My family is in this documentary , my Dad is Doug , I'm the young girl running down the street , I was 9 ..I just seen this for the first time recently and it's priceless as my Dad is no longer with us ❤️ very well done documentary
Pretty cool to have you dad and you on film. I wish I had film of me when I was a kid running with my father hauling cars,cattle, steel and cement in the late sixties. Real men and real trucks and honourable work. Dad was my hero for sure.
Love this film very awesome. Especially with Becky’s comments on here. Makes it more authentic. I started in 2001 but couldn’t afford newer trucks so I bought my self 76 352H and had fun.
This is the era of trucking I came up in. Fuel was cheap, rates were good and a man could buy a decent truck and support his family. It was a wonderful time. You didn't see the stupidity out there like now either!
I'm 26 now, started driving at 18. I' have a great love and passion for trucking especially this golden era of trucking. I wish I was born earlier and got the chance to experience it. Many truckers are clowns today that don't know what it means to be a trucker. Even though I'm young, I'm an old school trucker at heart
@@SerbKing1389 I'm with you I turn 25 in a couple days been driving 3 yrs now we really missed out on classic trucking can't even hardly find a manual rig now. I had to quit my old job because they switched to Volvo automatics I said I'm done
@@ricochetey bro I'm in the same fking boat. Switched companies a year ago now driving a new volvo. Told mu boss to buy me a manual and almost all the new trucks you can find are autos. I hate it. I miss floating gears man. It dosent feel like you're driving a truck anymore. We really did miss out on those golden years.
@@SerbKing1389 Wow no suprise, that blows. I'm in a 2001 Mack CH with a 10spd now no sensors, beepers or DEF I'm happy and my new boss plans to keep it that way 1.5mill miles and counting
This video just showed my life. Had been trucking for five years in 1976. Had a dedicated lumber run from John Day, Oregon to building sites in Dallas/Ft Worth. Those were the days my friend.
@@JHorse508 My loads were kiln dried, so yes, I had to tarp. Two of the trucks in this video must've been hauling green lumber. The third truck was tarped. Great question. You are like me; looking for bloopers and call outs. I have to add how much I enjoyed watching those old Freightshakers strolling down the boulevard. Drove a LOT of those old C/O's. Worst thing about the Freightliner cabovers from the 60's was keeping the cab warm in the dead of winter. More than once I took sheets of cardboard and taped them under the dash, and against the driver's door, and then wrapped my lap and legs in a blanket.
@@oldtrucker672 AH yes them old freight shakers wind rain and snow blowing thru all the little nooks and crannies .wearing boot's two pair of socks a heavy jacket .radiator covered over with what ever you had and still being cold .looking thru the windshield thru that one small spot that wasn't frozen over .and when you get outside there were Ice sickles radiating from the lug nuts like a star and your C.B .antenna was covered with ice not to mention the grab bar to get in and out .do remember a trucker who drove Kenworth cabovers .his name was John hunter .
@@loganjohnson3589 I forgot about the lack of defrost! And those dumb ass air powered wipers. I didn't know John Hunter but somebody knows what they are talking about! The icy grab handles and steps could be nasty for sure.
@@oldtrucker672 John was the man who broke me in to truck driving .he was one of the real old timer out law drivers .I hit the road in the mid 80's most of my life was oversize and heavy long haul .I hung up the key's in 2020 .my first truck was an old freight shaker .It was well kept but that didn't go far in the winter .It had air assist steering thank god you could shut it off It was great for the summer and city driving but scary as hell on snow and ice .I lived in that truck for 6 years .I was in my early 20's then .I guess i was lucky the life of a trucker suit me .As the years went by I saw lots of changes in this old world .the one that disturbed me the most was how the younger drivers behaved .the work is the same but the drivers have turned into idiots and whiner's .Well I gotta go some one just told me lunch is about ready .and she's a good cook .so so long old trucker nice to have met ya .
This was the best of trucking. I came home from the army in 74 jumped in one of these rigs and it got in my blood and never could let it go. I am retired now and I sure miss it.
I can understand why you miss being on the road, but you would not want to be out here with these idiot drivers. They're all playing on their phones while driving and you have to navigate around them!
