The long-nose conventional Peterbilt and Kenworth may be the most readily identified big American semi truck, but the Freightliner COE (Cab Over Engine) was the most popular of its kind, outselling all others, for decades. How did a truck designed by the president of a freight company for their own use become such a massive hit? It was light—the first to be made out of aluminum—and compact, allowing longer and heavier loads, and thus made its owners more money. How’s that for a winning formula?
These shots are part of a large number all taken by Brian Williams at the same rest area on I-5 near Lebec, on the Tejon Pass near Fort Tejon in the 1960s and early ’70s. It’s only appropriate that the first one should be of a Consolidated Freightways truck, as that’s the company where it was first conceived in 1940 and which gave it its iconic name. The success of the Freightliner propelled its maker, owned by Daimler since 1981, to the top of its field of Class 8 manufacturers.
In 1940 CF President Leland James conceived of a lighter and more compact truck to haul his company’s loads in order to increase net payload. The result was an all-aluminum cab, and a very short one, the Model 600, first built in 1942, and dubbed “shovelnose”. CF sold its first truck to an outside client in 1949, and since it did not wish to get involved in the marketing, distribution and service business, it entered an agreement with White Motors in 1951 to provide those services, and the badge on the grille was changed to “White – Freightliner”. The range was expanded to include sleeper cabs.
This is a typical West Coast Freightliner from the 50’s, with a long wheelbase as the overall length limits were much more generous out West than in the Eastern parts of the country.
Due to its short cab, Freightliner was able to offer Eastern operators a sleeper cab that could still haul a 35′ trailer; this was the key to its rapid acceptance and popularity in the East, where it quickly became the dominant COE semi truck.
On the West Coast, rigid trucks with full trailers were quite common, as it took advantage of the longer lengths allowed. This is a typical example.
In 1954, the “shovelnose” was replaced by the iconic WFT series, which was even more compact. And starting in 1958, it was available as a 90 degree tilt cab, a huge boon for servicing the engine.
These first two truck with the vertical grille ribs are from the first few years of WFT production.
Later versions had this grille design.
This is a “dromedary”, with a cargo box on its long wheelbase.
Another straight truck and full trailer.
Another long wheelbase semi truck. When I first saw these after arriving in California in 1972, I was a bit baffled by them. Why all that wasted space on that long wheelbase? They do things different out here…
Freightliner pioneered the cab-over sleeper; with a penthouse. All to make another 2-3′ of space for the…livestock, in this case.
Around 1958, quad headlights became optional. Aluminum front wheels were a popular weight-saving option. This looks to have aluminum rear wheels too. Aluminum frames were another option. And another weight saving trick was no front brakes. Seriously; prior to 1980, front wheel brakes on three-axle trucks were not required, and I saw lots of them that way out West.
A couple of milk haulers.
A load of wine.
This one has had the paint blasted off by sand and dust, exposing the bare aluminum.
This is a another variation, with a rigid truck that has a fifth wheel very far back. A real space saver.
In 1974, Freightliner not only had introduced its conventional truck (left) but also the Powerliner, a super-powered version of the COE that came standard with a 400 hp DD 12V-71 and an optional 600 hp Cummins KTA-600 with 1150 cubic inches (19 L), a larege and heavy engine originally not intended for highway trucks. It was the biggest displacement diesel engine ever offered in regular production highway trucks. No wonder the Powerliner had a massive 2000 square inch radiator as well as numerous other changes. The full story on the Powerliner is here.
In 1999, the final version of the traditional Freightliner COE (FLA/FLB) was replaced by the new Argosy, the last new Class 8 COE truck in the US. But the rapid demise of COE trucks due to more generous length limits nationwide made it irrelevant within a short time, and sales in the US ended already in 2005. It was produced only for export markets until 2020, when it was shut down, ending a 78 year tradition of Freightliner COEs.
Be sure to check out CC’s huge archive of posts on trucks (click this link).
Here’s one about The Rise And Fall Of The American COE (cabover) Truck
Very interesting. I love the truck and engine posts
Very cool article!!
Great history, and excellent collection of images. It is remarkable that such a simple cab design and a nondescript grille, could become so easily identifiable, and iconic, among heavy trucks in North America.
