mate of mine has messed up his knee from stepping down from his cab.He admits hes allus hit the ground harder than he probably should.Ive noticed that [some] Big van drivers step out and down but are already walking rather than stepping down hard and then moving off . I got to thinking thats got to be the best way ,jus wondered how many on here do that? hit the ground walking/running so to speak
In the old days I used to put my hand on cab mud guard and jump out of the cab, that and jumping off trailers has ■■■■ ed up my knees.
Lack of power steering., old gearboxes,.steering koois on my previous job,.and later on pulling at curtains has ■■■■ ed up my upper arm tendons, in fact I was at hospital other day getting a ultrasound scan.
The job has turned me from a young and lean mean fighting machine to a physical wreck. 
Most of my time from the age of around 25 required getting in and out of a cab often with another unit or a trailer parked close at each side which meant couldn’t open the door fully and certainly not enough room to jump anywhere.It meant some scope for accidents caused by loss of footing on steps with the door not opening enough but not by jumping anywhere.
While a few older types had high cab floors without decent steps built into the cab and only mainly a sharp edged wheel ring type step to climb in and out by.They could encourage jumping rather than risk slipping on the step ring.
But in most cases there was never any need to jump, just step down using the step/s provided below the door ahead of the front wheel and the grab handles each side of the door.
But do remember UPS at least being uspet if the steering wheel was used as a hand hold at any point, instead of the grab rails each side of the door, when getting in or out as shown here.
youtube.com/watch?v=Ao1Yh0MwHHw 0.22
youtube.com/watch?v=awgKF6Rm8IE 7.17 - 7.26
DAF cabs at least were generally second to none in providing safe cab access.Exit is just the reverse of entry no need to jump anywhere or ‘hit the ground’ at any stage let alone walking or running.
Many years ago when I used to commute to college by train, a lot of the stock was old slam door units so me and a mate would get the door open early as we entered the platform. We used to pile out while the train was still moving and would almost be running in mid air to not go flying once we hit the platform. A sort of slingshot to the footbridge 
Many Drivers of the “older generation” like me will tell you it was very rare if there was a step of any kind for getting in or out of the cab,it was wheel hub,tyre,and steering wheel to get in and jump to get out. Same went for getting on or off the trailer bed, no such thing as cat walks for coupling up it was fuel tank and whatever you could grab hold of. All resulted in many of us needing knee replacement in our latter years. OOOOHHH the luxury of having 3-4 steps and grab handles to get in and out of the cab
robroy:
In the old days I used to put my hand on cab mud guard and jump out of the cab, that and jumping off trailers has [zb] ed up my knees.
Lack of power steering., old gearboxes,.steering koois on my previous job,.and later on pulling at curtains has [zb] ed up my upper arm tendons, in fact I was at hospital other day getting a ultrasound scan.
The job has turned me from a young and lean mean fighting machine to a physical wreck.
the hand on wing and jump tactic worked fine on ford d series and TK’s dad then bought a scania 110 , didn’t work quite so well that time , i forgot , NO WING !!!. and stupid me once jumped out of a magnum , another daft tactic. and like you buggered knees .
tony
tonyj105:
stupid me once jumped out of a magnum
Ha ha ha ha. I wish I’d seen that!
I was lucky.
Very early on I was seen jumping out of the cab (as you do when you are young) by an old timer.
He politely advised me against continuing the bad practice, assuring me I would damage my knees; he was living proof.
I heeded the advice.
Thanks to that driver I still have good knees.
I hope others will continue passing on that good advice to the young.
8wheels:
Many years ago when I used to commute to college by train, a lot of the stock was old slam door units so me and a mate would get the door open early as we entered the platform. We used to pile out while the train was still moving and would almost be running in mid air to not go flying once we hit the platform. A sort of slingshot to the footbridge
Used to be great fun to see at what speed you’d dare jump out. One day I lost my mind though and pointed the wrong way when jumping - which meant I had to run backwards to avoid falling over. My mates found it funny
8wheels:
Many years ago when I used to commute to college by train, a lot of the stock was old slam door units so me and a mate would get the door open early as we entered the platform. We used to pile out while the train was still moving and would almost be running in mid air to not go flying once we hit the platform. A sort of slingshot to the footbridge
Similar in the case of jumping off of RT and RM buses at or between bus stops.Ironically they were usually driven at deceptively higher speeds than modern types on the approach and between stops the brake wear and replacement costs on them must have been of epic proportions.
That might have caused some painful recurring achilles tendon problems in my younger days not knee problems as usually hit the ground heels first.Look on the bright side it was one of the excuses often used to get a sick note getting me out of school PE periods.
Like Tonyj said, it took me a little longer as well to realise that the manafacture had done away with proper wings, an FH Volvo was the last vehicle I jumped out of when they were new, it was a bloody long way down.
Wasn’t just jumping from cabs that caused later life issues, it was jumping from trailers too. In the days before sideguards and access ladders you’d always jump off of the load deck without a second thought.
the maoster:
Wasn’t just jumping from cabs that caused later life issues, it was jumping from trailers too. In the days before sideguards and access ladders you’d always jump off of the load deck without a second thought.
I did both of the above in one " flight" 
. I had just loaded a tractor unit onto a trailer for transfer to another depot, stupidly I did the usual trick, opened the door, hand on the sill and bail out 
I had totally forgotten that I’d just driven up a ramp onto the trailer 
fortunately I wasn’t hurt when I landed, (apart from my pride) obviously my SAS training must have kicked in. 
It was never something I would want to repeat. Regards Kev
Carryfast:
8wheels:
Many years ago when I used to commute to college by train, a lot of the stock was old slam door units so me and a mate would get the door open early as we entered the platform. We used to pile out while the train was still moving and would almost be running in mid air to not go flying once we hit the platform. A sort of slingshot to the footbridgeSimilar in the case of jumping off of RT and RM buses at or between bus stops.Ironically they were usually driven at deceptively higher speeds than modern types on the approach and between stops the brake wear and replacement costs on them must have been of epic proportions.
That might have caused some painful recurring achilles tendon problems in my younger days not knee problems as usually hit the ground heels first.Look on the bright side it was one of the excuses often used to get a sick note getting me out of school PE periods.
Also reminds me as school kids we used to jump off the bus as it slowed for a stop, the drivers obviously knew we liked doing it and opened the doors early - in the days before they’d get hung for doing that!