If the L series cab was more roomy, why did the B model cab succeed it?

[Jamaican Bulldog]

Why was the L model cab replaced by the less roomy B model cab? The curvy B model did go well with the curvy fenders but he L model cab on the B series also looked great.

[russell t]

Probably some ex-Studebaker employees in management.

[Jamaican Bulldog]

11 hours ago, russell t said:

Probably some ex-Studebaker employees in management.

Could you please explain further? Thanks

[james j neiweem]

If you look at the Sudebaker cab and the B model cab they are very similar. When they first came out, some used to call them Studebaker Macks.

[Jamaican Bulldog]

Oh ok, I didn't know that. Thanks for clarifying

[Hobert62]

I'm guessing its about appearance.    A truck is like a women...  It needs some nice curves to look good.  

[mowerman]

i was thinking that for a lotta years since i was a young teenager....they seem to have walked backwards on that one...bob

[Timmyb]

The L cab was sheet metal over a frame correct? Maybe the b cabs were lighter and stronger? There's your sales pitch right there!

[ekennedy21]

The b cab may be smaller but it has a way more modern feel to it then the L cab. The rounded look of the B is a statement of the 50's and Americas obsession with aerodynamics and space travel. Rounded cab makes for less room......

[Jamaican Bulldog]

I also notice that the basic shape of the L was similar to the designs of Petes and KW of the 60s through the 90s

[Maddog13407]

if they moved backward with the L, to B, they definatlely moved backwards in aerodynamics wise with the B to R. the L was a sheet metal cab over a wooden frame basically, old school doors, old school wipers, the B may have been smaller but it was more modern with stamped steel, removeable door panels, etc

[Jamaican Bulldog]

39 minutes ago, Maddog13407 said:

if they moved backward with the L, to B, they definatlely moved backwards in aerodynamics wise with the B to R. the L was a sheet metal cab over a wooden frame basically, old school doors, old school wipers, the B may have been smaller but it was more modern with stamped steel, removeable door panels, etc

Ok makes sense. As you explain the designs were more than skin deep. The R model improved on space and probably more structure compared tot he B.

[james j neiweem]

Actually if you look at the L cab it looks very similar to the H model cab. Probably because they both came from Orville body works. If you look at the A model cab it is very similar to the White coup cab again probably from Orville body works. If you look at the Ford Bud cab it is very similar to the F model cab around the window area. I think  the F models were built in house at Mack. It looks like Mack modified the Budd cab or N cab and made the F model cab. The F model and R model cabs are similar around the window area. The R model being much smaller. The R model was built by Schiller Globe but may have been a Mack design.

[Jamaican Bulldog]

The DM and R  are my favorite style Macks. I always they were unique compared to everything else and and hard to mistake them being anything but a Mack.

I also have a spot for them because a DM was the truck that got me fascinated with Macks as My uncle had the first one around and it out performed every other truck around in durability and capability in my area of Jamaica for a long time. Its a 74 model, it still works and has its original powertrain.

[russell t]

The only L model cab with a wooden frame was the LJ with an integral sleeper. One wonders what would have been had Mack improved the L cab instead of going to the small B cab. Prior to the deregulation of the trucking industry fleet buyers were conducted by purchasing agents that had little regard for the driver comfort and appearance. With the advent of the over the road owner operator and small fleets of non union companies driver comfort and appearance became good selling points. Last summer I traveled through Kentucky, Tennessee, N. Carolina, Virginia, W. Virginia, Oklahoma, and Texas. I wasn't looking for Mack dealerships but did notice three small ones and lots of Peterbilt dealerships with large inventories. Our local Peterbilt dealership has small Mack and Volvo signs on the building but no Mack inventory, I don't know what is up with this. Corporate success starts with management and engineering of industrial products and sometimes old bureaucracies go in the wrong direction and can't save themselves by changing direction later, Studebaker comes to mind. Everyone knows of the success of Paccar with Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks while Mack is now a Volvo stepchild.

 

[Jamaican Bulldog]

Yes I often wonder about the success story of Paccar as it has  survived and expanded as a American large truck builder while so many others either went out or was acquired by Europeans. I think even International is partly owned by VW/MAN.

This while having two brands that seem almost identical (Pete and KW) selling along side each other. I don't know much about PACCAR branding.

 

Edited May 9, 2017 by Jamaican Bulldog

[TeamsterGrrrl]

By and large, fleets have never really cared much about driver comfort and appearance, before or since deregulation. Condo sleepers are not specced on trucks to benefit the drivers, they're specced to avoid paying for decent motel accommodations for the drivers. And most large fleets didn't have purchasing agents spec their trucks, they usually assigned that critical task to veteran technicians and even engineers. Take a look at an old UPS or CF tractor- It's an engineering tour de force! Today I look at some of the crap the big fleets are buying and shake my head- All they seem to spec is a massive sleeper that adds weight and devours cube when they have enough freight density to run a relay operation with day cabs if they got their dispatching act together. 15-16 liter engine when an 11 liter would handle their "balloon freight" more efficiently, automatic transmission so they can hire the cheapest and least qualified drivers, and 18 skinny tires when 10 would do the job with super singles and better economy and lighter weight to boot. While we're at it, why not drive just one axle and lift a couple when running light?

As for the owner operators, many have indeed specced driver comfort and appearance features, to a fault ("Chrome won't get ya home"). But when I got into trucking a half century ago they were around 25% of the market, now they're down to 15% and falling.

[Dirtymilkman]

Dumb question here, but what does it mean when they talk about deregulating trucking. I'd love to hear a explanation of this. 

[ekennedy21]

exactly what it sounds like. There were regulations that the feds actually loosened up on. One example would be overall length of the truck. It used to be that in order to have a 53' box and a sleeper, you needed a cabover to stay under the length limit. Now you see 53' trailers being pulled by long nose, smooth riding petes with a stretch frame and a small house for a sleeper. Hence the death of the over the road cabover......

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Deregulation refers to the end of joint rate setting by carriers, which took effect in the late 70s. Before that, carriers agreed on a rate from point a to point b, with the type of freight also adjusting the rate up or down. This set a minimum rate which discouraged undercutting and forced the carriers to compete on the basis of service. Once deregulation ended, cutthroat competition ensued with an epidemic of carriers going out of business and only a few big common carriers surviving.

[russell t]

The I.C.C. issued permits for companies to operate  across state lines along certain routes. When this was done away with during the Reagan administration many companies went away. Here in the west I can remember CF,( Consolidated Freightways) P.I.E., (PACIFIC intermountain express) Delta freight Lines, LASME, (L.A. Seattle Motor express), all gone a long time ago.