67RModel

This thread made me think of a B model that has been siting outside in the same sport on the outskirts of Pittsburgh for literal decades. I honestly remember seeing this truck sit in the exact same spot back when I was a toddler riding in a car seat in the late 1980s. It hasn't moved since and actually doesn't look bad at all. Right on PA51 in McKees Rocks, PA. I was through there about a month ago and its still there....

Operate only at night?

Yea the largest contractor the USPS has is Fed Ex. Has been that way for a long time. That contract is worth like $1.5 billion annually. Top U.S. Postal Service Suppliers in 2023:‎ Transportation Suppliers Again Carry the Mail ‎ – TLA

Is the USPS even relevant anymore? Last I heard they were insolvent and had to be propped up with borrowed taxpayer money to operate every year. Get rid of it and auction everything it owns of to the highest bidder. Why do I care if the USPS, UPS, DHL, or Fed Ex brings my junk to my doorstep. At least the latter three don't operate on borrowed taxpayer money. If there is a continued need or desire by the market for daily letter mail delivery a business from the private sector will be able do it better and cheaper than the USPS boondoggle can.

I'm all for gutting large portions of the federal government and eliminating all the waste fraud and abuse. Heck, I would probably support eliminating non fraudulent and abusive sections of federal government. Its an absolute disgrace what it has become in terms or usefulness and wastefulness. at $36 trillion in debt it is obviously completely insolvent and Congress and Presidents refuse to take any meaningful action on it. THE only reason this asinine amount of debt hasn't become a crisis yet is because the US Dollar is the world's reserve currency, which is starting to come under threat but that is a topic for a different discussion. I'm very confident the United States' national debt could be reduced to 50% of GDP by year 2050 and the average citizen would not know the difference. However, since Congress refuses to take action, and on the contrary, actually doubles down on even larger budget deficits year after year you get what you have now. Trump in there with a chainsaw. Fine. Who cares. If that's what its going to take then so be it. Both parties and Congress going back at least 50 years only have themselves to blame for letting it get to this point. I would say Trump is doing the correct thing by employing auditors to go in a slash all this trash this corrupt government has been building for decades. With that said I think Trump is very dangerously playing with fire with regards to implementing tariffs of this quantity and magnitude as well as his handling of international relations with extremely close allies and neighbors. I'm not an economist. This is only my opinion based on some limited economics education and studying of history and trade policies since WWII. When implemented like this, tariffs pretty much always have an overall negative consequence, especially for the tariffing country. A tariff is a tax, and with any business tax, it is paid by the consumer. Businesses never pay tax, they only collect them. The only way prices don't increase is if the business takes a loss on their profit which is possible if there is a US competitor. But realistically speaking how may US based competitors are there for essentially every single thing coming into this country? The USA has not been a manufacturing country for decades. To think that is going to suddenly reverse course in a few years is simply daft. Moreover, I just don't see any overall alignment on this among political parties, politicians, or even economists for that matter to last any longer than this administration. And the election cycle and balance of power in this country is too fickle. in 3.5 years there will be a different president elected and if these tariffs are still in place they will most likely be all walked back. My guess is most offshore manufacturers will ride it out and sell at a smaller profit (if there is an a non-tariffed competitor here in country) and wait and see for 3.5 years. All the while the average citizen and retail investor will be getting hammered. This is akin to a brain surgeon using a chainsaw to remove a patient's brain tumor. I don't think this is the proper way to undo decades worth of offshoring. I would welcome anyone to find a reputable left or right leaning economist who thinks this is a good plan. I'll remain somewhat open minded and hope this is a strategy to "strongarm" other nations into negotiating a more favorable, long term trade deal with the USA but I don't have high hopes. At best everything is going to get more expensive, and we will slog on until the tariffs are eventually lifted, and we are back to where we started. At worst this will set off an all-out global trade war with the USA. I personally want neither.

