Big Rigs of the Future

im 24 and if i was forced to drive one of those or any aero truck id hang it up and never look back ill stick to my pete 379exhd and 3.78 mpgs

 

I'm 33 and feel the same way. These new tractors are completely opposite of my idea of what a truck should look like

As far as technology goes, it has made for some improvements, but as far as I'm concerned, we don't need any further advances.

 

Yep....Some of the youngin's get "it"......Some don't.....

 

Were using this in Ag right now. Fendt has been doing a lot if work on the system.


All of the technology needed for.full automation has been here for.awhile, its the legal issues that prevent it from coming to market. The piggyback system at least puts a human in visual sight of the automated vehicle.

Kine had a demonstration of their unmanned grain cart servicing combines and semis.

Vehicle to vehicle is now om the market where the driver of the grain cart or forage wagon can accept a request from the combine oR chopper and the vehicle will be automatically driven to the correct position and the operator of the combine or forage harvester can speed up to or slow down the other vehicle for complete easier loading.

Telematics are also part of the equation allowing complete monitoring of all functions and location from a home base.

Witb the techbokogy on the market The guy in the seat is just there for legal reasons.

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2

 

For a second I thought maybe they were bringing cab-overs back *drat!*

BTW I don't know how much stock I can put in a project where it's obvious the designers spend more time with Transformers than real trucks.

I'm a big Transformers fan myself, but I don't think any of those guys would know the first thing about designing a tractor other than "cool looks".

That being said, I think there's a LOT we could to with aero-management and hybrid integration. For that matter we could open up more bunk room by putting a bunk OVER the driver's head on a condo cab. Standing while moving from the front to the back is nice, but I'd like a full desk and booth back on the "first floor" over a 2nd bunk that never gets used (I prefer sleeping up high)

 

I just took a look at that design competition ( https://forge.localmotors.com/pages/competition.php?co=68 for anyone also interested because there's no direct link in that article ) and a lot of those entries are completely out of touch with reality. Impractical dimensions, bad visibility, and an aerodynamic mess in most cases because of stylish but absolutely unnecessary angles and lines. Now of course you wouldn't expect anything else because it's open for anyone to submit things and most of these people have probably never spent a minute of their lives in a truck and only base their sketches on what you see from the outside on the road.

That said, there is an incredible amount of room for improvement on today's body styles. And this goes beyond the usual discussion about plastic body panels, aerodynamic mirrors and whatnot. We have to ask ourselves some really basic questions here. Do you really need 70 inches of hood for basic engine maintenance? Can you combine the upsides of conventional trucks and cabovers in a single vehicle? Can you put the space in your sleeper to even better use with less static concepts?

As I'm writing this I've actually stumbled over a very interesting sketch that incorporates pretty much exactly what I was about to propose. It shortens the hood for extra sleeper length on almost the same wheelbase and therefore manouverability as conventional bodies, and places the engine in the middle of the chassis under the sleeper, which in turn slides back towards the fifth wheel for maintenance and repair access. And it doesn't even look that bad. Don't tell me you would never ever consider driving this thing.


https://forge.localmotors.com/pages/project.php?cg=9517 - credit goes to Mr. John Bukasa

 

New cabover do tell?

 

how bout this one? lol

 

Indented bumper for the Bar-B-Que?

 

Although I REALLY like that truck I do see a packaging problem. How are you EVER going to get close to 12,000 on that front axle?