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Typical. The one time we choose to sleep in a
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cab and give the truck a real once-over and Britain is in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures regularly topping 30C. What's more, the truck is parked on top of a wide expanse of asphalt at Strensham Services on the M5 which is renowned for retaining heat turning the cab into a microwave.
Thankfully, there is only one reefer trailer on the site, so external noise isn't an issue. This means that the windows can be opened up a little. Rumours that the reefer driver is charging £10 to stand in the back for five minutes have not been substantiated.
The fridge unit noise more or less rebounds off the first box or curtainsider trailer it meets, allowing those parked behind to enjoy a quiet night. Although how the driver sleeps inside the cab inches away from the generator -as well as putting up with the heatis another issue, Perhaps he is in the back.
After parking up it's time to prepare for the night: the passenger seat is flattened forward to create more room, the kit bag is stowed under the bunk, and work boots are placed on the roof of the cab, .. to air. Next it's off to the canteen to purchase the £15 parking permit -which comes comple with a free £7.50 meal voucher.
With no top bunk in our test truck. interior space opens up and offers some welcome headroom. Above the bunk therE is 1,230mm of head space. Even though the internal cab height from the floor to the ceiling is 1,950mm this is only accessible from the passenger footwell. By flattening the passenger seat that height goes, whicl means crawling over the engine cover to the driver's seat from the bunk to make goc your escape.
Once washed and dried using the facilities at the services two showers are available and having prepared the cab fc a good night's kip, it's on with the evening's entertainment. With early starts most driver irive, pull the curtains and get their heads lown, but if you have time to kill then really 's only the radio/cassette or a good book lat's available.
After finishing another first-rate chapter if Ronan Keating's biography Lite is a ?ollercoaster it's onto the bunk where there 3a headlamp, and control buttons for the iunroof and night heater... the latter is lot touched.
The bunk is firm, but the material is pretty :oarse for a night's kip. A sleeping bag 3 no better in the heat, but either way the )unk affords a decent place to sleep. The ;urtains, though, appear to be a token lesture. If you prefer a blackout then take ;ome eye patches.
After eight hours of almost uninterrupted ;leepno thanks to plenty of door
slamming and night-trunkers roaring through the parking facility as if it was Brands Hatch it's up and at 'em. Once the meal voucher has been cashed in, of course. Mind you, £7.50 doesn't get you much, other than a fryup and a coffee.
If you are away for prolonged periods then this cab could well befitted out to suit an owner-driver as the design is a blank canvas. The cab room feels constricted, though, which is down to the narrow cab option. For the odd night it is fine, but for four or five nights a week on a regular basis we recommend that you find something bigger.