after watching ice road truckers i started to wonder if our tractor units could perform the same or even out do the big rigs, apart from the cab space is there a reason why our tractor units differ so much, for a start there gear boxes must be like stirring porridge, i drive a scanny auto and hated it at first but auto box is the way forward muchmore relaxing,
i understand usa truckers travel many miles but maybe a scanny longline could compete has any1 worked usa and if so which do u prefer and why?
If they were double drive and manual gear box, they would be fine on the ice road and any euro unit would be ok on normal roads over there. You’d have to change the gearing as they aren’t limited over there. It’s just what they are used to, big square boxes with backward tech that have ben hit with an ugly stick. 
Beauty being in the eye of the beholder, I’m of a different opinion to Silver Surfer. I’ve always loved the American Big Rig, so much so that a while back I bought one, a 1977 Peterbilt 352 cabover 6x4, ■■■■■■■ 400, Fuller 13 speed, Rockwell axles, complete with all the toys. What I fgound was that far from being backward, the technology in that truck far exceeded any you would find in a British/European vehicle of a comparitive age and type. The rear suspension was an air ride system which although primitive to todays standards was better than the steel used on the majority of trucks over here, also, the engine size was massive compared to a similar unit here. The cab was very comfortable, with air seats, air operated windows (they were either open or closed, no finesse involved, but over here we only had winding handles), the cab heater was zoned so that the sleeper could be a different tempreture to the driving area, the mirrors were heated but to be honest inadiquate (well, for a driver of todays machinery at least) the fifth wheel was an air slider and it had power steering. Most if not all of these refinements were standard on the Pete, but I think you’d be hard pushed to find any of them even on an optios list in the UK at the time.
Would I say that the Pete was a good truck…No, not really. There were massive problems, at least for using it in the UK. The ride quality, even with the air suspension on the rear was appauling, mostly due to the front axle being positioned right at the front of the truck, meaning that it sat on the front quarter of the leaf spring rather than in the middle, making the spring almost useless. I took it to Haydock Truckfest in 2006 (got 3rd place 
but the journey almost paralized me for life. The visability was not good, the windows were small and the mirrors were rubbish, the turning circle was awful, where I could turn my Merc/Volvo/ERF/Magnum in one, would take the Pete 3 shunts and the tyres or should I say Tires were 24" which are not available in the UK or Europe (Beleive me! I tried!) . On the positive side, all the mechanicals were a doddle. Easy to get to, simple and repairable and this is, I beleive is the American trucks best feature (apart from the drop dead gorgeous looks).
The real problem with American trucks comes when you realise that they haven’t really moved on, but I guess it’s a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I would never say that the American rig is better than saty a Scania, but they seem very happy with them, and for an owner operator, the more simple a machine is the better.
Are Yank/Ozzie rigs better maybe not as comfortable a ride as a Euro spec vehicle but Volvo,MB and Daf involved with US companies have been improving ride quality according to a US Volvo owner I have spoken with simply by repositioning the front axle.But what we should consider is hours…a week is 168 hours which,average,you can drive 45 leaving 123 to relax/work maybe in your cab if you are away for 7 days.I think I would rather spend that time relaxing in something like a Kenworth T2000 than anything Europe produces unless it was the famed Longline.Think 40 years,driver accomodation has improved by about 3 feet,I think we deserve better.
Armagedon:
Are Yank/Ozzie rigs better maybe not as comfortable a ride as a Euro spec vehicle but Volvo,MB and Daf involved with US companies have been improving ride quality according to a US Volvo owner I have spoken with simply by repositioning the front axle.But what we should consider is hours…a week is 168 hours which,average,you can drive 45 leaving 123 to relax/work maybe in your cab if you are away for 7 days.I think I would rather spend that time relaxing in something like a Kenworth T2000 than anything Europe produces unless it was the famed Longline.Think 40 years,driver accomodation has improved by about 3 feet,I think we deserve better.
i drive a scanny and its a good motor but as u say accomodation is important if your tramping , mine has twin cab but in my opinion cab is too small compared to the daf xf or the new man there cabs have plenty of room and cubby holes i think its about time things like microwaves,fridges should come as standard in all units saves us getting ripped off at services they could throw in a lcd tv as well to save us hassle of drilling holes 
Tramper, re 24" wheels and tyres.
DAF coach chassis of the mid to late 90s came on 24" rims, something to do with their first generation brake discs, and up to a couple of years ago when the operator I knew who ran some of these got rid of his last ones, Goodyear could still supply tyres for them, nobody else, just Goodyear.
nianiamh who uses this forum emigrated to canada last yr.started on a kw,reckoned the ride quality ,draughts,handling was bad beyond belief!got himself a long nosed auto volvo which was as good as euro trucks over here,but due to general length,a bit much for britain.hes just bagged himself a peterbilt,all the bells n whistles,lovely interior,really nice drive…but…the noise from the twin stacks and twin turbo 500bhp engine will have him deaf by the end of the week,and vision over the bonnet is shocking."like lookin over a snooker table thru a letterbox"were his words,plus with it ONLY doing 70mph…its a tad unnerving! 
How many hours a day can they drive over there or is it a case of do what you want as long as you don’t crash? Some of the newer, more “streamlined” American Volvo’s look OK and the Harley lone star, I just can’t stand the “square” at the front ones. Imagine a Scanny longline, T cab, now that would do the job, how long would that be, about the size of a football pitch.
acd1202:
Tramper, re 24" wheels and tyres.DAF coach chassis of the mid to late 90s came on 24" rims, something to do with their first generation brake discs, and up to a couple of years ago when the operator I knew who ran some of these got rid of his last ones, Goodyear could still supply tyres for them, nobody else, just Goodyear.
Yes your quite correct, I’ve looked at those, the problem is that although they are 24" Diameter, the width/height is wrong. The truck tyres are 295/80/24 but the Bus tyres are 315/70/24. That doesn’t sound like much osf adiffence does it, but it causes problems both with clearance when full lock is put on, and with Construction and Use regs. I thank you for the info, but I’m pretty sure I have exhausted every avenue. The way I got around it was 2 fold. The first was to get TTS to retread the tyres before they got too bad (this was not my favoured way as I don’t like retreads, especially on the front!) the 2nd way was to import new tyres, through North Hants Tyres (in Andover as I remember).
Tramper:
The real problem with American trucks comes when you realise that they haven’t really moved on, but I guess it’s a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I would never say that the American rig is better than saty a Scania, but they seem very happy with them, and for an owner operator, the more simple a machine is the better.
I’d agree with that from my brief experience with a Frieghtliner made in 2001, (I do gather that frieghtliner are a bit of a gaffers motor and this was a cab over Argosy, so might not have been a fair representation) I can see the attraction of the living accomodation, but we are limited by legislation. As you said Tramper Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I don’t like the “conventional” narrow cab design, maybe it has something to do with you influences that got you into truck driving and for me it was more Destination Doha than Convoy.
Some of the newer streamlined designs are more to my liking, but the cab egonomics still seem a bit dated compared to what I’m used to, but the same could be said about American cars. The Amercians do seem a traditional bunch really and like to stick with what they know, no
problem with that it just not my tradition.
Between two volvos i know which id have
The white one in background of first pic 
I know which one I’d have (the blue and white Pete in the foreground!)
Why has the right hand side of the picture been cut off? any ideas what I’m doing wrong?
Tramper:
Why has the right hand side of the picture been cut off? any ideas what I’m doing wrong?
pictures too big i think
Thanks…fixed!
phantom309:
Company I’ve worked for has this kind of Volvo (VNL 780) and when comparing some of its technologies to similar aged (somewhere between 2003 and 2007, I don’t remember) euro-FH, the latter wins hands down.
This VNL has air suspension on all axles, the front axle has fixed riding height with no manual adjustment and on back you can choose from two heights. Those two options are riding height and all air dumped from the airbags… Fancy swapping trailers left at wrong height when uncoupled?
Another woe is how the gearbox on this lorry works. It has Füller gear robot, which basically works quite like Opticruise meaning you have to use the clutch. What even an old Opticruise can do, but this one cant is hopping over gears by itself, not even when running empty. It goes through every single gear it has, unless you drive it on manual. There also isn’t any gear stick, just various “touch-gently-to-press” switches, with no feedback if pressing was registered, representing directions where you could push the stick, but I guess you’ll get accustomed to that. Those switches are quite much like you’d found from an ATM. Gear changes also weren’t very smooth, but that might very well get better after you’re more familiar with the gearbox. Still I’ve never had such a clumsy gear changes with any Euro version of robot gearbox. With all of them I’ve could just put to D and drive away without any that kind of symptoms this Füller robot gave.
