Well it didnt go unnoticed, at least one of the major truck manufacturers took note and passed the link onto their product planners and cab designers.
Now they want to ask you another question
What bits have truck maufacturers got RIGHT
Now they would like the drivers input to which bits work well in which cabs.
We are not looking for a generic answer e.g. “I drive Scammell and it fab all over”,
more like "I drive a leyland buffalo and think that the controls are well laid out in particular the watchmacallit lever is handily placed near the left knee which is a brilliant idea and as far as I know no other truck does this. This allows me to balance my coffee cup on it so I can roll a cigarette while driving "
(Ok so the examples are tongue in cheek but hopefully you get the idea )
This is your opportunity to let a manufacturer know what does work in your truck
Please use the other thread for whats wrong- and keep this one on topic…
Be warned also it is possible that Will may nick some quotes etc for T&D from this thread, if you dont want you comments in print please dont post to this thread
i love the daf but the x105 has been a big let down to me. but the 2nd series daf is a perfect truck to me, i like the gearshift next to my left leg and with the as tronis stubby gear shift there. you see the new x105f has the switch on the dashboard and manuel shift on the steering stalk.
the cf is a bloody good truck with the head room and locker space.
the daf bed is fantastic very big and comfy the room inside the ssc and sc now is really good and lockers are huge, anybody who can fill them needs to take a good look at what they have with them.
the volvo is a great peice of kit from the standard fh for one or 2 nights out to the globetrotter and xl for 4/5 nights out and more.
the radio is i have always found great and the layout of the controls is excellent and the adjustable steering is very good as well and i like the way by pushing a lever with your foot the steering wheel goes right up out of the way.
the bed… every volvo curent models from 02 onwards what is with the bunk the mattress is to thin and i can feel the springs poking making it very uncomfortable and the bed along puts me of a very good truck, in fact my old t reg fm had a better mattress.
scania, i now drive a t reg topliner and think its a good truck and the new r series is a good truck and i dont mind the fold out bit on the bottom bunk. the big gripe with the r series is lack of foot space on the drivers side. i have size 10 feet and driving for any length of time can be very uncomfortable.
I drive a Daf LF Rigid the fixed seta is a back breaker and the cab suspension does absolutely nothing so unless you have a retracting spine it is NOT a good drive the lack of reach adjustment on the steering also doesnt help, the climb up handle near the offside of the cab can dig in to your side when you drive.
The placing of the speeo dosent help as you have to move around to see the speed you are doing as it is right behing the steering wheel.
The one good point I can mention is the faqn its very quick and clears the screen well but for comfort its apaulling.
As an agency driver I drive all sorts of stuff and the one complaint I have about any make of truck is the lack of space to spread your legs a little. I am aware that not all vehicles can have a nice flat floor but it gets painful to have your thighs together for 300 miles. The ones that are bad for this are scanias and volvos (without the flatter floors) the old Mercs were fine just a little lip to your left which you could rest your foot on.
Also need to add every renault I have driven has been comfy and I have ended the day without back ache or cramped legs. Look at what they do ergonomically and see what it is because it works.
In addition to this as a day driver only could some manufacturers see if it is possible to make the passenger seats flat without intrusion so I can get a pillow and grab a sneaky 45 mins of kip when on my break. After 4.5 hours of driving it would do me much more good to set the timer and have a good nap. In a day cab with no bunk this is often impossible and most drivers I see on a break are trying to sleep, either slumped on the steering wheel or wedged against the side window with a coat as a pillow. either way it isn’t very comfy. I don’t mean a full bunk just a double seat that is flat and no gear lever or brake that jabs into your hips.
i like the layout of the man tgs very roomy and a cooler box that slides out is a good idea and armrest on driver side is really nice and the stearing wheel adjuster on the man is a good idea next 2 the seat so all u have to do is push it down with your right heel i like the controls near the bed in scania and the dash out of the 4 series not a lover of the new dash and i like the topline bunk over the seats at the front in the 4 series and the electric sunroof in mercs so if any1 can put all that in a cab i’ll be happy
Generally drive a daf Cf 85 and think that this just about as near perfect as it is possible to be… for the work I do. (no nights out)
There is only one minor grumble, some of the switches in the centre console are difficult to reach when driving,i.e. roof vent switch
Seating and position is good and the fact that there is no clutch pedal menas that there is plenty of room for left foot.