I grew up near Highway 7, part of the Trans-Canada highway between Toronto and Ottawa, and the highway was heavily travelled by Freightliner COEs. As one of the two primary thoroughfares between the cities, and Michigan. Great memories.
Wonderful collection, especially the straight trucks with the full trailers.
Only one Argosy found a job here, as far as I know. The Cummins powered 6×4 truck below, imported in 2017. Now working in the logging business, which is all too obvious. (photo courtesy of truckstar.nl)
Argosy was manufactured in Cleveland NC truck plant. Mostly exported to South Africa and Greenland. Those grills are extremely heavy. Used one for a wall decoration in our office. The export units were manufactured and tested. Then a short trip to be dismantled and 4 units of chassis components on one sea container then one with four cabs. Worked for Daimler Trucks 39 years.
Thanks for chiming in. The 2014 Argosy above was imported from Oklahoma, it had only a few hundred miles on the clock.
The factory seats were replaced by air-ride seats from a Mercedes-Benz Actros, the originals were a bit too spartan. It also got Euro mirrors.
Ubiquitous and iconic. Today the ubiquity mantle has been taken over by Freightliner’s Cascadia, though I’m not yet sure I’d call it iconic. Let’s see if CC in the year 2075 will feature photos of Cascadia’s at the same rest stop. Which, by the way is on Tejon Pass, not Tehachipi. The latter is on Hwy 58 north and east of The Grapevine, and a fine truck (and especially train) spotting route itself.
Of course it is; been over both many a time. Fixed now.
As a very old trucker I have many miles in the old Freightliner. You mentioned the grape vine in Californian never so happy as I was in 1962 when they came out with the Jake Brake. If you have gone north over the grape vine with out a Jake brake you know what I mean. I started driving at 16 years old in a KB 12 International. Loved those days still at 93 years old.
Thanks for your comment. I’m trying hard to imagine what it must have been like rolling down that endless grade without a Jake Brake. Yikes!
You kept the speed below 30 and dragged them right tires in the gravel, and kept the applied pressure below 6 psi.
That’s how I was shown how. 5 pounds on the hand valve and below 30 mph. All the way down. A whole lot easier said than done. I think it was 6th or 7th running a RTO 10 (Road Ranger). Oh and part of the physics required a 10 inch brake drum. It took years to get hang of it and I still smoked em up occasionally.
I did it many many times back in the early 1980s wasn’t too bad unless you were loaded extremely heavy and it could turn into quite an experience
Well like they say to people in the military, Thanks for your service. I’ve drove some oldies to and today’s truckers don’t realise how easy they have it.
I second the love of truck and engine posts. It’s amazing to think of the of how small those sleepers are in comparison to today’s 60″-72″ studios. Lastly I love this truck stop series of photos if for nothing more then watching the scenery in the background change (the gnarly tree in the background lose its leaves or the hill going brown) Please keep this up!
72″ that is small compared to some today. A couple of month ago we had a trucker show up for a load as the non-profit I work for. They had a 15′ sleeper. The wife showed me some pics of the interior, it even has a small washer and dryer. The Husband said that the boss surprised them with it a few months prior to replace their truck with a 12′. He told me that he told the boss too much. Sure great when you are using it but a real pain when trying to dock. He had a lot of work to hit our dock since the buildings and truck court were built in the late 70’s when 53′ trailers and massive sleepers didn’t exist.
I will. This guy shot hundreds of trucks at this location.
These photos have all the pose/angle of the lens of Brian Williams. He was a prolific truck photographer.
Try backing up to the old bronx market dicks in New youk city. Not the new york city huntspoint terminal market
I meant with a long nose Peterborough and a 53 ft reefer. At 11:00 am when the place is crowded
I retired 3 years ago after 55 years trucking. These young ones have it made. Remember the 4th of July pass the cabbage pass in Oregon and those great asses with these trucks that had no front brakes . Love these memories
When I travel in NJ Turnpike to work each day, Freightliner trucks are the most common truck, heavy long haul and light delivery vehicles, on the road. Otger guys like International and Mack just are not able to compete.
A couple of reasons for the long wheelbase tractors out west. First the obvious, with lax lenght restrictions the long tractor chassis could be used for additional cargo. There was also the belief that long wheelbase tractors were more stable on grades. However, the most significant reason was what was known as the ‘bridge formula’. The basic idea was to spread the weight the truck over a certain minimum wheelbase determined by the gross weight of the vehicle. Longer wheelbase = greater gross weight. The formula lessened the impact heavy trucks had on roads and bridges. Great article with wonderful pictures, thanks!
