p-800

brownelf

Well-Known Member
we still have a bunch of them, drove one last year for a few months, we call em cripplers. Stepped up to a 95 International P1000 w/4sp/low step and power steering. She's old and little slow getting warmed up (kinda like the guy driving) but gets the job done.
 

hondo

promoted to mediocrity
I see very few of those P800s on the line. Many P1000s (high step, manual steering, narrow door, etc.) still in daily service (with recently replaced lap belts:wince:).
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Anyone still drive these high stepped manual steering bastards on a regular basis still? lol

No, I did my share of time in those old "iron maidens" but thankfully there are none left in my building. I can remember a time when those were the "best" vehicles in our fleet and they were considered an improvement over the P-600's that most of us were stuck in.
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
P-800s are tough vehicles, thats why they have lasted so long. We are thankfully down to our last one, with a few old P-1000s too. I hate them with a passion, I felt like I was being punished the last time I drove one.
 
We have a bunch still around for back up I've been in one for a while it really does feel like punishment. Especially when I see plenty of other somewhat newer trucks just sitting out in the yard not being used.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
The frustrating part is that, at heart, they are robust and dependable vehicles that are cheap to operate and maintain.

Had the company been willing to invest just a small amount of additional money at the time of purchase, they could have been decent cars. For just a few extra bucks they could have had power steering, a decent seat,a 3 point seatbelt and a 5 speed tranny instead of the 4 speed that leaves you frantically rowing through the gearbox in a vain attempt to merge with traffic or get up a hill faster than 17 MPH.

Instead, they went cheap and deleted every single option that might have made the car safer and more ergonomically suitable for the human being who was tasked with driving it. An already challenging job was made twice as difficult by virtue of the fact that you are spending 10 or 11 hours a day fighting equipment that was intentionally designed to make your job harder and shorten your career.
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
We thankfully have none of these left in my center. I consider myself a young gun (under 30) and if I drove one for more than two or three days in a row my knees would start hurting. I commend the old timers that did it everyday for years on end.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
We thankfully have none of these left in my center. I consider myself a young gun (under 30) and if I drove one for more than two or three days in a row my knees would start hurting. I commend the old timers that did it everyday for years on end.

I know several who were forced into early retirement because they simply could not fight the equipment any longer.
 

Jones

fILE A GRIEVE!
Staff member
I drive a P-800 every now and then, it always ends with me waking up screaming and Ms Jones saying "It's just a dream Honey, just a bad dream...."

If they ever put me back in those things early retirement will be my only option.
 

TheKid

Well-Known Member
We thankfully have none of these left in my center. I consider myself a young gun (under 30) and if I drove one for more than two or three days in a row my knees would start hurting. I commend the old timers that did it everyday for years on end.
You should have been around for the old P600s with the wooden shelves. You would go home with splinters under your fingernails.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
You should have been around for the old P600s with the wooden shelves. You would go home with splinters under your fingernails.


Been there, done that. I drove ones made in the late 1950's that even had wooden bulkhead doors. And then there were the wretched little P-400 "head knockers" with a door that was about 3 inches lower than the height of the average guy. They didnt even have fiberglass roofs to let in light, the roof was solid metal with a couple of little glass "portholes" with screens over them. You needed a flashlight to find packages even in the middle of the day. Some of them didnt even have reverse lights in back, you had to ride the brake with one foot to make light when you were backing up at night.
 

40 and out

Well-Known Member
Still have about 10 of them between the 3 centers in my building. I get an old p1000 whenever I don't have my car. Rumor had it that all these cars were going away to be crushed after the first of the first of the year,hasen't happened yet. Last year we got a bunch of new p500s that pretty much can't be used on any route and 2 new p1000s. Good planning there ,whoever makes decisions on new cars. NOT
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
Still have about 10 of them between the 3 centers in my building. I get an old p1000 whenever I don't have my car. Rumor had it that all these cars were going away to be crushed after the first of the first of the year,hasen't happened yet. Last year we got a bunch of new p500s that pretty much can't be used on any route and 2 new p1000s. Good planning there ,whoever makes decisions on new cars. NOT

I heard a rumour that 4 cups of sugar in the gas tank would completely seize up an engine, requiring a complete teardown and rebuild that most certainly would not be cost-effective on a vehicle that old.

Of course, it was just a rumour.
 

TheKid

Well-Known Member
The P400s were a little before my time but I did have the honor of experiencing wooden doors with the attached padlock.
 

gman042

Been around the block a few times
We had one 800 that they crushed last year. Mysteriously another one some how materialized to take its place.
 

iruhnman630

Well-Known Member
I drive them just about every day Im on a split route. Much better than a 10 cube. Those things cant go in many of the drives I do.
 
Top