Every year, owners of vintage trucks gather at shows around the country to share their love and interest of classic trucks. From the American Truck Historical Society (ATHS) National Convention, scheduled for June 6-8, 2024, in York, PA, to the Antique Truck Club of America (ATCA) National Show, scheduled for June 14-15, 2024, in Macungie, PA, these shows are some of the best gatherings to see the trucks that have moved America throughout the decades. Names like Mack, Kenworth, Peterbilt, International and Freightliner are common at these shows, along with defunct names like Marmon, White, Diamond T/REO and others.
But for one group of enthusiasts and an entire town in upstate New York, their show is dedicated to one marquee and preserving a nameplate with a proud history. With the 24th edition of the Brockway Trucks Preservation Association (BTPA) Annual National Brockway Truck Show, scheduled for August 8-11, 2024, this year in Cortland, NY, a neighboring town of Homer, we wanted to share a quick history lesson about Brockway Trucks with our 10-4 Magazine fans and readers.
Famously known as Huskietown, USA, Cortland, NY is the hometown and former headquarters of the now defunct Brockway Motor Trucks company. Founded by William Brockway of Homer, NY, William was a well-respected businessman and cabinet maker. He purchased a local carriage making business in Homer with the intent of using their tooling and machinery and began building wagons and carriages in 1875 as the Brockway Carriage Works. William’s son, George A. Brockway, took over the business upon his father’s death in 1889, becoming one of the largest carriage makers in the country.
In 1909, George began producing trucks with chassis provided to his company by the Syracuse, NY based Chase Motor Company. In 1912, George Brockway and his brother-in-law and business partner Fred R. Thompson leased a facility located in Cortland that was formerly occupied by the Ellis Omnibus and Cab Company. The Brockway Carriage Works was then reorganized as Brockway Motor Trucks, and for nearly 70 years, the company produced high quality, custom built trucks until production ended in 1977.
As a small producer of trucks, and with a small market share, primarily contained within the Northeast United States, Brockway provided and built trucks for municipalities and loyal operators in that area. Brockway Trucks were popular with these operators as the basic designs did not change much, allowing customers to keep a parts inventory on their shelves that would work on many model years.
While Brockway had produced trucks for the United States effort during World War I and World War II, entering into the early 1950s, Brockway sales were struggling, so the company began looking for a suitor. Many companies were interested, including the H&B American Machine Co., Continental, who provided engines to Brockway, as well as the White Motor Company, who had purchased Sterling in 1951 and Autocar in 1953. But in 1956, the Brockway board of directors finally found their partner, as Mack Trucks, Inc., of Allentown, PA acquired Brockway, bringing together the two oldest truck manufacturers in the country.
Mack and Brockway were worlds apart, though, when Mack acquired the company on October 1, 1956. Mack had an extensive dealer network, an extensive line of products, and modern assembly plants compared to Brockway, which was still hand producing trucks, one at a time, assembling the trucks in a production bay and not on an assembly line as most had adopted by that point in time. After Mack acquired Brockway, they began offering more powerful and popular diesel engines from Cummins, Detroit Diesel and later on, Caterpillar. While Mack components were not used in the making of Brockway Trucks, Brockway did, however, begin offering a cabover model in 1963, known as the 400 Series, which shared its basic design and looks with the Mack F-Model cabover truck.
Brockway was interested in having its own logo and many ideas were brought forward and rejected, including using a bull as their mascot. Because Mack had its iconic Bulldog mascot, it was suggested by a very young Jim Duncan, the son of Brockway employee Bill Duncan, that Brockway should have a dog mascot of their own. Impressed by the Alaskan Malamute after watching the popular television show “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon,” the idea was suggested to the Brockway Trucks management team, which agreed, and in 1957, the “Huskie” appeared as the new mascot of Brockway, with the first Huskie Dog hood ornament appearing on the model N260TL in 1958.
Mack’s takeover of Brockway was complete in 1959, and James “Jack” Cambria, who had been Vice-President of Mack, became Vice-President and General Manager of the Brockway division. Around that time, Cambria announced an entire new line of Brockway models, which was the first complete redesign of the Brockway truck since 1935. The new line of “Huskies” was bold, and the design, which featured a squared off look with angular styled fenders, gave the new line of conventional Brockway trucks a modern, rugged look. This basic style and design would last through the 1970s, up until when Brockway was closed.
In 1965, Brockway introduced the iconic and popular 300 Series lineup of trucks. The 300 Series offered a wide range of bumper-to-back-of-cab dimensions, with the shortest being 90 inches and the largest being 117 inches, allowing for a variety of power plants. These trucks utilized fenders that swung out, and their butterfly hoods provided easy access to the engine. Also introduced on the 300 Series was the iconic fiberglass grill insert, which made a Brockway easily identifiable and distinguished it from other trucks.
Huskidrive was introduced in 1968. Huskidrive was comprised of a 6-cylinder Cummins NH diesel engine rated at 248-hp, with a 5-speed transmission and 2-speed rear-ends. A Brockway truck equipped with Huskidrive can easily be identified by dual Huskie dogs mounted atop its grill. As Brockway marched its way toward becoming a bigger and better truck builder under Mack’s ownership, more people within the trucking industry began to take this once small company seriously, and in May 1968, Overdrive Magazine featured a Brockway on its cover and declared it the “Most Rugged Truck in the World!”
