If ever you’ve seen the movie Smokey and the Bandit (1977), or watched any of the Movin’ On TV series (1974-76), you’ll be very familiar with the trucks we’re talking about here.
Back in the day, truck drivers were often referred to as gear jammers, because they would have to manually shift their way through 10, 13, 15 or more gears. That moniker seems to have faded into history, and one reason may account for that more than any other: industry figures estimate 90 to 95 per[...]
Electrification and alternative fuels figure prominently in most of the news coming from major automakers right now, including in light- and medium-duty trucks. And the heavy-duty truck manufacturing landscape is no exception either. All truck segments are now seeing major alternative fuel development projects and commercialization of electric drives, all the way from pickups to[...]
Rear-view mirrors. They’re a standard accessory on virtually every car and truck since about the time of the Model A Ford, and now they’re standard on many ag machines too. They’re about the simplest technology you’ll find on modern equipment — basically glass and plastic. But many manufacturers are now abandoning, or at least offering[...]
Along with Gleaner and Farmall, another brand familiar to farmers is celebrating a 100th anniversary in 2023 — heavy truck manufacturer Kenworth. As farms have grown substantially in size during the last couple of farming generations, more Class 8 trucks have found homes on Prairie farms. Among them, some models from the Paccar brands, Peterbilt[...]