Superliner Ad

[Bullheaded]

One of my favorite Mack adds ever! Back cover of a 1982 Canadian Bulldog magazine. I live in a logging area so I grew up appreciating on/off road trucks more than interstate freight haulers.

[Rob]

I remember seeing that cover before I went into the Navy at the Mack dealership in St. Louis. I don't remember the magazine being Canadian however.

[Bullheaded]

Could have been used on both sides of the border Rob? But we had a Canadian Bulldog magazine here back in the day. Probably up until about the time they closed the factory in Oshawa, Ontario.

The old Canadian Bulldog magazines were great. All they were was pictures and descriptions of customers new trucks and they were broke down into each province. And if there was a new model or engine there would be an article on that. But lots of pics.

Not like the useless crap mag they have now that focuses on new technology nobody but the mega fleets care about.

[carlotpilot]

8 hours ago, Bullheaded said:

Could have been used on both sides of the border Rob? But we had a Canadian Bulldog magazine here back in the day. Probably up until about the time they closed the factory in Oshawa, Ontario.

The old Canadian Bulldog magazines were great. All they were was pictures and descriptions of customers new trucks and they were broke down into each province. And if there was a new model or engine there would be an article on that. But lots of pics.

Not like the useless crap mag they have now that focuses on new technology nobody but the mega fleets care about.

hdt used to be a good mag also now its just one big commercial in print

[Rob]

I've not been into a Mack dealership for a lot of years myself. Used to purchase my filter kits and most parts from them but dealership ownership has changed hands several times over the last 15 years and I don't have anything new, I've went aftermarket. Most of the guys I was both familiar, and friendly with have long departed so many contacts gone.

Not seen a "Bulldog" magazine in a lot of years myself.

[Rob]

2 minutes ago, carlotpilot said:

hdt used to be a good mag also now its just one big commercial in print

Right you are.

[Bullheaded]

8 hours ago, carlotpilot said:

hdt used to be a good mag also now its just one big commercial in print

Yep, same with when they do a "test drive." Back in the day Merv Orr would do them for Driver Owner I think it was? He would haul real loads, do a real trip and do stuff like drop one side off on the shoulder to see how it would react.

Now these new guys take a bobtail or put a whopping 30,000 pounds on the deck and take it up a 3% "hill" and tell you how great and powerful every model is.

I really laugh every time a freight hauler brags up his 80,000 pounds. I put more on my dump truck bud. LOL

[carlotpilot]

8 hours ago, Bullheaded said:

Yep, same with when they do a "test drive." Back in the day Merv Orr would do them for Driver Owner I think it was? He would haul real loads, do a real trip and do stuff like drop one side off on the shoulder to see how it would react.

Now these new guys take a bobtail or put a whopping 30,000 pounds on the deck and take it up a 3% "hill" and tell you how great and powerful every model is.

I really laugh every time a freight hauler brags up his 80,000 pounds. I put more on my dump truck bud. LOL

hauled quite a few 43 ton loads of sand back when we still had 73.280 gross

[Rob]

Used to be an avid reader of Tom Mccahill in Popular Mechanic's magazine in the early years. Always accurate and honest and could be brutal on brands. Popular Science was another as was Car and Driver. All a bunch of mostly meaningless advertisement nowadays. 

[Bullheaded]

I wish there were still some credible trucking publications still around. Rolf Lockwood used to do a good job too. 

it should be like the auto industry. The truck manufacturers should give new models to independent testers to take out, put a REAL load on them and spend some time in them. Then report what was good and what went wrong so buyers can make a somewhat informed decision.

I was lucky years ago. Even while I owned my own trucks, if I had periods of no work for mine I had a big local steel hauler fleet I could go drive for any time and they had every brand of truck and updated constantly. So I got to try every make and model that came out. Unfortunately they sold out and it went to crap now. But it used to be great trying all kinds of different trucks to see how they compared.

[Bullheaded]

And especially with these new engines. How come we never hear any long term reports? Lets here from some fleets on how the emissions systems and regens are doing after a few years and a 100,000 miles.

I don't care about their opinion after a ride around the block in brand new truck.

[carlotpilot]

5 minutes ago, Rob said:

Used to be an avid reader of Tom Mccahill in Popular Mechanic's magazine in the early years. Always accurate and honest and could be brutal on brands. Popular Science was another as was Car and Driver. All a bunch of mostly meaningless advertisement nowadays. 

I was given 2 30 gal barrels stacked full of those mags popular mech. & pop science as a kid all were from the late 30s - fortys to early 50s  read everyone of them c to c  I especially liked gus`s model garage

[Rob]

I've never had primary employment driving a truck until that sod delivery job last year. Didn't much care for the owner's drama and backstabbing of the customer base I was exposed to so departed and now deliver farm equipment working as much as I want. It is great as the people are glad to see you on both pickup and delivery. Never any bitching from anyone.

[carlotpilot]

5 minutes ago, Bullheaded said:

And especially with these new engines. How come we never hear any long term reports? Lets here from some fleets on how the emissions systems and regens are doing after a few years and a 100,000 miles.

I don't care about their opinion after a ride around the block in brand new truck.

I agree with you on that

[Rob]

5 minutes ago, carlotpilot said:

I was given 2 30 gal barrels stacked full of those mags popular mech. & pop science as a kid all were from the late 30s - fortys to early 50s  read everyone of them c to c  I especially liked gus`s model garage

I remember that too. As a kid I think I built every model aircraft that was produced on the kitchen table. Some steam locomotives too as they had a lot of small parts.

