The cab-over-engine configuration seems a goner. Fewer than 1% of new heavy trucks built today are COEs - a situation few trucking people would have foreseen 20 years ago, when length restrictions made COEs the vehicle of necessity for most buyers. But the same federal law that deregulated the business in late 1980 also forced states to ease length limits on major highways, making room for the conventional.

Most drivers prefer conventionals, so fleets buy them to make drivers happy, and of course owner/operators are free to buy what they want. So the conventional has become king. There's still a market for American-style cabovers in places like Australia. But who's buying the few still sold here? One outfit is ShopKo Stores, Inc., based in Green Bay, Wis. ShopKo operates 160 upscale discount department stores from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Coast, primarily north of Interstate 80. It's a publicly held firm with more than 20,000 employees and 1999 sales of $4 billion; it recently bought 211 stores from two other chains.

To carry merchandise to those markets, ShopKo arranges transportation from outside carriers, but also runs its own fleet of 50 tractors, most of them cabovers, and 500 trailers. This high trailer-to-tractor ratio is explained by ShopKo's use of 28-foot pups for doubles and triples, plus long western doubles, says Herman Miller, fleet equipment manager. A "door for each store" distribution scheme has a trailer sitting at a store while another is being loaded for and/or en route to it. Economics and maneuverability explain why ShopKo runs COEs (see sidebar), and recently bought some Freightliner Argosies. I saw how nimble it could be on a recent run with driver Randy Wolfe. He is assigned to number 160, an 2000 Argosy that went to work in January.

SPECIFICATIONS Tractor 2000 Freightliner Argosy, cab-over-engine tractor with sleeper, 101-inch BBC Engine Detroit Diesel 11.1-liter Series 60, 330/360-hp @ 1,800 rpm, 1,350 lbs-ft. @ 1,200 rpm Transmission Meritor MT10-155A, 10-speed-direct Front Axle 12,000-lb. Meritor FF961 on parabolic leaf springs Rear Axles 40,000-lb. Meritor RT40-145P w/ 3.07 ratio, on Freightliner AirLiner air-ride Wheelbase 151 inches Fuel Capacity Twin 110-gallon

Argosy's nimble in tight quarters

"It was my first new truck," he says after we leave the company 's De Pere facility at 5:45 a.m., bound for Eau Claire, about 200 miles and three-and-a-half hours west via State Highway 29. This is mostly a modern four-lane freeway with light traffic, and a large-car conventional could easily pull our 53-foot-long Great Dane van. Getting to the ShopKo store isn't a problem, either, for it's on a wide boulevard and its loading dock is off a fairly wide street out back.

We're there by 9:40 a.m. Wolfe backs the loaded trailer against a door, checks its tires and lights, then drops it and backs under a second trailer that's waiting. Each time, he shuts off the engine. "Herman wants us to limit idling to save fuel," he says. We're gone by about 10:05.

Now we head downtown to pick up a skid of lighting products that will go to De Pere in the empty trailer. The manufacturer is in an industrial section of Eau Claire, an old city with many narrow streets and tight corners that would be a pain in a long-nose conventional pulling a long trailer, but not with the Argosy. "I always say I'd rather drive a conventional," he says after making a hard left while dodging a traffic island and cars lined up at a red light. "But it is a lot easier getting to some of these places we go with a cabover."

The factory itself is a bit of a challenge because its loading door faces a sidewalk. But across the street is a parking lot, and Wolfe uses an aisle to line up the rig, then backs it to the dock. Getting out, though, requires some fore-and-aft jockeying that the flat-face Argosy does in just a few moves.

Wanting some street experience with this tractor, I ask for the wheel at this point. I was pleased by the Argosy's turning, not just tight but also fast. This is partly a function of the short wheelbase, which is 30 to 50 inches shorter than standard sleeper-cab conventionals.

Wolfe likes driving for ShopKo, even if his days can be long. Most drivers have assigned tractors. Wolfe's former ride was a 1991 Peterbilt 362 cabover, now headed for retirement after 10 years and a million miles. He lived with it long enough to make some comparisons with the new Argosy.

COE offers comfort, good ride

He likes the Argosy's almost-flat floor. The engine cover between the seats is about 10 inches high, and stepping onto it is nothing like crawling over a tall doghouse when heading for the bunk. The Argosy also has a higher ceiling so that Wolfe, who's 5 feet, 10 inches tall, can stand up. The seat doesn't swivel or slide back very far, so he still has to climb out of the seat to get to the bunk.

The bunk is wide and comfortable. Controls and switches for lights and the heater-air conditioning system are conveniently placed on the wall near the bunk's head. There are storage bins above the windshield but none on the sleeper walls; that's OK because his overnight trips are few and he doesn't need much stuff for those. The walls in the cab and sleeper are covered by plain, grey plastic and vinyl. There's enough insulation underneath those panels to keep the cab quiet during cruising, as long as the windows are closed.

The windshield and side windows are very large and mirrors help with visibility. A rather complete array of gauges lines the instrument panel, while large, plastic toggles handle electrical chores. A funky multi-function switch, right out of the Century conventional, runs the windshield wipers, but it doesn't bother Wolfe. "I'm just tickled to have electric wipers," he says, adding that the older Peterbilt had air wipers which can be balky to operate. He isn't bothered, either, by the Argosy's limited leg and foot room because "cabovers don't have much of that."

