St. Johnsbury Trucking Company Old Macks

[dave41855]

Here's a couple of photos I have of some St. J Trucking Macks. Not sure what model the old one is, but the others are a little U600 six wheeler and U600 ten wheeler. The main terminal and head office was right here in St. Johnsbury. St. J Trucking died tragically, sudden and for no real reason. Had upper management not had "sticky fingers" the company probably would still be going strong!

Dave in VT 

[j hancock]

The older box truck is a Maccar and it was probably built in Scranton, PA.

[dave41855]

26 minutes ago, j hancock said:

The older box truck is a Maccar and it was probably built in Scranton, PA.

I take it Maccar has nothing to do with Mack, correct?

[j hancock]

Maccar started in 1912 by Jack Mack, one of the founding brothers of Mack trucks and business partner Roland Carr.

Found some notes showing the truck is a 1933 Maccar 100 model.

[dave41855]

1 hour ago, j hancock said:

Maccar started in 1912 by Jack Mack, one of the founding brothers of Mack trucks and business partner Roland Carr.

Found some notes showing the truck is a 1933 Maccar 100 model.

Thanks J!!

[james j neiweem]

St Johnsbury had a lot of tandem U models with Cummins 903's

[dave41855]

3 hours ago, james j neiweem said:

St Johnsbury had a lot of tandem U models with Cummins 903's

Yup they did James. Also there were quite a few (here at least) that had air starters. I recall standing by one on main street one day when the driver started one up. Almost filled my britches right then and there!!!  You can still see one or two of their old trailers around the country if you look hard enough.

Dave

[Red Horse]

16 hours ago, james j neiweem said:

St Johnsbury had a lot of tandem U models with Cummins 903's

Weren't the V-8's U700's??- they had about 3" of added fiberglass on the hood at the wheel wells.

[james j neiweem]

That's a good question R Horse.   I don't believe they were U700's The ones I remember seeing were low hoods (600's)

The Cummins 903 was a 90 degree V-8. The Detroits were 60 degree v-8's plus they had the supercharger up top Thus the Cummins was lower profile I believe

[Red Horse]

3 hours ago, james j neiweem said:

That's a good question R Horse.   I don't believe they were U700's The ones I remember seeing were low hoods (600's)

The Cummins 903 was a 90 degree V-8. The Detroits were 60 degree v-8's plus they had the supercharger up top Thus the Cummins was lower profile I believe

OK Maybe I'm thinking of Detroit powered U's.  I'm thinking Roadway had some-I just remember the jacked up hoods.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

The 903 was a wide engine, and a lot of manufacturers used various tricks to make it fit. IIRC, Ford used a drop front frame section on the Louisvilles to make room for the 903, and some other manufacturers shaved off the top flange of the frame and even some of the web.

[dave41855]

11 minutes ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

The 903 was a wide engine, and a lot of manufacturers used various tricks to make it fit. IIRC, Ford used a drop front frame section on the Louisvilles to make room for the 903, and some other manufacturers shaved off the top flange of the frame and even some of the web.

To my knowledge, the U700's indeed were built to accommodate vendor engines. I do believe that St. J did have some, yes, but Lord knows how many. The hoods were bigger (taller) to do this. See attached photos. The extra hood is visible in both the fenders and the narrow part of the hood top. I've been told that the Cummins 903 could not fit in a U700 because it was too wide. A Cat 3208 was the biggest V8 (other than a Mack V8) that could fit in there.

Dave

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Used to see a lot of these on the eastern Turnpikes, they needed the big engines to pull Turnpike double 45s but in a short BBC so they could pull a single 45' trailer in the 55' overall length then allowed off the Turnpike.

[mowerman]

pretty cool rig.....broke in on a U model.....always have a soft spot for them...bob

[james j neiweem]

If you look at the David Faust pictures of the Transcon U-models (ex Wilson Freight U's with 903's) they clearly are U-600's. After the founding brothers of St.Johnsbury sold out to Sun Oil the frieghtliners from a west coast buyout showed up in the St J fleet. Sun Oil also bought out Jones motor lines from South Carolina. I believe this is where the IH 2500 and Ford L9000 influence in the fleet came from. There last big purchase was Ford 9000's. There were a few R models in the fleet alsobut they may have been test tractors.  It would have been neat if they had more R models . St. J went from L models to B models and then U models. After that IH's and fords. Dave 41's picture of the U could have been 903 powered or 673 inline. Also as I remember the 903 U's had downward exhaust(smoke eaters). If you view the transcon U's with 903's they are also downward exhausts.

Edited October 2, 2016 by james j neiweem

[mowerman]

weed burners lol.....used to be alot of them....bob

[57 bcr]

I think Ryder had some 700's  as well. As I recall theirs had Formula  Cummins  855's  in them. Had to be tilted to the right to fit,for  sure!    Al  

[john canorro]

Hi guys. I drove for St. Johnsbury in Buffalo NY.  I was with Woodins Express when St. Jay purchased us. I worked for them right up to the bankruptcy.  31 years. It was a really great company when the Zabarsky family owned it. 

[RRJordan]

Here is a story from 40 or more years back that I hope, given today's sensitivities, is still just innocent and funny:  We were stranded in a little South Carolina roadhouse during an ice storm along with a couple heading to Florida in their Cadillac.  He assured us he could drive in the ice storm because he was a St. Johnsbury driver, held the first  license for doubles on the NYS Thruway, and knew all about bad weather.  Doubles were new and novel in the East and I was impressed.  I asked what he pulled them with.  His answer with a straight face was "Italian Macks."  I fell for it and he explained they were "Wop-sided U Models."

[mowerman]

i almost hired on with them,,,in 76 but started with nissens bakery instead,,,,,,nissens had steady work..bob

[Joey Mack]

Hi Bob. Just curious where the Nissens Bakery was?  Jojo

[Mike Harbison]

On 9/29/2016 at 9:41 AM, dave41855 said:

To my knowledge, the U700's indeed were built to accommodate vendor engines. I do believe that St. J did have some, yes, but Lord knows how many. The hoods were bigger (taller) to do this. See attached photos. The extra hood is visible in both the fenders and the narrow part of the hood top. I've been told that the Cummins 903 could not fit in a U700 because it was too wide. A Cat 3208 was the biggest V8 (other than a Mack V8) that could fit in there.

Dave

There were 2 different model designations for 903 powered U models,U659 and U661,one for turbocharged and one natural,they made 501 of the U659 and only 65 of the U661

[mowerman]

On 6/21/2021 at 11:09 AM, Joey Mack said:

Hi Bob. Just curious where the Nissens Bakery was?  Jojo

Oh sorry took me a while to find it ha ha I was out of Lynn Massachusetts but they had a lot of bakeries maine New Jersey New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island… The Lynn bakery is no longer there they even tore down the building lotta good memories of course I was a lot younger than as well lol… bob

[Joey Mack]

OK, Just curious. I lived in Portland Maine for a long time and could smell the bakery everyday...  Jojo

[mowerman]

I used to go there all the time in the 70s and yes 10 four on the aroma I worked in Lynn for five years and never got tired of it move to California in 1980 then to Reno is 94…. Bob