Ya, the golden days of trucking….. when you picked up freight all day and drove all night. Drove from one truck stop to the next to use the pay phone to see if your getting paid for the load you dropped, trying to arrange for delivery of the load you’ve got on, and trying to find your next load. The trucks where interesting to look at from one half of the country to the other due to bridge laws. I drove cabovers for over 30 years. Other than nostalgia, they where a cold bitch in the Canadian winters. Gross weight was 73,280 lbs, and everyone had their hand out. Before IFTA you where swamped with tax filing and licensing. All that tin hanging off the bumper back in the day was more paperwork. Running that short single axle 352 with a set of joints over those snow packed passes took a lot of skill, and nerve let me tell you. Excellent film of realistic trucking in the 70’s. Almost every truck stop was full of cab overs back in the day, then with the blink of an eye they’re all gone. So are the drivers.
@@Johnnycdrums truckers generally don’t prefer cab-overs due to tighter living spaces and difficult engine access. After the 70s restrictions on overall truck length were relaxed, and hence many truckers opted for the longer bonneted trucks. In Europe due to smaller roads and tighter length restrictions cab-over trucks are still popular, which is why some in this comment thread are mentioning them.
I am of the firm belief that it's so heavily regulated now, because of the sins of the past. I've been driving 13 years myself, and hate the over bearing regulations as much as the next driver.
I can't believe how many morons call themselves truckers when they are really just steering wheel holders who text while driving and drift into my lane. I literally hate truck drivers.
I remember as a kid in the 80s doing the honking motion to get truckers to honk at us. They’d do it 💯 of the time. It was always a thrill for us. I guess we were easily amused. 😅
A lot of truck stops were great. Good people to talk to, good atmosphere, fun games and - the food. Can't trust people these days. A whole different world today...
I wish I could drove back in those days. I don't speak to other drivers at all and I don't care to because I don't trust nobody and I don't trust nobody because I don't play by the rules.
Lots of shady corporate truck stops that are straight up dangerous. Now no more mom and pops truck stops and zero camaraderie among drivers. It’s just plain sad
My grandpa & grandma we're team drivers in '76. I was 7 yrs old and spent part of my summer school break on the road with them. Tbey drove an International cab-over. Never forget sittin on the doghouse. Good times.
I started driving in 1978.I drove a cab over for ups. I drove 39 years. This brings back memory’s.All them old trucking songs. Fun on the CB.Charles Douglas and Art Bell on coast to coast .I thank God I have myTeamster Pension !My last dedicated run was Houston to Hammond LA and back.650 miles 5 nights a week .Catch you on the flip side Good Neighbor . I got to go😅Keep those pups a pullin
Depends who you were in the seventies as a trucker. Some made great money some just got by. There were periods in the '80s where there was great money in trucking. Recently it was great in 2020 and 2021. Today it is almost suicide. Now I'm talking money wise.
I know a guy that started in 1970, and we got into talking about pay. He did routes a thru out Manhattan down to dc, and in his first couple years he started around 700 a week and went up to 1100 by 1972 only crawled after that to around 1600 a week when he retired in 98. My grandfather was a trucker from 1960-1988 but he died a little bit after I was born. But he was able to support a family of 5 on that single income for nearly 30 years. Funny thing is now at 22 being diesel mechanic at a union shop I only take home 1k a week which is considered good rn but no where near what they made in the 70s and 80s in relative terms for inflation
@@Suburbanhotrods My older brother, much older lol, drove a truck in the 70s and 80s and was able to buy a nice bit of land and build a nice house. I used to enjoy listening to his stories of driving all across the US. His last year of driving was mostly local routes and I got to ride with him on a couple trips in 1983. Fun times.
They were the real truckers back in those days and now trucking will never be the same as it once was but I will always have respect for all the truckers after being one myself for over 6 years, keep them trucks rollin 10-4.