I guess the bulldog hood ornament creates too much drag and had to be eliminated to save a thimble full of fuel over the trucks lifetime.

Nice thing about Reno though is stuff could last for decades out there and not rot away.

Realistically speaking, if correct, Schumer at age 74 and a net worth of $2.3 million is not out of line at all. Warren, age 75 worth $9 million is more questionable but probably not out of line depending on real estate holdings. She has done several if not many book deals as well. I don't know about McConnell and Pelosi. They both have ridiculous money, but I think in both cases most of it comes from their spouses' net worth. My guess is every federal politician is at some level corrupt and obtains wealth through questionable, but legal means. They are essentially insider traders. There are websites that track every trade Nacy Pelosi makes. She (all politicians) have to disclose all their trades. Trouble is, its months after the fact.

Heck, Carter signed the airline deregulation act in 1978. Info on this bill is more readily available. It passed the House 363-8 and the Senate 83-9. Could you imagine these clowns today being that bipartisan? 😂

Negative. The bill, named Motor Carrier Act of 1980 was signed into law on 7/1/1980 by Jimmy Carter. Regan didn't become president until 1/20/1981. The contents of the bill were developed by I.C. commissioners appointed by both Nixon, Ford, and Carter. But the main sponsor of the bill was Ted Kennedy. One would have to look up the yeas and nays of how Congress voted on the bill but my guess is it was a very bipartisan vote. I have no doubt Reagan would have signed it into law if it landed on his desk. You need to call balls when balls come and strikes when strikes come.

This one has the right power train to operate in contemporary times. Looks like it was originally built as a “Michigan Special”. Those 425s on the steer are not ideal for general freight hauling. I don’t know. I get why they are asking big bucks for it but it’s probably way overpriced. https://www.truckpaper.com/listing/for-sale/230122033/1990-mack-mh653-sleeper-trucks

That kid probably got an invitation from Signal onto his iPad.

He was back in early 2022. He hauled truck for me from Delaware to Pittsburgh. If I recall correctly he said it wasn't his primary truck. For his dedicated weekly work I think he uses a conventional but I don't recall what he said it was. This was a one-off haul he did for me and said he got the MH out specifically for it. Not sure if it was because it has a wet line for the lowboy or what but none the less he was still running it then....

At some point these 90s and early 2000s will become obsolete either through parts availability or attrition. In the 90s there were probably some trucks from the 60s still on the road. Now there are probably none of those left. I suspect the same will happen with these E7 and ETech trucks. The question is how old are you and how much longer are you going to run? If its more than probably 15 years then its probably worth it to buy new. In 10 or 15 years if your Granite needs an engine one will be available. I have no ownership experience (just some driving) with an MP8 / Mdrive. But based on what I have read, seen, and heard I would not purchase an Mdrive transmission. I would opt for an Allison RDS instead. More money for sure but bulletproof. The Mdrives seem to be more problematic than the engines. And they are delicate little single countershaft units. Sure there is a lot of torque limiting safeties and nannies but in my eyes it doesn't have good bones like the MP8 engine does. As Joey said. The MP8 is good but is handicapped by the emissions junk. But then again all new engines are. Buy the new one, keep the CH as backup, and don't look back.

Are those the ones at the end of each spoke on the hub? That the wedge clamp goes on? On my Mack with spoke hubs those nuts take an 1-1/4" socket or wrench so that typically would indicate a 3/4" nominal thread size and coarse threads in 3/4" have a pitch of 10 threads per inch. Fine thread would be 16 per inch. Although that nut your holding looks a good bit smaller than 1-1/4". What size nut is that?

What do you guys mean by hard times? I haven't been following the thread very closely the past few weeks...

