10-4 Magazine June 2024

70 10-4 Magazine / June 2024 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