The REAL Reason Why America Stopped Making Cab-over Trucks
In the vibrant era of the 1970s, American roads were decorated with an iconic sight of Cab-over trucks, also called Cab-over-Engine trucks (COE) trucks. These unique trucks, with their flat-nose design, were an integral part of the trucking landscape. Every major manufacturer, from Freightliner to Mack to GMC, produced these vehicles, resulting in them being found all over the country's highways.
The story of cab-over trucks began before World War II, on the busy East Coast of the United States. At that time, there were regulations limiting the maximum length of trucks, including both truck and trailer, to about 65 feet - 19.812 meters. To maximize cargo capacity within these limitations, manufacturers devised an ingenious design - the cab-over-engine (COE) trucks. This involved shortening the cab at the expense of driver comfort to save space for more cargo.
COE trucks, also known as Cab-over-Engine trucks, are a specific type of truck design in which the driver's cab is placed directly above the engine, rather than in front of it, as in most conventional trucks. This means the driver sits closer to the windshield and the steering wheel is directly above the engine.
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I'm not a trucker, but recently I drove a smaller cargo vehicle with a flat front for the first time. My first response was fright; you seem more exposed without any hood out in front of you. But second response is holy crow you can *see* everything! The visibility was insane, like you're in a fishbowl.
YES! You can SEE a whole lot more!
I went from a Columbia to a 2009 Volvo VNR and the view was immense, but that was because you were sitting right up against the windshield. There was no depth to the dashboard, you couldn't even put a coffee cup up there. Compared to my current Cascadia and there's like two feet from the edge of the dash to the bottom of the glass. You didn't climb in that volvo and sit down like normal, either. I had to hoist myself up over the seat with the grab rails and then slot my legs in, it was like putting on a pair of pants.
@@NutjobGTO I guess that's what happens when trucks are required to be designed to fit unreasonable aerodynamic specs without giving any thought to driver safety and comfort. That sounds like a nightmare. I drove 1983 to 1993 International cabovers and 1994-1999 Freightliner cabovers and was comfortable. They all had a wide dash, but not as wide as the Cascadia you describe. Be safe!
@@NutjobGTOThe lessons learned there were applied to the FH.
@@kathyyoung1774i respect the years you have in service, but i also recognise the ignorance in your statement. American vehicles and European vehicles are built with different specs in mind. You will definitely need more protection if everyone around you is driving a battering ram. In Europe (the EU) we use paper cars (tiny mini vehicles) so you can sit on 2 inches of truck protection and no one is killing you with their cars. Then the USA is massive, so you can't go anywhere with our paper cars, compared to our small EU countries. So, just learn to respect every market catering for the needs of it's people
this sounds like my English exam where he rephrased everything but said the same thing 5 times
So it isn't just me who noticed that?
Cuz its written by chatgpt
I owned a Freightliner cabover, a double bunk condo, when I was a long haul driver. I liked it. Great turning radius, easier to park.
Probably an argosy flat floor. The older dog house models sucked
@@theoregontruckerT880Argosy was pretty good for regional and local routes , Cabover version of Cascadia basically. It’s a shame they discontinued it due to low sales
I now own a setback axle freightliner double bunk 1989 coe
@@oregonfordguy9812 I used to drive one of those. Awesome turning radius.
@@theoregontruckerT880 Nope, it had a big doghouse with my cooler sitting on it. 1996 model.
A lot of comments compare the American cabovers of the 1960's to modern conventional trucks, which makes no sense. A modern air-ride forward-control European truck is not an old Kenworth K100; I have not driven either, but I know that it is nonsensical to assume that one has the same comfort and safety as the other.
Exactly and I have driven both everything euro and both north American and Australian K200 and 220 and the latest generation cab overs ride like a Cadillac compared to the 100 series.
I drove 2 Mack's, 2 K100E's & 2 Peterbilt's. The Mack's were not air ride. The others all were. If the 1st KW hadn't had a heavy haul steer axle, it would have been a nice ride. But that 20,000 lb steer axle, made it ride lot the 23 Cascadia I'm in now.
I had a ride in a modern mid size Volvo cabover with a family member who is involved in the trucking business. Safest dang truck on the roads today. And I could stand up and reach the bed behind the seats just as easily as any other truck I imagine.
He lost me at the start, calling the 1970s "vibrant". As a young adult then my memory is the opposite of vibrant.
@@Carlschwamberger1 You mean President Carter's recession with the only inflation to ever top the Great Depression? Or the only time is US history, both the president and vice president resigned? (Nixon & Agnew) There were 2 highlights for me. I graduated high school in 1976 & married my high school sweetheart in 1977. This December we'll be married 46 years.
Always liked cabover trucks. Aside from the lack of a crumple zone in the case of accidents, they offer many advantages. And they look awesome too!
