This week on Trucking News Central they discuss the ATA lawsuit against the FMCSA, Shipping Rates Rise 6% in 2012, Hybrid Trucking, the Kenworth T660, the Perfect Trucker Funeral and their weekly Giveaway Friday!

Hammer Truck Sales carries a variety of used semi-trucks and service trucks for sale. Our commercial truck sales division regularly carries, Internationals, Freightliners, Peterbilts, Kenworths,  Mack Trucks,  Sterling Trucks, Volvo Trucks, GMC Trucks, Chevy Trucks and White Trucks. All of our used semi trucks have been reconditioned as have our used service and work trucks for sale.

Hammer Truck Sales carries a variety of used semi-trucks and work trucks for sale. Our commercial truck sales division regularly carries, Internationals, Freightliners, Peterbilts, Kenworths,  Mack Trucks,  Sterling Trucks, Volvo Trucks, GMC Trucks, Chevy Trucks and White Trucks. All of our used semi trucks have been reconditioned as have our used service and work trucks for sale.

When it comes to trucks, GMC is known the world over for its production of a variety of trucks from service trucks and commercial vehicles to pickup trucks. It had its beginnings with a commercial hauling trucks company created in 1902 by Max Grabowsky called the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company.

Seven years later, General Motors bought out Grabowsky’s business because they wanted to form their own trucking company, which was called General Motors Truck Company. They added Reliance Motors to their inventory in 1911, and in 1912 GMC (General Motors Corporation) Trucks was born out of those two acquisitions.

GMC – The Early Years

GMC produced a mere 372 trucks out of the nationwide total of 22,000 trucks that first year, which pales in comparison to the millions of commercial vehicles they produce today. An interesting note though is that GMC was a forerunner in battery powered electric model trucks and made nine different models ranging from one-half to six tons capacity.

In an effort to bring up their popularity, GMC Trucks put on a publicity stunt in 1916 featuring one of their truck models. William Warwick drove a loaded GMC 1-1/2-ton truck from Seattle to New York and back, making it the very first truck to cross the entire USA in less than 32 days.

GMC During World War I

The venture may have worked, as that same year the Army went with ¾  ton GMC trucks as part of their fleet of vehicles. In fact, WWI brought major breakthroughs for their business, as 90 percent of all its production was bought by the military from 1917 and 1919. GMC delivered 8,500 vehicles to the Army during those years.

GMC Trucks After World War I

The next few years brought more innovation in the GMC Truck production as pneumatic tires replaced solid rubber tires in 1920, and their K model trucks came out that year as well with a capacity between ¾ and five tons. The following year electric lights replaced what had been oil lamps as standard gear on all trucks as well and seven speed transmissions became the standard for heavyweight trucks.

By 1923, GMC trucks had capacities ranging up to 10 tons if you counted the trailer. Rear wheel brakes were starting to be used on some models by 1925.The company expanded by 1927 when they built a truck assembly plant in Pontiac, Michigan which was the biggest truck building plant in the world then at 26 acres of property.

That same year the company brought out their T model of trucks with a ½ ton panel express truck and a screen side express truck and “Cannon Ball” Baker drove a T model 40 GMC tank truck full of water from the Atlantic Ocean all the way from New York to San Francisco in under six days, which set a speed record for heavy duty trucks.

GMC continued its innovative strategies when it started providing tandem driving rear axles for their heavyweight service trucks in 1930 and the following year it was a GMC T-95 model truck that pulled a refrigerated GMC trailer full of fresh produce from Los Angeles to New York, setting another record.

Between 1931 and 1940 GMC Trucks were producing more than 20 models of truck trailer chassis, 15 new models of different weight trucks, and it had added several models of heavy weight trucks to its lines.

GMC During World War II

The next war also seemed to benefit GMC as their production numbers continued to escalate with all of its trucks going to the war effort by 1942.  GMC built 600,000 trucks during this timeframe for the military. In fact, GMC trucks were presented the E Award for Excellence in 1944 because of its help in the war effort.

GMC After the War

The company was back to making trucks for the civilian market by then, but had some issues with a six-month long strike by its workers in 1946 that briefly slowed things down. Even so, by 1950 it proudly had 75 models of trucks going through its production lines.

In 1954 GMC Trucks offered power steering for the first time on some models and in 1956 tubeless tires were standard, and they were the first to put air suspension on front and rear axles on some of their heavy weight model trucks.

GMC Trucks continues to Grow

Between the 50s and the 60s GMC grew even larger and by 1968 they were considered the third largest truck producer in the world. Once again they prospered in the war effort and produced more than 9,000 trucks for the military in 1951. They were M-135 series that had the ability to ford deep water, thus being very useful for military operations.

