What was the oldest UPS vehicle you have ever driven?
- Thread starter Big Babooba
- Start date
I drove this same one hauling Irregulars around the Atlanta Hub on the Midnight sort. It was great, winter time with no windshield in it. It had the loosest shifter in it I have ever seen. You could drive around and have a smoke, this was before the electric Irregular Trains came along. We also used to push Irregs around the building in carts, those mack truck leaf springs and bumpers from automotive were hell.
I drove a P-50 from 1967 (could've been 68) as a crew van on the Air Ramp before I started as a driver, it had over 800,000 miles on it and I suspected the odometer might have flipped once 
. It was painted bright white with the brandmark on the side.
All my sup asked was, "Can you drive a stick?" I said yes. I felt bad for the poor crew that rode with me to their plane, the P-50s don't shift like a 2000 Plymouth Neon!
. It was painted bright white with the brandmark on the side.All my sup asked was, "Can you drive a stick?" I said yes. I felt bad for the poor crew that rode with me to their plane, the P-50s don't shift like a 2000 Plymouth Neon!
IDoLessWorkThanMost
Well-Known Member
'70 Ford P700 I believe. It was not an easy ride..and glad not to be dealing with it anymore. 
Truck # 14301, I believe it was an early 60's model. As stated above, the wooden bulkhead door and shelves were hell with splinters--not many mechanics have sanders in their toolboxes. The side doors were hard to open, hard to turn, shift, ETC. I had the key medalion up until a couple years ago. They crushed it in the early 90's--when the military needed heavy metal for the Abrahms tank
trplnkl
555
The truck I drove this past week was a 1986 GMC P500, 22 years old with 961000+ miles showing and I am pretty certain the odometer has been changed more than once. With the adapted V6 fuel injected engine it runs pretty good, hard to shift, has power steering 
(takes all the power in your upper body to steer it) and has no turning radius. The shocks have been shot to hell since 1988, run over a pebble in the road and you can feel it. Of the 350 mile daily average for the week 100-150 on unimproved roads. The decibel level is so high that it is deafening , literally. The real joy is making it to Friday night.
(takes all the power in your upper body to steer it) and has no turning radius. The shocks have been shot to hell since 1988, run over a pebble in the road and you can feel it. Of the 350 mile daily average for the week 100-150 on unimproved roads. The decibel level is so high that it is deafening , literally. The real joy is making it to Friday night.
PASinterference
Yes, I know I'm working late.
My oldest was a 69 Ford P400 I think.It had a 302 and a 4 speed.It was basically a mustang disguised as a pkg car.It ran like a scalded dog. That was way back when GPS meant "great planning supervisor".I guess those are extinct,too.
Big Babooba
Well-Known Member
We had both a Diamond T & a Diamond Reo. Most of our drivers preferred them over the friend model Macks.Anyone remember driving a Diamond T tractor from the 60's. Talk about the pride of the fleet. If you weren't a favorite or always on thelist you had to take on of those!
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
We called it the "triple deuce" or the "Chinese armored personell carrier"...it was a late 50's era P-800, #14222. Wooden door, wooden shelves, doghouse engine cover in the cab. The key was on the left side, so whoever got stuck in it had to spend half a day retraining themselves to hold the keys in their left hand instead of the right. It was truly an awful truck, and it just wouldnt die. The engine would throw a rod or blow a head gasket, but the mechanics would just swap another one in that night and the next morning it would be back again. It was truly the Freddy Kruger of package cars, no matter what you did to it it refused to die.
kenco80233
Well-Known Member
This does bring back memories.When I started in feeders,we had some old gas tracters that ups aquired from the company that they bought to get access to Colo.There were some old KB Internationals that had a metal flag that would swing down in front of you from the visor,when your air pressure dropped.Also remember the Diamonds,they were like setting in a huge garbage can.They had them at most of the extended centers in western Kansas.
DS
Fenderbender
Someone should get a photo of that old 14000 series car .
it seems to me soberups that the truck was not the only thing that refuses to die
Big Babooba
Well-Known Member
We still have 2 although rumor has it that they're about to be sent off to package car heaven.We still have vehicles on the road with five numbers?
