Switchlogic said in the “Lost Tradition” thread to the effect that I don’t like vehicles under 5 years old…He has a point in that. It’s not I prefer old vehicles, I prefer vehicles that are fit for purpose and that new does not mean improved. But do we all have Luddite tendencies in that anything new (not just vehicles) is viewed with scepticism and suspiscion, eg Digicards V Analogue charts, sat nav V OS maps etc?
Muckaway:
Switchlogic said in the “Lost Tradition” thread to the effect that I don’t like vehicles under 5 years old…He has a point in that. It’s not I prefer old vehicles, I prefer vehicles that are fit for purpose and that new does not mean improved. But do we all have Luddite tendencies in that anything new (not just vehicles) is viewed with scepticism and suspiscion, eg Digicards V Analogue charts, sat nav V OS maps etc?
Maybe some people are just wary of change?Just happy to stick with what they know.As you said sometimes newr is not always better.
I like vehicles that are under 5 months old personally! Nice and clean and unsullied by many a fat, hairy, full English breakfast eating truckers!
I don’t know if I’m the minority though.
I’m not, I think the digi is a great invention and let’s face it all new trucks are so easy to drive especially around urban areas.
It is intrinsically inherant in all creatures to develop not only genetically but mentally, this is our “raison detre” but sadly some of us for reasons of insecurity, me included tend to stick in time warps where we were successful and at our most comfortable
two sayings that are still true
if it aint broke don’t fix it
KISS keep it soddin simple
I don’t hate new kit, but from my experience my employers’ new motors in recent years have had major failings. Our Fodens had 10 and then 12litre Cats but Volvo FEs with poxy 7litre engines were bought without trying a demonstrator, and these have had new diffs and constant breakdowns due to adblue failure. The Daf CFs aren’t bad but their creaky suspensions are annoying and they dont pull aswell as the Fodens either. We’ve also got 2 CF automatics that haven’t been impressive either, although the sole Volvo FM and the MANs (2 of which are autos) are very good wagons. I know many would ridicule me for it but I was very impressed with an Axor 8w demo I tried a while back 
Yep I am a Luddite, I have one of these in the cab instead of a tomtom
bubsy06:
Yep I am a Luddite, I have one of these in the cab instead of a tomtom
Yeah, the stars aint much use when it’s cloudy 
Muckaway:
bubsy06:
Yep I am a Luddite, I have one of these in the cab instead of a tomtom
Yeah, the stars aint much use when it’s cloudy
I use the village idiot as a backup
Don’t go that far but I do prefer OS maps on this job, and I do keep a small orienteering compass in me bag!
Non-essential warning lights and buzzers are my particular bugbear, and not just on lorries. We’ve got a Renault 8x2 at our place; try to reverse it by the traditional method of opening the door and leaning out, especially at night, and it’s like driving a bloody fruit machine, bleepers going off left right and centre! Trouble is with the Moffett on the back you do need to have a dekko out of the door to be on the safe side.
Also has one of those proximity sensors on the front bumper, trouble is it kicks off every time it rains and drives you mad; I tend to "disable " it. 
I like a lot of the modern techy stuff; digi-cards are great when you do multi-drop cos you know exactly where you are with your driving hours, and I wouldn’t want to go back to a manual box after 3 years on the i-shift. Reversing cameras are handy too and those extra kerb and “front bumper” mirrors are a ■■■■ sight more useful than I ever thought they’d be.
I was only a kid during the 60’s and 70’s, regarded by many as the “golden age” of lorry driving; but I’ve driven some of the kit from those days and whilst I get satisfaction from knowing that I can double de-clutch with a crash box, rope and sheet (after a fashion) and use “mandraulic” steering, I’m also both grateful that I don’t have to do it every day and respectful of those who had no option.
i’m still minded to think though that too much technology isn’t necessarily a good thing. Juddian makes a good point.
A lot of the stuff that goes wrong in modern lorries is only in them because they can put it there not because it’s needed. Engineering departments are continually poncing around with things so that they don’t get sacked for sitting around reading the Daily Sport all day, we get the result of their efforts.
