(updated and expanded) From the late forties through the seventies, the Cab Over Engine (“COE”) semi-tractor was the Brontosaurus of the Road. You’d see them happily plodding along in the slow lane pulling all sorts of cargo coast to coast. Today, you could spend an entire day on an American highway and not see a single one. Why did they disappear?
While the COE format has existed almost as long as internal combustion trucks, they started to become more common in the mid-late thirties as a way to increase payload space within given length restriction.
The aerodynamic era produced some spectacular limited-production COE truck-trailer combos, like this beer delivery combo with a GMC tractor.
image: Dick Copello’s Flickr page
COEs became even more common after WW2, as highway haulage increased. This 1940s Fageol, a rather rare truck, is still from the era when style was important to trucks. That would soon change.
image courtesy hankstruckpictures.com
The COE really came into their element in the 60s and 70s as the Interstate Highway System built out and truck traffic and trailer lengths grew. Because most states in the eastern half of the country had very restrictive laws about total over-all vehicle length, equipment design had to think within the proverbial box.This Mack COE with a 40′ semi-trailer represents the typical over-the road semi-trailer rig in the US during the pre-deregulation era.
The only way to squeeze a larger trailer into the same length and width “box” was to shrink the cab. The ad copy of the tractor OEMs shows that they competed to offer the shortest Bumper to Back of Cab (BBC). Operator comfort played second fiddle to the squeezing out every cubic foot of cargo space.
image courtesy hankstruckpictures.com
During this era many of the western states had a different regulatory regime that emphasized spreading a larger amount of allowable weight over a longer span to reduce to damage to the road. This Peterbilt is a classic “West Coast Truck”, with an enormous wheelbase on the tractor, due to very generous overall vehicle lengths allowed. The higher weight limits in the West also meant that three axle truck pulling a two axle trailer was a more common format there.
This Hostess-Wonderbread Freightliner is a regulatory Frankenstein. The use of a dromedary box on the tractor transforms it from a tractor trailer combination to a truck and trailer with a larger permitted overall length. In this case you could call it the Twinkie Defense to restrictive regulations.
This Thrifty Drug GMC Astro 95 is pulling a set of “Wiggle Wagons” in mid 1980s Northern California. Note the Multiple License Plates required for each state the tractor operated in and the “Dragfoiler” air deflector and traction chain hangers on the trailers. Chain racks configured this way are still the preferred configuration. A good driver can hang a complete six chain set of iron in about 30min versus the 50-60min if they are all hung on the tractor. The square tanks allow additional fuel to be carried in the same space along the frame rail; the ability to operate for 2-3 days on a single tank became more important after the ’73 and ’79 shortages.
The Last of the Coehicans? This Swift Freightliner Argosy is the spiritual heir to the Thrifty Astro as it’s highly probable when I took this shot it was assigned to the account delivering to Rite Aid stores, the successor to Thrifty-Payless. When Freightliner discontinued the Argosy in 2006 is was the end of the line for the COE Semi-Tractor in the US.
The Freightliner was the most iconic of the COE trucks, given that its cab was built with only minor changes for almost half a century since the first of this series arrived in 1950. Its lightweight aluminum cab also meant more weight for payload.
Their virtual extinction was a direct result of the proverbial asteroid of the 1982 Highway bill; previously the total length of the tractor-trailer combination was limited; the game changed to limiting only the length of the trailer(s) (to 53′). It took awhile but the legislative asteroid changed the regulatory environment to favor the conventional hooded tractors.
Once the regulatory limits on tractor length were eliminated, COEs fell out of favor for as they were cramped and less safe relative to a tractor with a hood. Wheelbase and suspension being equal, a COE with the driver sitting atop the front axle delivers inferior ride quality to a conventional.
Back and kidney problems were a common occupational hazard for the drivers of the era. Slips while accessing the cab were a frequent cause of injuries. One anecdotal story had Workman’s Comp claims drop by 50% when a major trucking company eliminated COEs from their fleet. As the freight business evolved into larger carriers keeping drivers on the road for three to four weeks or more at a time, the smaller living spaces offered became a disadvantage.