Controls are light and positive and vision is excellent., indicator, wiper ,washer and light switches are simple with no fuss.
Good sound insulation means a nice quiet drive.
I live in a DAF105 SSC, and the driving position is good, the dash is well laid out and clear, and the bed is plain wonderful. I do find the storage reasonably good (I spend 6 weeks or more in the truck, so I carry a lot). The bottle holder is well positioned, and very useful indeed.
The only real gripes are the lack of cupholders (yes there’s one in each door, and one in the top of the fridge, but they’re not very convenient), and the lack of power sockets.
Plus I agree with the watchmacallit lever on the buffalo, it was great wasn’t it
Mercedes Actros. The good points are the cab shape(its square unlike Volvo) so they have lots to work with. The “pushed out rear wall” is a cheap way to get extra room why don’t more do this? The glass should go all the way into the door on all trucks unlike the lowcab Scania/Volvos. Keep the engine bump as low as possible. Make sure the driver seat can go back as far as possible. Lots of cupholders ,ala Actros and a flat area on the cab dashboard.
I’m not 100% happy with the Actros seat it can feel very hard sometimes and the pedals are too horizontal wind them back a tad.
Rear mudwings on Mercedes are the most durable on the market ,Volvo/Iveco are the worst. All Mercedes HGV’s in Ireland come with airhorns as standard (even Tesco) this should be compulsory.
ellies dad:
Mercedes Actros. The good points are the cab shape(its square unlike Volvo) so they have lots to work with. The “pushed out rear wall” is a cheap way to get extra room why don’t more do this? .
The volvo mirrors on the FH/FM are still not working for me, still bad blindspots
and they stick out now worse than ever. Not good on some of our country lanes or even some A roads come to that. They are not cheap to replace.
Why can’t they copy the scania set up or something similar, neat better vision don’t stick out to far. Also I wonder wether they could give you a mirror folding in button like you get on cars, sometimes you can see trouble coming but can’t fold them in quick enough to stop somebody removing them on there way through.
Im now driving a Daf CF85 and the layout of the dashboard is fine along with the gear lever and handbrake, but the whole cab could do with being that bit wider so I;m not touching the other side of the cab when I’m sleeping,and the bed could also do with being a good 8 to 10 inches wider
ellies dad:
Mercedes Actros. The good points are the cab shape(its square unlike Volvo) so they have lots to work with. The “pushed out rear wall” is a cheap way to get extra room why don’t more do this? .
Aerodynamics at a guess.
That seems logical however, Mercedes trucks are one of the better on fuel whereas Volvo are thirsty. When you weigh 40 ton the angle of the windscreen is gonna make shag all difference in the long term.
A seat that’s comfortable over longer journeys I can’t think of one that really is mainly driven Volvo and DAF in recent years. Our old Renault 19 had a seat like an armchair and I could do Scotland in that with no numbness in my botty! Not all seats have proper lumbar support which I find incredible in this day and age. I like the full width sun blinds a la MAN cos there’s no gaps for the sun to peep through and it pulls down as low as you like. Side sun shades like the Volvo and others work well too. Silly little beep beeps like on the Mercs are a waste of space and totally ineffectual. Give us a proper horn that the NUMPTIES around me can HEAR! Electrically adjustable mirrors as standard. A good radio is a joy to listen to. Had a new Merc rigid one day last week and it had a cracker, good sound and plenty of welly for air guitar tracks! And Lynn Bowles lying on the bunk waiting for me…
Was in a two different trucks in one day last week. The Scania didn’t have ANY little cubby holes to stash pens, wallet, specs case or ANYTHING. By contrast the Merc I had next was loaded with them!
