CRAZY FOR CABOVERS
By Poet/Artist/Truck Driver Trevor Hardwick
If you haven’t guessed it by now or if you’re a new reader of this magazine, I will proudly admit to you that I am a huge fan of older trucks – especially cabovers. This poem is actually the lyrics to a song I wrote that pokes fun at one of my all-time favorite rigs. I own two cabover Freightliners – a 1951 “Bubblenose” with a 220 Cummins (which is for sale) and a 1981 with a 300-inch wheelbase which I am currently tricking-out. I just love these old trucks! I put a lot of miles in the shotgun seat of old cabovers when I was a kid. Even now, as I approach the passenger side of my ‘81, I can almost feel my dad’s hands grip my rib-cage as he swiftly hoists me into my “assigned” seat. I miss those days. I marvel at the thought of all those years he drove an old spring-ride, non-power steering cabover across the country. Now, he says boldly that his cabover days are over. I’d like to thank Brandon Smith of Raleigh, NC for sending me the pictures of his beautiful 1978 Freightliner that you see here. If you have any pictures of neat old trucks you’d like to share (especially cabovers), I’d love to see them and hear the stories behind them. My e-mail address is truckintrev124@yahoo.com. I hope you enjoy the poem.
CABOVER-FREIGHTLINER CHICKEN
TRUCKIN’ SPRING-RIDE BLUES
By Trevor Hardwick
You can call me crazy, you can call me old fashioned too,
I’ve driven cabover trucks since the winter of ’72.
I think a lotta big trucks look good,
I just kinda like ‘em better when they got no hood.
I’ve got the cabover-Freightliner chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!
I ain’t had a new truck since the summer of ’76,
I ordered this one new, with a Cummins and a set of sticks.
I guess I shoulda paid the extra dime,
To put the air-ride in and save my poor old spine.
From the cabover-Freightliner chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!
Well, it isn’t quite as long as a double-bunk big ol’ Pete,
And it surely ain’t as tall as a K-100 V.I.T.
But I’m satisfied with her size,
And she sparkles like a glitter-knob in my eyes.
I got the cabover-Freightliner chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!
I drag a 45-96 Timpte with a Thermo King,
Haulin’ chicken, fish and produce – just about anything.
I burn a lotta extra fuel, you see,
But there’s more to life, to me, than M.P.G.
And the cabover-Freightliner chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!
Son, you ain’t missin’ much if you never know how it feels,
To handle center-point steering on a set of widowmaker wheels.
Well, now, I can think of lots of things,
That are better than ridin’ on Reyco springs.
And these cabover-Freightliner chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!
I’ve got a solid wall of semi, that I push into a westbound wind,
Got ceramic coated pistons and a button in the pump, my friend.
Well, it might be known for shakin’ freight,
But I lay the hammer down – I can’t be late.
I got the cabover-Freightliner chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!
Yeah, the cabover-Freightliner, faster than a SuperLiner,
Arkansas to Carolina, chicken truckin’ spring-ride blues!