GM Semis

[70c10-08]

Grabbed this one off of Facebook, some Astro 95s nearing the end of the line in Pontiac.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by 70c10-08

Grabbed this one off of Facebook, some Astro 95s nearing the end of the line in Pontiac.

Great photo! Appears to be a run of fleet trucks still running bias ply tires with tubes, were soo spoiled. It appears to be a late 70's or early 80's run.

[special-K]

Didn't Yellow run those at one time?

[NewBayColony]

Originally Posted by special-K

Didn't Yellow run those at one time?

That's what they look like but I can't remember seeing single axle ones. I found a picture of some twin screws.

[special-K]

I thought I could recall those mixed in to the fleet. Yellow did run a lot of single rear/doubles combinations. I didn't find any pictures on a quick search. I did find this Chevy Bison picture


I also found this artwork someone did. Pretty neat. Had to save it

[C10 - C90 Bill]

It could be just the lighting, but I believe that color in the factory photo is too light for Yellow Freight.

I always wondered why Yellow had trucks that looked more like Orange, lol.

[Bob B.]

There was a west coast outfit named Delta that had yellow trucks about that shade.

[special-K]

Maybe it's just the bright light. I don't know what other color it could be. The guys who started Yellow Transit in the very early days of motorized transit first started a Yellow taxi business and added hauling with trucks to it. Then they dropped the taxi part. I know the trucks are orange because they asked Dupont to come up with the most visible color and that is what they came up with

[jeepbut]

I remember thinking as a kid in the 60's---Why does a company called "Yellow Freight" have orange trucks?

[special-K]

The funny thing is, all my life I have heard people call some things orange what I would call yellow and call things yellow I would call orange. So I figured the owner was one of those people

When I was a kid White Motor Co made a Mustang at the same time Ford came out with the Mustang. I'd see the truck and say, "Look, there goes a White Mustang". Kids would look all around and say, "I don't see any white Mustang". I'd say, "Right there. That red truck is a White Mustang"

This truck is the same orange but they call it Preston

[special-K]

Amazing car carrier restoration

[70c10-08]

Here's a GMC Brigadier (Ryder truck?) during assembly

[Bob B.]

During much of the 80's the Brigadier was the best selling short conventional in the U.S., beating the Ford LN, International S2400, and Mack U series. Large national fleets had a lot to do with this, the Brigadier was very popular with Yellow, Ryder, ABF, and others. A GM engineer once told me the Brigadier with an L10 Cummins and 9 speed Fuller had the lowest cost-of-ownership of any class 8 tractor at the time, and that just happened to be Yellow's typical spec.. When GM merged their heavy truck line with Volvo/White the Brigadier stayed in production at Pontiac West until 1990, only change was a 'WhiteGMC' emblem replacing the 'GMC' one on the hood.

[special-K]

It looks like a demo, instruction session, or management stepping in. I say that because the guy with controls in bell bottoms seems to be stepping in on the two regulars wearing overalls, one standing back with hands in pockets

[special-K]

Great info, and I believe it by recalling seeing so many the Brigadiers on the hiways back then. Ryder was one, but car carrier fleets were mostly Brigadiers, too. What I don't recall is ever seeing (noticing) one with the White-Volvo marque. I found one picture that showed the emblem up front, but it was too small to post.

This seems to be a fleet from way down south, or that's an equivalent to a DOT number. I see some are Volvos. Super Brigadiers

[NewBayColony]

We had a few White/GMC Brigadier tractors in the Car Carrier Division of Ryder. They had a blue logo on the front.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

I also remember those days as being the end of the Detroit. Some where around the time Volvo/White bought them out, they were down to just one available and soon after that one was gone too. Although now that I think of it, that may had been in California at the time (don't have any books that new to prove it, lol). Anyway, Detroit kept making them though and I believe the Military was their best customer. They knew the value of a great engine and were not pinned down to the EPA regulations.

By the way, I sure hated to see GM sell out back then. I had just ordered a Parts Catalog and got a phone call telling me that they were no longer available from them and to contact Volvo/White for it. I never bothered. Also hated that "White/GMC" emblem that I well remember.

[NewBayColony]

When we had the White/GMC units, they were all 6V92s. Not the most powerful engine but very smooth. You never had to worry about your mirrors vibrating when you were backing up. As they got older, they had an addiction to oil. They had a tank under the hood to keep a spare gallon of oil. It had a valve that you open to drain it into the crankcase.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Originally Posted by NewBayColony

When we had the White/GMC units, they were all 6V92s. Not the most powerful engine but very smooth. You never had to worry about your mirrors vibrating when you were backing up. As they got older, they had an addiction to oil. They had a tank under the hood to keep a spare gallon of oil. It had a valve that you open to drain it into the crankcase.

They weren't leakers, that was the automatic Oil Changer, lol.

Kept the oil nice and fresh.

Reminds me of a Flat Bed Trailer I saw once from Canada. The Headboard was a secondary Fuel Tank. When the truck needed re-fueling, he just hitched up the hoses, opened the valve and filled up.

[factorystock]

Maybe I can waive my magic wand and get you a new '81 Brigadier.

[NewBayColony]

Originally Posted by factorystock

Maybe I can waive my magic wand and get you a new '81 Brigadier.

I used to deliver to Bean and Conquest. Last of the downtown dealerships in Bangor.
We didn't have any Series 60 Detroits in the Brigadiers, they came in the next gen Volvo GMCs. Not saying they weren't in the Brigadiers, we didn't have any. I had a Bruin for a few years. Being a Chevy guy, I thought it was cool having the last of the big ones.

[Bob B.]

Saw quite a few 8000 series Brigadiers with 3208 Caterpillars in them but most were pre-1980 models. In 1980 GM released the first TopKick/Kodiak trucks, basically beefed up versions of the C series mediums with high mounted cabs offering the 3208 as well. The TopKick/Kodiak was priced a bit under the Brigadier 8000 and could be spec'ed almost identically.

I think the later Brigadiers were about the last trucks built in any numbers that had the 2 stroke Detroit in them (6-71T and 6V-92). Saw a few with Detroit 60's in them as well.

[special-K]

Heavy wreckers

The red one is/was from Baltimore, MD. Ted's is probably the biggest heavy recovery outfit in the Baltimore area

[61_FL_Apache]

I drove an 81 like this for a couple of years. It had a 3208 Cat with a 10 speed.

[KQQL IT]

Fb grab