Old truckers never die. They just get a new Peterbilt.

Took some skill using those small rearview mirrors .

If this driver exceeds the federally-mandated Victory Speed Limit of 35 mph, all those little flags will fall off in the wind.

As to the ticket system, California used it to enforce a 15 mph speed limit on the
Ridge Route beginning in 1915. In that case, it wasn't simply a revenue collection scheme. The combination of steep grades, hairpin turns, and mechanical brakes caused a persistently high death toll. Skip to 11:50 in this video to see what the original road was like. The older concrete pavement zigzags back and forth across the later asphalt which was laid down in the mid 1920s as a stopgap, until the road was bypassed in 1933 by the more modern US 99, which today is largely overlaid by I-5.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike toll booths are still there, but instead of a toll-taker there's a sign directing you to KEEP MOVING. If you don't have an E-ZPass, your license plate is snapped, and some weeks later you get a toll bill in the mail.

Apparently Doug wasn't the only one to fall for this story. (For those who don't want to brave the acres of small print: you can't ticket a car.)

My own experience paying a toll on the 'pike wasn't so costly, but didn't entirely lack drama: a Bay Area boy, I was no stranger to the toll concept; still, I found myself thoroughly flummoxed when confronted with a sign "Exact change only" Did I have enough ? What would happen if I didn't ?? (an auto-centric version of M.T.A. flashed thru my head) Luckily, after what seemed like hours retrieving odd coins from my person and trying to pitch them into the collecting scoop, I found out I did. Only later did I realize I had entered one of the automated lanes...manned booths were available for those who didn't want to risk the answer ending up "no".

The Inter-State Common Motor Carrier system had a virtual monopoly on trucking at the time. The size of the company is evident in this well-equipped 1940/41 Semi tractor with a fine hand painted company livery, a Proctor-Keefe sleeper cab, enough air horns to wake the dead, a spotlight, and Guide Direct turn signal lights mounted on the fenders. These turn signal lights had an amber arrow that lighted up when on.

Before today's tissue paper trailers took over -- aluminum skins and fiberglass roofs -- Fruehauf trailers ruled the road. In the sixties, my short haul trucker neighbor occasionally brought the 18-wheeler home for lunch -- quite a sight on our little street -- and the Fruehauf name was burned into my brain. I believe Mr. Fruehauf called his inventions "semi-trailers" when introduced.

I can't find a 1970s or 1980s news story to support what I remember (or think I remember). There was an experimental time when you were given a timed receipt upon entering the Pennsylvania Turnpike. When you exited and handed the toll booth operator your receipt, they would let you know the amount of your toll and, if you had been speeding, the amount of your speeding ticket. It was simple math -- if it took you X-time to get from A to B, you either didn't deserve a speeding ticket, or you did. There was considerable public outrage, and, to this day, I don't know of any toll road that issues speeding tickets based on this legitimate math calculation.