I don't think the "lack of protection" really plays a role when you're talking about accidents involving cars which is the majority, probably. any car or pickup would get flattened before the truck driver even feels a hit
@@xavier4519it only works for cars like a sedan is more likely to survive from a head on crash than a japanese kei truck. Like how often does a head one crash between two semi's, the long nose won't survive either
@@xavier4519good
Each truck has its own niche and at the end of the day it's all about using the right machine for the right job.
Exactly!
One of the worst things about CO trucks is if you're in an accident you are the first one there. When dealing with turning space I really liked a CO. Where the hell do they get the 30min idea of raising the cab? I could raise mine in about 5-8 minutes.
I kinda dismiss the "accident" argument ... either you are 10x more prone to ACCIDENTS in america .. or Europeans drive better ... because as we see ... we ... europeans drive nothing but CO
@@edzus100 European roads are way safer, speed limits for trucks in Europe are lower, and driving hour regulations are way stricter, so the small disadvantage of the cabover (really only matters if you hit something big) should not be visible in the statistics.
Last one I drove was an international 9700 148" wheelbase with the Eagle edition cab . There was a place in the back where you could actually stand up on each side of the doghouse . My truck had an air-powered cab jack and I could raise it in about 3 min.
They didnt want those European Trucks on US Roads
KW 200, Australia Assembly & supplies NZ. Twin steering cab overseas major thing in NZ . Drivers in USA have requested K 200, but USA KW says fu@k off! That's the problem!
@@zoneundertop i Did not know that why is that!! I luv the old k100s Thats the reason i wanted to truck. But when i got of age the cab overs were long gone smh😪
Volvo?
European trucks in Canada like Volvo are also used for firetruck and de-icer at the airport.
They also have Japanese trucks including JDM RHDs also driven in Guam.
Long haul truckers are some of the most under appreciated people in this country. They get all the products we need or want in the neighbourhood w out even having to think of how it got from the warehouse or port.
LOTS of people in cars tell usevery day that we're NUMBER ONE ! 🤣
Which country?
@@leoncaples2947 I'm in the USA. Longhaul.
you dumb.
lol, something people always get wrong, from the point of view of a driver and mechanic, a modern (30+ years) European etc cab-over truck is much easer to do daily fluid checks on the engine etc, as everything is conveniently behind the lightweight grill, which is easer than tilting even a lightweight bonnet, while from the point of view of a mechanic, it takes just a couple of mins to tilt a cab, and you then have significantly better access to the entire driveline from the radiator backwards, without the stupidity of the cab blocking access to the back of the engine, bellhousing, gearbox and even transfer case (if applicable), PTO systems (if applicable) and parts of the prop shafts, the notion of it taking 10mins or more is just a myth perpetuated to try to justify bonneted trucks more.
Learn what a sentence and full stop are for.
@@deaddoll1361 so I assume you could not come up with a counterpoint to what I said.
@b101uk9 not every reply to your comment has to be a direct rebuttal to whatever you said
I like how they call all of Europe a niche market haha
Because they gotta compare dozens of country to one country to be competitive 😂
@@USandGlobal WORLD is not only about America. Some find it hard to believe.
In Australia, we have both European cabovers and American longnose, manufacturers who offer trucks in Australia will give cabovers the European badge and longnose trucks the American badge, for example Volvo & Mack (which come from the same parent company) have a manufacturing plant in Brisbane where all their longnose trucks are Mack and all their cabovers are Volvo, Mercedes and Freightliner do the same by importing the cabovers with a Mercedes badge and longnose with a Freightliner badge, only Kenworth makes both with the majority being longnose and continues the K220 as the last remaining cabover just for the Australian market.
Who else is still alive after reading through this 😅
The K220 may be the last remaining cabover from Kenworth ----- defiantly not the last cabover suitable for Australian conditions that is available in Australia.
What's funny is that Paccar owns Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF and yet kenworth make the cab over trucks
@@Dunki113DAFs are only cabover champ and the crapest truck on the market by a large margin.
@@egdiryellam68did you seriously say that with a straight face…. None of the euro trash is suited for out here, they are only bought over kenworth and western star because of price and the shortage of real drivers who don’t need an automatic piece of garbage.
In English they are known as 'forward control' and they are not only favoured in Europe because of legislation, but because of the roads. Many roads through European villages, towns, and cities, have remained unchanged for hundreds of years and were designed for horse-drawn vehicles. You're welcome to try driving one of your monstrosities around Europe, but I wouldn't recommend it. Even with the limited overall length of European vehicles, it's still not unusual for them to get stuck on narrow roads.
happens in a lot of northeastern US cities too, As like the ones in Europe they predate motor vehicles.
You’re also first on scene of an accident, plenty of cases of ejections through the windshield from impacting other vehicles, COEs are cool but conventionals are much safer for the driver
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 modern cab-over trucks are very safe, i think volvo has one of the best safety features in their trucks today.
