Summer Road Trip Report - Part 1 of many

I will start with my favourite truck brand - though much changed from its heyday.

The Autocar brand was cast off by Volvo after they acquired White / GMC, and a new owner managed to resume business using the old White Xpeditor tilt cab, and specializing in vocational trucks mostly in the refuse and recycling field, but also as a concrete pumper chassis. 

I spotted this beauty at Simard Suspensions in Baie-St-Paul, QC where it was being prepped for service.

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The Xpeditor cab appears to be somewhat modified from its White days - I think the quater windows may have been added, but the doors sure look familiar.

 Those familiar doors showed up on this elderly Volvo White GMC with a B-train load of peat moss waiting for the ferry at St-Siméon, QC.


Of course the dominant brand in the refuse collection / concrete pumper  COE field is still Mack, but Peterbilt is also present. Here is a recent selection, also at Simard Suspensions in Baie-St-Paul..

 

A pair of identical Petes were painted and ready to haul with their sleek Leach compactors. Note the left side exhaust stack.

This factory white Pete awaits its turn, but for different treatment, judging by the drop axle. Note the lack of handles to tilt the cab.

This trio of Mack's were not exactly alike. The one on the right shows a different cab step platform.

To be continued.

White GMC - veterans

Industrial fire apparatus are usually not as well equipped nor as attractive as those units used by municipal departments, but they are an interesting "sub species" nonetheless. Built to fight fires in specific industrial settings, they are usually fitted out for that one purpose, and such is the case with refinery fire apparatus, which carry large quantities of foam - much more than typical municipal pumpers usually do.

Imperial Oil - the Canadian branch of Exxon, and using the Esso brand name, operated a refinery in Imperoyal, adjacent to South Woodside, Nova Scotia, from the time of World War I until late 2013. Located on the east side of Halifax harbour, opposite the city of Halifax, the refinery was once fairly remote and thus maintained its own fire fighting capability. However as South Woodside was absorbed into the City of Dartmouth, which eventually merged into the Halifax Regional Municipality, and the area around the refiney became populated, the municipal fore departments were also able to assist in emergencies.
Nevertheless Imperial Oil kept foam trucks in the refinery. 

Now with the refinery shut down, and the facility in use as a tank storage operation, its fire department is downsizing, and two of its foam pumpers appear to be surplus. Both were built by Chubb National Fire of Exton, Pennsylvania - probably to a standard Exxon pattern. On White/GMC commercial chassis, that would date them from the 1988 to 1995 era. (Volvo acquired White in 1980, and GMC heavy truck in 1987, and used the White/GMC brand until changing to Volvo in 1995). However it was not until a few years into the new brand that Volvo dared place its diagonal arrow on the grilles.

Unit #1 is a short hood unit:

Unit #3 is a long hood version, with a few added features, including extra air horns, grille mounted lights and reflective stripe. Quad headlights were also a standard White/GMC feature by the time, as was the chrome edge on the tombstone grille. These were the best looking Whites or GMCs in many years.

These two have been parked outdoors in a parking lot on Pleasant Street for a few months now. They are still licensed, and appear to be operational, so I expect to see them gone soon.

The Chubb name was dropped when the company was taken over by Kidde, but the National Foam brand is still in use for a variety of fire fighting equipment.

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Road Report- Part 1

I was on the road in August, and saw all sorts of trucks. I will be reporting in installments.

1. This classic White GMC, tombstone rad/low rise was spotted at Dégelis, Qc.  

2. At the same garage, this big Pete has an air lift axle.

3. Newly painted, but as yet unlabelled Freightliner based in La Malbaie, Qc, has an interesting tow. [See a later erport on fire apparatus.]

4. The business end of the rig has some heavy gear..

5. This Ford occupies its spot during daylight hours only at Les Eboulments, QC.   I've never seen it actually move, but it goes somewhere at night! Visibility for right hand turns would be a bit tricky unless they move the ketchup and mustard. French fry wagons were once common in Quebec, but have become a rarity.  

6. A new International Lone Star at Tom Horton's in Woodstock, NB.

White/GMC still on the road

It has been better than ten years since Volvo removed the White/GMC *name from its products and began to sell under the Volvo banner exclusively. So this transit mixer I saw Thursday has been on the road for at least that long. It still looks good and will be around for a while longer.

Volvo bought out the insolvent White Motor Company in 1981 and started a joint venture with GM to produce White/GMC in 1988. Volvo bought out GM's interest in 1997, and after selling the Autocar name in 2001 has sold exclusively under the Volvo brand.

Ocean Contracting has a fleet of mixers and dump trucks of the same vintage still running.

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[* a sneaky way to introduce the letter M into the March M trucks theme.]

Dinosaurs still roam the land

I am pleased to announce that dinosaurs are still with us. At least two that I know of, and both in Truro, Nova Scotia.
Within in a few yards of each other, on Saturday I was much impressed to see a Mack DMM and an Autocar (granted a late model White/GMC Autocar, but when you are desperate...)

1. This dog looks like it is straining at its leash. The offset cab looks great and the 4x6 drive would give it lots of muscle.

2. Perhaps it is the out thrust, lower jaw power take off, but it does look like it wants to go. Lafarge concrete had this DMM, without a transit mix body outside its shop.

Just down the road at McKay's Volvo/ Western Star, I spotted this:

3. A well worn, late model Autocar. Despite previous disparaging remarks about the evolution of this particular model, it still mounts an A'car type rad, and several Autocar emblems. The trailer? Its a Trelan 23L, wood chipper. See more at http://www.trelan.com/23l.php

The plastic fenders and lack of skid-plate do diminish the potential impact somewhat, not to mention the dreaded Volvo bar-dexter - herald of things to come for the Autocar. But zoom in on that emblem - can't be beat.

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White/GMC lives on

Yes there are still White/GMCs on the road. This particular White is fitted for high speed, highway line painting. Of course not all lines are White, but this versatile White can also paint Yellow lines. You will not that it has two steering wheels, so it can be driven RHD or LHD depending on where the lines need to be. Paint control is in the 'caboose" cabin on the rear of the truck.

It was stopped in Truro,NS at the Irving Big Stop Sunday June 20.

Random Shots#26 Dangerous Packer

This White/GMC low entry, superwide cab, refuse packer has been prowling the streets of Halifax for a year or so, picking up restaurant waste for Gerald's Trucking. It's often found downtown early in the morning. I finally got a clear shot today.

As a White/GMC it is certainly a transition model between White and Volvo - it already has the prehensile Volvo bar, but appears to be all White otherwise. The driver's side exhaust pipe is a little unusual, and the packer body itself is relatively small. The engine is almost completely behind the cab, allowing for extra seating to carry a one, two or even three man crew.