The article linked mentions some of the mechanicals being quite old, a fact confirmed to me many years ago by a SoCal railfan I knew. Skip worked for AT&T, and volunteered as a float driver. He told me many of the floats began life as an OLD cut - down motor home chassis, often used year after year with different topside decor & decoration. Little provision was made for the driver, and outward visibility was severely limited in many of them ( basically a gun-slit ). They often over - heated the motors and transmissions from the low speeds and limited or no radiator air openings. Worse yet, he mentioned how poor the brakes were, with several collisions and many near misses.
I wonder if the Peterbilt tow truck has PTC ???