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Not much evidence of that. From statistics from the NHTSA, in 2020 there were 608 drivers of heavy trucks killed in the USA. In the UK (where cabovers are universal), 18 drivers of heavy trucks (called HGVs in the UK) were killed. That means in the USA there was almost 34 times as many trucker deaths with just 5 times the population. That's over 6 times higher adjusted by population. Of course, distances driven are much higher than in the UK, but when I looked up the statistics further, there were 3 truck drivers killed per billion miles driven in the USA and 1 per billion vehicle miles in the UK. That's close on a ratio of 3:1. There is another point, that a cabover gives much better visibility at junctions, simply because the driver is so much further forward. Safety isn't just about surviving a crash, but avoiding them in the first place. In any event, in both countries it's other road users who are in more danger. In accidents where a heavy truck is involved in the USA, only 17% of the fatalities are to the truck driver.
If you put your seat belt on, it's not a problem....
I drove a cabover rig for years, great turning radius, especially for the east coast cities with multiple deliveries and pickups, so much asier to handle in small loading docks off street.
Our fleet put half sphere convex mirrors sticking a foot out on the corner passenger side window, you couldn't read the license plate, but you could see it
@@PD-yd3fr We called them school bus mirrors.
I hated driving a "long nose" truck. I chose a cab over if they gave me a choice..
@@Bryan-Hensley FRIEND!
Cab overs turn my head everytime.
It would be interesting to see how well they sold if a company started selling them again here in the states. Some guys would buy one just because they like the looks and they'd definitely come in handy for guys who do a lot of runs in the big cities.
Freightliner announced that they are going to start making them again. I can't wait
Volvo could try since they already have FH and FM.
i am pretty sure that modern european cabovers are as comfortable as convential trucks
Even more!
As someone who drove both COE and Conventional trucks I would take the Nose any day of the week. Why my worst accident was in a COE and that one dang near killed me. Drunk driver coming the other way hit me right under the driver seat on a 71 IH Transtar COE blew the cab off the frame threw it about 20 feet from the rest of the truck. I ended up with a severe concussion and a TBI that blew up so to speak about 4 years later and caused seizures. I drove everything from a Anteater T600A to T2000 in KW's to 377-379 Petes FLD 120 C120 condo Freightliners IH 4070 Emeryville COE's and a 9300 that would eat hills for breakfast.
Yes, much better to kill everyone else because you can't see them but you'll be right
Wish there was a conversation about set-forward vs. set-back axle cabovers.
I loved cabovers, BUT I didn't really like set-back axels. Felt weird.
I read a article a few years back that was from a industry reviewing company back in the 70's and they recommend the cab over for driving in city's because of the field of view and turning ability in the narrow streets.... They then started looking at the long haul over the road trucking part of the industry and stated that the cab over truck while having ease of maintenance, great viewability for the driver, good sleeper area, and great movability it was also very hard on the drivers because of road bounce transfer to the drive ( resulting in things like separating ddiscs in spine and other back issues, and even reports of internal organs dislodging from the walls of some drivers who had been drivers for years.. They also stated that the cab over trucks were not safe in a collision because there is no buffer between the front of the cab and the driver.... However the industry standards are extremely different today compared to back then, so with modern technology, manufacturing, materials, and safety standards comparing the old and modern cab over is like comparing the red barons to the F16 they are both planes just vastly differt, one did it's job and did it good, the modern one is just built better, and safer. So maybe they should look at them again. Respectfully.
I rode in semi trucks in the 70's and it was a crazy rough ride compared to today's trucks. Definitely rattled your teeth and bones.
The difference in "rough ride" just isn't that much. I drove both, still prefer cabovers. Big rigs just do not have the suspension systems of Cadillacs.
In Japan long nose tractor are very limited use only in such as privately owned hwy and port. Vast majority of tractors/trucks are cab-over but likes of 4 front directional turning wheels or smaller diameter wheels with low loading floor, they have lots of unique design options.
I think there's a mining company in Japan that uses Australian built Kenworths and Macks to haul coal, in both cabover and long nose format. I've seen a few pictures of them using long nose Nissans as well. There's quite a few long nose Peterbilts in Japan as well I believe
Yap, we’re probably talking about a same company “ UBE Corporation “ their main business is cement and coal, they own 32 kilometer private hauling hwy and they use Kenworth, Mitsubishi-Fuso, Isuzu and Scania,usually pulling 88ton double trailer. Few of the trucking companies owned hi-powered long nose (Mack and Kenworth)tractor heads for transporting heavy loads on public roads.
I rather imagine they don't have much use for 53-foot trailers either with Japan's topography.
I've driven 2 Mack coe's from the 70's. 2 K100E's 2 Pete coe's &1 Freightliner coe from the 80's. Presently driving a 23 Freightliner. I think both of the Petes & both KW rode better than this freightshaker. The 1st KW, was mostly owner operator spec, except it was a flat top. I really miss that truck.
Hell yeah brother, I peddled an 88 K100E with 60inch flat top sleeper. Right hand drive and cat powered. Loved that truck and it was the last cab over I drove before switching to T900 and W900 kw's.
