He remembers the early days of the industry and the equipment of the time: "The popular expediting truck makes of those days of the early '80's included Fords LN7000's, UD's and a name that's not too familiar today – Magirus."
Have you ever noticed that when expediters get together and reminisce about the good old days of expediting, they never seem to wax nostalgic about the living conditions in the trucks back then?
That’s undoubtedly because, as recently as 20 some years ago, the expediting straight truck was a pretty bare bones affair. The truck was usually a Class 5 through Class 7 model designed for local pick up and delivery and not really intended for interstate travel and certainly not designed for the expediting of today.
There was no purpose-designed or built expediting truck, so even the basic sleepers of the Class 8 trucks of the day was a luxury unavailable to the expediters.
The sleepers on these emergency freight trucks, if any, were not much more than a shelf in the back part of the cab or, if the owner/driver was particularly well-outfitted, he possessed the infamous coffin-type sleeper.
This “box in the back” was a 24″-36″ bunk-mounted crossways in a sleeper box not much larger than the bunk it contained.
The Beginnings
Scott McCahan of FedEx Custom Critical’s Contractor Relations Department, has been with the company, then known as Roberts Express, since June 1982. “It was pretty rare to have a sleeper on a truck in the early ’80’s,” he says, “but you have to remember that Roberts Express only had authority for 20 states back then. The industry has changed so much over the years and has expanded include most of North America.”
“In a lot of cases the “C” units of those days weren’t even 10,000 GVW. Back then, the sleepers were definitely no frills; it was just a place to grab some sleep and get your hours back.”
He continues, “The industry has changed a lot, when drivers go out now, they tend to remain on the road for longer periods of time. Back then, freight wasn’t so widespread and drivers would head back home more often.”
He remembers the early days of the industry and the equipment of the time: “The popular expediting truck makes of those days of the early ’80’s included Fords LN7000’s, UD’s and a name that’s not too familiar today – Magirus.”
The Magirus was a European import in the Class 5-6 range. Bill Blodgett of Roberts Cartage originally had the Magirus and 12 of the Class 6 Ford LN7000’s he had also purchased from Emery Air Freight.
“These were trucks from the early to mid-70’s that made the transition from the Roberts Cartage days to Roberts Express. They were company trucks that were driven by company drivers before Roberts went to an owner-operator fleet.”
(Editor’s note: The Magirus brand was absorbed, along with two other truck makes, into the company known today as Iveco.)
McCahan says, “Dan Schultz of Freightliner of Knoxville was THE guy to see for expediting trucks around the mid-80’s.”
Dan Schultz, now of Summit Trading in Akron, OH, was a sales representative at Freightliner of Knoxville in the early 1980’s and recalls some of the earliest expediting trucks: “Back then, it was a 36″ coffin-type sleeper stuck on the back of Ford Super Duty trucks that were set up with a 12′-16′ box. Star Class sleepers was the primary manufacturer of the coffin type sleepers.”
“Keep in mind that another reason for the small sleepers was to keep the price down – return on investment was a key back then. The next evolution came when the owner-operators made the big move from 36″ to 48″ sleepers.”
Schultz continues, “In the early days, many teams were running with single bunk sleepers. What really contributed to the evolution of the modern sleeper was increased DOT enforcement and putting people out of service because they didn’t have two bunks.”
“The evolution continued as husband/wife teams began running and staying out on the road longer. They began to demand more room and creature comforts.”
The Owner-Operators
Rich Moore of Florida has been an expediting owner-operator since 1987 and he recalls his first two trucks: “We had two consecutive Mercedes-Benz “D” units and both of them had sleepers installed in the front of the cargo box.”
“There was a cut-out from the cab to the box and we took the first five feet of the box and put two bunks and a roof vent in it. A company out of Tampa called All American Sleeper installed a wall at the back that would withstand a 6,000 lb. impact.”
“It was pretty crude, but we definitely had plenty of headroom!” says Moore. “Heating and air conditioning back there was almost non-existent. We had windows on the side but no doors. That bothered me a little bit – how do you get out of the back in the event of an accident or fire? With all that room, you could sit in the top bunk and read and no one could tell you were in the truck.”