The company again showed how GMC was first in implementing innovative features when in 1967 they produced trucks with energy absorbing steering columns, instrument panel pads and dual brake systems well before they were required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

GMC Trucks Between 1970 and 2012

GMC continued its truck production over the next several decades, weathering many difficulties changes in production lines, increasing production costs, competition from foreign companies,  problems with the fuel shortages in the middle 1970s and deregulation and recession issues in 1980s.  The problems were so severe,  that some trucking companies went out of business. The production plant in Pontiac was also torn down in late 1980s and the production was moved to Janesville, Wisconsin.

GMC’s high points include placing third in the production of trucks in the U.S., being chosen as the official truck of the 1984 Olympics and in 1988 they stopped making heavyweight trucks, in 1990 electronic fuel injection became the norm, and by 1996 the name was shortened to just GMC, instead of GMC Trucks and they merged with Pontiac Motor Division to form Pontiac GMC Division of General Motors.

The following year all of its commercial vehicles production was moved to Flint, Michigan. Since then, GMC Trucks has continued to grow and produce award winning trucks of all kinds with production and distribution all over the globe.

GMC Trucks will celebrate a milestone anniversary in 2012 – 100 years of truck manufacturing.

In addition to International Trucks for sale, our commercial truck sales division regularly carries Peterbilt Trucks, Kenworth Trucks, Mack Trucks, Freightliner Trucks, Sterling Trucks, Volvo Trucks, GMC Trucks, Chevy Trucks and White Trucks. All of our used semi trucks have been reconditioned as have our used service trucks and work trucks for sale.

Trucking Summit will be the Trucking

Industry’s Premiere Health and

Wellness Event of 2012

ATLANTA, GA (PRWEB) February 04, 2012

The Healthy Trucking Association of America (HTAA) is proud to announce the details of the 2012 HTAA Healthy Trucking Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. The HTAA Healthy Trucking Summit is the trucking industry’s most important annual health and wellness event and the number one source of education and resources aimed at improving the health of our nation’s professional driver population. Each year the HTAA invites trucking industry leaders, including Safety Directors, Human Resources Directors, Recruitment & Retention Managers, other trucking fleet and organization executives, and all stakeholders with an interest in improved driver health to attend the Summit to network and receive information and resources to help drivers get healthy and live longer lives.

The 2012 HTAA Healthy Trucking Summit will be held April 24th – 26th at the world famous Omni Hotel at CNN Center, located at Centennial Olympic Park, in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2012 event will support the theme “Raising Awareness to TAKING ACTION,” and will feature an all-star cast of speakers providing presentations on Obesity & Weight Loss, Sleep Disorders, Hypertension & Heart Health, Respiratory Health, and Diabetes to name a few. The HTAA will also be kicking off the official industry-wide promotion of the DRIVE4COPD – the HTAA has teamed with the COPD Foundation to spearhead this landmark health initiative designed to help people take action and determine if they may be suffering from or at risk for the third leading cause of death in the United States.

Trucking Industry leaders and stakeholders interested in attending the 2012 Healthy Trucking Summit can visit the HTAA website at http://www.HealthyTruck.org and then click on the 2012 HTAA Healthy Trucking Summit button for more information or contact Nikki Pinson at nikkip(at)healthytruck(dot)org or (800) 800-1198. Companies interested in exhibiting at 2012 HTAA Healthy Trucking Summit can download an Exhibitor Prospectus at http://www.HealthyTruckingSummit2012.com

About the Healthy Trucking Association of America (HTAA):

The Healthy Trucking Association of America is the health and wellness authority of the trucking industry. The HTAA was the first nationwide organization ever formed for the purpose of addressing the lack of good health among the nation’s professional driver population and no other organization or group has done more on a nationwide scale to help drivers get healthy and live longer lives. HTAA offers programs to raise awareness and help improve the health of professional drivers and is the originator and ongoing host of the trucking industry’s first and single most important annual health and wellness conference, the HTAA Healthy Trucking

Summit. http://www.healthytruck.org

About DRIVE4COPD

DRIVE4COPD is the nation’s single largest awareness campaign for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Launched in February 2010, this landmark public health initiative is working to help people recognize the signs and symptoms of COPD and take action to see if they may be at risk. http://www.drive4copd.com

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Freightliner Trucks is a well known American truck manufacturerof heavyweight trucks, as well as truck chassis and semi or tractor-trailer trucks and is now a division of Daimler Trucks North America, which is a subsidiary of German Daimler AG.

