I guess I have to chime in here. I've owned and driven just about all of them. Bought my first truck in 1961 I've run just all over the US, a lot of Canada, and a little Mexico. My experience includes being an Owner Operator, a company driver, and a fleet owner. I've hauled dry boxes, reefers, flats, tanks, drops, hauling just about everything except live livestock.
Mack had one of the most reliable of them all. Like a Timex watch, took a licking and kept on running. Their 500 HP V8 was one impressive motor! I've no experience with late model Macks.
The old Detroits, the 71 and 92 series were nothing but a joke. Oil leaks and absolutely no torque. the 12v71 could get down the road, but 3 miles per gallon was considered good. They would, however, start in cold weather when nothing else would. This was back in the days when straight 40 weight oil was all there was to be had.
The 60 series Detroits are completely different. Never owned one, drove one for a little while. I liked it well enough. Nothing spectacular, just did the job.
Alice Chalmers had a big power engine available back in the 70's. Wasn't bad, I know one company used them up in Michigan hauling steel on two trailers with more axles then I could count. Engine was painted PURPLE!!!
Cats have always been a good engine. The old 169x series was the first to go a million miles without rebuild. Far too heavy though, no Jake available, and too expensive to repair when things did go wrong. The new Acerts are working out pretty well, we are using them at the company where I now work, hauling coal out of the mine, pulling 132,000 gross on 11 axles, two trailers.
After the first couple of trucks, a Mack and a couple of Detroit powered units, I made the decision to go strictly Cummins. They never set me walking, always got me home. Best trade off between longevity and repair costs. Cummins shops have always, always had the best customer service available, period! The old K series were a thing of beauty, and would out power every thing else on the road. I had a friend with an old Pete, with a K series, outrun my Cadillac across I-80 in PA, and he was over the legal weight!
The company I drive for now is replacing their Cat powered units with ISX Cummins for the coal haul operations. These things will outpull the Cats without trying. We're getting noticeably better mileage too. We've only about 100k miles on them now, but both management and the drivers are happy. The Cats have 18 speed autoshifters in them. Problems with the computers on the trannies, but at 3 to 4 hundred thousand miles on them, no engine problems. The new Cummins powered ones have 10 speed trannies. The wide torque range of the Cummins makes more gears unnecessary. These Cummins will just keep pulling, and I mean pulling, down to 900 rpm! We'll see how long they last.
Well, there's my input. YMMV. Sure brought back some memories though.
Flagship