“Back in the early days, you saw a lot of Internationals, UD’s and Hino’s – the Japanese cab-overs. You also saw the Ford Super Duty “C” trucks with a 16′ box and a coffin sleeper.”
Veteran expediter George McDonald’s first truck was a UD cab-over-engine and says, “It was tough to get through the crawl through to the bunk. With that cabover, just checking the oil was a chore. You had to have everything in the cab put away or it went flying when you tilted the cab. And, if you had a lot of stuff in the cab, it took two people to raise it up.”
The Evolution
Jon Mosier was a Roberts Express recruiter in the early 1990’s and is currently the Expediting Truck Specialist at Freightliner of Knoxville He remembers that in 1991-1992, the expediting trucks of choice were the UD 2600 and 3300 models. Of course, the ever-present Ford F-450 Super Duty’s with 36″ and 40″ coffin type sleepers were a standard.
“Around 1992, the Freightliner FL 70’s came out and that’s when fellows like Larry Miller of AA Sleepers and Keith Bentz of Bentz Transport Products started designing sleepers that were made specifically for those trucks.”
“Larry Miller had already done a number of 60” units for “hotshot” trucks that were pretty easy to transfer over to the FL series.”
“Around 1996, two changes took place – The first one, was the introduction of the Allison Automatic transmission to expediting straight trucks. We were putting Allisons in trucks back in the early ’90’s, but they’ve really taken off in the last few years. As more couples-type teams enter expediting from professions other than trucking, the automatic has been a major factor in attracting women from outside of trucking to enter the business.”
“The second change was when expediters began to request larger living areas with tables; they weren’t content to sit on the bunk any longer. They wanted tables and chairs – a place to do paperwork. Both Larry Miller and Keith Bentz came up with different versions of that.”
“Larry Miller and Keith Bentz both brought out versions of the tables. This was also the time when Larry Miller brought out his walk-through stand up sleeper. Keith Bentz, president of Bentz Transport Products in Ft. Wayne, IN says of his beginnings in the business: “In the early 90’s, the first evolution was the move to the 72″ sleepers equipped with primarily the basics of heat and air conditioning.”
“Then, towards the end of the 90’s the larger sleepers became the norm up to the 96″ sleeper we have today. The impetus towards the larger sleepers has been driven by the husband/wife teams of expediting who demand more in their sleepers, with more and improved appliances and storage.”
Jon Mosier notes, “Double bunks have been around for some time, but we don’t use them in our 960 Express Cruiser sleeper, which is manufactured by Bentz. So many of our customers are husband/wife teams who prefer the storage room of the cabinets we put in place of the top bunk.”
Mosier says, “In a relatively short period of time, we’ve gone from the $12,000, 72″ double bunk sleeper to a 96”, $26,000-$27,000 sleeper.
Sheel Advani is the General Manager of the Detroit Alumi-Bunk facility.
At the time he joined the Canadian-based company in 1993, the expediting straight truck sleepers were limited to the coffin-type units. President Eric Jain established Alumi-Bunk in 1989, and when Alumi-Bunk entered the US market in the early 90’s, it introduced its 48″ stand-up model.
Advani recalls that Alumi-Bunk sold a number of GMC Top Kicks in the early days equipped with the 48″ standups, along with 20′-24′ boxes. Alumi-Bunk’s President Eric Jain designed the first Aerodyne sleeper which was famous for the two front windows in the unit that resembled two “eyes.” From there, Jain designed a 60″ unit that offered a little bit more comfort.
By the mid-90’s, the Freightliner Business Class series had been introduced and Alumi-Bunk had become a dealer for that very successful line of trucks. The next evolution was the Alumi-Bunk Aerocondo unit in 1998. Another innovation was the design of the company’s one-piece cab roof that was melded into the sleeper.
Advani reflects: “Expediting expanded into all 48 states with longer runs and comfort became very important, so the sleepers started to enlarge. And, as more husband/wife teams entered the business, they wanted more comfort.”