Freightliner the Early Years

Freightliner Trucks has been known as Freightliner Inc since 1942, but it actually has an earlier history in the 1930s as Consolidated Freightways. Consolidated Freightways began to develop its own line of trucks by reconstructing Fageols in an attempt to improve the abilities of heavy duty trucks to be able to climb the steep grades of the mountainous regions of the western part of the United States.
These trucks were called “Freightliners,” thus the beginning of the future of the Freightliner Trucks Company. The first trucks were made in Consolidated Freightways factory in Salt Lake City in 1942, the same year the company became Freightliner.

World War II stopped truck production temporarily at Freightliner, but by 1949 it was back in the truck making business in Portland, Ore. That first truck sold was purchased by a fork life maker called Hyster and that vehicle now has a place of honor in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
The company paired up with the White Motor company in 1951 in Cleveland, Ohio to help it sell trucks because to Freightliner lacked a way to distribute its vehicles. The partnership lasted for about 25 years and the trucks from that relationship were known as “White Freightliner” trucks.

Freightliner in the Hippie Years 1960s and 1970s

In the early 60s, Freightliner was looking for ways to reduce costs such as the importing duty penalty on the trucks made in Burnaby, B.C.. In order to do this, they opened assembly plants in Indianapolis, Indiana. and in Chino, California.
By 1974 Freightliner ended it’s relationship with the White Motor Company because of that company’s financial issues. Freightliner became a freestanding truck manufacturer and distributer. Around that time Freightliner came out with it’s very first traditional model of truck, which was an adaptation of what was a high cab-over engine model. At the time, these trucks made up 50 percent of the market due to length regulations that put limitations on the bumper to taillight measurements on tractor-trailer trucks.
The company continued to thrive and opened new manufacturing plants in Mount Holly, North Carolina and Gastonia, North Carolina in 1979. That year marked another milestone for the trucking industry when President Carter signed new laws that deregulated transport rules for both ground and air transportation. This deregulation changed how the economy of the trucking industry operated and got rid of the industry’s protection from competition, which let the Teamsters Union develop a stronghold position due to a Master Agreement made with every one of the nation’s important freight transport businesses.

Freightliner in the Preppie 1980s

The 1980s brought the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 which made more changes for the trucking industry by relaxing the weight and length rules and putting into place a brand new excises tax on heavyweight trucks and truck tires. It made it so that the overall length of tractor-trailers was no longer restricted, however, the trailer itself was now restricted and couldn’t be more than 53 feet long.
Freightliner had done well during the years when the transportation industry was de-regulated, but by 1981 it was having problems so the company was sold to Daimler-Benz. It also had to close plants in Chino, California. and Indianapolis, Indiana. However, by 1989, Freightliner was able to buy a plant that already existed in Cleveland, North Carolina that had previously made transit buses.
More Changes for Freightliner in the Booming 1990s
By1991, Freightliner was doing better and was able to bring out a new series of medium weight trucks it called “Business Class.” This was the first truck of the medium weight market in more than 10 years and it was extremely successful.
Freightliners also started making trucks in Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico near Mexico City in a Daimler-Benz owned plant. The 1990s ended up being a good era for the truck industry and Freightliner flourished as well. At this time, Frieghtliner was under the leadership of James L. Hebe, who had come to the company in 1989.
Several notable products produced in the 1990s included what became the Freightliner Custom Chassis, which was produced for vans used in businesses such as UPS and Cintas, as well as school buses, diesel recreational vehicles, and shuttle buses in 1995, and in 1997 a heavyweight truck called the “AeroMax” was aquired from the Ford Motor Company and Freightliner renamed the truck series “Sterling.”

Freightliner The Modern Era

In 2000 Freightliner acquired what used to be the Detroit Diesel Corp., which has been a subsidiary of General Motors. Daimler later integrated Detroit Diesel into Freightliner, thus making the company even bigger. Unfortunately, it may have taken on more than it could handle at this time and by the following year, it had many more trucks than there was demand for. The company was having financial problems and so its former CFO Rainer Schmueckle was brought back to help get the company back in shape again.
During the next couple of years several plants were closed or consolidated in the hopes of getting Freightliner back in black again. In 2007 it had other woes when workers at the Cleveland, North Carolina plant called for a strike and as a result, 700 employees were fired. Most were re-hired about a week later. That same year the company had to lay off 800 workers in Portland, Oregon as it moved that plant to Mexico, and on Jan. 7, 2008 the company became known as Daimler Trucks North America.

