Round-up: Brood of kittens hauled Hayward to San Diego, a 1940 COE project out west, and — more proof W9’s a work truck

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Liquid asphalt hauler J.D. Howard’s 1995 KW W9Liquid asphalt hauler J.D. Howard’s 1995 KW W9

Owner-operator J.D. Howard, leased to Ratta Trucking and running liquid asphalt between processors around northern Ohio and into Michigan, sent the above photo the other day my way just in the interest of noting for the record that his most definitely show-worthy 1995 W900L, which has gone through a recent-history custom-restoration, does in fact run the snowy winters around his Great Lakes region.

Need proof he was in the right working class at Mid-America in March? There you go. … (Read more about Howard’s operation in the tanking-related feature in this month’s magazine, and catch a video run through it from Mid-America via the embedded player  below.)

Steel column keeps kittens safe and sound from Hayward to San Diego
What’s the most interesting live, non-human passenger who’s stowed away on your truck? We’ve seen snakes, heard tell of raccoons, those pesky invasive spotted lanternflies we’ve all seen so much information about of late, too.

I’ve heard of stowaway cats and dogs as well, but I don’t think I’ve heard a story quite like the one the Associated Press told last week, from a shelter in San Diego that had taken in five kittens found inside a steel column as it was offloaded at a construction jobsite following a trip from Hayward in the Bay Area, a distance of roughly 400 miles.

Mother, apparently, was nowhere to be found.

Read more about the kits, who will be put up for local adoption in San Diego, via this link to the AP story.

A 1940 — you heard that right — Chevy COE set for owner-op restoration
I doubt he’ll be putting this one to work, unlike his long-running 1999 Kenworth W900L, the rig that’s powered California-based owner-operator Howard Salmon’s independent business from the start many years ago now. Salmon’s got a bit of hobby restoring classic cars, I’ve known for years, and not too terribly long ago he spotted a different sort of classic that he’s since purchased, brought home and set about taking apart.

The picture shows Salmon’s 1940 Chevy COE work truck (Salmon plans to put a car hauler body on it), with the owner-operator’s working W900 in the background.The picture shows Salmon’s 1940 Chevy COE work truck (Salmon plans to put a car hauler body on it), with the owner-operator’s working W900 in the background.

If Salmon’s recent research on the unit is correct, too, judging by the serial number the Janesville, Wis.-made Chevrolet is the last one made for the 1940 model year. He’s since set about taking the unit apart in preparations for full restoration, so stay tuned as he progresses with it.