Love these vids. Started in 1980. Still at it. Yea I’m getting old lol. Spent first 9 years in nothing but cab overs running cross country. Last 33 years running local , pulling tankers. 21 years of that as an owner operator. Thanks for the old vids. I still haven’t seen myself in one yet lol. Take care
I’ve been on the road for 18 years now. Coast to coast. Bardstown, KY - Barstow, Ca. “Keep the bugs off your glass and the bugs off your…”- C.W. McCall.
Carl’s last comment right at the end is rather chilling about losing the ideals the country was founded on. We commonly think of individual liberty and limited government. But, there isn’t a lot of difference between leviathan government and leviathan companies, especially when the two are intertwined like they presently are.
“..there isn’t a lot of difference between leviathan government and leviathan companies, esp when the two are intertwined like they presently are.” BOOM. Best comment of the 400+ I read.
He's absolutely right! Spot on here in 2022. I doubt he's still alive, but he'd be terrified today to see where the industry and this country have fallen to and become.
I grew up in that era and couldn't wait to grow up and be a truck driver. Now, all the trucks of that past era are in the junk yards or even museums. Everytime I see one of them it brings back a flood of memories.
Our new truck is a 92. California is the only state we don’t run. 90 & 92 379s for the long haul, R model Mack dump & building a 1980 W900A for my last truck.
I started Trucking in 1976, can't do it no more, too old, too sick, but, old Truckers NEVER die, they just get a new Peterbilt. Mad Mike- retired Trucker
i wish i knew some of these old timers... nowadays its nothing but whiners and boneheads. 24, and been truckin for 3 years. got into it as soon as i legally could. and realizing i was born in the wrong era, but its all ill ever do
Truckers all around the world deserve more respect from people and government. Everything man made thing we can see with our eyes has been in some form (raw or finished), on a truck at some point. Without trucks we would have nothing. Trucks stop, world stop.
Esse documentário do transporte rodoviário dos EUA nos idos de 1976,me traz as boas lembranças da minha infância na roça aqui no Brasil,nesse tempo eu já contava com os meus 12 anos de idade,ainda não tinha muita noção de tempo e a nossa satisfação era ouvir os programas sertanejos a noite e ir a algum festejo de pagode a moda caipira nas casas dos outros. Ituiutaba-MG,Brasil 🇧🇷,as 15:39,em 12/10/22.🤠🙌
That Jubitz Truckstop was still going up in Portland when I pulled in there around 97. One of the best truckstops I ever went to. Was a little surprised at the seediness this film portrayed. Any trucker can avoid 99% of that garbage if they want to.
Just a couple of observations. That old Pete was a real utilitarian truck and that sleeper cab looked very cramped. None of those trucks had power steering and probably didn't even have a power clutch. Also the water level at Lake Mead was nothing like it is today, most of it has dried up. Finally, this was 46 years ago. Most of the people in this film are probably dead by now but the Jubitz Truck Stop out in Portland is still going strong today in a much expanded way - it even has a hundred room hotel and a cinema. All power to today's trucker everywhere in the world.
My family was in this Documentary..my Dad was Doug , he passed away in 2015 , my brother Robert was killed in 2000 ( he was wearing the cowboy hat , in loyalton where my Dad was home with his family , I was the girl running down the street ... ) Carl and his wife are no longer with us , but everyone else is . I seen this for the first time about 2 months ago and always wondered about it. When I seen it I was mesmerized by everything about it 😊
It's very interesting to think about how different trucking is today but also how independent owner operators still suffer from the same issues as they did back in the 70s
It still is fun and profitable. Just like in those days there are drivers making out like bandits and drivers struggling to get by. It all comes down to the driver if they know what they are doing or not
WOW! This little gem was ON POINT on so many levels, what a window into the past. One critique, it would be awesome if you corrected the aspect ratio. Thank you for posting this!
I remember being a kid back in the day when truckers were in high regards with movies and TV shows about them were common. One helped my mom get into a town in rural kentucky. He was following her, saw her weaving (she was nodding off and weaving) blew his horn to wake her up. I remember the radio lingo. My ex best friend is a trucker. No real cb radio activity anymore, no real comradery anymore. Like everything else in contemporary society, just another cold aspect of today. I wanted to grow up and drive trucks, wound up a scientist. But it was always a cherished moment being with my old friend in his truck going where ever running freight. Always imagining the romantic thoughts of the trucking culture of my youth.
