One for the real oldies on here. When and what trucks were the first to be fitted with heaters rather than relying on the engine to heat the cab. Also demisters, when did they first start to be fitted. Iâm too young to remember anything that didnât have these (although Iâm sure some of the BRS fleet in the 70âs probably didnât have heaters).
Demisters have been about for a long time. Our 1938 Morris Ten had one.
The early ones I remember were a sucker stick on heated wire coil.
Back in the '60s the Leyland Comets we had didnât have heaters but the exhaust manifold was very close to ones left leg too bloody hot sometimes by the time youâd crested Shap, around the same time Bedford TKs had heaters and about '64/5 I had an BMC FJ and the heater in that was good, '67 and an Ergo Mercury had a decent heater.
That looks like Bill Robins 89, if i remember correctly that was the last new Volvo that John Brown bought before getting the Macks
We bought an Austin FFK100 in 1962 and the heater, on the drivers side, was an ÂŁ8 15 shillings option. Luxury.
In 1961 you could still buy an old banger with a ticket on it for that price!
Smart quick loading system.
Best wishes to all on Trucknet (plus to the so many that have gone A.W.O.L.)
Apologies but i donât have the ability to create pretty seasonal scenes etc, so please just accept my words and have a lovely xmas, and more importantly a happy & healthy 2026.
E.W.
Interesting concept but I donât know if the additional investment is cost beneficial though. How long does it take to pull back one curtain side? Whilst the first part of the rig is being loaded youâre opening the other curtain so no time lost there and whilst they are loading the rear trailer youâre closing the front curtain. Plus, itâs another hydraulic part to malfunction.
@dennisjavelin seems to be tech, for techâs sake. The load still needs to be secured.
I was wondering that as well, I just assumed that as the load seemed to be banded that was sufficient for that countryâs rules.
Looks to me like there are some straps attached to the sides. They are pulled over with the side. The driver detaches the straps from the side and hooks them onto the rave when the side is still open a little. Presumably ratchets them from tâother side.
The sides themselves if attached only on the ends will be little use in load restraint, I agree.
I didnât see the driver doing anything that would restrain the load on the side it was loaded from. The video shows the driver walking around the other side of the truck and I thought that was to tighten the restraints but no, so donât know what they did - if they did anything at all. AS SDU suggested it seems to be some kind of either vanity or test project. Maybe some other posters who are still active in the industry will have come across them and can bring us up to date. Iâm still trying to come to grips with heaters and demisters as standard 
The posts about heaters reminded me of the glass diesel sediment filters on BMC FJs (& maybe others)
The cheapest replacement was a clean jam jar, as they were the same size and the thread for the lid was the same.
Always kept a clean jam jar with me just in case.
Thatâs a fair head of hair,or is the ERF driver wearing a hat?