The last five years or so. I have seen more and more COE trucks on the highways pulling loads again. They look fanfreakingtastick and brings me back to a simpler time when I was a kid.
there making a come back as specialized haulers and customs. I bought a 89 shaker double bunk.
In Europe you rarely see US style long nose trucks. The only ones I see in the UK are recovery vehicles that have been imported from the US. And a boxer named Chris Eubank had one which i saw parked up a few times. Amazing when you see them.
Here in N.Z we're quite spoiled for choice, we have American, Asian, and European trucks. Cab-Over and Long-Nose styles as well. American trucks are my favorite!
Modern cabover trucks cannot be compared to the old ones shown in this video. They're easy to maintain and comfortable. Some of the downsides mentioned here simply no longer exist.
He said cab overs are sold only in niche nations, what do you expect lol, he considers the whole europe a niche
@@leo_0644well they suck so
@@notlogical4016 so we should have worse veichle for our needs cause of the american thinking? Sounds like your brain sucks
@@leo_0644europe is a niche market, they have a fraction the truck transport of the US
Learned on and drove (locally) a 1978 cab over Mack. Great truck. Would turn on a dime. Used it to load and unload trailers on a ferry boat.
Cabover tractor rigs are important to me because the first Optimus Prime was a cabover design. Lately though(especially with the movie versions), Optimus Prime is more known for the long nose design.
LOLOLOLOLOL😆😆😆😆😆
That's Right.....💪
Optimus Prime : With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting.
Most comfortable truck I’ve driven is a Freightliner Argosy cab over. Crazy amount of room.
I wouldn't exactly call an Argosy a smooth operator but it still light-years ahead of comparable japanese units.
You said it correctly right near the video beginning. The COE answered the length regulations dilemma at the cost of driver comfort. What more needs to be said? I'm close to the end of my now 45 yr trucking career. First 9.5 were spent as an O.O. in my COE. Thing few years in another as an employee. Wouldn't go back in one for hell or high water!! Peace
Thanks for your service lmao
I started by driving cabovers, then semiconventionals, then back to cabovers…finally to a freightliner conventional…I will say I did like the cabover for a host of reasons over the conventional…
I remember driving cabovers back in the day! Dang, I’m gettin old! 😳🤫
Thousands of miles a year? More like thousands of miles a week!
New York City never removed the length limit, but because you can’t get canovers, they usually tolerate the longer trucks if you don’t hit anything… If you hit something though, you get a ticket for operating an over length vehicle. There really should be SOME cabovers sold in the USA, especially the northeast which is more similar to Europe.
You got that right. And they should have never let trailers go past 45 feet.
NYC doesn’t allow 53 foot trailers, but I sneaked a few in. When you pick up a preloaded trailer, you take what you get.
@kathyyoung1774 Years ago I had to go to the Bronx with a 48 that was enough.
@@alabamasmokeywilson6818 I totally understand why NYC outlawed 53's. I ran over curbs with 53's, killed crickets on a ramp on the BQE, didn't fit into docks, and in one really old dock (inside a building) my tractor took up the sidewalk and half a lane of traffic and got hit by an angry old lady who apparently needed new glasses. How can you not see a vehicle 13' 6" tall taking up half of the lane you are dirving in, in slow-moving morning traffic? That would have been worse with a conventional.
The Ford C-series was OMNIPRESENT for decades. It was in production from 1957 to 1990. It's on my bucket list to drive one, if I can ever find one here in the mid-atlantic states!!!
I've owned 2 Ford C series firetruck, a 1968 and a 1972 ❤
I used to maintain a fleet of CT8000s. I didn’t enjoy working on them but they were decent to drive.
As for easy access to the sleeping area there's no difficulty getting in any bunk on a cab over..
I'm actually looking for a 77 Peterbilt cab over. My dad bought one new in 77. And I will never forget that truck.
They never stopped making them in the US I have a 1994 International and an 09 Kenworth and I just bought a 2023 Freightliner so now I have three cabovers
Is your 2023 Freightliner a low cab forward Econic? There are no other current Freightliner cabovers and there has not been a heavy-duty cabover highway tractor from Freightliner since the Argosy.
Cabovers exist where overall length is limited by some factor -- be it regulation or garage housing for the unit. This is why fire departments are the mostly likely place to see them in the US, the better to fit urban firehouses that cannot be expanded or easily replaced.
There is more to that than just the cabover part, you see a lot of U.S conventional too in firehouses.
and because of lack of access to big cabover market, American firefighters are forced to buy their trucks from low volume manufacturers like Pierce. This makes them 2 - 4 times more expensive than the European analogues on commercial cabover chassis (Volvo, Scania e.t.c produce versions of their trucks with "crew" cabs for firefighting). Having said that, some rural American FDs, that do not have such tight roads save a lot of money by using commercial (long nose) chassis.
theres plenty of areas in the states, especially the northeastern us, where cab over engine trucks should be used but are not.