COEs still thrive in a few niches where space and/or a short wheelbase is at a premium. This pair of Freightliners configured for delivery of construction material is representative of the niche where they are still preferred. In a modified form you also still see them as Low Cab Forward Refuse Trucks like the Peterbilt 320 and Mack MR.
The situation in Europe is quite the opposite. Strict overall vehicle lengths in most countries there have made the COE the only way to go for long-haul trucking, and it has been developed to a high state of comfort and efficiency. With the cabs riding on their own air-spring suspension, the ride has become comfortable, and the sleeper cabs quite commodious. Will the COE ever return to favor in the US?
Marmon COE image: Dick Copello’s Flickr page
In Europe COEs are the norm.
I’ve never stopped to ask if it’s because of regulations or ease of maneuverability and space, but you rarely see a snout-truck at all over here.
European length regulations are much more restrictive.
Paul,
Above, there is the GMC cab on the left that lent itself to the home-made motor home that you featured a while back.
I owned and drove a COE for northAmerican Van Lines for 9 years. It rode like a buckboard. Over rough pavement it would loose traction, the transmission would pop out of gear, and the tail light filiments would break. But I could get into tight places with it. Other advantages were a better view and more privacy, because I was sitting higher. If they had come out with one that had a flat floor and air ride, it could still be with us.
My 1996 coe, international 9700, has full air ride. Mine does not have a flat floor (not available with cat 3406) but it was an option in the Navistar Newport coe series. If I’m not mistaken they started offering the flat floor in the 80s.
En Europa es por las dos cosas.
Hay poco espacio para maniobrar y la longitud es muy extricta.
Los COE en Europa hace años que son muy cómodos y algunos modelos ofrecían el piso plano interior desde 1972.
I was able to understand several reasons why they were built like that (probably erroneous) but did not know why they died out till today.
Good article.
And I just assumed it was a “fashion” thing — you know, like men want bigger trucks now but 30 years ago you were a Neanderthal if you drove a full-size truck? Loads are still the same, what people think of as necessary to handle the same load is what changed.
Now I understand a bit of the madness behind the method.
“Real men drive truck”, then “smaller men” drive “bigger truck” just to be more “real”.
Remember when the boys from Top Gear UK bought semi-trucks? (Series 12, episode 1)
Richard Hammond put a literal doghouse on the front of his to achieve “an American look”!
It fell off promptly.
Couldn’t find a photo of it.
But here’s May’s “Pakistani” truck crashing Clarkson’s “Murderous Trucker” machine.
3 guys who cannot drive a truck.
Screen shot!
This is what Hammond chose though he had a single screw tractor unit and this is a 8 wheeler rigid same truck, they were likely powered the same this one had a 500Big Cam with 15speed R/R, Hammonds rig hit 90mph with the limiter disabled. Not bad for a 20 year old ERF.
TTAC got me thinking about that today! Serendipity…
“‘You’ve got to change gear, change gear, change gear, check mirror… murder a prostitute. Change gear, change gear, murder. That’s a lot of effort in a day.'”
-Jeremy Clarkson
That dude is in a little bit of hotwater these days. Maybe a bit too outspoken??
I grew up with two brothers who would’ve fit right in on Top Gear or Jackass. Our poor mother was always saying, “For God’s sake don’t tell people I’m your mother!”.
Maybe that’s why I really don’t find those shows very amusing… Hate the 3 stooges, too.
“Hate the 3 stooges, too.”
Huh??? That is just plain wrong. On. So. Many. Levels.
The second to the last photo – the orance c.o.e., those were all over the road in the midwest. My greatest memory of them, however, was just how loud they were. When with mom and dad before I drove, every time one of those things would pass us, or dad would pass one, I would cringe just because of the noise – of course this was in warm weather with all windows down – even the BACK windows on dad’s ’55 Dodge Royal Lancer H/T coupe, as we didn’t have A/C! You know I had to bring that out, too!
they probably had straight-piped 2 stroke Detroits. those things were indeed loud.
