American v European Trucks

[wcbcruzer]

I started a thread like this a while ago over on DTR. Basically seems like the cab-over design is dangerous for the driver and yields poor fuel economy because of aerodynamics. Not to mention, the pita and danger of working on the engine that's sitting underneath a cab. Hence, it has been unpopular here in the states. The ONLY benefit of a cab-over design is that it is more manueverable in the [censored] tight streets of Europe.

 

[bar1]

You know they remove or tilt the cab forward to gain access to the engine...?
In Europe it's all about length regulations.
This used to be a common sight at construction sites etc.:
http://www.scania.co.uk/about_scania/pressreleases/scanias_t-model_says_goodbye.asp

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
it is largely a matter of "horses for courses"!

Overall length, permissable FA mass and total mass (and axle group mass) all play significant roles too

It is wrong to say that COEs are more dangerous (for all concerned) than conventional cabs. It also wrong to say that COEs are less aerodymatically efficient - the semi trailer needs to be viewed as a coupled "package" and this plays another part of this complex jigsaw

I (my Company specialised in Risk Management) have investigated many many heavy truck accidents over three decades

I had all conventional cabs in my fleet

Regards
Doug