My dad used to have a K100 with an original 3306 CAT, abnormally beautiful truck, did 1.7-ish million miles before he swapped out the engine for an 8v92, did around 700k more until he sold the truck entirely to buy an 359EXHD with a Cummins and twin sticks, definitely my favorite truck for now, but I sure do miss that K100. He's planning to turn that Pete into a showtruck and then sell it for maybe 200 to 300 Grand, depending on how much he does to it, what comes next is still unclear, but I assume it's going to be an International Harvester, as it was his first ever truck he's driven and wants to drive it again badly! The journey of making profit will definitely go on and on. I'm planning to get an R model MACK soon enough, and then probably keep it as a show truck for myself, but I'll most likely build it up and then sell it, just as my dad does it.
An old skool Mack DM800 would be a cool show truck
Modern European Cab-Over trucks has own "beauty" - different style - different design school, technically with own advantages and disadvantages same we can talk about traditional trucks. But Old American Cab-Overs was really something incredible! For me Freightliner Argosy was kind of last Mohican from this unic tribe. But it was Amazing looking model!
Tiny Sleeper Cab is the biggest minus
@@nenadcubric2663Stack on an external sleeper, like you would on a 359 then. Pretty sure maintenance and aerodynamics would be the bigger issues.
After driving conventional cab trucks for years, then I began using COE. Ford 9000, Freightliner , Peterbuilt, then back to Long Nose, IH 4300., each served a purpose at the time.
They're certainly different, and not just in style. Traditional American cab-over-engine trucks place the driver directly over the engine and front axle, with minimal front overhang. The door is directly over the wheels, making entrance difficult. This continued right up to the final Argosy, and continues in the Kenworth K200 in Australia. European cab-over-engine trucks place the driver ahead of the front axle, with significant front overhang. The entrance steps are ahead of the front wheels. Current cabover trucks in the US are generally medium-duty and have European or Japanese cabs, and are forward control; specialty trucks such as for waste collection (such as the Mack LR and Freightliner Econic) are low cab forward designs, placing the driver even further forward, entirely ahead of the wheels and ahead of the engine, allowing easy access.
Freightliner still sells new cab overs in South Africa, but the newest one I saw was a 2020 Argosy
For what I do hauling glass on flatbed, I'd prefer a Euro style cabover over what we have now. Quite a few of the customers I've delivered to can be a pain to back into their bays. Takes a bit of skill backing in at a few of these places, some of these bays I back into have concrete piers on either side. Sometimes you only have a foot to a few inches of wiggle room on either side of the trailer. Depends on the angle of the sun too, get that load time at a bad time of day, and it's like backing your trailer into a black hole, one screw up and you'll either tear the shit outta you trailer or mess up the bay. Maneuverability is certainly my preference.
The main problem with the us cabovers is that they changed nothing from the conventional ones. They just put the cabin over the engine and that's it! They were never designed as cabovers from scracth.
I use to drive a cab over truck year's ago when I was younger. I miss them. The were great especially in city's and a lot of customers who had tight loading docks. They made double sleepers called aerodyne s which you could stand up in and were extra wide with had bunk beds. Talking about a death trap research the cab under which didn't last long at all you were basically sitting in the cab under the nose of the trailer. Anyone out there remember the day of the air starter on trucks? Talk about someone scaring you as you walk by, they hit the starter and the sound it made.
Austrailian road trains are amazing. The long nose trucks are a style i dont want replaced. I dont much care for todays style of "long nose truck" like new volvos and cascadias... but old long nose machines like the petes and KWs are gorgeous. Wish we could go back to that era
The forward-control fire engine and dump truck shown @3:26 are not "conversions"; they are built with that cab configuration.
From WC, as one who has driven both CO and long nose,if you are only driving expressways long nose trucks are great, but we all had to do some driving in towns and cities and I can remember even now trying to make a right turn with a 48 ft. Trailer and all those sweet people in cars that didn’t want to give you an inch to make your turn!
They were about as aerodynamic as a brick wall, yet so nice to look at!
I grew up in the trucking industry, I drove a few cabovers when I was a good bit younger then what I am now and they were decent trucks but I much prefer the long noses. Not a big fan of the sloped hoods either but anything is better then automatics and electric trucks.
Haha, while Cab-over trucks are the normal thing all over the world, Americans think they were used in "some countries". Yeah, just like SI units are used in "some countries" execpt for the US...
Americans are like those frogs in well who think that well is whole universe 😂😂😂
Hence why he said "they are still doing well in other parts of the world" 5:59 Besides the fact that they aren't ubiquitous because not every other country besides the US is the size of a shoe box. Normally I'd be annoyed, but more and more these days I kind of enjoy watching you people get mad at the US for literally every single tiny thing you can grab onto. "How dare Americans be stupid about the unique tractor-trailer trucking trends of other countries! Haha dumb Americans!"
oh my god they said some countries I hope you can recover from this traumatic expierence
@@nugs5967Don't worry! I hope you can recover from your hurt MAGA feelings, too.