i like the daf layout pretty much, the only thing i dont like is the lack of a tray on top of the dash, i think the switches are good and chunky, ideal for when you are fumbling about in the dark.
a lot of the other manufacturers can take a lesson or 2 from them about the beds, it is almost as comfortable as my bed at home (or is that because the wife isnt star fish in it)
the driving position is good once you get it right and the seat is comfortable, except the lumbar support is too high in the seat (for me anyway and im 6ft 4) and i also like the leg room and the position of the retarder under the left foot.
i like MAN’s for the amount of room you have in the driving position and the fact you can walk across the cab plus the storage space, there is enough to move a family in for the week. and the seat is absolutely spot on, so many ways to make tiny adjustments to get it just right. if all wagons had this seat fitted it would be bliss. and the mirrors, i like the mirrors on them as well, dont seem to get as many bind spots, i dont know why but you just get less.
scania’s the only way to improve them is to set them alight or stop producing them as i do not like them (sorry Mr Vain).
I drive an Actros 99% of the time. I like it except that the seat adjustment is not fine enough - I can never get really comfortable. If we’ve had to hire a unit I usually get to drive it, and some of the things I like are - Stralis mirror adjustment; you can adjust every mirror electrically. Also the sun visor is good - why do so many trucks requitre you to get into the passenger seat to use the passenger sun visor? Daf XF - much better seat and good range of adjustment. Actros sound system is very good, although the hands-free phone is crap (even the new bluetooth one). I like the variable cab lighting on the Actros and the controls are well laid out. I never use them, but I know that the moveable arm-rests are very popular too. The Actros has plenty of cup holders, but they are all the wrong shape or angle. Same goes for the bottle holders in the door. Every truck I’ve driven seems to be short on well placed power sockets, although I like the switchable 12v one on the Actros.
I don’t tramp so don’t have to live or sleep in the truck, so can’t comment there. However, the Daf XF did seem to have much more storage space than the Actros (not Megaspace).
One last thought though - I know it would cost, but what about seat position memories - when two or more drivers use a truck it can take ages to put the seat back where you want it.
The MAN TGA I dont mind find the storage not bad like the idea of the fridge the main problem I have is the hand-break when I have the seat in the correct position it is 3 ft behind me as I am only 4 ft 10" this can be a problem
The Iveco Cargo cab too small has a good driving seat position for me better than the ERF
The Magnum all cab no storage space
The Volvo FH dont mind the draw that pulls out from under the bed could be a bit deeper has reasonable storage
They could all have more 12/24v sockets of both sizes
The bed should be a bit wider I dont have a problem with the length a better mattress not sprung ( as these tend to go and bosses dont replace them ) if this was done there would be less back strain as you can get a lot of foam ones now the newer DAF CF has them in
Why dont the boss go and live in 1 of there trucks for a week and see what it is like they may then have some ideas
Would like to see the passenger seat turn round ( as it does in some and the old ERF olympic ) with a pull out table for eating / paperwork etc
During my time at TRUCK mag I know that at Daf & Volvo, driver study groups were used to good effect & during my recent times at Merc I know that they did the same in the development of the latest generation Actros, although not the Axor as it would appear from the many posts on this site!
The new Magnum also appears to be a well thought out cab now, the Volvo influence clearly showing, but it doesn’t matter what they (the manufacturers) do there will still be drivers moaning about something or other, I’m over the other side of the Atlantic now & we have huge cabs over here & I’m currently in charge of a Volvo which are much better than the home grown offerings, yet I can still think of a world of changes that I would make to it.
It’s definately a case of ‘you can please some of the people all the time & all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all the people all the time’
a couple more things ive thought that are good are the scania exhust brake on the pedal and also the scania chequer plate catwalk that goes right over from side to side.
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so if any1 can put all that in a cab i’ll be happy 