If You Bought it, a Trucker Brought it
Peterbilt, founded in 1939 by T. A. Peterman, a logging entrepreneur from Washington, turns 70 this year. Mr. Peterman was already buying up old military transport trucks and modifying them so he could haul freshly felled logs from the forest to the mill faster and more efficiently. At that time the best way to get logs to the mill was to float them down the river or by horse teams. So, in 1939, when Faegol Motor Co. went bust he bought up the assets and formed Peterbilt Motors Co. Peterbilt, was of course not alone in this medium and heavy duty truck manufacturing business. There were a number of big outfits like Mack, Kenworth and Ford who had years more experience and were churning out around 100 trucks a day while Peterbilt was only producing around 100 a year. Despite the low numbers Peterbilt quickly gained popularity, no doubt due to Peterman’s insistence of quality over quantity. Likewise, he would send his engineers and builders into the field to assess the wants and needs of the truckers to develop the best rigs. Once they had the valuable data they then went to the designing phase. Peterman died just 6 years later in 1945 and the company was eventually sold to Pacific Car and Foundry, which owned Kenworth in 1958. Peterbilt trucks are made in Denton, TX
Peterbilt’s first truck -1939
What young boy hasn’t been impressed by a huge chromed out semi tractor trailer with a flashy paint job? Back in the 70’s and 80’s when these rigs where mostly chrome and steel they certainly got my attention on our summer vacations to TN and FL from MN. My arm would get tired doing the universal signal for “honk your horn” to all the truckers. My father was also a CB radio buff. His handle was “T-Bone” and he could operate a CB like a seasoned pro. Perhaps I am biased, but I do believe being from the South is a prerequisite for CB radio use, it just sounds better with a thick Southern drawl and my father has one. I recall him talking for hours on his CB. It would generally go something like this, “Breaker, breaker 1/9 this is T-Bone does anybody copy?” “10-4 this is Blue Dog, I copy.” “What’s yer 20 good buddy, over?” “I’m Southbound on the 75 passing mile marker 34, over.” “I’m comin’ up on marker 15 with the pedal to metal, you got any smokies in yer back door, over?” “Bear in the grass around 18, over. “ “Copy that Blue Dog, over and out.” This honest banter amongst big rig trucker and civilian is a lasting reminder of how friendly our roadways can be.
The 1975 novelty song Convoy by C.W. McCall was a big hit in the 70’s and was the inspiration for the 1978 Sam Pekinpah film, Convoy.
This CB and trucker culture saw no bigger time then the 70’s and 80’s. Big budget movies like Smokey the Bandit, Convoy, Cannonball, White Line Fever and The Gumball Rally only further solidified their massive appeal.
Assorted 70’s & 80’s Peterbilt Trucks
More Peterbilt images can be found on these sites:
