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Mindful of the need for protecting the food in hot climates DAF has provided the choice of a cooled food storage unit or a full refrigeration unit. One of the old complaints from drivers has been rectified by providing a wardrobe unit where the driver can hang his clothes properly rather than having them lying around on top of the bunk.
Although provision for keeping food cool is necessary, the need to keep the driver warm at night is another priority. In the case of the DAF a catalytic space heater with an output of 6,000 btu hour has been installed which operates from the Butane gas cooker supply and gives off no toxic fumes.
Although the Volvo prototype has been designed around the same function the installation is very different. The cooking/washing unit has been fitted into the space normally occupied by the passenger seat when eating or cooking. When the unit is not in use, hinged flaps covered in Formica fold over the top.
Driver designed
The Scania cab I mentioned has been designed by a former driver on the Continental run and put into practice on an LB140 by B and W Motors (Manchester) Ltd. In common with the DAF and Volvo, only one bunk is fitted and the passenger seat swivels round to allow the driver to cook or wash at the service unit, which is under the bunk. The fresh water store holds 55 litres (12gal).
These special cabs were designed specifically for the special requirements of the Middle East run, but many of the extras and modifications could prove very useful to operators and drivers in European TIR service.
Many drivers consider airconditioning essential; and it helps keep the noise level down. In Sweden, Volvo itself has been surprised by the numbers of purely domestic operators who have specified air-conditioning. Kysor Industrial told me that sales of airconditioning equipment in the UK for both onand off-road vehicles had nearly doubled during the past few months.
This trend was started by operators on the Middle East run, and is spreading to TIR and domestic use; Kysor equipment is now being fitted to Volvo, Leyland Marathon, ERF, Scammell, MAN and Magirus-Deutz vehicles as optional equipment.
The specifying of a single instead of a twin-bunk arrangement could become very popular as could the Volvo idea of doing away with the passenger seat. Even if full cooking and washing facilities did not take up this space it would be useful to install, say, the toolbox out of harm's way.
Several operators involved in TIR and Middle East work agreed that they did not particularly need a twin-bunk cab, but that if this was included in the standard package then "we don't bother taking the extra one out."
Conversions
Not all European operations are carried out with maximum weight outfits although these are usually the ones which get the most publicity, As the smaller vehicles do not always have a works sleeper-cab option, several manufacturers offer conversions to existing equipment, a typical example being the Locomotors cab for a Ford DA 2817 tractive unit (illustrated).
On the maintenance front, automatic brake slack adjusters and heavy-duty air filters could find wider acceptance; many manufacturers do, of course, already offer these components for their vehicle range.
One of the snags of incorporating a lot of extras in the truck specification is that they inevitably increase the kerb weight. Volvo claims that the total addition in weight for the Middle East F89 with all the optional extras being specified is in the region of 254kg (5cwt).
If long runs into relatively uncharted areas are contemplated—uncharted referring to the availability or otherwise of spares and service for the particular vehicle involved—then a comprehensive spare parts package is a useful addition. This is a suggestion, again put into practice on the Middle East trucks, which would be a useful idea wherever the truck was going, and a good toolkit and some trailer spares could be included.
It will be interesting to see if any operators will use trucks with cabs to Middle East specification for more sedate TIR work. Certainly many of the ideas would make for a more satisfied driver,