McAlpin Truck, Cont'd

Some of the McAlpin Girls, Debbie, a friend, and Sherry.

This is the last days of the 318 Detroit (Screaming Jimmy).

Charlie and the boys discussing the finer aspects of trucking in Phoenix Arizona on the way to California. Note the Christ is the Answer on the grill.

The man who purchased the 318 truck . He was from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The trailer was 42' which was too long to use with the new 18' long Peterbilt kit.

Note: In 1974 the overall length of a rig was limited to 55'. With the new rig stretched out, with a 40 foot trailer, the total length was 58'. Whenever Charlie had to go through an inspection or load check he had to stop, pull the trailer up next to the cab such that he could not make any turns, after the inspection, he would stop, stretch out the rig and continue on. Note that today there are no length limits. In this rig Charlie received the handle of "Slow Poke", as he would be racing down the road fully loaded, passing other truckers who would say look at that unloaded rig, in a hurry to get a load, whereby Charlie would reply, I'm loaded. The drivers would then ask what kind of engine he had, Charlie would reply, a Cummins 380 modified to a 420, which could sneak up on most rigs of the day and silently pass them fully loaded.

After 350,000 miles Charlie sold the rig to his son Lynn, who put another 400,000 miles on it and then sold the truck to "Pee Wee" Parker in Virginia. "Pee Wee" forgot to tighten the transmission bolts and it fell out one time. "Pee Wee" recovered and as far as we know the rig is still on the road somewhere.

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These pages created by Andy for the McAlpin Corporation.