@@aaroni5074 small business is hard. Trucking as a small business is border line crook. Your alwasy looking at robbing Peter to pay Paul or bending rules to get paid a little earlier then your due or not paying a bill on time to pay a truck note or insurance so you keep going. It’s funny that in the 70s the story sounds the exact same as what we are going through today. There are good days too but the bad days hit you the hardest
@@beckysnedegar1124 he was a blast to watch at work. I’m a second gen trucker and now somewhat seasoned owner and I’ll say it was nice to hear we aren’t dealing with anything much new in the industry
Back in the day when cabovers were common here in the USA🇺🇸. Nowadays there's only a very small number of them around. At first I didn't know why most of them disappeared & then I've learned it was because the law increased the length limit which made them no longer a necessity.
@@daMillenialTrucker the weight limit was increased too which also eliminated the need for cabovers to pull loads that exceeded a certain weight since cabovers are lighter & have a shorter wheel base than conventional cabs. Cabovers have a wider cab than conventional cabs but both have the same overall width. Some semi drivers who drove cabovers back in the day told me some stories about them saying they were awful & they do not miss driving them. They rode like you had a jackhammer up your butt & would get very hot & noisy inside the cab. Sleeping inside the sleeper was like being inside of a coffin because of the motor underneath which was why it was less space than in a conventional cab. You'd have to remember to remove all of your stuff out of the cab before letting a mechanic work on it or else it'll go all over the place & leave a big mess inside & sometimes break the windshield too because the mechanic has to tilt up the cab for access to the motor. You got to be careful not to slip off one of the 2 steps while holding onto the handrail bars on the side of the cab as you enter or exit the cab since the second step is above the front axle which you got to take a big step between the first & second steps which are kind of far from each other. Unlike on a conventional cab where the steps are in a straight line for easier entering & exiting the cab instead of at an angle like on a cabover.
@@kevinrichards3288 I can see why they say those were the days when men were men lmaoooo look, if I had to deal with it, I would but if I didn't, I wouldn't lol AINT NO WAYYY.
Back in the 70s and 80s we had real truck driver's fast forward from the mid 90s to 2022 all they have out there on the road today is steering wheel holder's and half of them ain't even steering wheel holder's I drove for 30 year's I retired in 2008 I'm glad I'm not out there sharing the road with what's out there on the road today
Judge not if the government is not complaining about them who are we to judge them probably people during your time were still thinking the way you think of new drivers different era different things
I love the old cab over trucks what beautiful rigs I drive moving heavy equipment and watching this makes me think just how tough these men and women had it
I remember these days. Lots of cabovers due to length restrictions in various state. I have not seen a cabover in years. I guess that they are all antiques now. They sure rode hard.
I still see a few its pretty cool to see them. Never drove them as you said most are relics. See a bunch of them in yards as scrap kinda sad. Still see a bunch of long hoods on the road i cane to America in 96 and those trucks were brand new whereas now they are getting old. Still glad to see them truckin. Whenever i have to use my loud horn it takes me back to when i used to go to the highway overpass with my dad and position the truckers in a horn pattern and they would blare their horns. Btw i team with my dad now so its nice
Different country but pretty much the same here in Australia, l miss that era... some people may disagree with me but just take me back. Thanks for sharing...
Ahh the time of Cabovers and 48" Trailer's. I was 13 in 1976, riding shotgun in Grandpas 73 W900 with a 1693 Cat and a 5/4, (god I miss that Truck!) learning how to drive a big truck. Took me a lot of years to realize I was taught by one of the best. Sadly things changed and none for the better. What I really miss is the English language on the CB , hell I even miss the CB itself as nobody uses one anymore, and of course Johnny Cash on the tape player. Thing I'm curious about is why the Boss is driving the only single set truck.