Thanks as always for adding you expertise to these posts. One might think a conventional truck would be more logical and better riding if the extra wheelbase length wasn’t going to be used, but then they were undoubtedly heavier than the Freightliner. Its low weight must have been very compelling back then.
Indeed cabovers were often lighter than typical conventionals, and Freightliners even more so. It’s interesting to compare those long wheelbase 5 axle western combinations to eastern rigs like Michigan ‘centipedes’. Products of different sets of regulations.
As always, my pleasure!
Paul, as a “new breed truck driving school graduate” who has very little experience with manual transmissions and has only driven new “electronic marvels”, It’s SO good to read the comments from veteran drivers who had to really know their stuff! Sadly, trucks are much easier to drive but we’ve moved away from the days where you had to know a lot more about so many different things. Today, it’s just about impossible to do any “roadside engineering”; the large truckload carriers just want low-wage entry level drivers to keep their labor costs down. I can’t imagine today ‘s drivers operating a Triplex transmission or descending a steep grade with no engine brake…
Today’s trucking is vastly safer and easier for the truck driver; everyone they share the road with, and the cargo—and today’s trucks dump vastly less toxic waste into the air. No, you can’t do as much roadside engineering, but the odds of needing to do so have been slashed.
How do you reckon any of that is sad?
You have hit the nail on the head. Some of the Facebook trucking group members remark the same thoughts only not is such a pointed way. ‘Real’ Truckers vs the steering wheel holders in flip flops and an automatic tranny. I remember the no Jake days. And I remember the way I was taught to deal with the mountains and getting down safely. I’d tell drivers they have the rest of their lives to get down a pass. Thank you for being very pointed in your post. Maybe someone will listen and learn.
Liked your comment. I hauled Swift meat 48 states with No Jake brake,it’s was all about lower gear and being careful. I don’t like what the industry is now, but guess you can’t stop progress
Lots of great shots to enjoy here. Freightboxes were a common sight here in BC and were manufactured in Burnaby for many years. We didn’t see that many single axles hauling double trailers here though. I’ll bet some of those rigs were a handful in a crosswind or on an icy highway.
I made a few runs from Vancouver to Calgary in an early ’80s Freightliner with a triple 4 Cummins in it to help out a buddy. OK on the open road but in the city I found the visibilty wasn’t great due to the size of the pillars. I was pulling a hill in the Rogers Pass when the crankshaft broke the last time I made a run. Interesting experience having an engine grenade 3 feet from your ass…
I still saw a few of these working for a living here on Vancouver Island up until a couple years ago. The shorter length meant a lower toll on BC Ferries, so guys who made the run a couple of times a week held on to them as long as possible. The 2 or 3 regulars I used to see seem to be gone now though.
I really enjoy these articles about vintage trucks. If you look at these closely, lots didn’t have A/C (It was all roof mount back then) and I see a few with center point steering which meant no power steering. Trucking is no picnic even today, but back then it was really hard work.
I still see some occasionally around here, most typically as seasonal hay haulers. That’s a relatively light load, so it maximizes their capacity. Plus, they don’t run up a lot of mileage.
Freightshakers are popular here I was driving Argosys on garbage Cummins 600hp 18 speed manuals @61,000kg landfill haul, not bad trucks the low tare weight makes them popular, currently Im driving a Century series again Cummins powered derated to 550hp eaton smartshift 8×4 towing a 8 wheel trailer, cant seem to escape from old American trucks lately.
Great write-up and pics! Kept hoping to see one from NW Transport out of Colorado (my “alma mater”), but not sure they had made it that far west at the time. Drove hundreds of different COE FLs for them over the years, some on the road and some just around the yard. Quite the drive!
Noticed all the trucks pictured here are sporting disc wheels on the front axles, couldn’t tell from this angle what the drives and trailers were equipped with. Lots of cast spoke wheel hubs in the Midwest back in the day. PIE and CF really were into minimum weight, air starters, one battery vs the normal 4. One issue we saw in the Midwest was dissimilar metal corrosion when aluminum frames were used. Most frame suspension brackets are cast iron or cast steel. The solution was the remove all brackets, clean up all corrosion, slather on a large amount epoxy and bolt in all back together.
