THE LOCKWOOD REPORT

DIGITAL THIS & DIGITAL THAT

August 15 2012 Vol. 8, No. 17

Let me start with some just plain old happy analog stuff, namely the fact this is Freightliner’s 70th anniversary year. In 1942, led by founder & CEO Leland James, Freightways Manufacturing became Freightliner Corporation. You can read more about that heritage here.

It was in 1950 that Freightliner sold the first transcontinental cab-over-engine sleeper that could haul a 35-ft trailer, and three years later the WF-5844 "flat face" model was introduced. That beauty is pictured here. It was designed to pull two trailers in the mountainous terrain of the west. The 58-in. cab length allowed two 25-ft trailers for an overall length of 60 ft.

Almost all of us love such old trucks – not to mention our industry’s rich history – but I’d bet none of would relish driving one of these rigs for more than a mile or two. My only time spent driving a vintage truck came when I was asked a few years ago to move an early B-model Mack a couple of blocks up in Grimshaw, Alberta. Once I got in the thing and figured out the 23-stick transmission – not sure I’m kidding there – I realized that was clearance between my gut and the steering wheel of about an inch. That’s not much of an exaggeration, and I’m not that big a guy. Two blocks was enough.

Anyway, not for the first time, I raise my hat to the people who hauled freight in the days before the machinery of trucking was as civilized as it is now.