Freightliner Today

These days, Freightliner Trucks is as active as ever making heavyweight trucks in the class five through eight series in North America, and it leads the diesel Class A recreational vehicle chassis and walk-in van markets. Freightliner also is responsible for a class 2 van called the Sprinter that is marketed through Freightliner for Mercedes-Benz in Europe.
As of Jan 2012, Freightliner had plans to hire 1,100 more workers for its Cleveland, NC plant to add to the already 1,500 workers there. This is a temporary measure due to increased demand for Cascadia trucks. Freightliner continues to be popular within the industry for making some of the most durable and dependable heavy weight trucks that are on the road today.

History of International Trucks

Navistar International is a company that manufactures various commercial vehicles and diesel engines. It is also the company that now owns and produces the International Trucks brand of heavy duty trucks, which are known for being some of the best quality trucks in the industry.

In the Beginning of International Trucks History

At first, International made farming and agricultural machines and vehicles and the International brand of equipment was well known in the mid-1800s among farmers. Cyrus Hall McCormick made the very first horse drawn reaper in 1847 as the McCormick Havesting Machine Company. By 1902 he and his brother combined this company with some other farming and equipment companies and formed what was called the International Harvester company.

International’s First Truck

Over the next several years the company continued to make tractors, trucks and other agricultural gear. In 1907 they produced what was called an “auto wagon,” which was a motor truck with an air-cooled engine, high wheels and two cylinders, thus giving farmers a truck to use for moving around their gear and supplies. This truck is what first put International into the truck building business.

In actuality, the name International wasn’t being used by itself until 1914, so these were International Harvester auto wagon vehicles. In fact, they were not even considered motor trucks until 1910 either, but were considered auto buggies. In their first year, the company made 73 of them, which was about seven percent of the entire trucking industry in the U.S. in 1907. The next year in 1908 that pittance skyrocketed to 725, which increased to nearly 2,500 in 1909.

International’s Trucks joined the transportation industry

By 1915, the company began to make even more new truck products, coming out with a low-wheeled vehicle that had more power and more speed than ever before. The following year, one of these little trucks was the first truck to climb Pike’s Peak.

World War I and the World of Trucking

The Army needed lots of trucks during World War I and this caused the trucking business to double from 92,000 vehicles in 1916 to more than 227,000 in 1918. About 49,000 of these trucks ended up overseas for use during the war. After the war, the leftover trucks were sold off and shipping things by truck began to get more popular.

After World War I

By 1921 International Harvester made motor trucks in a plant in Springfield, Ohio, where it produced the first trucks known to have pneumatic tires and could go at a higher speed, making them work well on the newer roads that were becoming more prevalent by the 1920s. These and other trucks International made helped their production grow from only 7,183 trucks in 1920 to more than 39,000 in 1928 and more than 10,000 more the following year.

During the 1920s International was the brand of truck that first crossed the Sahara Desert when a British soldier, hunter and explorer named Sir Charles Markham, and Baron Bror Frederick von Blixen-Finecke used an International in that endeavor.

In 1923 International Trucks opened another plant up in Fort Wayne, Ind. and in1925 the company had the first armored truck when it built them special to protect payrolls for the Brinks Express Company.

International Trucks: Built from the ground up

International trucks were different, as they were built from the ground up to adapt them to the job, which was unlike most trucks in the era that were mass produced. The engineers who built them would go to find out the exact use for the truck and then built it accordingly. In 1938 they made the first trucks with a Metro body through a contract with Metropolitan Body Company in Connecticut, and by 1939 International Trucks was making engines for trucks at yet another plant in Indianapolis, Indiana.

During the 1930s and 40s, International produced their C, D and K line of trucks. These were sizes from a high ton pickup style of truck, up to huge six-wheeled trucks that were heavy weight and could perform off road. By then, the company was producing more than 86,000 trucks a year.

International Trucks Role in World War II

World War II brought a request by the federal government for International to build all wheel drive trucks for the military. So, between 1941 and 1943, the only trucks International made were military trucks. These included trucks such as half-tracks, armored, gun mounted trucks and more.

In 1944, the company formed their motor truck division to take care of the ever increasing amount of truck products and activities it was starting to handle and by 1947 International trucks was back into making trucks for the civilian market and had made several new innovative changes in the trucking world.

After the War

By 1946 International had opened a new plant in Emeryville, Calif. It made special made heavy weight trucks called a Western type of truck. They had the capactiy to haul as much as 90,000 pounds over rugged mountainous terrain. They were very popular at the time. As before, these were specialized, not mass-produced and each model had a specific job to do.

International Trucks was famous for putting its trucks through tough tests to be sure that they could perform in rough areas and in harsh conditions and it continues to test its trucks for high performance today.

Trucks continued to get more popular and the call for even more and faster vehicles and International met the demand when it made a record 165,600 trucks in 1948 and even more the following year when its L model came out.