VNL was also quite loud, but it’s difficult to say if that’s common feature or just a case with this particular unit (it has 14 litre ■■■■■■■■ 445 horses if I recall correctly).
Based on my limited experience with that lorry, I wasn’t that impressed about these wonderful engineering masterpieces, but I think I could cope with the gearbox if that works any better while on manual. What I was very impressed of was the interior space. That thing was huge 
For the original question, I don’t see why our lorries couldn’t perform the same tasks as you see in Ice road truckers. I haven’t watched it that much, but I think some of the lorries on there didn’t even have air dryer, or at least the show was cut to look like like it. What’s the last time you’ve driven a lorry without one? Also, lorries in Europe do face conditions which are quite near of conditions on Ice road truckers, like those near or below -40 C temperatures you find for example in northern Finland every year, and they do manage quite well. Of course they are more prone to broke down, like brakes and valves freezing and hydraulic pipes exploding, but that has nothing to do with the origin of the lorry.
It is funny, I think the Finns, Swedes and so on are spoiled rotten compared to the Canadians and Yanks in Arctic conditions with our Scanias, Mercs and Volvos. Some of the antiquated looking equipment they take up them ice roads beggars belief, I might have a stab at it in an all singing and dancing new European motor with a new trailer but not with what they give them chaps to drive, “■■■■■■■■” springs to mind.
Sorry, but not a chance. The trucks that go up north go back year after year and the punishment they take is brutal. Imagine dropping off a 3’ beaverdam in an FH or any other Euro truck. You need the extra wheelbase up there, and the trucks need to be durable. The beauty of Petes and KWs is that they are largely bolt together so if it breaks they can be fixed easily enough. Also, many parts are interchangeable so you can shop around for parts. Oh, and they do have airdryers.
And the ride quality is much better on later models. Even though they still have the axles set forward, they have changed the springing and have put air susp on the sleepers. The trucks here have all the toys, and they are well up to the work. I wouldn’t want to go Euro again. The vehicles take some getting used to, but once you are used to them they are better all round.
From my limited experience i have gained since being here in Canada, I have to agree with bobthedog. We run freightliners at fedex, and they are actually quite comfortable to drive, even when they are all fleet spec. Our newest truck (F/l Cascadia 2010 model) has loads of extra goodies, like Forwad Looking radar, and lane warnings (basically makes rumble strip sound if you wander close to the white lines). The Radar will slow down your cruise control if you are approaching something slower infront (over-ridable).
I dont think i could drive a euro truck anymore, after having driven american trucks.
bobthedog:
Sorry, but not a chance. The trucks that go up north go back year after year and the punishment they take is brutal. – You need the extra wheelbase up there, and the trucks need to be durable. – Oh, and they do have airdryers.
Well, the case with the airdryers was then like I suspected, it was made to look like they wouldn’t have those in the Ice road truckers. When I looked it I was like “that can’t be true what I think they are stating”. About the wheelbase, you can spec Euro truck to have similar wheelbase as yours. You can also spec higher chassis so even the ground clearance shouldn’t be problem.
About the punishment, I’d think lorries down under get fair share of punishment when pulling heavy weights on unpaved roads and I’d say 1 million km driven 60 ton GVW logger has also got fair share of punishment in the forest. On both of these cases Euro truck is durable when it’s specced to withstand the job it’s doing. Any US lorry might very well withstand that punishment out of factory, but in Europe you cant take granted that two similar looking lorries can take same punishment. When you compare for example tractor unit in German plates and tractor unit in Finnish plate, the latter is likely having 1 mm stronger U-beams in the chassis. That extra 1 mm increases purchase costs and weight, so German operator isn’t speccing such feature but Finnish operator is likely to spec it as it allows lorry to run at national 60 GVW limit instead of some lower limit. I’m just guessing that this kind of things might be contributing for the seemingly bombproof durability of yank over euro truck.
But after all it’s horses for courses and it’s difficult to say without trying what real outcome would be.
About the toys BigJon mentioned, they’ve been available also to Euro trucks for some years, but it’s again up to the operator to spec them. Btw. do you already have air suspensions with full manual control? Yes, that’s not that important, but on especially on certain rigid jobs it’s very handy to have