Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

There are difference even within the same truck make. My previous volvo vnl64 '05 was smoother then my current volvo vnl64 '05. Wtf? Contemporary cascadias and inter-s are much better in terms of smoothness (a friend of mine is driving fresh Inter ProStar and saying its way smoother than previous short volvo). And one driver on t680 told me he is driving it like a limo. As for me a long volvo I was driving 10 years ago was smooth enough even without any advanced super duper cab suspension. I miss it.

 

All those trucks you named were tight, i personally go for a Freightliner, or an International, the Mack visions have room.

 

Unfortunately working in the oil patch there isn't much call for big condo sleepers so those trucks are not common up there but I did get to drive a new Volvo vnl and a Pete 386, fine cabs but Pete driver station is still too small, both were very plasticky but I guess they need to keep the weight down, I also understand that because of weight restrictions they can't built them like euro trucks which are far too heavy to operate in the US, a euro 4 wheel unit is heavier than a 6 wheel US conventional with a big sleeper, empty they are overweight in NA on the steers by more that 2000lbs.

Although the the company I'm drivin for does have a Mack, I never got to drive it, it has a Volvo engine and appears to be quite rugged, if I was buying a truck for the oil patch I would seriously consider one! I never got to drive an international although the lone star looks really good, I drove an old fld in holland of all places, I transported it from Rotterdam to Bremen in Germany for export to Russia , I couldn't resist but take it for a short drive around the block before I loaded it ,that was pretty rough lol but in all honesty I'd be looking toward kenworth if I was buying, those are my favourite so far

 

I agree 100 with you, the pete is like the dash is made around you and sometime you have to bump the stick if your going between the sleeper and driving seat. Ive been in a Mack and i liked it, it was an auto

 

EU trucks are buit not so cheap as freightliners. There is no so simple truck in Europe like Columbia.

But cheap US trucks (not Volvos and Pete-s) are cheap to maintane and fix. So they have it as advantage for business.

I can surelly say that I spend much less money for freightlaner than other spend for Actros MPII

 

Ya wait till you get the latest US fleet crap. The 2009 and up model years. You'll earn you money then Pablo .....

 

In Southern Africa except for where I'm from (We cant import used trucks) the US trucks have been a favorite because they are simple to maintain. They took a lot of punishment because they were not designed for the weights but every bush mechanic had a small stock of suspension parts so they kept them going.I have noticed that with the US trucks getting more sophisticated more Euro trucks are coming in now.In the 90s there were areas that looked like JB Hunt and Schneider had depots with all the COE 9700 Int /Navistars.

 

anyway Cascadia is not so complicated and expencive to fix as Actros MP4, but new Actros and Fraightliners share all powertraine, and Mercedes Axles and Trannsmissions are in USA with Detroit logo

 

why you are so concerned about maintenance/repair costs i dont see this as big share of costs when operating truck

my friend had 2004 mp2 with 6cil engine had fully automated gearbox , retarder and pretty much all equipment things especially safety things , truck have 15% power increase

it was always overloaded even more than 120k lbs , always loaded in both directions in one grain in other crushed rocks ,over mountains . truck have 1150 000 on clock

during long period he had it almost no problems just usual things like clutch brakes oil filter, last year he changed radiator and intercooler because salt eat them , and recently he change seals on clutch cylinder , and change speed sensor on gearbox, because it did not want to shift in auto mode probably caused because of magnet

he bought scania r440 egr euro5 , and sold actros because he dont have job for more than 3trucks

 

I have to operate my truck in ex-USSR with bad roads, very long distances, poor service and high sulfur fuel. So I cant use truck with EGR and DPF, really. With DEF - not becouse sulfur destroyes NOx sensors and catalistic converters.