Cab Over Trucks?

Well I like them because they are hard to find and they are easy to customize.. I don't need much space since the more space the bigger the mess, and if they are more comfortable than a hummvee we are in business

 

I think that might be one old JB Hunts old trucks, just by the color of the frame.

 

You know what they say about cabover drivers? They were always the first one at a crash.

 

back in the day with leaf spring suspension, and crappy shock absorbers COE's could be rough riding. these days with cab air ride, air suspensions, and much better shocks, and the trailer being almost all air-ride, the ride is very good. and the view is great. last november/December i was in Saudi Arabia, its quite rare to see a conventional there. their standard tractor is a single axle cabover short wheelbase, and they need it. when you see where they make u turns with a trailer, a north american cabover couldn't make it without a trailer. I watched them closely every chance i got and it seemed like the drivers did very little bouncing, the chassis and cab suspension soaked up some really rough roads amazing well. all their trucks are Euro based and they have taken the time and money to engineer a cab that doesn't ride rough. over here where turning radius is not a high priority generally it has historically been easier to get a smooth ride by lengthening the wheelbase. to the point that we just think a truck isn't "right" unless it has a long hood and a longer wheelbase

 

N172 the reason COE's are used is the roads are more often than not there are usually narrower than ours. Plus each country has their own regulations concerning T/T's,so European trucking companies uses a truck that can work within them.

 

The modern COE trucks are very comfortable to drive.
The European ones are better than the American ones but the International 9800 and Freightliner Agossy are not bad at all.

 

They had their day in North America , who knows they may make a comeback. Some were nice ( Pete & KW ) others were junk ( Early FORDS ) but we had no choice you drove what they gave you or what you could afford.

 

Be careful... You might like it when / if you ever do drive one. The first truck I went OTR in was a Cab Over "Mack" also drove the IH TranStars of the 70's they were everywhere at the time. Add to that an old Marmon COE and a Freightliner and a Kenworth COE all 70's Trucks. I did not mind them they got the job done and kept the family fed at the time. To this day I probably have more seat time in Cab Overs as a percentage of total miles driven.

 

COE's on this side of the pond are very comfortable the main reason for that is cab suspensions are 4 point which means the cab isn't directly connected to the chassis, it floats above it. They are safe too, not as good in a head on as truck with a hood but theyaree very safe, in the event of A head on the cabs are all steel and very strong plus the cab will slide back along the chassis away from the impact and expose the front of the chassis and the crumple zone is at the back of the cab to absorb energy

 

COE's are very much a thing of the past and if you find a job that has one to offer..run away!