Somebody please explain to me why this is not as insane as it sounds.
A lot of the old time truckers I learned from didn’t like front brakes, as they felt it compromised steering control on icy or muddy roads. A common feature in cabs was a valve that could be moved to a “slippery road” setting which cut air pressure to the front brakes by 50%. Normally only found on tractors or log trucks. A good driver used a very light touch on the brakes, relying on gears and engine brakes wherever possible. In most jurisdictions 80,000 lbs was the maximum and some were less so that was a factor as well. If your load was properly distributed the front brakes didn’t do as much work as you might think.
ca. 1975 and Federal Motor Vehicle Standard 151(BT-75 here in BC) came along and front brakes became mandatory.
All of that said, here in mountainous BC there were a number of horrific multi fatalilty crashes back in the day involving runaway trucks. Truck safety has come a long, long way since I started in the transportation industry.
Thanks for this. Truck brakes aren’t in my wheelhouse (zing…if I actually had a wheelhouse, it would probably be well-lit), but from what little I know, disc brakes have long been standard equipment on big trucks in Europe and elsewhere in the developed world, but have been slow to catch on in North America for reasons that strike me as lousy.
Runaway trucks of the past—well, yeah:
I was curious as to the issue of earlier adoption of disc brakes on trucks in Europe, since I know little about the subject, and found a pretty good article on it by a major supplier in the field (Haldex). There are some pretty good reasons why discs have been adopted much more slowly here; other maybe not so. But certain key differences in how trucks are set up, such as the fact that in Europe most semi trucks and trailers are rarely separated (operate as a unit) is a big one, whereas in the US tractors and trailers are constantly being changed.
https://www.haldex.com/en/North-America/news-and-events/news-archive/2018/the-history-of-air-disc-brake-usage-on-commercial-vehicles/
Well lit? Like this??
Oh, hey, those are Goodyear’s colourful translucent polyurethane tires of 1960-’61! Here’s a Life Magazine blurb about them—reportedly they distracted other motorists, go figure. Dig the pic, man; that blue ’60 Valiant with green-lit tires is hawt! This IEEE article goes into more detail about the tires and why they weren’t commercialised.
Yes! Hafta agree on the blue, green-tired Valiant!
And yep… I do feel sorta weird, being the same guy who’s shaking his fist at all the tuner cars and brodozers driving by with inappropriately illuminated baubles and bangles and badges, then turning around and drooling on these far out tires. They’re one of those things that make no real world sense, yet needs to exist in my jet-age dreams.
Now let’s see if this comment slots into the correct spot below yours…
The reason steer axle brakes were not required and on most trucks removed was the lack of a proportion valve. The same air pressure was sent to all brakes and that caused the steers to lock up. That is the biggest reason that ABS was accepted by the drivers of the 90’s.
There had been a attempt at ABS in the 70’s that was removed by a court order because it didn’t work and was the proven cause of a number accidents and deaths.
With ABS the steers continue to roll and the driver still has some control over the vehicle. A locked up tire is a tire that is not doing its job to help you slowdown. In the case of steers it will pull to the side that is locked.
Thank you.
In Israel we only got the end of the classic line, mostly as 8×4 for heavy trailer work and with 24″ spoke wheels and steel suspension, very different from any US spec and in fact some carried a plaque saying “not for road use” (in the US, that is). Not surprising with Israeli max weight regs!
Front brakes changed in 1976.
No front brakes? Truly the wild west way back then…
Bobtailing tractors has always been risky business but without front brakes it was a real treat, especially in rain or snow. As others mentioned there were limiting valves you could use and later on the systems were “hidden”, the tandems would have reduced air pressure if the trailer brake charge valve was not engaged, no trailer, reduced pressure. This was great but again with humans involved things can get messed up. This type of system would be used in a tractor/trailer configuration, not used in a truck/trailer configuration. All of our plow trucks were spec’d for towing trailer. Low and behold we had a plow truck that had terrible braking performance. After much parts changing and head scratching, we plugged the trailer connections so one could apply the trailer charge valves and there you have it, the brakes worked fine. The truck was plumbed from the factory with a tractor package.