This L model was a total redesign for International and it spent a whopping $30 million to revamp the plants to produce it in Fort Wayne, Springfield and Indianapolis. The L trucks were four wheelers that ranged in gross vehicle weight from 4,200 to 30,000 pounds, as well as six wheelers weighing up to 50,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, and cab-forward trucks that could handle more than 14,000 pounds. It had one of the most totally complete lines of trucks in the world at this time.

In 1952, International again rocked the trucking industry with the development of factory-installed liquefied-petroleum-gas-powered engines or LPG. These engines gave truckers more efficiency and at a lower cost.

Over the next few years other improvements were made and diesel also became popular in engines. Trucks also continued to get more powerful and International put out their S line of lighter, as well as both medium and heavy weight trucks.

Throughout the 50s International added things like automatic transmission, power brakes, and power steering to the trucks it produced. By the end of the decade International was listed as having 498 different kinds of trucks. That year the company made a record $749 million in sales and broke that record in 1960 with $766 million in sales. This meant International had an incredible 45 percent of the trucking market.

Passenger trucks appeared

The 1960s brought a three person passenger truck to International called the Scout. It had a removable top, a pickup body, and an International Harvester engine with two or four wheel drive available.

A new name—Navistar International Corporation

During the 1980s International had issues with money, strikes and other problems and sold off everything except its trucking and engine division, which was renamed Navistar International Corporation, which is it called today. The new company had the first hybrid diesel/electric truck in 2007 and now had dealers all over the world.

Navistar is also one of the main suppliers of U.S. MRAP armored vehicles, as well as the maker of the biggest truck that can be bought in today’s market—a giant tractor trailer weighing more than 127,000 pounds. They also make the MaxxForce brand of diesel engines, as well the Workhorse brand of chassis for vans and motor homes and the IC Bus brand school buses and commercial buses.

Navistar earns nearly 10 billion dollars a year in revenue and has dealers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and several other outlets in 90 countries.

Peterbilt trucks are made by the Peterbilt Motors Company, which has its headquarters in Denton, Texas. The American truck manufacture was started in 1939 by then lumber entrepreneur and plywood maker, T.A. Peterman.

Peterbilt Trucks – The Early Years

Peterman was a man with a dream to get the truck business going stronger so he could get his logs to market easier and faster. At the time, Peterman was actually working towards that dream by rebuilding army trucks he bought at surplus, thus learning how to improve them. In 1938 he bought Fageol Motors in Oakland, California in order to use it to start making his custom made chain-driven trucks. The following year he started selling them to the public, which was the real beginning of Peterbilt Trucks.

During the 30s long haul trucking was becoming very popular. It was the Depression and many companies that built commericial trucks were losing ground and going out of business. That is how Peterman was able to get the Fageol Motors Company.  Prior to his purchase of them, the company had been making heavy weight trucks and buses for 17 years.

Peterman built 14 trucks in 1939, but that number leapt to 82 the following year, demonstrating to Peterman that the trucking industry was definitely interested in the quality made trucks of Peterbilt. Peterman was famous for knowing exactly what the trucker wanted and needed because he sent his own engineers out to talk to truckers. They were required to know what the men in the field liked and disliked before designing a single new truck.  Peterman also got the military contract during World War II to make heavy duty trucks. This helped him to get ready to re-enter the civilian market as well after the war.

After World War II, Peterbilt Trucks Marches Forward

Even death didn’t stop Peterbilt trucks.  Peterman died in 1945. After his death, the company was inherited by Peterman’s widow, Ida. His wife promptly sold the company’s assets, but didn’t sell the property, to seven of the company’s managers with the thought of maintaining and building up the company. However, since she didn’t sell them the property, the new owners had to scramble for a new location several years later in 1958 when Ida said she was going to sell the land to build a shopping mall.

Due to this, the company changed hands and Peterbilt was bought by Paul Pigott, owner of the Pacific Car and Foundry. He built a brand new facility for the company in Newark, California, and in 1960 Peterbilt trucks were again being manufactured.  Pigott kept the name even though he also owned Kenworth trucks and ran both companies. The ironic thing is that Peterbilt was his stiffest competitor, even though he actually owned both companies.

Peterbilt continues to grow strong

In 1960 Peterbilt put out 800 trucks and sales kept on increasing as more and more people began to trust and love the quality made trucks. The company was soon unable to make as many as the customers desired, so Peterbilt expanded to two manufacturing plants and built one in Madison, Tenn in 1969.