Hang it up. If you expect to run it and generate revenue grossing 80,000 pounds all over the country then you will be dissatisfied and at a big disadvantage. A 2050 has a really big overdrive (0.6:1) and 5.02 rears would be typical of a "highway" specd truck of that vintage of Mack with that transmission. Assuming 11R22.5 drive tires that setup would get you about 72mph running on the 1800rpm governor. the slightest grade will have you dropping into 3rd gear and you will be getting your doors blown off by everything on the road. Times have changed. While certainly capable of reliably moving the weight, that power train is just not up to snuff for today's roads, weights, and everyone's impatience. It wouldn't be bad if maybe you never leave Nebraska. As for the camelback. My guess is most of the feed back on TheTruckersReport is from OTR guys who just like to complain about something. When hooked up to a fully loaded trailer you wont notice much difference in ride quality of air ride over the camelback. Even just pulling an empty trailer will smooth out the camelback's ride very nicely. Air ride has advantages such as the convenience it provides for drop and hook and probably lower maintenance costs. When the Camelback needs overhauled its a pretty big job. Nobody in their right mind would spec a brand new OTR tractor with camelback today but I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker on something used if everything else was ideal.

Obviously this is not a consumer product but my guess is Cummins will have a home run with this engine. On a much smaller scale, Kubota has been doing this for decades. They take an existing diesel engine and make a gas version. They are about the toughest and longest-lasting gas engines you’ll find in a small tractor or mower. Also a bit quieter than most other gassers being that they’re liquid-cooled and inline three cylinders.

In this day and age I would think its essentially impossible to start up a new automobile or commercial truck company from scratch and be competitive. Regardless of what former brand name you resurrect. It takes years if not decades to turn a profit from all the R&D, design, tooling, employees, etc, and investors want their money back quick. T-Line was somebody's pipe dream that had no basis in economic reality....

I sometimes think things like this are just an act in order to get views and clicks and go viral. Its not comprehendible that so many women can wake up, call themselves men and assume they can no longer get pregnant. Its just not believable... With social media everyone has a free broadcast platform where nothing is off the table. The more ridiculous the story or claim, the bigger the payday.

Send @chillywilly a PM. Sounds like he would be very interested.

Yea the entire Homestead Works is all commercial retail and restaurants in a fancy development called "The Waterfront". They left the 12 smokestacks intact as kind of an art exhibit or tribute to the former mill and history of the area, which is kind of neat. Picture below. The Homestead Grays (aka Highlevel) Bridge can be seen in the background of the photo as a horizontal white line. You can see the road the photo was taken from goes up a ramp to intersect with the bridge. The Homestead works was famous for the Homestead Strike in 1892. I think it is probably one of the most famous labor strikes in US History. Several people were killed when management sent in strike breakers and a battle broke out. At the time it was owned by Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel, which eventually became US Steel. The Rivers of Steel Carie Furnace museum is on the opposite side of the river from the Homestead Works was and like in the case of J&L's Hot Metal Bridge, the molten iron was transported across the river via their own rail bridge to be made into steel. Did you ever load at US Steel Edgar Thompson, Irvin Works, or Duquesne Works? Like the Homestead Works, the Duquesne Works is long gone but ET and Irvin Works are still going good. You probably never loaded at ET as they make huge steel slabs or ingots from raw materials. I think they get transported by rail to Irvin to be reheated and rolled into coils or whatever else. My father-in-law worked his entire career at Edgar Thompson Works as a boilermaker and fabricator. From what he says he hated it. The heat was unbearable as he got older and the working conditions were terrible.

If I'm not mistaken the president of FASH was a local guy here in Pittsburgh by the name of Bill Hill. He got involved in government via then PA Governor Milton Schapp, who supposedly had a soft spot for truckers and the trucking industry. His obituary claims he was the one who got the 80,000 pound weight limit passed though congress. William J Hill Sr | Obituary | Devlin Funeral Home

OK you seem to be the guy to ask since you got/get to put your hands on all the new trucks as they are coming off the assembly line. I have wondered about this question for a long time now: Can you still get a Mack built today with spoke hubs? Have you seen one recently ordered and built with them? Thanks.