That whole first. 30 mins of video was filmed on Hwy 58, btwn Eugene and Crescent. I'm a firefighter in Crescent and recognized a lot of those landmarks. We spend a lot of time on the pass in the winter picking truckers of the ice.
trucking is not hard its your mindset that tricks you into thinking its hard. you sit in a fucking seat all day long and maybe deal with some straps or chains if your a flatbed driver but let be honest guys, if it was hard work most of you would be in shape but i beg to differ....so as a truck driver myself....tell me whats so hard about it.....ill wait
my dad started trucking in 1976 after he retired 21 years in the navy his first trucking job was d.s. russell and son’s trucking out of norfolk va my dad did the east to west coast over the road with them until they went out of business in 1985 then he thankfully got a local job in norfolk with valjar has anyone heard of any of those companies he retired from local trucking in 2001
all the screaming Jimmy's But the owner running a single screw can see the big power loss climbing those hills back then. 28:30 old Moe talking about them big old fat girls Back in the day when you could play around with a lot lizard if you weren't up in Nevada the legal brothel and not have to worry about catching aids🤣
This was a very nice documentary , great pictures , good music from the 70's ( Barry White), good stories, very nostalgic . From Europe those trucks were one of the symbols of usa.
I was 16 back when this was filmed. Had no idea I'd be doing this for 32 years so far. Seems like it was a lot harder back then in those cabovers, holy smokes I've driven a few of them myself but I wouldn't want to be a million mile man in one of them.
My first truck was a 4070B cab International. 903 Cummins, single bunk, armstrong steering, 140” wheel base, 2-60 air conditioning, and a Hendrickson walking beam. Wonder sometimes how I lived in something that small and uncomfortable!
Ha Ha cab over drivers are the best drivers there always aware that they are always the second one to hit the windshield right after the bugs on the other side .
Dad was an indep. O/O from about 67-86. Back around 84, the cdl proposal was quite the controversy. Everything he predicted, came true. One was, once the gov't opened that door. It'd go too far before the error was realized. Then, there'd be constant laws. Trying to tune & adjust the mistake. Not ending till they figured out how to be in the cab & supervise you. Hence, the E.L.D. law!
Forrst you are quite obviously a little boy who grew up in your coddled little computer world so it wouldn’t have dawned on you that actual hand help paper maps would have been used-Because you grew just little the other little s hit stains of your little era thinking that the whole entire world started when you were born.
I wasn't a truck from that era but I'm old enough to have travelled using maps. It's not that hard, you have have to write or memorize the major junctions and the city order your are going to
If the truckers went from Eugene to Phoenix by way of LA they could avoid the mountains and the Boulder City Hoover Dam area. The greater distance would probably be balanced out by the higher speeds they could travel.
I just noticed how nice all that lumber is, not like the driftwood builders use these days that look like the side of a tree or something they fished out of the lake. I wish I could time travel back to 1976 and go on this trip with them once. I was also born around 1976. I don't remember many details of that era but I remember the feeling. The world felt quiet in comparison. People always stopped to help and would offer you food and a ride to where you were going if you were stranded on the side of the road. People weren't too busy for you. Edit: I agree these guys were real men. Boy have I seen some strange truckers out there these days.
Less co2. Trees grew slower. Better wood overall. But that is something you cant change it, unless all production/world goes super enviroment friendly, or we back at 1930 with the production worldwide.
Population over was wayyyy less. They were cutting down all those trees in Oregon and Washington with no remorse, and you couldn’t really tell. But now as the population has skyrocketed not only in this country but worldwide, we have to replant trees, cut them way younger, and find other alternatives to meeting demand.
It gives you an idea of the immense size of the west. And also the CB craze of the 70’s. Interesting upload! 👍 Back here in the UK, CB radio didn’t become legal until the end of 1981. By that time the commercial appeal of CB had already been on the wane for a couple of years back in the States, even allowing for BJ and the Bear which was still showing and I suppose you could loosely put The Dukes of Hazzard in there. After the first Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit the follow ups weren’t as good, but then again I can see the appeal of driving one of those things for myself way out west! 👍
We still use cb radios here in the states, I talk on my radio almost everyday and if I see a driver I know we talk for hours while going down the road.
