How it feels to tin ;eait of the pants
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YOU CAN DEVISE all manner of test procedures, feed endless facts into a computer, even produce what seems to be the "ultimate" lorry and still some drivers won't like the cab layout.
It is easy to write off the driver's opinion, but he is the man who sits in the cab each day, and if he is unhappy he is liable to treat the vehicle with less rewpect and end up costing the manager more money.
CMS technical staff have noticed some of the good and bad finer points of cab design during their years of road testing lorries, but for, a chance of hearing some fulltime drivers views, I spent a day at Farthing Corner service area on the M2 in Kent.
David Gibbon is a trunk driver with Halfords, taking his Leyland Clydesdale rigid vehicleihroughout the country. He had returned from Glasgow the day before, and was on his way to Dover when I spoke to him.
For the job it does, the Clydesdale is not bad,he said. 'It is very quiet and the visibility is alright.'"
His only serious complaint was about the driver's seat.
"My last lorry had a Bostrom Viking seat. It was beautiful, but this one is really uncomfortable. It is hard and soaks into your back after a day's work.
David has given his Clydesdale the homely touch of a curtain rail, but his employer is arranging to have the cab enlarged to accommodate a bunk. "They ought to have a factoryfitted sleeper cab," he said.
Dave Williams works for a two-man concern, Bonehill Transport Services, of Tamworth, Staffordshire. He takes his Volvo F88 artic unit on regular journeys to Greece, but also takes goods to France and other West European countries.
His vehicle has a Bostrom seat. "The seating is good. It always is on a Volvo,he says, "and the visibility is very good."' Dajie is not one of Britain's gges1 lorry drivers, but he )es find the F88 cab is "just a t cr mped". He is also a little py about the vehicle's 3ner I ride. "It is a bit harsh id c n upset one's back on a ng j urney. I think this fault is .eva ent on Volvos."
Of course, any driver's view su jective. Dave knows this, id, hen it comes to cab noise, sa s "'By today's standards, ;up ose it is a bit noisy.''
y Man 280 is quite a lete motor," says David ead ws of J. Berry and Sons, A lington, Lancashire. He kes his lorry on Continental urn ys, and had just returned Dm ermany in company with her Berry MANs when I spoke hi .
"I have had Volvos and a AF ,efore, and this compares 3ry ell. Cab comfort is very oh. here is plenty of space for 3oki g, and the bed is excellent a rood night's sleep.
In his view, the features of a Pod cab will allow for ample orking space and comfort. "It ioul n't be considered that we aed Rolls-Royce comfort. This IAN has a better cab than an 10 olvo.'' finds visibility from the 3bi excellent and finds it easy g ide the vehicle through access roads.
• also likes the uncluttered Jrfa es in the cab. "You can ea and polish these very ease says.
D. vid's only serious criticism th steering-column geartan e and the spring-operated arki g brake. "The gear-lever osit on affects your leg position he you try to depress the utc while the handbrake can es t off too easily when you lov from the passenger's seat Ito he driver's seat." ou have to move forward c ange gear, and I'm glad tat he latest MANs have floor ear sticks," he adds.
Tim Towers was listening to Va goners Walk on his cab idle when I joined him in his
1AF 2800DKS. He works with . A. Bugler International of oole, Dorset and transports
owe.r boats in Britain and to enmark, Switzerland, and iJest Germany.
"There is amazing room in side. I've got everything in that I want—radio, eight-track stereo, and television."
"I've had Scania 110 and Volvo F88 lorries for three and a half years on Continental work. I've had this DAF for nine months and find far more room in it than the Volvo ever had."
Tom likes the easily-cleaned vinyl finish, the layout of his controls, and the low engine noise. "But-, I asked, -isn't there something you don't like?"
-Well," he thought, "the roof is not insulated and it can become very cold in winter, but the electric blanket fitted for an extra £26 cures that and is well worth while."