Royal LANCER STATION WAGON?!
SOMEONE WAS TRULY BLESSED AS A.CHILD..
what a beautiful automobile chrysler/dodge
Built back in those days!
God bless, brother
Form usually follows function, but “if it doesnt look right, it’s probably not”. I’ve always thought COE’s just looked “wrong”, but knew they were a way to get around regulations. The 1930’s-40’s designs were particularly ugly. Smaller Japanese tilt cabs still exist for in-city delivery duty. I have rented them and cannot imagine spending a whole day driving down the highway in one.
…and one of the more common Low Cab Forward refuse trucks, the one built by Autocar, has an unexpected Corvette connection – the Autocar cab was originally designed (for White, which is what it started out as) by Larry Shinoda. Hoodathunkit??
Having driven both styles I prefer a conventional cab you get a nicer ride sitting between the axles but for manouvering the COE wins. When I was removed from my Navistar conventional and placed in a COE Iveco I was less than happy and it took several runs to get used to it but eventually the eerie silence of the Iveco won me over a modern COE is a nice unit to drive.
Well, having spent 6yrs of my life driving a COE 1994 Ford Trader from 1995-2001, I can vouch for one reason why they might fall out of favour: having to tilt the whole cab to get at the mechanicals. It wasn’t a big truck, being a refridgerated truck for delivering milk to supermarkets. TARE weight was 3600kg, fully loaded it was around 6tonne. Engine was a 3.5 litre 4 cylinder diesel.
To access the engine, I had to do the following:
1 – Lie underneath the front of cab and pull out the pins holding the bullbar verticle
2 – Clamber out and tilt bullbar down (of course if it was parked on a slope, the bars would tilt noisily the minute the pins were out)
3 – Hop inside cab and remove any loose items (order books, cell phone, pens, etc etc)
4 – Go to rear of cab and follow procedure to unlock it from chassis
5 – Tilt cab forward
Making it all usable again meant reversing the above procedure – if on a slope, it was almost impossible to get the bullbar lock pins back in again, as I had to be lying on my back on the ground with my legs up in the air trying to keep the bar in exactly the right place for the lock pins to line up.
Ok, it wasn’t that difficult, but it was still a compromise at best. And another compromise is that due to the cab tilitng, all the wiring/heater hoses etc is at the very front of the cab in a couple of specific spots so that it can pivot without damage when the cab tilts. My bosses previous Trader was rammed from behind (by another truck) into a powerpole; there was minor damage, but the truck developed weird electrical faults afterwards. It turned out where it hit the pole was where the main wiring loom went from chassis to cab, and the wires got squashed…
You still see some COE trucks operating in the San Wakeen Valley (CA), hauling produce. I too have often wondered why the COE has gone away in the US, because that is all you see in Europe. Thanks for the great write up.
I drove an Isuzu NPR for awhile, it was OK but that whole tilt cab thing did blow. After that I drove International conventional cab tow trucks and always wished they were NPRs for the maneuverability.
Having spent time driving concrete trucks one NZ company uses US Ford chassis conventional cab while the others use Japanese cabovers the conventionals in tight situations are a menace the extra meter in front of the windscreen makes em difficult to judge where in a cabover you are at the front and that makes driving inside existing buildings easier. From general experience tilting the cab is a rare event as all fluids are checkable with cab down only adding oil is sometimes a cab up.