Heath Wood of Middle Georgia Freightliner-Isuzu says, “I became involved with the expedited sleeper market a little bit after the era of the UD’s and Hinos. This was in 1996, and the common sleepers at that time were the 48″ raised roof and the 60″ condo sleeper.”
“During this time, people started requesting a TV cabinet in the 60″ unit, so we started putting in a TV cabinet and adding a three-drawer chest – something to make the drivers more comfortable. As things progressed, drivers began asking for a little bit more room, so we went to a 72″ sleeper and that was the big daddy of them all – everybody wanted one of those.”
“Once we got to the 72″, people looked at it and said, ‘We’ve got a TV in there, how about a microwave?’ So, we added a microwave and inverters.”
“In 1998, Larry Miller of AA Sleepers wanted to build a raised roof cab with a 72″ sleeper. He showed it to us in a meeting and I thought it was a good idea. I dedicated a truck to try it on and see how it turned out. It was ugly as the devil, but the theory was good.”
Wood says that the raised roof 72″ sleeper was a big hit. That acceptance led Miller and AA Sleepers into installing a refrigerator and other accessories.
He remembers, “The first one we had on the yard was that ugly flat-nosed raised roof unit, sitting on a chassis that didn’t even have a cargo box on it. I took three orders off that unit including one man that walked in the door with $9,000 cash in a grocery bag to put a hold on that truck.”
“It turned out that he had a brother with an artificial leg who he wanted to ride with him. The brother couldn’t get into other sleepers and that’s why the raised roof caught their eye.”
“He continues, “We were looking for even more sleeper room, so Larry and I considered the question of how big a sleeper can we use with a 22′ van body box. That was the 96″ unit.”
“When we got that unit together, we didn’t know what to do with all that room, so we put a couch in there. We worked with fleet owner Ed Housworth on what he thought should go in the first ones. A sink was a necessity as was a closet and cabinet space over the couch area. That truck wound up being known between Larry and I as the Housworth Special.”
The Future
With the expediting straight truck sleeper entering it’s third decade of evolution, the 96″ unit seems to have become the standard of the industry. The accessory options typically include one or two bunks, a table, cabinets and a closet(s), sink, refrigerator, microwave, TV/VCR/DVD, inverters and other goodies. As veteran Dan Schultz puts it, “I think that we’ve seen just about everything that we can fit into 8 feet of floor space.”
So, what’s the next evolution for the sleeper?
Jon Mosier:
“Over the last couple of years, the 96” sleeper has become the standard sleeper size for new expediting trucks. As far as the future of sleepers, the only things that hold us back from going to a larger size unit are the size of the cargo box/overall truck length and money.
“I think we’re at a plateau right now with the 96″ sleeper and we continue to make improvements in the interiors. I think there’s a market for the 120″ unit, but you give up cargo space.”
Sheel Advani:
The Alumi-Bunk General Manager sees the next step in sleepers as being equipped with a couch, dishwasher and toilet, all compacted into a 96″ sleeper.
How can we accomplish this? “Maybe an overhang over the nose of the truck with bunks situated in that area. I see possibly an RV conversion type of truck that could range from the 96″ condo up to a 168″ unit. Expediters’ lifestyles are changing and they are demanding more comfort and living space. Many of the people who have purchased trucks from us in the past, now want to move up in sleeper size.”
Keith Bentz:
The next evolution could possibly be coming from the savvy specialized handling expediters who have analyzed their equipment needs and have discovered that they don’t often need a 22′ cargo box. They would like to reduce the size of the box and use that room to increase sleeper size.
The next step? “120” sleeper boxes that contain larger refrigerators, small bathrooms with shower and toilet and more storage.”
Dan Schultz:
“The laws governing overall straight length is going to keep the sleeper size down to 8 feet or 96″. There are some states that permit 42 foot overall truck length, but most states are at the 40 foot mark. I don’t think that you’re going to see straight trucks get much longer than they are. I think that we’ve seen just about everything that we can fit into 8 feet of floor space.”
Heath Wood:
“I’ve had several people ask for an even larger sleeper with a smaller cargo box, but I don’t know if the industry will support that. Some current trends that we’ve been seeing are larger motors with more horsepower and automatic transmissions. They’re all asking for automatics.”