By 1973 Peterbilt was delivering more than 8,000 of its trucks and by 1975, it had opened up a version of Peterbilt in Canada. By 1980 it had another plant in Denton, Texas and by 1993 their headquarters was in California where it still is to this day. Denton become the sole manufacturing plant to build Peterbilt’s 362 COE model truck.

Peterbilt’s Truck Lines

Peterbilt lines originally had model numbers that started with a number 2, which stood for single axle models and a number 3 for those with a dual drive. However, by the late 1970s, they stopped doing this sort of distinction. Some of the more distinctive or well known models were:

• 200/265: This was a smaller truck that had a cab based on a Volkswagen MAN G90 and it is still being made in Brazil.

• 260/360:  This is the actual first model of Peterbilt trucks.

• 280/350: This model was built between 1949 and 1957 and was known for its unique cycle style fenders in the front and having a long style grill that had vertical shutters on it.

•281/351: This version of the Peterbilt model of truck was made from 1954 to 1976. One of its main claims to fame is that a model 281 appeared in the Steven Spielberg 1971 movie, Duel, where an evil truck was trying to kill people. It was a 1950 year version of that model of the 281 Peterbilt truck.

• 282/352: This version of the Peterbilt trucks had a tilt-cab cab-over-engine and was the model that came out after the 351, which was a non-tilting cab-over style. It was called the Pacemaker after someone won a contest to name it and got a color television as a prize. The Pacemaker also was developed as a 352 model and won fame when it appeared on the Knight Rider TV show as the evil super truck named Goliath, as well as being the model that was being sung about in the truck song, Convoy.

• 358:  This model was the company’s very first tilt hood style truck. It was sold until 1976.

• 359: This model of Petebilt truck was sold from 1967 to 1987. The 1100 series of these had a bulkhead style of door that is still in used today.

• 346: This is a very rare version of the Peterbilt brand and a mere 10 of these trucks were built from 1972 to 1975. It was meant to be used to mix concrete, or as a dump truck or snow plow type truck.

• 348: The model 348 was sold between 1970 and 1986 and had a sloped fiberglass hood for better visibility. It was the first fiberglass hood Peterbilt made.

• 353: The 353 replaced flat fender models and instead had pit style fenders. It was used in construction.

• 387: The 387 Peterbilt trucks were also made in 1976 to 1987. It had a heavy weight frame, flat fenders, undercab steps, big bumper and was used to carry coal.

• 362: The 362 became the Peterbilt flagship truck in 1981. It had two kinds of windshield wipers, one was a one-piece center style and the other had either three or two wipers. It also introduced a front axle that was set back and had longer springs in the front. The last one was made in 2005.

• 372: This Peterbilt model is considered the one that is the most aerodynamic,  the cab nose piece can be flipped forward so that it is easy to do maintenance on it. It was made from 1988 to 1993. It’s said that it has a sort of Darth Vader like look because it looks somewhat like a helmet shape.

• 377: This model incorporated some headlights into the fenders and was also considered aerodynamic. It was made with a front axle that was set forward, as well as one that was set back. It was made from 1987 to 2000.

• 378: This Peterbilt truck had a steep fiberglass design on its hood and came as a front axle that was set back in its design. It was popular for over the road, as well as local trucking.

• 357: The 357 was similar in style to the 378, but was more of a heavy weight than it was. This is because it was designed for construction. It also came with flat fenders, a new style of hood and grill that it had put on in 2004.This vocational style hood was created for clients who wanted front engine power. It was very popular in the heavy haul trucking industry.

• 385: The 385 model was made between 1996 and 2007. It was meant to be a competitor to a truck put out by the Freightliner brand, the FLD.

• 379: Between 1987 and 2007 this was Peterbilt’s main flagship truck. A claim to fame is that Autobot leader Optimus Prime was shown as a 1997 Peterbilt Model-379 Extended Hood truck in the Transformer’s movie.

• 389:  this model ushered in some of the changes in Peterbilt models to make them compliant to 2007 EPA standards.

Many more styles and models of Peterbilt trucks have come out since this time and the company is still going strong with many truckers desiring to drive and or own a model of the legendary Peterbilt Trucks.

In today’s world, dump trucks are trucks that have a special dump bed attached to the chassis and it is used to haul materials such as dirt, sand, rocks, gravel or other material for various industries from farming to construction. There are single axle dump trucks, tandems, tri-axle dump trucks, Quad –Axle, Quints and off road dump trucks;  anywhere there is something to be hauled, you can bet there is a specific dump truck for the task. There are also dump trailers which hook up to the 5th wheel on a tractor and are operated by a hydraulic pack more commonly known as a wetline kit.