Thats almost funny, never drove a semi, but I drove and owned a lot of 20-30 ft.straight trucks, International gas 5 speed, Mercedes non-turbo diesel 5 speed, Chevy C50’s gas 8 speed, (two speed non syncro differential). The Internationals were manual steering and I drove them short delivery in Chicago with a lot of unmarked bridges. The Mercedes cabover was the hardest to drive even in flatland even the tiniest hill took it out of it’s powerband, it lugged at 1500 and redlined at 3000 you absolutely had to redline it every shift and shift like a drag racer to keep it at 1500, ironically it drove and handled like a large car and was pretty quiet and smooth. We were competing with the mob in Chicago and they messed with me getting a CDL, I actually literally got a ticket for going 90 in a small parking lot sitting still, a week before my CDL test and Illinois state law requires to to bring a physical license. Ironically I built the mobsters sandwich delivery truck for him and I thought me and my partner were close friends, but he did not want us in the ice business.hey I guess friends are friends and business is business. What’s funny is my loaded short wheel base dodge ram is the hardest to drive vehicle of all, I cannot see the fenders, way below the hoodline so the short wheel base is offset by leaving a foot of so of leeway. It’s the worst steering vehicle ever. I was driving on a good road with troughs between the crown of the road and I swear the front wheel came off it was darting all over the road even at 10mph, Pulled to the side of the road expecting stares and calling the tow truck and police blocking. The front end was straight as an arrow and nearly rock solid, it had tiny play in one tie rod and tiny play in one wheel bearing with 91,000 miles. How anyone pulls trailers with these beasts I’ll never know, I replaced the wheel bearing, tie rod end and steering stabilizer and it drives fair now but that’s the best is would get without modification. The 26 Navistar turbo diesel (half) semi straight truck I just drove 2200 miles nearly straight through, drove and steered much better, than the short cab, short bed half ton Dodge, except for the Dodge having a lot of power of course with a 360 and 3.55 posi. that gets put in 4WD so rarely the transfer case rusted frozen with just 91,000 miles, it does go in the snow without chains in 2WD and it turns in a circle tighter than an economy car with it’s straight axle and conventional (exposed) u-joints that also went bad and short wheel base so in that way a baby could almost drive it off road, on road it’s a different story
I’m not a career trucker, but I have done my time running a tractor-trailer, sea to shining sea. First go-round was in 1991; and I did it briefly this spring, when between jobs in my “other” career.
A lot has changed, most of it not good. But the equipment, at least as far as the tractors is concerned…worlds apart.
In 1991, my company was running a fleet of International COEs, with set-back front axles. Very short wheelbase; with proportionate maneuverability. A “big” sleeper – but this was about a year before walk-in sleepers became popular. And of course with COE configuration, there was no depth to it. Which meant we didn’t have dual bunks; my partner and I had to hot-rack it.
The International approach to interior room was noteworthy. Driver and passenger sat in, basically, wells. There was little footroom; just about enough to move your feet where you needed to, all the pedals. The seat bottom cushion was up against the carpeted-but-hard doghouse housing, which was about (if I remember) 2-1/2 feet across. And…out of that, one touch I did like, was that the shifter, for the Eaton-Fuller 10-speed, was poking right out of the left-hand top corner of the housing.
For real. The shifter was about a foot long; just like out of a sports car. Underneath, it connected to a tube-in-a-tube shift linkage (like the VW Beetle!) that ran in a brace along the side of the engine and into the transmission housing. When the cab was lifted, the shifter, which was attached to the doghouse, just came up out of the ball socket in the tube-linkage.
That was good. The noise of the engine right alongside, not so much. The worst was when the thermostatically-controlled air-lockup engine fan was on…it was deafening in the cab.
Today…nobody’s running a COE. Hell, nobody’s MAKING them. And nobody’s missing them. Ride is probably better, although the time between the two samples makes it hard to tell. And the space is very, very much appreciated. Room to stretch out; room to unpack commonly-used clothes and items. Individual racks. Yeah, and electric wipers – and the divided windshield, with separate wiper motors for each side, is all gone. No more stalled air wipers.