@@just-incase3483 The first illegal ones became popular in here in the port cities like London, Southampton and Liverpool in the late 60’s. Sometimes they were probably used in places like that as communication by smugglers but not exclusively so because travellers and bikers used them also, though not so much the more popularly thought lorry drivers in those days. They became legal in late 1981 here, though the ones with the wider range and more channels needed to be licensed until they were deregulated in 2006.
We used to tell each other about road conditions up ahead, no more. I was recently stuck in a jam on I-40. Got out of my car and approached 5 different trucks to ask if they could tell me about our traffic jam. No one had a CB, they knew nothing.
@@babydriver8134 That’s a shame. Living in states where the elevation can change by a few thousand feet in a relatively short distance the CB has the potential to save many lives. I know you can get weather information off of your phone and such, but in the mountains conditions can change in minutes with accurate forecasting not always being possible because of different air masses moving in so fast. Heck, I have been told that some places in the Rockies and the western cordilleras generally, can make their own weather patterns!
Notice how much slower people talked in the 70's? They did not rush their speech and seemed to think about what they were saying as they spoke. Now people talk super fast trying to get their idea out as fast as possible, just spewing words often without thought.
People talking in RU-vid Shorts or TikTok Videos should like shizos that belong in a psychiatric clinic! Im done with this madhouse! If I could I would throw my phone into a river.
I remember watching this video on BBC in the UK when it first came out on a programme called The World About US, I would think Karl Weber will have passed now, proper old school stuff.
Things havent changed much since I got in and out , 30 yr or so , it just picked up speed and developed new problems along the way. The older I got , seeing things vanish , fighting new rules n regs , and being held at gun point just because it involved a truck , the more that romantic vision I had of driving trucks and spinning them Dave Dudley , Willis Bros. , Red Sovine albums in my room at 3rd and 4th grade age slowly faded away. Right along with America. Breaks my heart.
3:01 those air powered windshield wipers. Dad’s were always jerky like that too. All these years I thought there was something wrong with them. Looks like that’s just how they were.
Cool video…interesting to see the three basic types of truckers all packed into one video as a group of videos. Also seeing the different outlooks for the future,,,,the young guy who wants to be the old guy and have all the trucks and be rich, the middle aged guy trying to juggle the family life and still hopeful of a bright future and lastly the old guy who is just counting down the days until he can afford to quit,,,,as his wife said the future “isnt looking to bright”. Here we have the true story of life for most working class people.
Drivers actually dressed decently back then. I drove a semi for 2 yrs that I quit last yr. Now they got elogs, in cabin cameras, rude drivers. Glad I got out
The O/O attitude towards DOT never changed. Too many regulations. Also the increase of materials like straps and fuel increasing never changed as well. People have to start being honest and realized things havent changed as much since the "Golden Age of Trucking". Today, Great money can still be made. Trucking is still a trade many desire to be part of. Dont let the bad ruin from the Great think about trucking. Keep on Trucking.
I had to pause this Fantastic Documentary to read the comments..my God im reading it like a book..To read the child becky now 55 texting and others joining in is absolutely mind blowing..Im a trucker sitting in my bunk getting loaded in Richmond, VA headed to Bedford, PA...I love running out west but hasnt payed well in years so alot of companies dont book loads west..2021 was the last Run in my own Rig and i can tell you those mountains are tough on older trucks especially if your Not Geared for it.. east cost mountains are hills compared to Colorado, Idaho, cali ,etc..Ive been White knuckled more times than i can count driving through blizzards out west...
I'm a young trucker, in my late 20s, and I do the Portland to Phoenix run all the time. It's super cool to see what it was like long before my time. :-)
Go get a Teamster driving job that is in the Pension. Stick with it if you want to drive. Otherwise , the future will be bleak, unless you have other streams of income. Good luck. You did miss the best days…. I caught the tail end…. And then spent years watching the decline
@@MetalTeamster I'm definitely looking! Teamster trucking jobs are sadly hard to come by nowadays. Plus, you're basically unhireable once you have one. Every ex-Yellow driver I've talked to has said that they were denied by every company because they are so scared of drivers unionizing. Hopefully we'll reach a tipping point soon and drivers across the nation will turn pro-union again.
