ABF | For Two Bits I'll Get You Home.

Bill was an old school Union Steward, he knew all the tricks that he picked up over all his years of driving. We all missed him when he retired.

You modern day truckers make me feel like an antique, with all your gadgets and tinkertoys, air ride, automatics, PS and ELDS, our favorite tool was called a telephone.
 
I remember check calling every morning between 0800 and 1000.

We never check called, just had a breakdown line.
Automatics aren’t really a blessing for those of us running line outside of major metros. JMO.

I'm just jacking my jaws, we had a fleet of hydramatic GMCs in 1956 for a year, got a lot of delay time.
 
This posting of this subject matter is really what makes this board shine & the members who use it. I am 66, retired & have used some of these electrical solutions in the past. Some solutions I did not know. I have been told that a bad ground is the reason for 50 % or more of automotive electrical issues, even more so in the trucking industry. Some ABF road drivers would not leave the yard until a marker light was repaired. @ 75 bucks a pop from the vendor it got expensive real quick. Even if we had a ladder @ the barn, no one would get on a extension ladder to fix a light 13 feet off the ground. If it was down low, we would just go get one in the fuel bay & change it out saving the ABF money & the driver time. If you ran Omaha, NE (613) miles any delay could force you to bed 50 miles from a terminal. Some would go over their hours just to get there. Now days with the recorder, find a safe place to park & call dispatch. von.
 
We never check called, just had a breakdown line.


I'm just jacking my jaws, we had a fleet of hydramatic GMCs in 1956 for a year, got a lot of delay time.

That was before my time. I heard stories about the 'Bubble Nose' Gmc's with automatic transmissions & 6-71 Detroit oil slingers.
 
This posting of this subject matter is really what makes this board shine & the members who use it. I am 66, retired & have used some of these electrical solutions in the past. Some solutions I did not know. I have been told that a bad ground is the reason for 50 % or more of automotive electrical issues, even more so in the trucking industry. Some ABF road drivers would not leave the yard until a marker light was repaired. @ 75 bucks a pop from the vendor it got expensive real quick. Even if we had a ladder @ the barn, no one would get on a extension ladder to fix a light 13 feet off the ground. If it was down low, we would just go get one in the fuel bay & change it out saving the ABF money & the driver time. If you ran Omaha, NE (613) miles any delay could force you to bed 50 miles from a terminal. Some would go over their hours just to get there. Now days with the recorder, find a safe place to park & call dispatch. von.

We had a good shop in Charl, those guys were good about getting you rolling.
If you could make minor repairs on the road, PIE was glad to pay you instead of calling a vendor or sending a shop guy.
 
I carried a spare light cord in my tractor at all times. That is, until the line drivers stole them out of my tractor. I just visited the supply closet when they went ‘missing’. TM spent a small fortune replacing cords on pretty much a monthly basis! The silver lining: I always had a brand new light cord on board.
 
When I retired, the ABS light cords were running north of $80 a copy. I carried enough to hook triples with ABS gears (2 per gear) and kept at least one as a spare. Lot of money.
I hear ya. Can’t tell you how many times I had to ‘jump cord’ a dolly who’s lights didn’t work. I actually preferred the non-lit gears...one less thing to go wrong.
 
Old manual phone,....where you put the money in directly,.....instead of mailing it off to some giant conglomerate....

(...come to think of it,....they're all...payphones, aren't they?....)

Remember phone booths with doors where callers didn't annoy people around them by speaking loudly? Ah, the good old days, gone forever just like good manners and civility!
 
tried to find a payphone lately?

There are a few in this state that are still operational. One in the Fayetteville/Springdale area is a well preserved wooden booth that is on the historical register. There is one in this town on Highway 65 but it is not operational. Some I remember were well built from aluminum & plexiglass. They made a good shelter from the weather if you were broken down. The door had a switch that operated the fluorescent light when you closed the door.
 
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