And, QUIET. Yes…in a lot of ways, the Peterbilt I was running this spring almost felt like a big car. Small steering wheel, in a passenger-car position. Controls where you’d expect them. The only difference was the bear-leg-trap-spring clutch…yeah, I know, a REAL trucker doesn’t use the clutch. But I never was comfortable floating the gears; where double-clutching is second nature.
So, I’d put the equipment-changes, at least, down as “progress.”
Thanks for the perspective.
While my currently daily driver is a 1989 Pete 320 refuse front-loader I’ve never driven a proper short wheelbase COE tractor. As the FNG at a major freight carrier in 2006 I got to roll the older iron: SWB mid 90s Ford L9000 conventional with spring ride on rough mountain roads. I can imagine how it would be even worse sitting over the steer axle and having to share a tiny sleeper with a co-driver.
Smoothest truck I’ve ever driven was a brand new VN 670 with air ride all around. It was a comfy Lexusesque isolation chamber complete with a comfy seat and a good stereo.
I drive a 1996 international 9700, aka coe with set back steer axle. 169.3″ wheelbase, and love it. Fan noise being a complaint is something I don’t understand, never had it bother me. Sure can hear the engine as you described, recently I had it in the shop so I rented a truck. 2015 Volvo 780, drove me nuts not being able to hear what the engine was doing. I’ll never go back to driving new trucks, old iron is the only way to ride.
As far as “nobodies making them”, the Navistar Newport series (the truck I drive and the one you described are both part of the newport series) was made until 2015. Freightliner and Volvo both offer coe in north America as well.
Here in the Seattle area, I usually see the smaller cab over trucks such as the Isuzu NPR’s used as small box trucks for local hauling, rarely these days for long distance duties like out of state.
At best, these Isuzu cab overs and their ilk tend to do the smaller city to city runs like, say from Seattle to Tacoma (roughly an hour a way) or from Bellevue to Seattle (roughly 20-30 minutes away) and that’s about it, the large tractor trailer cab overs, I don’t see as much anymore outside of Franz bakery and perhaps the Hostess/Wonder Bread trucks and they are much like the Hostess truck you show here.
I DO remember seeing them much more often in the past, that is up until some 10-15 years ago before they began to disappear.
Cab over box trucks are still very popular in the northeast but you hardly ever see a tractor the one exception here is short haul boat movers who use the cabovers to move around crowded boatyards.
Great write-up. I always liked the looks of these, though I can see why JustPassinThru didn’t like driving them:
If you think driving them was bad . try working on these dog piles .
I’m glad we salvaged them out long ago .
-Nate
The opening pix on this post showed the old COE Fords my father used to run between Youngstown and Pittsburgh on nightly grocery store runs. After his first heart attack, they took him off the road, but occasionally they would let him do in town deliveries. When I was very young, he would come home for lunch with one of those diesel Fords, all of us neighborhood kids would come out to see it. I guess we were an easily entertained bunch, it’s not like everyone else in the neighborhood didn’t have a father, uncle, brother or cousin who drove, too…
Funny thing that the truck market is one which is very regional. In Asia, Japanese truck rules. In Europe, European truck rules. And in America, the trucks are predominantly American.
Australia has a mixture… Small & medium trucks are almost universally Japanese (drove an Isuzu NPR moving house on the weekend) although there are some Australian built Iveco (formerly International) that are popular for garbage collection, concrete mixer, etc.
Semi trucks are a mix of European & American, often mix & match between chassis/cab and (more often US) driveline. There is also a mix of cab-over and conventional. Our length regs work on overall length, so require a cab-over to fit a B-double combination within the limit (B-train is where the turntable for the second trailer is over the rear-most axles of the first trailer). Typically these will be 3-axles for the tractor and both trailers, with max weight approx 220,000lb. A single trailer (~45′) would as often as not be pulled by a conventional tractor. Most body trucks are cab-over, for maneuverability’s sake.
In Costa Rica, all the big over-the-road trucks were American; 95% of the medium trucks were snub-nose Japanese. Pickups if any were also Japanese.
