Fuel for Thought

My New International Truck

It is almost that time. Time to take delivery of my new ride. Yep, my new International truck is about ready to put in service. As you can see from the picture, I chose another blue truck. This new International will be a slightly lighter shade of blue over my current Western Star, but I refuse to have another plain white truck if I can help it. After decades of owning several white trucks, I am just done with that color.

So the chassis has arrived at the body manufacturer. They will be building this box with vertical e-track posts, rather than the usual horizontal bolt-on e-track commonly found in expedite trucks. I am really looking forward to the change. Having vertical e-track posts built in the walls will harken back to my moving van days. They will also be installing the slider liftgate, another welcomed change from my previous two trucks with tuck-under liftgates. 

It has seemed to be a long process from spec’ing the truck to this point, but it really has not taken very long at all. 

Okay, some of you may have noticed the Freightliner Cascadia in the picture and thought I must have lost my senses calling this truck an International. Well, rest assured, I have not. I am very aware of the fact that it is a  Freightliner that I am purchasing. I am also very aware that this chassis was built in Saltillo, Mexico. Furthermore, I am aware that the Mickey body being built for this truck is happening in High Point, NC, USA. Also, the Dhollandia slider liftgate which Mickey Truck Bodies will be installing comes from Europe. Thus, this will be an International truck, yet it will not bear the thirteen letter ****spreader name. 

Aside from the tried and true Freightliner chassis with a dependable Detroit DD13 engine and DT12 Automated manual transmission, this new truck will have many of the same features I currently use, just not from the same companies. I have never owned a Mickey truck body, but I am looking forward to moving away from the Morgan boxes I have owned in the past and currently. Not that they were necessarily bad products, but I believe that a Mickey Truck body will be better quality. Time will tell. Lastly, I have owned two trucks with Waltco liftgates. Both have performed in outstanding fashion. No maintenance issues. No breakdowns. No problems whatsoever. Waltco makes a solid piece of equipment judging by the two tuck-under lift gates that I have owned. This Dhollandia slider liftgate I am having installed will have a larger platform and more features than the Waltco tuck-under. Foot controls and wireless remote, just to name a few. Hands-free or at least untethered to the truck is a big plus when you are the only person loading or unloading freight on a lift gate. It frees up your motion to help stabilize the cargo as it moves up or down. 

I am really looking forward to taking delivery of my new Freightliner/Mickey body/Dhollandia truck that was built with International cooperation.

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better. 

-  Georg C. Lichtenberg

See you down the road,

Greg