigree of Power hits the test track. As I’ve often said before, it’s one thing to see trucks on display but it’s an entirely different experience to seem and hear them in motion. Just think of the vehicles that made test laps around this track. My hat is off to the folks at Mack who allow the average Joe a chance at running their tires over this piece of asphalt history.
Now on to the good stuff. Climb aboard Jeremy George’s 1974 359 at he takes a hot lap or too. Plenty more to come in the next few days from this event.
Did you hear the news? Autocar Trucks is opening a second manufacturing plant in the Birmingham area. The 1 million square foot production facility will assemble the heavy duty cab forward Autocar trucks common found at work in the refuse collection industry. When complete, the 193 million dollar project will employ nearly 750 workers. This is great news for the country and the historic Autocar nameplate.
Now if we could only convince them to start making a conventional model again….
Have a truck you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!
I made my annual lunch time visit to the NYS Highway and Public Works expo the other day to catch a glimpse at all the new trucks and equipment made possible by taxpayers like you. As with any auto or trade event it can be challenging to take a decent photo with strange indoor lighting and of course the people. Who knew that a 10 wheel dump truck with plow gear was the perfect lounging device. You had guys sitting on the wing, leaning on the front blade, and laying on the hoods. Well, maybe not that last one but you get the point. I had to make a loop of the show over a dozen times just to get the few shots I did but hey, that’s part of the……fun. 😉
So this Kenworth T-470 with Tenco gear from the Town of Milo was a true stand out rig with its bright blue paint job. And, believe it or not, this comes with a manual trans. I’m not sure what I keep making a big deal out of that feature but it seems to be on the way out in all forms of modern trucks.
Now I’m not trying to put down Volvo, they make a nice looking truck but for some odd reason I never had any trouble snagging a shot of the VHD’s on display. Guess they aren’t as cool to lounge all over.
Outside, this uniquely wrapped T-470 was on display as an homage to the various military branches of the United States. Workers from the Town of Tonawanda spent countless hours assembling this truck to its final form as salute to veterans and their families.
There was more than just new plow trucks at the Tracey Road Equipment Open House last week. All manor of Western Star and Freightliner trucks were available for perusal including this new Cascadia for the ultimate grocery store, Wegmans. If you don’t have a Wegmans near you I can honestly say you have not lived. Anyway, this truck is the embodiment of the modern highway hauler with a completely redesigned interior that resembles a car more than a truck. A column mounted shifter hiding behind the steering wheel tells you all you need to know.
So crisp. So new.
An entire lineup of heavy equipment was also on display.
I’ve even tossed a few other trucks from earlier visits just to make this a mega gallery.
Usually around this time of the year I start to mourn the end of truck shows and the warm weather. Not this year. The shows are still going on and the temperatures have been in the high 70’s and low 80’s for days now. We’re running a good 15 to 20 above average for this time of year. Fortunately we have some cool Autocars to look at from a show that took place in Virginia a few weeks back.
This 63 DC is one of my favorite styles of Autocar truck. The long rounded hood and front grill pair perfectly with the square pit style fenders. Exterior oil filters and large air cleaner suggest big power underneath the faded sheet metal.
Not to far down the row a 70 DC shows off a different take on tough with aluminium rims front and back, fiberglass fenders and a presumably aluminium frame as well. I’m just adlibing here but this truck seems to have more of a highway hauler look to it than it’s more vocational style brother up top.
Thanks to Jack for sending in these shots from the Somerset Steam and Gas pasture party. A few other trucks were there as well and we’ll take a look at those in the coming days.
Do you have an Autocar Truck you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!
If you are familiar with the Syracuse area or nearly any location upstate you know that the countryside is usually no more than 20 minutes away in nearly any direction. Now that I’ve moved to my new home I’m even closer to that fresh country air. Nothing beats the smell. Why they even have trucks like this one that drive around, mobile potpourri dispensers if you will, that make sure everyone gets their fair share.
I kid. I don’t plan on becoming one of those NIMBYS that moves next to a farm and complains out the sights, sounds or smells. Maybe in twenty years when I’m older and grumpier.
Yes, now I have a whole new area to explore in order to fill the many categories like Lost and Found and Still Working. I’m not sure where this old Paystar is falling at the moment.
The hills of the surrounding countryside are dotted with numerous small towns and their not so small plow trucks like this Oshkosh from the Town of Lincoln.
With the amount of tractors I’ve seen over the past few days I have a feeling they will be more common place around DDD. Maybe I’ll have to add a farm hand section? Who knows.
The other day Tracey Road Equipment held their annual open house at their Syracuse Headquarters. We all know I stop by on a regular basis to keep up on the latest trucking trends but how can you pass up trucks lined up and put on display for full inspection?
Here we seen the newest truck for the Town of Colchester, NY, a 2018 Freightliner 114SD. Under the hood a DD13 provides 450 HP while connected to an Eaton Fuller 8LL trans. This was one of the few trucks on display that actually had an honest to good manual gearbox. Plowing gear is Everest all the way around.
As noted before, the Western Star 4700 is the new face of plow trucks in the CNY region and beyond. It truely is the International 2574 of the modern age. This truck for the town of Sennett stood out with it’s emerald green paint job. The powertrain stats for this truck are identical to that of the Colchester truck. Viking plow equipment is the blade of choice for this rig.
And a few others that were on display. After awhile they all start to look the same!
So I’m moving homes again…but this time it’s for good! Technically (the best kind of correct) I’ve already moved into my new place but it will be about another week before the internet follows me home so posts around here might be sporadic.
Despite all the struggles with moving none of my boxes or furniture required multiple heavy wreckers like this old Penn Central box car that had sunk into the earth near Shippensburg, PA.
https://www.facebook.com/ShippensburgUniversity/videos/10155468874411130/
The box car will soon undergo a complete restoration and been open to the public once it is filled with memorabilia relating to the history of Penn Central in the town.
One of the local news stations has more on the move that you can view by clicking here. It’s also worth a visit to the facebook page of Dave’s Truck Repair for more shots of the move.
Thanks to Andy for the tip!
Awhile back I noticed an old International S-Series parked in a driveway near my home. I figured one day I would be lucky enough to snap a photo for my own personal collection as occasionally it was parked on the street. Well, I never got that photo but I did get one of this even cooler International Loadstar. As you can see, it was parked in front of the very hill that inspired that Windows XP background. I’m just joking. Or am I?