This video is about America tho
70s and 80s cabovers are forever good looking. I was born in the 90s but I grew up loving these.
I started out in cabovers about 45 years ago. I loved driving them . I've always preferred them over conventionals.
My plan is to use a cabover truck and add a apartment on the back so it's the same size as a standard size truck
Nice video, I had no idea about the regulations around truck lengths. Makes sense how that legislation would lead to cab overs
I can't imagine American truck not being long nosed. It's such iconic feature!
Until you have to back into a dock in NYC that was built in 1923.
I drove for Schneider Specialized hauling glass out of LOF in NC. My first couple of tractors were International cabovers. I took great pride in keeping it buffed and polished with everything organized. They were under powered and regulated by the company, but they were very suitable for the places we delivered. Quite a few of the glass houses we went to were built in the 20's and 30's inside the cities with very tight entry ways. The snub nose of the cabover made it easier to maneuver a trailer that was 53' long with a spread axle, especially backing in to a spot designed for a 20' to 35' single axle trailer and a single axle tractor. I would have liked to run a Flat Floor Argosy Freightliner when they came out, but I ended up moving into a conventional International and then a 377 Peterbilt.
I used to haul glass for Schneider out of LOF in Illinois around 1999. My first International had already turned over the odometer and read about 130k, I think. No jake brake, either. You weren't kidding about some of the places we delivered. A place in PA comes to mind that had a wicked T intersection on one side, and an extremely low weight bridge on the other side. Or another in Indianapolis, I think, that you had to block 4 lanes of traffic to be able to back into their dock. What a trip that job was.
I was with Schneider from 95' to 03'. I enjoyed running up to the LOF in Illinois, the town name eludes me right this second, but the bar and grille outside the drop lot had great food. Yeah some of the first tractors that were bare bones caused me some concern, especially running thru the hills in VA/WVA and out West .@@jamesthomasjr9911
You could see so much better. They weren't that bad inside. We will end up there as our cities expands. I guess some get put out too easily. Look it what they're doing now for aerodynamics, they're nearly back where they were. Many newer models have lowered the engines, and the noses are shorter.
I learned something new today. At 6:50 that cabover Freightshaker says White Freightliner. I never knew White GMC Volvo also was with Freightliner too!! Thanks for this cool history!
Strange video. Comparing new US trucks to the cabovers of 40 years ago. Should really be comparing them to present Scania, Mercedes, Volvo and MAN cabovers instead. Riding in one of them is like riding on a cloud.
But the transition occurred 40 years ago, so thise were the trucks to ne compared. If an overall length limit had contnued and were just dropped now, the result may have been different.
Kenworth is still making them in Australia. Selling shit loads too.
I used to maintain a fleet of sanitation trucks and most were cab over. In the early years we had mostly Ford CT8000s with 3208 and Allison autos. They kept us very busy but later we switched over to Volvo and they were very dependable.
Cab over garbage trucks are pretty much all Autocar makes these days.
Friend of mine owned a CO tractor. He finally decided to remove the fifth wheel and built a huge open pickup box on the back, making a really _big_ pickup! He got a friend to paint "Innernashenal" on the tailgate. It's major problem was the lack of weight, then, on the rear wheels! His 'family' car was a turbo VW. On one trip, driving the "Truck" he hit a deer, glad he wasn't driving the VW!
In Europe there are almost only cab-over trucks...long-nose are extremmely rare and wherever one may appear ,it would be so exotic everybody would look amazed: ---"Look!! An american truck!" 🤩.... It's what I also did when I first saw one, some years ago at a car show 😆 I know a few truck drivers but still themselves never saw a long nose 😄 If you ask any european kid to draw a truck.... It's a cab-over he would draw 😄 When I was a kid, me and my dad took a pitstop and such a truck stopped and took us.... I Still remember the cab being so hogh up you would feel as king of the road looking at everyone from above... and the suspension was so soft, and comfortable.... I just didn't want to get out 😆🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I saw the conventional cab a hiring tool. The company I worked for replaced the cabover to entice new drivers. The freightliner cabover I drove had a larger bed than the conventional truck. I felt safer with the engine out in front of me instead of underneath me. Bless all truck drivers.
Cabovers are beginning to make a comeback in the USA, a lot of newer truck manufacturers like Nikola and Tesla are using the COE design because their trucks are electric, which don't really need to be in the conventional format. Additionally, European manufacturers like Dennis, DAF, and Scania are importing their trucks to the US, and antique cabovers are resurging on the highways. A lot of Gen Z drivers want to drive older trucks, so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw 70's and 80's cabovers making a significant comeback later in the decade. In certain areas of the US, cabovers still have advantages, particularly in New England. About the only place in the US where you can still find new cabovers for sale is the Northern Mariana Islands, and while the roads there are big enough for conventional trucks, the islands are close enough to China that it's easier to import Chinese built cabovers and spec them to US regulations, rather than ship them across the ocean from the mainland. If you want to see antique cabovers, then New Jersey, Alaska, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Ohio would be the best states to look, although you'll see cabovers pretty much anywhere in America if you drive around long enough.
