Most tractor units and an increasing number of rigids are being ordered with sleeper cabs as standard and I was just wondering what you folks think are the best layouts and must have features e.g. single bunks, double bunks, position in cab, remote radio/lighting/heater controls, built in fridges, freezers, coffee makers, microwaves or at least plenty of sockets with ample voltage/ampage, thick blackout curtains and blinds etc etc. You know the well thought out features that make our lives a little easier and the ones which don’t!
For me IMHO I preferred the Series 4 Topline bunk which was separate from the rest of the cab although the rest of the space was wasted! It felt like you were at home climbing the stairs to bed! I think it was backwards step mounting the bunk on the back wall in the R series.
I am asking this question in the hope that some of the manufacturers pick up on some of our recommendations and incorporate them into their next cab revamps.
I think the scania overhead bed set up was a love em or hate em situation, personally i hated it. I do think that double bunks should now be an option and have lockers mounted on the rear wall instead ( decent ones not scanny plastic aircraft rubbish). As for the rest of it as big a bed as poss please, swivel passenger seat, and as many home comforts as poss i;e fridge , power points (mains not 12\24v) tv , etc etc. Oh and independent air con , the planet is getting hotter ya know.
My mate used to work in the design office at Paccar (Foden) at Sandbach. Me as a driver designed a fantastic cab from a drivers point of view and handed the design to him. Next thing I know Foden are going ■■■■ up!!! My fault■■? We’ll never know . Think the shower/jacuzzi was a bit too far, along with the integral fish tank!!!
We have independant aircon in the MAN but a cheap simple fix that all manufacturers could look at is an adjustable self levelling cab suspension so when we have to park on a slope or kerb, at least the blood stays in my legs and doesnt rush to my head
What I think would be a real coup for whoever managed to design and make it work would be an in-cab shower/chemical toilet. They seem to fit them into really small spaces in caravans/motorhomes so if the bunk was located similar to the Scania (overhead front) there should be plenty of room behind the seats.
A decent extractor system would prevent the problem of the ‘aroma of a No2’ following you down the motorway!!
Personally I would like to see improved security, save sleeping with one eye open on the continent (Calais especially).
Deadlocks as Standard
Alarm on doors that can be activated at night
even drop down window grilles
CCTV even looking down both sides to deeter fuel theft and curtain slashers
turnip:
I think the scania overhead bed set up was a love em or hate em situation, personally i hated it. I do think that double bunks should now be an option and have lockers mounted on the rear wall instead ( decent ones not scanny plastic aircraft rubbish). As for the rest of it as big a bed as poss please, swivel passenger seat, and as many home comforts as poss i;e fridge , power points (mains not 12\24v) tv , etc etc. Oh and independent air con , the planet is getting hotter ya know.
Was there not somebody killed once in the overhead by a car transporter peak in a truckstop?
Lets go back to the old days…Day cabs…old blankets or curtains across the windows…a scaffold board across the bonnet…and keep the night out money…
When you take a look back in time…we got our night out money 15 shillings or maybe 25 bob…and with that you could get a room in digs…have a few beers and finish off with a fish and chip supper.
Now take todays night out money of £20…that wouldnt get ya a decent bed for the night…now night out money or subsistence supposed to pay for the comforts that you are missing at home…by being away…so…4 beers in the local is £10 (if your lucky) get a meal £5 and that leaves £5 for a room…try and get one for that price…night out money has been the same for 20 years…and in my opinion no one should have to sleep in a box…so unless they start providing decent accommodation for drivers…there are going to be fewer and fewer taking up the offer…except of course…our foreign friends…
I keep telling my boss i dont want nights out…but he says its part of my contract to have one a week…so after i go back to work (ive been in hospital and am off for 8 weeks) im gonna go where you have to pay (never done it in my life) and the average is £17 plus my £20 so thats £37 before we start…and hopefully…they will want to have a word…so maybe i will not be having many nights out in the future. my missus tells me to pack up work, and spend some time abroad in our place in the sun…and i`m very tempted…but i need to earn a bit more so i can buy me boat first…not only that …but i will be completely independent on her…and thats not gonna happen…
Would be nice to be able to have your top bunk down with out moving seats to suit ! , esp if you store a lot on it ?
alwasy like the 4 serries top bunk on the cab above the drivers window, BUT i thought the missed a trick , why not also put a bed on the wall as normal and make a nice big DOUBLE ■■?
Also mentioned a few power points(240v) would be great esp in this day and age of tvs/dvdvs/laptops etc
i think i read somewhere that someone had put self levelling cab or was it a bunk into a unit.it may have been a merc or volvo truck at some recent truckshow.
Be smart and do what one guy did at Cardiff West one night.
This Euro guy pulled up next to me and as most of you will know, the truck park there is like parking on a playround slide.
Anyway, he started buggering about with 3 straps. I thought nothing of it until he put two on the floor behind his front wheel and the third on the top of them.
So theres me, looking at him with one eyebrow raised and he just looked at me, laughed and simulated a pillow with his hands.
HA HA, I suddenly got it as he reversed his wheel onto the straps - thus levelling his cab. GENIUS.
i think i read somewhere that someone had put self levelling cab or was it a bunk into a unit.it may have been a merc or volvo truck at some recent truckshow.
The new Renualt Magnum has this feature. My mate is driving one for Effjerts (sp)out of Holland and rates this as the best truck he has ever driven but the self levelling cab is by far it’s best point.
hiya,
couldn’t do the job in this day and age if subsistance wasn’t enough for a half decent night away from the truck i was a driver not a driver / nightwatchman thanks harry long retired
. Think the shower/jacuzzi was a bit too far, along with the integral fish tank!!!