I’ve always been fascinated by the way modern COE trucks have an independantly sprung cab. Always wonder if the steering wheel moves with the cab or with the chassis.
The steering wheel…moves with the cab.
Push a COE Volvo or Isuzu into a turn the cab leans alarmingly very softly sprung a quick check in the mirrors proves everythings ok but the first few times it doesnt feel right push a COE Scania truck and trailer combination into a turn and the stability control applies the trailer brake very annoying when trying to maintain momentum for a steep climb yeah it makes them foolproof but you find yourself a couple of gears further down the box than would be normal and 50tonnes up a 1in8 is slow with only 500 or so hp.
I really enjoyed this article! My wife and I just returned from our first trip to Europe (Germany, mainly), and one of the first things I noticed was that all of the tractor-trailer rigs were cab overs. Now I know why.
your blog was too good. i really appreciate with your blog.Thanks for sharing.
left hand drive tractor from Europe
All of the garbage collection trucks in north america seem to be coes, as well as the majority of fire engines are coes.
Was one particular make or model the “inspiration” for the “widowmaker” tag for COEs?
the primary name “WIDOW MAKER” usualy refered to the WHITE 3000. In the event off a headon collision with another truck you were first one there.
The cabover is certainly not dead:
http://whataboutcars.com/2013/06/2014-freightliner-argosy-unveiled/
I’ve always liked these cab-over-engine trucks.
“…This Peterbilt is a classic “West Coast Truck”… ”
I also remember the hooded Peterbilt’s called ‘California Hauler’ in the early 70’s. My teenaged uncle then bought a 1/25 plastic model kit, with that name.
Due to manoeverability , COE’s are always the best choice for In Town rigs , not just the Trash Packers but delivery and medium to heavy duty service rigs too .
For a time , the Ford C Series (’57 ~ ’92) was the most popular Medium Duty rig in history .
Sterling put a stop to that , discontinuing parts shortly after buying the division from Ford =8-( .
Peterbuilt 320’s remain very good rigs , we have thousands of dual drive packers in daily service , they’re tough as nails but chasing the BIG rats out of the under dash heater plenums every Winter is a bitch requiring taking the cab 1/3 apart . .
-Nate
I drove the worst coe of all a gradall xl4100 series 1. No rear suspension just walking beams, solidly mounted cab and if you were lucky an airseat. I shrunk 2″ in the decade I was an operator of one. When you got going over the top of the key bridge there is the worst washboard, most perfectly spaced bumps at the top and that machine would buck like a wild horse. Ah memories
Oh yes ~ we had those too ;
The City being cheap , bought the smallest ones they could and then seriously over worked them ~ great trenchers but the ones we bought were too small for their intended use , one broke a boom .
Another time the operator went a 360° in the rear cab (I didn’t realize that was possible) and ripped the 30′ long electrical harness in half ~ they gave the job to a lazy asshole who spliced it (!) all 7 wires so naturally it failed at the very next job site , guess who took it and fixed it properly ? =8-) .
Those walking beam suspensions only lasted 30,000 miles in City Service , and were a total bitch to rebuild , I passed on that and let a Contract Vendor do it , they used to have one dedicated guy who’d come out and do it in two shifts , good as new again for under $2K .
In time , we bought two of the bigger (? 8100 ? I forget) Gradalls , they were tops in every way .
-Nate
I couldn’t let this article go by without posting this one…
And thank ya for it! That’s gawjuss!
I see the same pattern with railway locomotives: While American roadswitchers have a stub hood for collision protection (note, lower-speed yardswitchers do not), Europeans like the cab at the extreme end, or both ends. While I suppose length regulations aren’t an issue here, perhaps more restricted track space (no room for wyes) still plays a part?
