Tilt-cab Atkinsons and Seddons coming
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And a vote for the 11-tonne axle
• Development of a fresh range of Atkinsons and Seddons, with forward-tilting steel cabs, has started and there is likely to be an announcement later in 1973, Mr Steve Oxley, Atkinson's chief engineer, revealed to truck operators when he addressed a London meeting of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers on manufacturercustomer relations last week.
While explaining the difficulties of designing vehicles to suit the still-undecided. European legislation, Mr Oxley said that in his opinion an 11-tonne axle weight would be fixed and the overall length of artics would be 15i metres.
Vehicle makers' own standards, particularly those governing artic vehicle dimensions, were not always in line with operating needs, said Mr Oxley, who pointed out that only four British tractive units (Atkinsons among them) would couple to the SMMT standard 40ft semi-trailer and remain within the 15 metres legal overall length. This was because the "standard" 401t semi-trailer had a front overhang of between 2i and 3ft ahead of the king-pin. This meant evolving a special 40ft trailer with a 3ft 41n. front overhang.
As a result, the speaker continued, operators with mixed fleets of tractive units ran into all sorts of problems in correct matching.
Observing that the smaller manufacturer had an advantage in that he could more quickly respond to market and legal changes, Mr Oxley went on to say that any new Atkinson design went into the Seddon Atkinson service centre to be approved from the point of view of easy maintenance. Prototypes also went into service with selected operators.
"At the moment we have 20 vehicles out in the field, fitted with equipment that is being evaluated. Among these are sound-suppression materials, exhaust systems and new frame materials.