Trucking 1950's Australia

The two Commers that Benedict’s had were both single axle trailers, and the 1418 was a 28’ bogie toa trailer, but the Mercedes still won out for comfort and power IMO.

Well you had a real life comparison compared to my "afterlife" limited experience with restored vintage trucks so the weight of argument must be with you. I never drove a 1418 with a load but then again I can't remember them flying past me like a 760 Dodge or those crazy people drifting their grey boxes around corners.

The 1950's were a bit before my time. What were the big bangers on interstate back then?

Lang, comparing the quick Dodges and the ghosts, to a 1418 was like comparing chalk and cheese, except the 1418 was more comfortable and quieter than the ghosts.

I recall my old man worked for Collier Garland ,who bought fleets of petrol 190 Inters,Ford Sputniks ,and Commer Knockers on interstate......and seems they used to crash ,burn or blow up one truck a day......maybe not that many.......but the big bangers of the early 50s were Leyland 600s,AEC Mandators,and Fodens ....all very slow trucks

Standen wrote:

The 1950's were a bit before my time. What were the big bangers on interstate back then?

Bit before my time too, but I'd hazard a guess at Clydesdale, Shire and bullocks.

B Model Macks and 190 Inters stick in my mind as an upgrade on the big British trucks of the period. I also remember those Ansett VW Beetle Deutz pulling "big" loads.

Overnite when did the Yellow, Purple and Grey overnight periods happen or did they overlap?

Back in the 50's with this AEC you would be king of the road, not because of the 9.6 or 11 litre diesel but because it had full air brakes. It and the two others in the batch were delivered 1951 and fitted with a 28' tray and a wooden cab with a sleeper bench. They were put on Newcastle - Brisbane. After a while the 30 mph top speed that came with the 5 speed box was deemed too slow and newer models with overdrive were put on the job. For two of them it was no retirement as they were taken into the workshop, chassis shortened and converted to tippers with a steel cab. They were then working coke to Muswellbrook and return to Newcastle with foundry sand. They were on full rego until 1980 from which time they worked on the BHP site reclamation for another ten years. So two are now on club rego.
The upshot is that the big Leylands and AEC's made the track s for the Macks to follow. The Albion in the background is of the same era and would have done the lighter end of the work. Read Ray Gillilands book The Nullabor Kid to read about the hard yards they did back in the day.

I was always impressed with Gardners that idled about 50rpms ,and used to shake the trucks to pieces ......they would almost stall ,then give a kick and speed up a bit ,then the same again.......dunno how drivers could put up with it.