The only other fault for the tidy Mr Towers was the colour of his curtains. "They are white and get filthy, especially if any rain blows in, They ought to be a darker colour when they are designed for a lorry."
Amid the happy drivers of foreign-built lorries, I was returned to earth with a bump when I sought the opinions of two Guy Big-J drivers.
Theirs are no-nonsense basic British lorries, the sort which drivers treated as acceptable and normal before the luxury Continental cabs appeared.
John Clark of BOC Transhield described the cab noise level as "absolutely ridiculous'', and Bob Penning of Midlands BRS felt the same way_ "ln this day and age, you expect a bit of modern design," added John who takes his Big J between London and Faversham.• Bob Penning felt that every driver should have sleeper-cabs, and that his cab should be higher to improve forward visibility.
The ERF B-series is one of the British lorries which reflects our industry's response to foreign competition.
Torn Hunt of International Marine Management (UK) Ltd, of Felixstowe, finds the B-series he drives on container work "very good".
"The seats are comfortable, you get a good all-round view, and the controls are in good positions," he says.
, "It would help if there was a glass panel in the bottom of the cab door to help me manoeuvre in tight corners."' His only other criticism is about the positioning on the bunk in his sleeper cab. "It's a bit too near the roof," he says.
Joseph Taylor of Rugby Cement finds it "a bit of a squeezeto get in and out of the cab of his Gardner 8LXBengined Foden, but otherwise he likes it.
-Seating, the ride, and cab heating is all very good, and cab noise is very low for a Gardner," he says.
One little point is the width of the cab mirrors. -I have to take
care! don't lose them on narrow roads.
Maurice Cullen takes his Scania LB111 on international journeys from Eire to Italy and Spain. He works with Danny O'Brien of Piltown, Co Kilkenny, hauling refrigerated trailers.
"I've driven Volvos and Berliets before, but this is the type I've always wanted. It has a roomy cab, much more roomy than a Volvo."
It has Bostrom Viking seats which are heated and Maurice finds them "fantastic". The noise level is very low, as he demonstrated to me. Even inside the cab, it is barely perceptible above the sound of the refrigeration plant.
His one concern is the positioning of the diff-lock switch beside the emergency hazard warning light switch. "It should be somewhere else, out of harm's reach. All that is needed is one slip of my hand at 50mph, and the lorry could jack-knife."
Doug Griffiths of fruit transport firm Francis Davis of Faversham was in an unusual situation, The Mercedes 1626 tractive unit he was driving was a dealer's demonstrator on its second day with him.
His opinions, naturally, were based on fairly quick impressions, but he found most features were in the right place.
Doug is used to the 1924 model and finds it roomier than the 1626. "This one has a bonnet which takes up a lot of space."' "It has a sealed cab, and should be quieter, but it's not too bad," he adds.
Darrell Mills of Harrison and Jones (Flexible Foam) Ltd of Royston, Lanes described his Dodge 500-Series tractive unit as "not so clever-.
"I find it sad that so many British hauliers have to buy foreign wagons, but this one just doesn't come up to their standards," he said.
He finds that the cab is not tall enough for comfortable driving, and that it is not sprung. "You just jar when it goes over a bump."
"It's noisy as well, and that is worse than being uncomfortable. They should make it compulsory for lorries to be quiet inside and out. If you've sat for a few hours with a Perkins engi throbbing beside you, you do feel too happy."
He felt that visibility from Dodge was adequate, but echoed other drivers' calls • mirrors which help spot cE coming up from the nearsi when the lorry is about to te left.
Darrell said. "They shoe have mirrors at the top of t nearside cab door to see ucoming up the side."
We cannot pretend to ha covered every type of lorry the road, but, from those drivE to whom I did speak, it seer that drivers do not expe outright luxury in their cabs.
But, they do prefer to sit comfort, free from excess noi5, and to be able to see how t land lies around them withc straining their necks. It is wor bearing in mind.