The Huskiteer 500 Series debuted in 1971. Sporting a low profile cab forward design, the Huskiteer was ideal for refuse use in tight areas such as inner-city streets. Engine choices were either Cummins or Detroit Diesel, with 185-hp to 270-hp available. The model was available until Brockway’s demise in 1977.
In 1974, Brockway introduced its all-new 700 Series. The 700 Series was available with a traditional butterfly hood, but later on a fiberglass tilt hood became an option. The 700 Series also utilized the basic design of the iconic Mack R-Series cab made by the Sheller-Globe company. Sharing a similar visual appearance, the Sheller-Globe cabs produced for the Brockway 700 Series were specific to Brockway and had engineering differences compared to the cabs built for the Mack R-Series trucks. While the new 700 Series models were a big improvement over the 300 Series line of Brockway Trucks, the timing of this model’s release was bad, as high operating costs and interest rates at the time were keeping fleets and owners from purchasing new equipment.
In 1975, Brockway received an order for 22.6 million dollars from Iran for 575 Brockway Trucks to be delivered over the following four years. Distributorships were set up in Iran and other countries, as Brockway began to see an export business emerge for their trucks in those commercial markets. As of 1975, Brockway had 91 dealerships across the United States, as well as nine factory branches, and were producing 25 trucks a day at the Cortland, NY assembly plant.
While the economy was in a slump at that time, Brockway was doing well, but everything was about to rapidly change. A combination of its parent company, Mack Trucks, which was struggling financially, as well as the introduction of the USDOT Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) regulation number: 121, was to cause problems for Brockway. The FMVSS 121 regulation mandated that all heavy-duty trucks manufactured after March 1, 1975, must include anti-lock air brake systems that met certain minimum performance, equipment, and dynamometer test requirements to ensure safe braking performance under normal and emergency driving conditions.
FMVSS 121 was not just a problem for Brockway, but a problem for every manufacturer in the industry. The lack of technology was the main problem and customers were unwilling to pay for the high cost of unproven systems to meet this requirement. Like other manufacturers struggling to meet the FMVSS 121 statute, in July 1976, Brockway introduced a glider kit, which only consisted of a frame, cab, hood, front fenders, radiator, and front axle. This allowed Brockway to get around this statute and produce trucks for its customers as the FMVSS 121 statute only applied to complete trucks rolling out of the factory.
The implementation of FMVSS 121 caused the sales of heavy trucks to drop dramatically, so the manufacturers took the USDOT to court. The industry group won the case and the anti-lock requirements of FMVSS 121 were repealed in 1978, but it was too late for Brockway.
With the Cortland UAW Local 68 labor contract slated to end in 1976, Brockway’s parent, Mack Trucks, had been in negotiations with the local union that summer. But a wildcat strike erupted at the Cortland plant in early January 1977 and UAW Local 68 Brockway employees walked out after lunch. In the summer of 1976, Mack Trucks and the Cortland UAW 68 had been in labor talks with the union contract ending at the end of the 1976 year. Also, the union rejected an extension of their current labor contract which had expired in October of 1976. While the union employees did go back to work, they returned to the picket lines on February 8, 1977, and on March 30, Mack announced it was going to close Brockway.
While Mack was going to liquidate Brockway, a New York Attorney and businessman, Steven J. Romer, stepped forward and approached Mack with an intent to buy Brockway. While Romer intended to restart Brockway production on June 1 that year, the union members rejected his labor contract offer and the sale of Brockway was called off, thus Mack ended up liquidating the Brockway division that summer. The last remaining Brockways that were on the Cortland production plant floor were shipped to the Elmira, NY Brockway factory dealership branch for completion and final assembly.
An order for 45 Brockway tractors for Miami’s Inter-American Transport Company was awaiting completion when the Brockway facility was closed down. Destined for use in hauling cane sugar in Iran, Inter-American requested that Mack/Brockway ship all the parts required to their Miami warehouse where a crew of Brockway managers and supervisors assembled the trucks over the course of several months. Sadly, the very last Brockway, a U762TL equipped with a Detroit Diesel 12V71 12-cylinder engine, a 15-speed Roadranger transmission, and 55,000-lb rear axles, was completed on June 8, 1977, 102 years after the very first Brockway made its way onto the streets of Homer, NY.
While Brockway may be gone, the Brockway name lives on, and a group of faithful owners and enthusiasts won’t let this dog die! Founded in 2000, the Brockway Trucks Preservation Association (BTPA) is dedicated to preserving the history of the Brockway Motor Trucks company. In addition, the BTPA has a museum, which is part of the Central New York Living History Center located in Homer, NY. But once a year, the Huskies converge on Huskietown, USA, otherwise known as Cortland, NY, to celebrate the company that made this city famous! To learn more about Brockway, the BTPA and their annual truck show, visit the Brockway Trucks Preservation Association at www.brockwaytrucks.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE: All the photos were provided by Duncan Putman and Mark Harter, and the vintage black and white images were provided by Mr. Doug Maney of the Mack Trucks Historical Museum.
1 Comment
Great historical article on Brockway trucks.