Muckaway, you like the Axor because it’s no frills, it’s built to do the job and nothing more, exactly what a lorry should be, it’s a tool to earn money with 
Well I for one, as you may have guessed, love all the new technology. I love my automatic box, I love being able to set the cruise control and retarder speeds so I can go up hill and down dale without touching the pedals, I love my TomTom live with traffic and weather and google search and I actually love the digital tacho for ease of use. The argument that more technology in trucks causes them to break down is just a myth. Trucks are more reliable than ever. And if it does break down you plug it in and it tells you the fault. In my 10 years of driving I’ve needed a recovery truck twice. Once in an N reg FL and once in one of those CAT powered Fodens.
As for the arguement that all this technology isn’t needed well if we went down that route humanity would never have evolved. People probably thought computers or the Internet or smart phones weren’t needed. I imagine some of you still do.
Steerings a bit hit and miss on your Scania. I’d get that looked at!
I like technology that’s needed such as like Luke said, engine retarders/engine brakes etc (Jake Brake for me). For my job, electric sheeting means I don’t have to climb about on the load like a monkey trying to tie down a giant net over a load of gravel. Auto tailgates mean cleaner cabs and onboard weighers are a license-saver. But we’ve also got crap such as adblue when Euro4 is good enough (Euro3 in my case), useless warning lights like “Coolant level sensor defect” (what’s wrong with checking the water level yourself?).
I can see this from both sides as my background is in the waste game and a lot of stuff on newer lorrys is more up go wrong in a harsh enviroment. Things like ad blue tanks is another thing to get damaged on the tip and the daf ad blue system suffers from blocked filters etc. I’m not saying we should go back to scammell routemans but things like the hino make sense in that game simple and rugged the Volvo fmx is so a tool for that game as Volvo built it taking in to account the job and even tailored I shift to work well in a very different enviroment than up the road.
The foden was popular and a good tool simple well designed chasis good reliable engines and frugal with a ■■■■■■■ the simple fuller box gave good control off road and no clutch once moving just the cab let it down.
On road trucks auto is great in traffic and on the motorway and people who say you don’t have to be able to drive are talking crap. I spent a few days round Devon Cornwall and Dorset on multi drop and collection last week heavy loads and not a sniff of motorway. The auto will do a job but I spent most of the time in manual as I could see the road do you still have to know what your doing. Trucks are more reliable than ever and I can’t recall the dreaded computer ever shutting a truck down on me.
The space and comfort of cabs today also takes some beating i think a lot of it is rose tinted specs.
I’ve got a soft spot for fodens as lots of my early driving was in 4000 series ones but any one who tells you a erf foden or sed atk is the greatest truck everr has either never driven anything else on drugs or stupid.
As for muckaways point about the new volvos not standing up some of that is a case off lorrys been mid sold or skimping company’s. The fe is a 18 ton motor max you want a 26 ton or above buy a fm. It’s the same as years ago drivers slagging tiny fl10s as no good for nights out but if your boss shelled out a few quid more he could have got a f 10 or f12 globetrotter or a fh which was the tool for nights out.
I’ve never driven an auto truck in manual. Knock it down a gear once in a while to give it a hint on a hill but otherwise no, from central London to welsh and Irish country lanes.
No I haven’t on the roaduntil last week but a combination of full weight and bad roads and the box in my MAN been a bit slow it needed a helping hand although on landfill when I has a auto on demo I used manual as soon as I came off the Tarmac.
I got another new xf 105 this week (just run one in for 3 weeks to get another one 
) anyway comes to put in a cd and whats this no cd slot ! turns out they now have a usb & i pod jack plug on the dash. At first I was cursing the modern technology but with the laptop I’ve transfered 20 cd’s to a usb flash drive (cost a fiver !), anyway plugs it in and hey presto it bloody works, now I’m thinking great I don’t have to carry a pile of cd’s about. Not sure how some of our other luddites will cope who wouldn’t know how to switch a pc on, guess I’m going to be busy on the laptop loading usb sticks for them 
Good idea that. My dads such a Luddite he’s got an 8 track in his car well his weekend car.