The Detroit's cruise control can be set with the dash switches or - much easier - with three buttons on the gear shift knob of the Meritor transmission. You set a cruise speed and raise or lower it with two of the buttons, and use another to switch it off. When you do, the Jacobs Engine Brake cuts in to slow the truck. Wolfe downshifts while approaching traffic lights, using the Jake instead of the service brakes; this also keeps the transmission in a proper gear if a light suddenly goes green. An engine brake's noise bothers people and Wolfe says he sees more and more signs prohibiting their use. A Donaldson Silent Partner muffler makes this Jake quieter than it would otherwise be, and Miller says he's spec'ing this new muffler on new trucks and replacing worn-out mufflers with it.

The 10-speed tranny is almost overkill with our light load. Wolfe skip-shifts it in low range; later, with the empty trailer, I do, too. The Argosy's shifter is mounted almost on the dash, but is far enough back to reach and use as a hand rest. It is slightly stiff but not sloppy. It's connected to the transmission by cables, and Wolfe says he prefers the floor-mounted shifters in older COEs. Me, too.

The Detroit 11.1 is happy at low revs and cruises a bit over 1,600 at 65 mph, the legal speed on most main roads in this state. With up to 360 horses in cruise, it's plenty gutsy for what we're carrying and where we're going. Detroit has dropped the 11.1, though, so future ShopKo trucks destined for the flatlands will come with derated 12.7s, Miller says.

There was a glitch: Outside it was a bit chilly as we left De Pere, so I asked Wolfe to turn on the heater. He did, warning me that he probably wouldn't be able to shut it off later. Sure enough, heat built fast and couldn't be quenched except by stopping, opening the front access panel and turning off a hot-water valve. The dealer has parts ordered to fix the problem, which Freightliner says affected some Argosies built before January 2000; the design has been changed to correct the glitch.

The passenger's seat is solidly mounted on the floor but the ride is still very good, even over stretches of bowed and occasionally broken concrete. With air bags over the tractor and trailer tandems and under the cab's rear, it's not at all like sitting on iron, as in the old days of trucking.

On the National air-ride driver's seat, I feel the ride's better still, though not as good as some good-riding conventionals I've driven. On the open road, I can sometimes sense a rapid, very slight jouncing that apparently comes up from the steer axle beneath us. Of course, that was with an empty trailer; I didn't feel it with a loaded trailer.

Even loaded trailers don't weigh much, Wolfe says. The load to Eau Claire, consisting of general store merchandise, weighed only 27,000 pounds, according to the dispatch sheet.

"The heaviest loads we get are newspapers, and they get in the 40s, with a full load being about 44,000," he says. These are advertising sections printed in Fond du Lac. ShopKo drivers pick these up and deliver them to newspapers, which insert them in designated editions. Getting into newspaper plants in old downtown locales involves a lot of difficult maneuvering, Wolfe says, and the cabover helps even more.

COE helps meet length laws

For city streets and non-main highways, Wisconsin has a length limit of 65 feet, about what this rig measures. A sleeper-cab conventional pulling a 53-footer might be too long. Such laws are seldom enforced now, but Miller thinks they will be if the economy seriously slows and municipalities get strapped for cash. ShopKo will then look pretty smart with its trim COEs. What about collision protection? This cab meets European crashworthiness standards and can take a beating, say Freightliner engineers. Still, says Wolfe, "I'm concerned most about a head-on in the left-front corner. There's not much to stop anything between the bumper and the wheel."

Miller, who hired on in 1972 as ShopKo's first driver, says he once had that kind of head-on collision with a car that came over into his lane. "The result was that the damage was all below my feet and the floor of the cab," Miller recalls.

"This happened in a 35-mph speed zone and we met at about four feet off center to the left. It drove the steer axle back into the fuel tank. From what I have seen in looking at wrecks, you need to worry [more] about the engine coming back into the operator's compartment" of conventionals, Miller says. At a rest stop about an hour west of Green Bay, where I give the wheel back to him, Wolfe grins as he sums up his feelings about the Argosy: "If you have to drive a cabover, it's not so bad." He's probably speaking for a big majority of American truckers, if they had a chance to drive this tractor. Speaking for a shrinking minority of drivers who like COEs, I'd say the Argosy is really pretty nice, especially in those tight turns.

Room to Move

ShopKo Stores Inc. runs 50 tractors out of four distribution centers, including the main one in De Pere, Wis., near Green Bay, and a western hub in Boise, Idaho. Boise is the main reason Herman Miller, fleet equipment manager, buys COEs. They can pull long western doubles and triples and still meet overall length restrictions, usually 105 feet.

Miller saves about $2,000 a piece by ordering at least six units, as he did last year with Freightliner's Argosy. He assigned a couple to Boise. These have 370/430-horsepower, 12.7-liter Detroit Series 60 diesels to pull the long, heavy combinations in the mountains. Four Argosies with the 11.1-liter 330/360-hp Cruise Power engine came to De Pere. He adds that sleeper-cab COEs also cost less and weigh a bit less than sleeper-equipped conventionals.

Maneuverability is a big argument for the COE, Miller continues, "and I for one think that the cabover's shorter length gives us an advantage when turning corners in traffic and other situations."

ShopKo didn't buy Argosy's swing-out stairways, but ladder steps seem safe, although handles are wide-spread. Noseless cab and short wheelbase aid maneuverability in tight spots.

It's a good job

Randy Wolfe would rather drive a conventional but appreciates the comfort and nimbleness of his assigned 2000 Argosy. At 34, he has 15 years with ShopKo Stores, first as a trailer loader and then several years as a trailer spotter (with a yard goat) and washer before going on the road.

ShopKo offers paid vacations, health insurance and a retirement account. He makes 38 cents a mile while pulling single semis and 39 for doubles, plus loading pay. He's home most nights and weekends with his wife and two young daughters in Seymour, west of Green Bay. He could go elsewhere and drive a conventional, but this is too good a job. "I hope to retire from here," he says.