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My theory is that American manufacturers are better equipped to build trucks that are to be used in America.
This was also true for passenger cars in the 50s. We drove big bold cars because they were more suited to our lifestyle, long roads and a vast country. Europe had little tin boxes. Overtime, we got shamed out of our big cars. May be trucking is different.
FWIW: Cat has given up the over-the-road market, and opted to stay with the construction and generator and marine market instead. I don't believe a new truck can be ordered with a Caterpillar engine.
Trucker Joke: What do diesel engines and bananas have in common?........They ain't worth a damn unless they are yellow.
Also Mack Trucks has given up the over the road market. They will stick with construction and the like - you know, dump trucks and such. The Mack Vision (OTR tractor) may still be offered for a while if there are any left.
Navistar (International) is trying hard, but I just can't get worked up about the new design. Doesn't look right.
Western star is made in the USA also owned by Daimler corp. American semi trucks are bigger than Europe and Japan. They haul heavier loads.
It is the other way, in Europe they haul heavier loads.
Here the federal max is 80.000 pound, in Europe it is 96.000 pound, some countrys up to 132.000 pound.
Now some states have grand fathered rights, Michigan is a good example, trucks weigh as much as 181.000 pounds, but have like 8 axles under a trailer.
Some western states have also different rules, like double triple trailers, and turn pikes can set their own weight and length restrictions.
The axle weight here is a lot less.
Now you wouldn't think this, but the European trucks are heavier, empty, and the short wheelbase would'n't make a comfortable drive, it just bounces around. The speed limit in Eu is 50 mph, her up to 80, in TX and UT.
The EU trucks are very small in size, because the max length is truck and trailer, here trailers are 53 ft, and you can put anything in front of it.
Canada has max lengths for the tractor.
The cabover is just to small, and a pain to climb in, plus they have less room inside, and the "doghouse" makes moving around hart.
Now some states have grand fathered rights, Michigan is a good example, trucks weigh as much as 181.000 pounds, but have like 8 axles under a trailer.
Some western states have also different rules, like double triple trailers, and turn pikes can set their own weight and length restrictions.
I'll never forget taking road trips as a kid, flipping my lid when I saw my first double and triple trailer rigs rumbling down those toll ways up north. I don't even remember where we were going, but the sight of those trucks was the best part of the trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Listener2307
FWIW: Cat has given up the over-the-road market, and opted to stay with the construction and generator and marine market instead. I don't believe a new truck can be ordered with a Caterpillar engine.
I wonder why? Seems they were always considered the best. But was the option too expensive?
Quote:
Also Mack Trucks has given up the over the road market. They will stick with construction and the like - you know, dump trucks and such. The Mack Vision (OTR tractor) may still be offered for a while if there are any left.
I have noticed that. I have not seen a Mack tractor with a sleeper cab in a long time.
Quote:
Navistar (International) is trying hard, but I just can't get worked up about the new design. Doesn't look right.
I agree, that thing looks ghastly. It looks like a goblin. If they ever remake Maximum Overdrive they won't have to put a mask on it.
FWIW, Navistar (successor to International Harvester, which reorganized after labor troubles in the early 1980's) seems to make more use of the "maquiladora" system (farming out some component manufacture to plants on the south side of the U S / Mexican border) than its competitors. But I doubt that either the "problem" or the "incentive" (take your pick) is as great as some of the people with a cause would lead us to believe.
FWIW: Cat has given up the over-the-road market, and opted to stay with the construction and generator and marine market instead. I don't believe a new truck can be ordered with a Caterpillar engine.
Related to this perhaps?
BK Trucking Co. alleges that Caterpillar has known for years that its Caterpillar C13 and C15 Advanced Combustion Emission Reduction Technology diesel engines were defective, yet concealed the problems while still touting the engines’ high quality and reliability.
I'll never forget taking road trips as a kid, flipping my lid when I saw my first double and triple trailer rigs rumbling down those toll ways up north. I don't even remember where we were going, but the sight of those trucks was the best part of the trip.
I wonder why? Seems they were always considered the best. But was the option too expensive?
I have noticed that. I have not seen a Mack tractor with a sleeper cab in a long time.
I agree, that thing looks ghastly. It looks like a goblin. If they ever remake Maximum Overdrive they won't have to put a mask on it.
Cat gave up making semi truck motors because of the new emissions standards. This was just a thin slice of there business. Their bread and butter comes from earth moving equipment were emissions are not the same.
But perhaps another subject worthy of discussion here is "How will the highway freight industry continue to evolve?"
The railroads largely gave up on single-carload shipments back in the Seventies; while they have been restored to economic stability, what they retain is mostly low-valued bulk commodities, moving often enough to justify the expense of siding-to-siding service, or originating and terminating at a limited number of places. Branch lines have been either abandoned or turned over to smaller local operators with greater work-rules flexibility. And despite the hue and cry from those unfamiliar, rail transport handles hazardous freight more safely, simply because it can move larger quantities, but less often.
And the market for multimodal and/or containerized freight expanded after 1985, in no small part because the basic equipment was finally, and uniformly redesigned to substantially reduce the motions and impacts that damage sensitive freight. That trend should move the trucking industry toward slightly less volume, but a higher quality of, and revenue from, the remaining traffic.
But I suspect that sooner or later, the trucking industry might find itself under deeper scrutiny on safety issues; the continued emphasis on upgrading and redesigning both highways and "rolling stock" has paid large dividends, but the points remain (1) that larger and larger trucks have to share the highways with smaller, lighter and less-crashworthy autos, (2) safety regulations, while strengthened, don't carry as much weight with a driver pool that still "cuts corners" from time to time and is less likely to speak English as a primary language, and (3) the public with which drivers have to deal is increasingly feminized, sensitized, and less familiar with the procedures and constraints of an industrialized economy than was the case when long-distance trucking entered "full flower" upon the completion of the Interstate Highway System in the early Seventies.
The continued emphasis on highway safety has not only reduced the number of casualties, but spread them thinner, since the totality of individual accidents has been mitigated. But as the experience of organizations such as Mothers Against Drunken Drivers has demonstrated, either a single large-scale tragedy, or a series of small ones in a distinct pattern, could bring public pressure for stiffer size, weight and hours-of-service restrictions. A few exceptions like the fuel-price-driven highway blockades of the Seventies notwithstanding. the politicians know who's watching. and it's very seldom the people behind one wheel and riding on eighteen.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 07-17-2014 at 03:30 PM..
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