The Ford in the first picture deserves comment. It is an H series, Ford’s first attempt at a class 8 diesel linehaul tractor. The H was sort of a ‘junkyard’ truck, built of components from existing Fords. The cab was a modified version of the one used on the Ford medium duty C series truck, raised up to clear a large Cummins diesel. The outline of the original wheel well is apparent in the side panels. The chassis was borrowed from the N series short nose conventional. The results were somewhat less than stellar, the H series got a poor reputation and was often referred to by contemporary drivers as the ‘Two Story Falcon’! The H was replaced in 1967 by the Ford W series cabover, a much improved truck that remained in production for 10 years.
Great stuff Mr. Williams, thanks !
The Mack F-series was by far the most popular US cabover here in the sixties and seventies. Especially the 6×4 tractors for heavy haulage, brick haulers and dump semi trailers. Everything that was heavy.
Mack F-series, source: http://vvvnn.nl/mack-f-700-ates-3/511/
We’re also familiar with the later Mack MH-series, this one has a big crane mounted on its back.
Source: http://www.mackmonne.nl/nl/verkoop.htm
And two Kenworths K100, the rig on the right has 6 axles (the one on the left probably too), good for a healthy 110,000 lbs GVW. That is, until you reach the Belgian or German border.
Source: http://www.truckfan.nl/picture/6240/
I’ve always been a fan of COE trucks, and miss seeing as many different types as I did years ago. When I was young in the 80’s there were so many–Astros, Transtars, Mack F-models and Ultraliners, Ford 9000s, White and then White/GMC, plus the “Optimus Prime” Kenworths and the somewhat similar Peterbilt and Freightliner versions. Pretty much all gone now.
I do know where to find a 90’s era Freightliner COE (owned by an equipment sales/repair business in town), as well as a similar vintage Peterbilt and one of the formerly ubiquitous Volvo-White-GMC cabovers that also “live” around here. But you never see them on the highway anymore, nor really in town either except for the odd hangers-on here and there.
Friderici from Switzerland had the largest Kenworth fleet of Europe. Here’s a nice collection of their K100s. I first read about them in the eighties, when they just bought a brand new Kenworth Anteater.
that yellow truck looks like the one in jeepers creepers film!
Wasn’t aerodynamics also a contributing reason for their decline? I’d think that “conventional” semis have better drag coefficient compared to a COE (which is as close as possible to the “side of a barn” aerodynamics).
Coolest COE ever!
http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2011/09/01/hmn_feature17.html
Basically there is zero advantage to operating a cabover OTR except for initial cost. They are better city delivery trucks, but a delivery truck you aren’t going to have a sleeper anyways and some are going to be single axle. The COE’s you still see running OTR are there because they were sold cheap out of the fleets. I drove one for Schneider, down right dangerous. What they saved in initial purchase price they likely lose in drivers wrecking trucks because of their increased instability due to short wheelbase.
Count me as a fan of the COE. Unlike some on here, Ive never driven a semi for a living at any point, however I did do 2 cross country moves in an Isuzu NPR. Memphis, TN to Roseburg, OR then back again. When I lived down in Roseburg, I worked for a furniture store both selling and delivering items…we had an NPR for our delivery unit. I always wanted to drive, although that’s par for the course for me.
I loved the ‘animated’ ride, even after 4 days on the freeway, and day in and day out while working. Kept me alert, and having owned 5 Jeeps Im used to feeling ever pebble under me. The maneuverability and visibility are top notch. I cant imagine having to gage distances over the football field sized hood of a big Peterbilt or other conventional.
Recent Isuzu COE, This one a Giga cab with 530 hp and 18sp R/R there were a couple of automatics on that fleet but they arent much good to drive the transmission brain cannot shift fast enough when steep hills are encountered and Isuzus lack decent torque below 1600 rpm unlike American truck engines you have to keep Jappas spinning they dont lug well. But quite comfortable to drive good stereo aircon drink fridge all standard equipment.
We have a lot of medium-duty COEs here in NYC operating as straight-frame delivery trucks – and about 1800 Mack LCF sanitation trucks.
Nice choice to put the Ford H-Series up front. Clever re-use of the C-Series cab – they even put storage hutches in the unused wheel arches.
