The Long Haul: American Trucking Companies
The Long Haul: American Trucking Companies
ITEM E396
Selected by Ron Adams
In the early days, many trucking companies started out with one truck or even some horses, and a few tough folks kept hauling through the Great Depression and WWII. As roads improved, many of these companies became large operations with ample semi-trucks, trailers and places to haul. This book is a concise history of the pioneers in trucking and how they grew their truck empires. From the east coast to the west coast, most of the companies started out very small regionally and with acquisitions and mergers became the big names in trucking hauling all over America. Each company includes a history, maps of their truck lines and a photo or more of their fleet or rigs they used at an epochal point in their history. Ron Adams has been collecting truck literature and photographing trucks for over 40 years and has a vast knowledge of the trucking industry and has made a name for himself in truck books.
Softbound; 208 pgs.; 8” x 9”; ISBN 978-1583882115
Truck-related histories generally focus on specific brands—Autocar, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Freightliner, Diamond T, GMC, International, Mack, and White, for example—all of which are included in The Long Haul. Ron Adams, prolific collector and editor of numerous brand-based compilations, offers another perspective by showcasing the companies that operated them. Indicating he selected the companies featured in the book, Adams acknowledges his use of Mike Terebecki’s book series, The Trucking Pioneers, which covers the history of a variety of trucking companies. What is not clear is the extent The Long Haul reproduces the content from Terebecki’s books. Adams offers four geographic regions for a survey of 99 companies. Eastern Trucking Companies includes 24, while Midwest, Southern, and Western Trucking Companies each feature 25. With one exception, Adams devotes two pages to a trucking company, arranged alphabetically, that include a very brief—usually just a single paragraph—history and generally one photograph of a truck on one page and an advertisement or promotional route map of the territory served by the company on another. While I recognized many companies—Roadway, Admiral-Merchants, Glendenning, Carolina, McLean, Old Dominion, Consolidated Freightways, ICX, Navajo, PIE, and West Coast—those seeking in-depth coverage will be wanting more.
Book Review by Robert Gabrick