Another issue That popped up from time to time were air tank that were plumbed incorrectly, the trucks would fail multi brake application checks. The first time we encountered in was on trucks that were still plumbed with copper air lines. The fix was switching two lines on the treadle valve which is mounted to the underside of the floor with the brake pedal on top. A real pain. The others we had were somewhat easier to fix because the error was at the tanks and in was plastic air lines with the push on connectors.
Disk brakes got a bad rap just like ABS when they first came out. We had trucks were the calipers were supposed to slide on a pair of pins, fairly good size, well the factory either did know or didn’t care and the pins were covered in paint so the caliper would bind up, stick and one side of the disc would be worn down to the fins. If that didn’t do it then the corrosion and crud picked up from the road would cause the same problem.
Our Louisville’s had air over hydraulic disc brakes on the front axles of the plow trucks for a few years, those were not much better. The next time we looked at them the additional cost and having to switch axle manufacturers killed that idea.
ABS did also have another side effect, it basically killed the wedge air brake system. This was another 50/50 thing, some people hated wedge air brakes (me included) and other places (CF and P.I.E.) loved them.
What’s:
• Bobtailing
• A wedge air brake
?
Bobtailing: Tractor without a trailer. Big fun on slippery roads.
Wedge brakes were a wedge attached to the air brake pot that extended out when brakes applied, forcing the shoes apart. The advantage here was no slack adjuster, removing the risk of out of adjustment slacks causing brake loss. Lots of disadvantages such as maintenance for the mechanic. Popular with fleets as noted above.
Ah, thank you.
Keeping the dream alive over at the Postal Service
I worked on these in the early 70s in California and the White Compacts also the old White compacts had no front brakes if you weren’t pulling a trailer it was a thrill ride to stop them
Remember my days at cf motor fry had 25 years there
Hardy drivers back then, no interstate, all small towns with hundreds of stoplights, no AC cabs, no automatic transmissions, no CB
I read the entire article and did not see where the acronym COE is explained as Cab Over Engine. It can be very frustrating for a person to read something that continuously references an acronym that hasn’t been defined/explained. I may have missed it but if it’s not in there you are missing an opportunity to connect effectively with your reader and you may turn off readers from reading more of your work in the future. Just trying to help. Cheers!
My apologies. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve updated the text.
Many thanks for the “blast from the past”!!! I’ve always loved trucks and trucking. I didn’t start trucking until 1996 and, by then, cabovers were almost a thing of the past. Wish I’d had a chance to at least start out in one! In my early years, I worked pretty hard to get my Freightliner’s hood into some really tight docks in the Northeast while wondering why the Argosy didn’t sell very well… Anyway, thanks for a wonderful trip down memory lane!!!
I drove a 1974 COE for 10 years. My Pop had a 1972 w/a V-12, & I rode in that truck for 7 years from LA to Pa! Would love to find that truck….not sure that I could afford the fuel @ 3.5 MPG, but I would love to try!!
I started driving OTR in a 1953 R190 IH 450 RedDiamond
Gas 6 cyl 5th over 2 sp rear 6 wheel. Also drove a L200
W/Air tag pulled a low boy w/ 12 wheel now springs. Hauling Heavy Equipment. I ended up driving a IH 4200
W/290 13 sp. hauling Silica Sand. I turned in my CDL
Now I’m 76 and still miss the road.
I use that rest stop on a regular basis. Always big rigs to see. There are now two runaway truck ramps on the downgrade. This video shows one in use. There is another to the left. I have seen a truck with brakes on fire use the ramp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7djN6bxHcU
In 1987 drove a cab over Freightliner this was the worst riding truck that I ever drove over the years. My neck still cracks from driving it. Pulling a small 9000 gallon 3 axle gasoline trailer. Rode like a bucking horse
The picture of the blue Freightliner with the stretched red frame looks like the rigs my dad used to drive when I was a kid. I couldn’t read the sign on the side, but that is most likely a Refrigerated Foods Truck.
Dad would haul swinging meat from Brush Colorado or York Nebraska to the West Coast and haul produce back to Denver.
They had 318 ” Jimmy’s ” cut back to 290, a 5 and a 4 for trannies.
I drove doubles for CF motor freight for 25 years I started in 1978.
I drove frieghtliner cab over 8v71 13 speed no power steering big bus wheel backing 42 ft tempted was no fun
Can you tell me what year this cab over is?