Also, Dodge L-1000:
You can still see brand new Freightliner COE trucks on American highways: they are heading from the Cleveland NC assembly down I-77 and I-26 for export overseas. They are usually right hand drive with heavy duty front axles.
I’Ive driven cab over class 8 trucks and they are really no fun compared to conventional tractors. The noise and heat of the engine is right next to the driver, the shift linkages are vauge at best, all the road imperfections shoot straight up from the front axle through the drivers seat, and you have no crumple zone if you are in a collision. American Fleets ditched COE’s because it quickly became impossible to find drivers for them.
Nice article. You see some older and some newer COE Big Rigs in Central New York where there are a number of local and short haul trucking jobs to be done.
I kinda liked this one…..
http://oi54.tinypic.com/aylmqb.jpg
Cabover oddity from Down Under, a Western Star 1000 series, it had the cab of the DAF 95 series.
I’m pretty sure that no one in North America ever saw this Corn Binder cabover.
Another one.
We still have a few of these running around Washington state. Just the other day, I spotted an old burnt orange Kenworth COE hauling two huge trailers of hay bails, making a very slow turn onto the highway, and I had to smile. It definitely stood out from all the sleek, modern long nose trucks. I didn’t really think about it until reading this article, but there are definitely less of them on the road than there were in the 80’s and 90’s. Quite a few are just biding their time out in the field among a posse of retired vehicles. Especially those old Ford H series, and other rigs of the same vintage.
I always liked the look of the COE’s, especially the Freightliners, they seemed so purposeful. I miss seeing them.
I always had a soft spot for the Ford C series. The ubiquity in the early 90s? Earnest simplicity. The ugly mug? I don’t know but I always loved seeing them.
The CC Effect hits agin ! .
Pops is dying and went into Hospice Care Tuesday so we headed up to Washington and saw several old ‘Binder and FreightShaker COE’s from the 1970’s doing Yeoman Duty….
Whew ~ those things are hot , noisy and hard to shift as the linkage is about 12’ long and has multiple floppy joints in it that cannot be purchased new anywhere for any price…
-Nate
The 3 dickheads from top gear have gone I’m so pleased to say. Upper class pricks that in reality did not know sweet FA about cars trucks or motorcycles.
The new show that comes out next year has got new directors producers and car guys that do know about or passion.
Francoe
I sure wish they would bring back the coe trucks i liked driving them i have been driving for over 30years and the crap that truck manufacturers put out now I would not give you a dime for because it’s all junk and i hate to say it the new breed of drivers out on the road are about the same way they could not drive a real truck
Drove a lot of COE’s but all straight trucks, in any city downtown it’s the only way to go, I used to say “I’d rather have the4 feet behind me making money than being in front of me getting in the way. I drove a couple of COE tractors and found the ride not too bad but it depended on what the owners put in them as an air ride seat went a long way to making it comfortable, most guys I knew would walk out of a job before driving them cuz they wanted the 10 4 rubber duck lifestyle. One of the comments about them was “with a COE your first at the accident scene”
Personally I love COE’s from the eighties I’m from the uk and have always had a passion for them since I was a kid growing up out in my dads truck every moment I could,every now and again we would see an American cab over quite a few made it over here
Now in my 40’s and having been a driver since 21 i am lucky to own my own Kenworth K100c aerodyne in th bj and bear paint scheme.i agree with some of the comments on here about driving these trucks,you have to really drive them and you can feel all the road I don’t work mine so never have any weight on the back which I imagine would make a better ride here she is …..
You missed one rare model Dodge .useally straight truck but did make few Tractors but probably used locally not otr. Used the cab from the early 70s 90 half ton van or van pu and Ford made at least one with the original econline cab class 5 or 6 truck
Ladies and gentleman…I give you proof COE is not dead in America…maybe not OTR but used daily… Yes I drive one…no not this one
Any idea what kind of semi COE that is?
International Sightliner.