Red Horse

for sure! As I posted on another site in response to why Ford gave up on heavy trucks in Brazil-make that South America... "Like I said-"political /economic climate" Country was in the tank. But don't you think the decision was easy for Hackett? Short term objectives are always the easiest. Was there excess capacity in that current market? I guess so. Ford unfortunately blinked first."

Wow- Long career-could probably teach some of the new guys a thing or two!

Kevin-we shall see if Ford has any surprises next week at the Work Truck Show in addition to the new 7.3 V-8. Surprised they let that cat out of the bag a couple of weeks ago. Good to read your comments about cost of designing a new cab. I can't believe they (Ford) continue to build 3 cabs at the Avon Lake plant that builds 650, 750 as well as 450 and 550 chassis cabs. the 450/550 get the aluminum SD cab while the 650/750 get the steel cab and the E series cut aways still get their old Econoline cab. Talk about an opportunity for savings! Or so it would seem to this dummy. Oh and for sure class 6 at least in the case of Ford is the hot market-you are right-10-1 over class 7. I did look at totals for 2018 and class 6 was 71,525 units while class 7 was 63,927. And with the new class 6 GM/International JV just starting to hit the dealer lots, Mack thinks they can in essence spend for a new assembly operation and be cost effective? 9 players in class 6 now and 6 in class 7. Crowded market as is.

Good luck Rich. that project will kill the shortcut off 25 on Friday afternoons😫

I'll believe it when a I see a drop down side window!

Got that right..Hackett's claim to fame?...he is a "cerebral thinker"!

Well I'm only as good as my memory from hanging out in an uncles heavy truck garage as well as my Wagner book but I would say 54 was when they first offered a factory tandem and that put them in class 8. !958 was probably the first big year as that was the year the Super Duty V-8's went into production.

Sure Liz, And I know you have answered this before but.........Simple question...I know you NEVER got any favorable treatment because of your native American roots. HOWEVER..with 1/1024 "proven" native American lineage, why would you even THINK of saying anything BUT Caucasian on any application??? Careful how you answer this now Liz, this is a test as to your true integrity. Crack another beer before you answer.

Hah-as for the teaspoon more, look at the side boards- steel. Think of the operator skill of those boys running cable backhoes and shovels.

Brocky-right church, wrong pew-you mean when Daimler took over😎

One other thing-VERY safety conscious fleet-it even has a right hand mirror-all 3" of it! As does the International in back of it. Safety pioneers! As for turn signals, that is what your left hand was for😎. It always amazes me that such a simple device as another mirror took so long to be accepted.

Makes you wonder-at least I do-how did they ever make any money? They could not have had significant volume? Sure economy in buying an existing cab but just to engineer it to work with their chassis? Then again when they were building these "kit trucks" the federal regs they had t deal with were Im sure a fraction of what they are today.

Is that a driving front axle or are my old eyes deceiving me??

This truck is now retired. But still on the job! Every year it is outlined in Christmas lights and is Powell's Christmas display!

Good point. Once a guy gets burned the memory lingers on. The 6.7 Power Stroke is another example. The fact that it has nothing in common with the 6.0/6.4 is not considered. All the good memories of the 7.3 Power Stroke are forgotten. I also think the fact that they were even INVOLVED with the Cat truck fiasco is not a plus for them. In any case as one of the last "American" class 8 builders, I hope they make it - and VW remains a minority investor.

Kevin I can't get over the aggressiveness of these guys. No of their presentations look less than professional. For sure takes bucks and dedication to do what they are doing. And given the level of competition they face, even more guts. And by the way-thx for the continuing education. I'm one of those guys who has never been to Europe other than one trip to Tuscany. I still have this impression that all the eastern euro countries are dependent on mule drawn carts!

Ej, You wouldn't be talking about my Galion also known as a Godwin with all of the cast hardware labeled "RS"??😎

No problem- think they have full fenders😎

Beauty- don't ever remember seeing it there-any year.

Kevin Saw a piece in today's WSJ..."Japanese robot maker Fanuc says Chinese demand has declined". Hmnn-wonder if reason is they are using their own. By the way.."Fanuc"...anyway this is/was once GE Fanuc? They made PLCs.

Again, further away from HQ the less "help" you have???? Nah-can't be that simple.

Jim-that is the one at Assabet Mack?

Kevin-enough bad news! Did not know about the two pump makers.

Chinese robots?? Based on our technology or home grown??

Kevin, Wait until the Work Truck Show in March. I have to believe Ford has to make a big hit this year in particular as GM/Navistar will continue to beat the drum on their new class 4,5,6 trucks now that they will be on dealer lots. By the way, this Automotive News piece missed half of the big news-namely the GM/JV and Ford's new big gas V-8, and increased Power Stroke ratings. No mention of impact of GM's re-entry into class 4,5 and 6 as well as the likely positive impact of the 7.3 V-8 on class 6 and 7 sales. Do these automotive press people understand just what the term "commercial" means??