First Dump Trucks

Before gasoline or diesel engines powered dump trucks, there were dumping carts of a sort pulled by horses. These horse drawn dump trucks were a tub like body with an opening rear gate on a hinges that worked by the force of gravity. When the front was locked down, it stayed in place and carried the material to the work site. When it was released, it dropped down and dumped it out. These were very useful in their time and were used quite a bit by the railroad companies to haul materials. By 1900, the dump truck carts had graduated into a larger flatbed cart that required four horses to pull it. It was worked with a special hand hoist in the front. Besides these horse drawn dump trailers, trains and trolleys also were used to carry and dump loads.

First Real Dump Trucks

A few years later in 1904, the dump truck as we know it started to appear. It was still based on gravity to dump the materials, but it was a dump bed mounted on a truck body. The Mann Company from England was responsible for the first gravity dump truck in 1904. As improvements were made, hydraulics started to replace gravity as a force to activate the dump.The gravity system created not only a problem with weight distribution, the majority of the load had to be past the wheels in order for it to dump. Also if the lock in the front broke or came loose you would lose your load. One of the first dump trucks made using this was created by Robertson Steam Wagon and had a hoist run by hydraulics and a steam engine for the truck. Another hydraulic run dump truck was made in 1907 by Alley & McLellan of Glasgow that was also powered by a steam engine.

Industries That Benefited by the Use of Dump Trucks

By the 1920s, dump trucks that were able to work faster and more efficiently came out and were used to haul coal. Thus, the coal industry benefitted, just as the railroad industry did years before when they had primitive dumping carts. The coal industry used a special kind of dump truck that was similar to a hopper railroad car. This type of dumping mechanism had a body raised up with struts and beams that were arranged scissor-like underneath its body. When they wanted to dump out the contents, they pulled the beams closer together to bring up the dump bed, which let the load free and gravity did the rest.

Pioneers in Dump Truck History

One of the companies considered to be a pioneer in making the dump truck is Euclid. A hydraulics engineer named George Armington Jr. is credited with bringing into being the version of today’s heavyweight, off road truck and the wheel tractor style dump truck. The first of these came out in 1934 and was called a Trak Truk and was an off road dump truck. The other followed in 1936 and was an IFD truck that weighed a staggering 15 tons. This beauty of a dump truck ran on a diesel engine, and had modern features like leaf spring suspension, pneumatic tires, and modern drive lines.

The bottom dump truck was considered a huge jump forward and Euclid‘s version could haul its load much further than other trucks had in the past. The next couple of decades brought even heavier and larger dump trucks into the industry. US made dump trucks were starting to lead the pack by the 1950s with their bottom dump trucks. The 50s brought several types of dump trucks including one that could hold 20 tons and was made by Faun, in 1958 a dump truck called the AP40 Autocar that was considered the biggest single engine dump truck of the time at 600 horsepower. In 1957, a huge improvement called the Haulpak was made by Ralph Kress, a consultant for Komatsu, which had hydro-pneumatic struts, and could haul 32 tons and also pull a trailer that weighed 75 tons. This eventually was to develop into the dump truck style of choice for mining and other industries.

Other Dump Truck Manufacturers

Many other companies made and continue to make all kinds of dump trucks. Some of these include Freightliner Trucks, which started in 1929 by Leland James. It was originally called Consolidated Freight Lines. James was an innovator of his times and was always trying to find ways to customize and make his trucks better. Freightliner Trucks built trucks that carried cargo and he wanted to make lighter, yet stronger trucks that could carry more and go further. By the 1950s, the company made about 100 different kinds of custom trucks. During this timeframe Freightliner Trucks partnered with White Motor Co. of Cleveland in1951. By 1960, they were responsible for selling 1,000 trucks from their new lines. In the 1970s Freightliner was a well-known truck making company that was famous for their successes in the business. During that timeframe, they ended their partnership with White Motor Co.

Freightliner continued its success by acquiring several other trucking companies throughout the next 20 or 30 years, including American LaFrance, Thomas Built Buses, Western Star trucks, and Ford Motor’s heavy trucks. Today, they are known as Daimler Trucks North America and in 2007, the company had sales over two billion dollars.

Kenworth Trucks

Another truck manufacturer is Kenworth, which makes several kinds of trucks, including dump trucks, which started in 1923. They designed custom trucks in the 1920s and 30s and were the first truck company in the U.S. to use diesel engines. Over the next several decades they made several advances in the trucking industry and helped bring about improvements such as better fuel mileage, more cargo space, and less wind resistance. They have continued to bring about other improvements during the 1990s with dump trucks such as the Kenworth T800 T/A dump truck. Today, they specialize in selling trucks worldwide. International Trucks International, is another truck manufacturer that makes dump trucks, straight trucks, road tractors, school buses and specialized military vehicles. They also make diesel engines. Today, Navistar, Internationals parent company, has more than 1,000 dealerships all over the world. All in all, dump trucks have helped the trucking and other industries develop and become more efficient. Even in today’s modern computerized world, dump trucks are doing site work and hauling loads to and from construction sites all over the world.