[Bullheaded]

6 minutes ago, Rob said:

I've never had primary employment driving a truck until that sod delivery job last year. Didn't much care for the owner's drama and backstabbing of the customer base I was exposed to so departed and now deliver farm equipment working as much as I want. It is great as the people are glad to see you on both pickup and delivery. Never any bitching from anyone.

I had a similar experience. Several years ago forestry dried up here (coming back online now) and dump trucking got bad for me for a while. So I bought another highway tractor and went hauling Coca Cola and Labatt beer and groceries between Ontario and Quebec. I found that any where you went, you as a truck driver where treated as a piece of crap. There was no respect anywhere.

So quit doing that and went and hauled new RV trailers from the factories in Indiana. Every where you went you were treated great. They offered you drinks and coffee, clean facilities to use. Pretty much treated you like a respectable human being.

[carlotpilot]

14 minutes ago, Bullheaded said:

And especially with these new engines. How come we never hear any long term reports? Lets here from some fleets on how the emissions systems and regens are doing after a few years and a 100,000 miles.

I don't care about their opinion after a ride around the block in brand new truck.

from what I can gather  very few of them make it to a 100 grand without major problems . I`m taking a 2013 freightliner small straight truck to maine  this weekend . we just added it to the bunch its showing 155.000 on the clock`  I will find out what all can screw up on this one being comp controlled and burning def.

[Bullheaded]

Well my friends that run the highway hauling heavy seem to have good luck with their new emission motors. But I know they don't like stop and go construction work and light load snow hauling in cold temps. But I will say I am seeing way better performance and much less problems with my 2020 Detroit than I did with the 2013. Yes it's still new, but the problems with the 2013 started right away. I just hope that trend continues, LOL

[carlotpilot]

2 minutes ago, Bullheaded said:

Well my friends that run the highway hauling heavy seem to have good luck with their new emission motors. But I know they don't like stop and go construction work and light load snow hauling in cold temps. But I will say I am seeing way better performance and much less problems with my 2020 Detroit than I did with the 2013. Yes it's still new, but the problems with the 2013 started right away. I just hope that trend continues, LOL

wish you the best of luck with it . glad I don`t have one that  I still had to pay for

[terry]

8 hours ago, Rob said:

I've not been into a Mack dealership for a lot of years myself. Used to purchase my filter kits and most parts from them but dealership ownership has changed hands several times over the last 15 years and I don't have anything new, I've went aftermarket. Most of the guys I was both familiar, and friendly with have long departed so many contacts gone.

Not seen a "Bulldog" magazine in a lot of years myself.

Also gone are the days when you could go to a mack dealer, tell them what you want and go back to get it, or knew the part number by memory, all they want now is a seriel number, or give you a blank stare!    terry

[Red Horse]

Speaking of mags,  for you old guys how about Diesel Equipment Superintendent?  That was a great one.  Every month they featured a fleet guy who was on the cover.  Plenty of good articles  and they also had a monthly on "Who is Buying What".  They would list by manufacturer sales to specific fleets with  brief listing of models purchased.

Commercial Car Journal,  Fleet Owner and Modern Bulk Transporter were also good reads.  First introduced to these as a kid I would rummage through the "library" at one of my uncles truck repair shops.  (library of course was the shithouse)

[Ditchdiggerjcf]

3 hours ago, terry said:

Also gone are the days when you could go to a mack dealer, tell them what you want and go back to get it, or knew the part number by memory, all they want now is a seriel number, or give you a blank stare!    terry

We had an old head like that at tri-state in LR. He has been gone a few years now. He could rattle off part #'s without even looking it up. I miss that level of expertise.

[navypoppop]

Almost all the old paper mags were the best. The availibility to sit and read has been lost to the digital world of electronics today. The online versions do not reflect the same feeling you had in the days gone by. As a retired truck driver I even miss the paper versions of their respective truck stops. Only TA produces a paper version bi-monthly and that also isn't as personal as bygone days. Be safe out there everyone.

[mechohaulic]

4 hours ago, terry said:

Also gone are the days when you could go to a mack dealer, tell them what you want and go back to get it, or knew the part number by memory, all they want now is a seriel number, or give you a blank stare!    terry

I remember the days when walking  in to mack   all you needed to say was the part you are looking for and maybe the model it was for.  and they knew you by name !!!  Waterbury mack had an ole timer  in the machine shop ;; Mr. Al Dixon. he was my mentor, hero.  I was told he knew every gear for every transmission, I found a gear ,  verified  the number; showed it to him ;; he told me the trans model AND the position in the trans it held.!!!! find that today. back in the day it was a box of block and reline the brake shoes yourself.  parts room people  knew your vehicle application  and would suggest a different grade block  . never noticed a turn over in people back then. like today. no doubt  people changed jobs . company did what they could to keep you when you knew you job. parts people knew numbers , today a computer keeps numbers.   even vin numbers were simpler .  all the mack  magazines and brochures I had and threw away, dummy me.

[mechohaulic]

1 hour ago, Ditchdiggerjcf said:

We had an old head like that at tri-state in LR. He has been gone a few years now. He could rattle off part #'s without even looking it up. I miss that level of expertise.

Waterbury mack had an ole timer in the machine shop :Mr Al Dixon . he was my mentor and hero. I was told there wasn't a gear he didn't know.  count just the gears in a quad !  I found a gear, verified  the number and showed it to him. he not only told me the model number of the trans but the position it held. try that today.