Nikola isn't a truck company. They are a con job
Tesla doesn't make a Cabover .. sorry about that fog you're in.
@@TenGreenRangers I suppose it's more of a cross between a cabover and a conventional, similar to International Conco.
@@jerbear7952 They're more of an assembler than an actual manufacturer, except for the drive components their trucks are Ivecos through and through.
@@fahrenheit2530no, Nikola was a total scam, they never had a running truck. The guy who started it took the money and ran. GM is keeping it alive in a bid not to look like total morons for being scammed.
The long nose isn't about comfort, it's about safety. Safety is the main reason there was a switch after 1982.
Each time I see an american cab over, a well known scene comes to my mind, where the black truck jumped from the street to the city drain, to chase John Connor. 🙂
Yep, I remember cabovers, you were always the first one at the scene in any accident and felt the bumps in the road before the rest of the truck! 🤭✌️👍
Cabovers were shit boxes. They lacked in comfort & safety. Rough ride because you sat right directly above the front axle. It'd get noisy inside the cab & during the summer time, it'd get hot as fuck in there too because the motor is underneath the housing & makes the ac work harder than ones in conventional cabs. They were a pain to climb in & out of because they have a wider cab & the sleeper is smaller too because room had to be made for the motor underneath. You sat at the end of the frame leaving you very little protection between you & whatever is coming at you in front unlike in a conventional cab where you sit away from the end of the frame giving you better protection. Whenever you had to take a cabover to the mechanic, you'd always have to remember to either take all of your lose stuff outta the cab or tie it down or else it'd get thrown around everywhere leaving a mess inside & sometimes a broken windshield too. Getting access to the motor on a cabover took more time than getting access to the motor on a conventional cab because the mechanic has to jack tilt the whole cab up unlike on a conventional cab where all he has to do is open the hood on the front of the cab & already ready to go to work.
To kevin Do want some cheese with that wine
Its up to the individual. I've driven both types & found them to be great trucks either way.
ah yes, the indifferent one.😊
Here in the US people are going insane grabbing up a lot of the older 80s and 90s trucks and restoring them back to full commercial use. Reason being, these older trucks are not subject to modern DPFI federal emission regulations and as such are cheaper to operate, maintain and are much more reliable than even brand new trucks.
Fuel mileage is better, too, because they are lighter than conventionals.
Drink whenever he says "a cabover truck is a truck with the cab over the engine" at your own risk
I’ve always been kind of confused why we don’t use cab over for local deliveries in cities for their mobility. But probably since I’m not a truck driver I don’t see the actual reasons.
The only cabover or Coe trucks are of the all in one or straight job Ie no seperate trailor trucks. Those are everywhere in the US.
One main reason they disappeared is because the industry couldn't find drivers and needed to improve the comfort and livability for OTR drivers. Simple
When Schneider and JBhunt switched to conventionals to compete for drivers was the end of cabovers in us
Yeah, that's why Burlington Motor Carriers switched to conventionals. Remember them? Spent a lot of money too fast to get them. And then went out of business during the downturn in freight after 9-11.
@ 1:00- “instead of (the cab) in front of (the engine) like in other trucks. I think u meant the other way round. Ty for this great vid.
I worked on Mack F700’s for years. We had mostly flat backs and some sleepers. Easy to work on because the cabs tilted all way over. The only PITA was the foot valve. Still remember seeing the Ford cab overs that had the air ride cab. Looking in the mirror and watching the cab move around was odd. Everyone that drove them loved the ride. Big difference in the old Ford W model that had absolutely no frills whatsoever. The reason cab overs vanished in the US was the DOT relaxed the length restriction. Most road drivers preferred them. The west coast people and owner operators liked the long nose better because half the drivers practically lived in them.
When you got behind the wheel of a cab over you knew one thing for certain, you’d be first at the accident🥴😢😳
U know it 2! 👍😆🤣
On all these comments a lot of people are crying about cabovers in the 80 90s everyone wanted a hood now 2023 they dying for one I know this was mine
Since I've never driven a truck, I have no way of know what it's like. But I would think another consideration would be crash safety.
The 1st thing I think of 'American Truck' is Optimus Prime-style big rigs like these.
Wasn't a lot of room in them, trucks pain in the ass trying to change your clothes in them
Is there any actual data about long-nose trucks being safer in frontal collisions other than the obvious?
My guess there is not, and also that its not even true. There is much more crash testing done with cabovers, and the rules in europe for crash test is much harsher for trucks than in the US
Not if they are going 130 km/hour....
No.
@@matsv201nah crash testing and emissions are far better in the U.S., European standards are pretty weak just like diesel gate 😂
@@kathyyoung1774yes
When self-driving trucks come in future then cab-over design will rule again. And in the distant future there will be no-cab design. Just the trailer bed drives itself through GPS.
I’ve seen one cabover here in NYC since I live next to a business where they come to get cargo from.