Mack Trucks, Inc. is a truck manufacturer in America with its headquarters in Greensboro, N.C, but the manufacturing plant is located in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvannia., with two others located in Middletown, PA. and in Dublin, VA.

Mack Truck parts for vehicles that have a right-hand drive for overseas are made in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia and made ready for worldwide distributing for sale.

History of the Mack Trucks Company

Mack Trucks started in 1890 when John M. Mack started working at a company that made wagons and carriages in Brooklyn, New York called Fallesen & Berry. Two years later his brother, Augustus, bought the company and a year later the third brother, William, joined in with them.

In 1902 was renamed the Mack Brothers Company and they began making buses. Only seven years later a new one and a half ton truck was introduced by the company. By 1910 two more Mack brothers, Joseph and Charles, had joined Mack Trucks and it was making locomotives and rail cars, as well as buses and trucks. The following year, they merged with the Saurer Motor Truck Company to form the International Motor Truck Company (IMTC).

In 1916 they made the new Mack AC trucks, and shortly afterwards, more than 40,000 of these models were sold. Over the next few years, this innovative company was the first to put air cleaners, oil filters, power brakes, and drive shafts into their trucks. By 1922 the name changed back to Mack Trucks, Inc and they had adopted the corporate symbol now associated with Mack Trucks, the beloved bulldog.

The Mack Trucks Bulldog

The first bulldog hood ornament was carved by Alfred Fellows Masury, the Mack Trucks’ chief engineer ten years later and it has been an adornment for the trucks made by them ever since. The Mack Truck got this iconic nickname in 1917 during World War I. The British soldiers called it the Bulldog Mack due to the fact that the truck was said to have the stubbornness of a bulldog and it reminded them of their country’s own bulldog mascot.

Over the next few decades, Mack Trucks continued to prosper and make trucks and vehicles for the military (delivering more than 6,000 trucks in World War I and more than 35,000 Mack Trucks in World War II), as well as being famous for helping build the Hoover Dam in the 1950s, and for producing many types of heavy duty trucks. Between the 50s and the 60s, Mack Trucks introduced several models of heavy duty trucks and sold hundreds of thousands of them, including Models A, B, D, F and G.  Mack Trucks continued its innovative production by patenting the cab air suspension system in 1969. Since then, they have continued to make new and more innovative models of trucks and other vehicles for the construction, military and transportation industries.

Over the Road Mack Trucks

During the 60s Mack Trucks made their R and U models, which were meant for running on the highways, as well as their RD and DM models, which were used by the construction industry. By 2005, the RD, RB and DM models were discontinued and were replaced by the Granite model, which is also used in the Mexican Army for usage as a Troop and Utility truck using a slightly different configuration. The 60s also saw the creation of the Maxidyne truck series in 1968, which was considered an industry changing event. This was due to the fact that the Maxidyne made it possible for heavy duty trucks to run with only a five speed transmission called a Maxitorque, when before this time these type of trucks needed 10 gears at least to operate. In 1990, Mack Trucks was a subsidiary of Renault Vehicules Industriels (known as Renault trucks in 2002), and they joined in with Volvo AB of Sweden in 2001. The company had a record sales year in 2006 and moved to North Carolina in 2008. Today’s Mack Trucks These days Mack Trucks is a very well known brand of off road trucks and other vehicles in the class range of Classes 8-13. Mack Trucks are sold in more than 45 different countries worldwide and are considered the most popular maker of heavy duty trucks on the road today. When you hear the phrase, “build like a Mack Truck,” it stands for durability and strength. The company has held itself to high standards its entire existence and continues to do so today as they have in their more than 100 years of service to their customers.

Visitors can watch Mack Trucks being “born”

The Mack Truck Company allows visitors to their manufacturing plants in Dublin, Va and in Lower Macungie Township, PA. to see for themselves how they build and design the famous Mack powertrains, engines, transmissions, axles and other parts as it gets built on their assembly lines. It can be a fascinating experience to actually watch a Mack truck being put together piece by piece for you to see. There is also a remanufacturing plant in Middletown, Penn. where used Mack parts are refurbished and made ready for resale and usage. The bottom line is that Mack Trucks are as popular as ever and are a well known and beloved brand of heavy duty trucks and vehicles that continue to ride the highways and byways and service industry all over the world.