How do you want company truck spec'd?

Steering wheel controls? Fender mirrors? Fridge? Inverter? Give me "none of the above".

Sliding 5th wheel and suspension gauges help me do my job. The rest are useless clutter. Hell, my current ride doesn't even have an air conditioner. Trucks are for working. Spec it first and foremost to do the job you want it to.

 

Not sure how/where you work but my truck must also protect me from 115 degree days in Phoenix and -10 days in Montana (driving or resting), and must keep me safe and comfortable and safe for months at a time away from home and shop.

 

Having to take your hands off the wheel to constantly turn the cruise and Jake on is a safety issue.

 

Fender mirrors work pretty good at night in an overcrowded truck stop
Along with their road applications.

 

I like today's trucks and don't have any desire to go back to the 1978 International cabover I started in. I like the Bluetooth, XM, steering wheel controls, and all the very many other little things available today. Many of these are in fact standard equipment and/or required by law.

 

Mine is company... I got all that except fridge (our newest rucks have fridge)
It is an auto though Wich I could take or leave prefer manual but not a deal breaker

 

I'm new to auto since about 3 months ago. Would prefer a 13 stick to auto but prefer this auto to the 10 speed dog I came from. However, I can see the appeal of autos from the company management and shop side.

 

Open the windows while driving, and get a hotel room when you're not. It's what I've done for the past 9 years in my own truck, and for a few years before that as a company driver. Been a good 12 or 13 years since I slept in a truck, and I have no intention to resume that practice.

 

I don't require much, but I'm very adamant about what I do require.

No sleeper. I have no use for it

It must be capable of going at least 70 mph. When I wanna pass, I wanna get it done.

A manual transmission. Preferably a 13.

XM radio is a must, I'll pay the monthly fee.

A comfortable seat. Nothing worse than 14 hours a day on a worn out seat.

No fog or driving lights. They're retarded. People drove for 100 years without, so why do I need them?

A decent, usable cupholder. I drove a Freightliner classic for three years, and loved the truck. But that sorry excuse of a cupholder...


That's all

 

600 Horses, Factory set and limited to 85 which is currently the most legal speed you can go in these United States. Torque will be not less than 1800, over 2000 would be perfect. Final drive ratio deep enough to maintain 55 upgrade at 7% 150 gallon tanks. Three drive axles, there are times you are going to be heavy on the drives and no place to put it... No exhaust fluids. Two stacks. (The single stack is limiting to the engine...) The usual satellite communications (Everything else will fall into place) No Electronic logging. 4000 watt continous sine wave (That supports computers) APU able to maintain engine block heat, provide at least one 120 volt power outlet in the sleeper and feed batteries as well as heat, cool sleeper and cab. (Is that too much?)

Duals 24 inches for the drives, aluminum wheels. Sealed bearings. Fontaine 5th wheel with slide rails below, air release. Suspension full air including steer axle and shock absorber equipped with nitrogen gas or other inert gas not sensitive to temperature. Basic ABS And active tire pressure regulation to the drives. (There will be times we go off road... or when one tire gets tired it can be inflated to pressure) Rear of cab is protected with air ride as well as mini shock absorber. Catwalk across the frame, no skirting or areodyamic treatment. Chain carriers with sufficient capacity for a full suit of three rail chain plus two spare.

Whatever the standard frame length it will be built longer by at least two feet. 4 would be optimal. Electric start with a air start tank (Reason for the longer frame) as a alternate, backup. There is also a 60 gallon fuel tank opposite the APU so that normally it's empty however when in a situation where you don't want to fuel in one or more states on your route, you fuel that tank and have the range to get to a state you can fuel at. (I already probably made a very heavy tractor here one or two thousand pounds more than ordinary tractors.. however with the extra axle being a little more than 80K is less of a concern.

Windows will be tempered and so on, double paned if possible with argon gas in between. Transmission will be 13 speed double under. Manual, not auto. (If auto, it will have a paddle for manual gear control so in mountain country you can stay in a chosen gear all day if need be...) Drive shaft spec'ed to a minimum of engine torque plus a little more beef. Three air tanks below plus one as a reserve. Trolley system for trailer braking. Tilt and telescope steering wheel. If the radiator has a standard number of cores, it will be spec'ed one or two cores larger in capacity so that it will be able to cool even in death valley. Brakes will be disc all around. If you need to stop right now that will be the time to have it. The engine will have a full jake system as well. It will have a oil reserve tank as part of it's fluid group.

Seat will be Bose. There are a couple full seats that would also do good, but don't recall their brands at the moment. Sleeper will be a full one At least a midroof. Driver can add his or her own stuff, TV, micro etc. There is a freezer that will have about two cubic foot of volume and capable of 30 degrees.

Seeing that costs for new tractors keep rising you might as well beef up the engine towards 700 and beyond. The more work you can get out of a engine, the less stress it will incur over it's first million miles. The theory is that the more you have on hand that is not needed is way better than to be inadequate and burn it up. If they made 1000 horse engines small enough to go into a tractor, I would be dropping that in.

RPM will be 1200 torque and 1700 horse with a redline somewhere around 2150. It should be tall enough to provide at least a 85 mph speed regardless of how deep the final ratio is in the drives back there.