ABF | Retirement Doubles

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He didn't have that one they were the blue and gray colored ones and had the patch sown on also have his million miler patches also
 
I remember a few motorcycles as well as the guns. Maybe one or two old Harleys from the 20s or earlier, and one or two other makes from the same period.

Gone now,.......and a Petro in it's place......A truly unusual real honest-to-goodness truckstop. Wonder what happened to the gun collection? Didn't he have a .50 caliber machine gun under glass just inside the front door?

Guess you can't have that in a modern "travel centre" today........

And,..........judging by the size of the bellies hanging over the waistbands of the pajama bottom type of pants most OTR guys are wearing with their flip-flops and "muscle" shirts,.............they removed the coffee counter and replaced it with a trough.......

I don't know,........when I ran the road, I drove AND unloaded the truck.........I hated lumpers. Maybe that's how I retained my trim and svelte figure.........
 
Gone now,.......and a Petro in it's place......A truly unusual real honest-to-goodness truckstop. Wonder what happened to the gun collection? Didn't he have a .50 caliber machine gun under glass just inside the front door?

Guess you can't have that in a modern "travel centre" today........

And,..........judging by the size of the bellies hanging over the waistbands of the pajama bottom type of pants most OTR guys are wearing with their flip-flops and "muscle" shirts,.............they removed the coffee counter and replaced it with a trough.......

I don't know,........when I ran the road, I drove AND unloaded the truck.........I hated lumpers. Maybe that's how I retained my trim and svelte figure.........

Very possible he did have a .50, I don't recall, didn't run up there my last 10 yrs or so.
I have the mate to a S&W 38, 1942 v model he wanted.
We traded a couple, but I still have the S&W
That may have been ABFer, you saw in flipflops and muscle shirt, "part of his handicap"
 
I don't know,........when I ran the road, I drove AND unloaded the truck
That was then...now they have wooden structures called pallets to hold the freight and motorized vehicles called forklifts to move those pallets. Exercise and physical fitness no longer required.
That may have been ABFer, you saw in flipflops and muscle shirt, "part of his handicap"
I can't find muscle shirts in anything bigger than triple 'x' and I still wear the leather shoes that the ICC used to require me to wear back when I started out in the industry.
 
That was then...now they have wooden structures called pallets to hold the freight and motorized vehicles called forklifts to move those pallets. Exercise and physical fitness no longer required.

I can't find muscle shirts in anything bigger than triple 'x' and I still wear the leather shoes that the ICC used to require me to wear back when I started out in the industry.

Not sure if your attire, and not good looks are your handicap.
I guess PIE spoiled me, I can count on one hand the times I touched a piece of freight in 35 yrs
 
Gotta remember I hauled cars for about 6 years.........like driving around my own set of monkeybars to climb on...

And,....my last few years at ABF saw an exponential rise in home deliveries.

But those 9 years where I owned my trucks.....I hated the very idea of lumpers.......hated the extortion and kickbacks.......refused to use them.

I ended up hand unloading a full trailer consigned to Farmer Jack in Grand Rapids Mich into a storage facility because Farmer Jack said I had to sit for three days if I wasn't going to use "their" lumper service.........

They refused to pay for about 6 months,.......then I finally got most of my money for the load. They had to pay for the storage and transportation back to the warehouse.......And the labor to load it.....
 
Canary, how did you make out, did you get all that was do to you. I've been wondering

Ahh,....yes, Brother. Apparently I was the first retiree our new terminal manager ever processed. He had incorrectly filled out a few forms, and the delay was due to that.

Since my retirement, another guy went a month later. Everything came to him on time.

Retirement doubles was from First Gear. I think I told someone it was Ertl,....but I was mistaken.
 
Retirement doubles was from First Gear. I think I told someone it was Ertl,....but I was mistaken.
I thought it was ERTL as well and it might have been since Wynn-Ross went out. I'm to stick my neck out and take a guess...the First Gear trucks are a ummm.....errrrrrrr......step down from the already low ERTL name.
 
I thought it was ERTL as well and it might have been since Wynn-Ross went out. I'm to stick my neck out and take a guess...the First Gear trucks are a ummm.....errrrrrrr......step down from the already low ERTL name.

Don't know about that, look at First Gear's B model Macks, not cheap.
 
I thought it was ERTL as well and it might have been since Wynn-Ross went out. I'm to stick my neck out and take a guess...the First Gear trucks are a ummm.....errrrrrrr......step down from the already low ERTL name.
First Gear makes a much more detailed model than Ertl ever thought about making. The quality is fantastic. First Gear and Diecast promotions are top of the line in models these days. Too bad ABF had First Gear use international trucks instead of Macks for the ABF model.
 
Here is one I had a good friend make for me since I could never find an ABF set.
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I think Canary should have insisted on a Volvo tractor.
PIE aquired 100 used Volvos from ABF a year before they folded, top speed 55mph, not 56, no one would drive
them, they replaced 11-22.5 with 11-24.5 tires and gained about 3mph.
They turned them to 63 to 65 mph before drivers would drive them, they were still Volvos, not in Freightliner's class.
See how much flack I get from people who think those ying yangs are a real truck.
 
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