They were mainly due to driver, comfort, and engine accessibility. It’s just so much easier to get to the engine when you can actually pop the hood forward. Also, you didn’t have to actually designed the cab to flipped forward and be a structure like that you can actually design a lighter but longer. There was also a massive safety consideration you were literally sitting 7 to 8 inches from your bumper.
Safety for sure….even the Israeli Merkava main battle tank has its engine up front to absorb energy.
thats true, it makes them more safe. but the space argument is false. modern capover trucks are as long as an american truck, just that the cabine is twice as large, because it extends over the engine aswell. these are our very large trucks for really long distance hauls. they not only have a sleeping compartment like normal capovers do, they have a cooking compartment, too. kinda like a camper van from the inside. they are made so the driver doesnt even have to leave the highway to eat, he just stops at a highway resting space (we have them like all 25-50km) where they can cook and sleep for the night.
Yes,if you were in an accident you were the first one there in a coe .
In modern cab overs the safety argument is negligible at best. And the ‘niche’ market is actually the US. The majority of the global trucking industry uses cab overs. I personally prefer the traditional bonneted prime movers and have taken them through the middle of major cities pulling two trailers at a time because the manoeuvrability argument is actually minimal. A lot of that problem in the US could be sorted out by not building stupid trucks with 20ft gaps between the back of the bunk and the front of the trailer. If you want to know how to build good practical work trucks then go look at the Australian designed and built Kenworths.
I've driven both trucks. I don't like cab over except for the visibility and the way it turns, it's uncomfortable. It's also dangerous to get inside.
The motor in conventionals protects the driver a lot more but in a cabover the driver is the first one to the accident.
It's only dangerous to climb into a traditional American cabover, with the door directly over the front tires. Euro cabover trucks are forward control, so there is a good set of entrance steps ahead of the tires.
🤣😂
Yep advantages about cabovers are they're easier to maneuver & park in than conventional cabs & have better visibility too. The disadvantage about them is if you get into a crash like a head on collision with a drunk driver or so, you get smashed because you're sitting right at the front end of the frame leaving you very little protection between you & whatever is coming at you in front unlike in a conventional cab where you sit further away from the front end of the frame for better protection. It's good the old length & weight limits were lifted to allow conventional cabs to pull longer trailers & carry heavier loads because safety is a top priority.
My dad drove a GMC Astro 95 for years and never had an issue with comfort. I went with him on plenty of trips from NY to FL and back. The seats were comfortable with plenty of room. The bunk in back was wide enough for two people to sleep but we used it mostly for storage. That was a good truck.
I remember a good friend cut into driving a cab over, and after that, they started to purchase the long-nose trucks
Anyone else feel like this dude repeated the same thing 20 times
Yep
It’s g1 Optimus vs bayverse Optimus
Cab over trucks are still wildly used here in the US at soda companies and beer company because since it's a length limit cab over trucks can pull 57 ft trailers that holds that extra pallet of cans . Just not very fun to drive
if you drove a modern next generation scania or a volvo cab-over your opinion would change.
The ONLY reason the manufacturers quit building COE tractors is because people quit buying them. This program only deals with why people quit buying them.
Because the length limit was abolished in 1982. Subsequently, the market for them disappeared. Corporations didn't just randomly stop buying them. They quit buying them because after 1982, they no longer HAD to.😑
Once you remove Chicken Tax all US truck manufacturers will be wiped out by foreign cab over manufacturers.
cab over trucks are not the most efficient for US trucking. they have downsides. you would know this if you actually watched the video before commenting.
Cabovers are hard to work on and you have to make sure the jacks that make the cab go up are working properly but if you don't know what your doing they can also be dangerous
Bring am back . Bring am back.Bring am back. When I was growing up in the 70s 80s and early 90s. My dad had 3 mack cabovers over the course of his career. What a beautiful view from those big windows.
Because the drivers are too fat and kept falling out of them. The insurance claims were astronomical.
Cabovers could have continued right alongside the Conventionals what put the nail in the coffin was the new breed of drivers. Nothing but whiners and complainers...
Amen. They all wanted long nose Petes.
The long nose trucks have large blind spots in front of the hood & in the front & sides of the fenders, for the truck driver. The COE trucks seem like they would have smaller blind spots.
here where I live, in Oregon every so often I'll se a cabover pulling a triple trailer set up for the Franz bakery, and that's the only time I'll see them anymore.
Long nose Trucks are the best!
Please enlighten us exactly WHY you think that
Nah
Long nose are better always for safety and easy to access of engine maintenance
Simple answer: No. Modern cabovers are much better for engine maintenence. The hydraulics to tilt the cab makes it quick to do, and then you have much better access to anything moter or gearboxrelated thatn you do in a long nose. It's also easier to check fluidlevels and things like that. As for safety, yes, if you are going at low speed, the long nose may be safer. But if you are in a frontal collision at 130 km/hour, the long nose wont save you. The movement energy of the truck will see to that.