Eighteen-seven is very heavy even for a three-axle day cab tractor today. This one is a two-axle. His trailer is 40 feet max, compared with 53 today. Now 80000 lbs. gross is standard, while that truck probably never even pulled 50000.
Without power steering trucks today would not be drivable,at least in metro areas. Where I've got to hand it to this guy is running the Appalachians with (almost certainly) a gas engine, hydraulic brakes (with air for the trailer only) and no Jake brake. Go down some of those passes in too high a gear with that rig and you might as well kiss it goodbye.
By the way, trailer dollies, like transmissions, are pretty much all still manual.

Motorhead56 is correct. No power steering, no AC,and a hand- cranked dolly (the landing gear at the front of the trailer when detached from the tractor). My father was a truck driver from 1950-80 and told me of all the luxuries that these rigs lacked. Beautifully designed tractor though!

Searching the Internet I believe this is a 1938 model. That's the closest I can find.

Elzie J Hartley was born in St Augustine, Fla in 1902, he was married to Lillie (nee Skinner)b 1905 on Dec 16th 1919 , they appear to have had 4 Children Edna b 1922, Jaqueline b 1924, Helen b 1926 and Jane b 1932 who died at 6 months old.
In 1940 our Elzie was according to the census the manager of a shrimp trucking firm in Patterson, La
In 1945 the Hartley's were back in St Augustine living at 21 Masters Road where he was a sea food dealer
Elzie died in 1949, Lillie i believe died in 2001.
Was it normal to be married at 14 in Florida?

Go here for some photos and comments about the Diamond T series of vehicles in the 1940s

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/tag/diamond-t/

The wheel cover says a lot. For a truck to be fitted with fancy wheels back then tells of the Diamond Truck Co. or perhaps the trucking company, E.J. Hartley itself.

It looks like there might be a mattress in the window behind the driver. Privacy and darkness seems to be a bit lacking though if it is a sleeper cab. There might be some curtains or screens to cover the windows that are not visible.

was known in its day as the “Cadillac of trucks.” Although the specific model and year of this T remains unknown (as well as the designer), the very handsome features represent well the coming together of design and industry during the 30s. This truck, complete with hood ornament, is very pleasing to the eye. The basic design features remained on successive models through at least the late 40s.

A slight correction to a previous post: the vehicle was air conditioned. Notice the position of the driver’s side windshield.

... refers to the weight of the "container", not the load, or gross weight.

The design elements and overall styling of these 1930's and early 40's OTR trucks are amazing. Notice also the GVW rating uses the French wording "Tare". Louisiana=French!

Not an expert by any means but I would guess no power steering, brakes, air conditioning, maybe a heater? Only real men need apply for these jobs! Maybe some Shorpy prehistoric truck-o-phile can tell us what kind of powerplant and other interesting factoids about this beauty can be shared.

["Tare weight" is a standard expression in the shipping and freight industries, found on trucks, boxcars and postage scales. -Dave]