Page 50 - Newcom

50 INSIGHTS
You say tomato I say tomahto
MARK LEE
Iwas having a conversation with a friend recently about spec’ing the perfect truck. We both bought our trucks from stock, so our involvement was nothing more than pick- ing the best of the bunch. But next time around, if we had a clean sheet, what would we choose? Our ideas turned out to be very different.
We would both stick with the mar- quee we run now and we would both have disc brakes, but that is about all we agreed on. My friend said he would go for the big condo cab, whereas I would prefer the mid-roof as I like the versatility it gives. Since I’m very happy with my current carrier, it may be the next owner of the truck that benefits from the added versatility.
I also like the slightly smaller cab as it’s less space to heat and cool in APU- free zones.
My friend would go with an auto- mated manual transmission. I want a 13-speed manual. Even though I miss the AMT in my other truck, I like the lack of complexity in the old-fashioned way of doing it.
I want a double overdrive, but my friend would go with a direct top set- up. I want a 6x4 with full lockers, my friend would go 6x2. A lot of this is a result of the different work we do. If I was doing his job, I would tick the same
Pining for the simpler truck
time I clean them, but that’s only be- cause they’re electronically adjustable and the slightest touch moves them. They also shake more than a non-ad- justable mirror fixed solidly to the mir- ror arms.
Climate control systems have a bunch of sensors and control modules. One minute they’re blowing hot air, the next cold as they try to maintain a con- stant in-cab temperature. I don’t know about you, but I managed just fine with a simple hot/cold lever. If I was hot,
I slid it towards the blue end, if I was cold, I slid it towards the red end. It was a really simple process that didn’t re- quire much thought or energy, yet now I have sensors, modules and half a mile of wiring doing that for me.
Electric windows are the same: mod- ules, sensors, motors and wiring, all replacing the simple act of cranking
a window winder. Then there are far more complicated things like traction control systems. Really? Are our driv- ing skills that bad that we can’t feel
a wheel start to spin and back off the throttle a little bit?
So my ideal new truck will be very different than the stuff on the lot. If a process can be achieved with a lever in- stead of modules, motors and wiring, then it will be. I’m only going to Alber- ta and back each week, not orbiting the moon, so I need a simple work horse, not a space shuttle.
A fourth generation trucker and trucking journalist, Mark Lee uses his 25 years of transcontinental trucking in Europe, Asia, North Africa and now North America to pro- vide an alternative view of life on the road.
boxes as he would (with the excep- tion of the AMT, I would still take the 13-speed).
As I said, I miss the manual in my other truck. I’m no luddite, I just hap- pen to think that there’s a whole lot of sensors and electronic magic involved in replacing my left leg, right arm and my eyes and ears.
It was at this point in the discus- sion that I really started to think about things a little deeper.
I’ve been driving trucks since 1986. When I first started out, I had trucks from the ’70s. There have been con- stant developments in trucks since then and comparing a ’70s truck to a 2016 truck is like comparing a single engine bi-plane to the space shuttle in terms of complexity. But maybe not when it comes to productivity.
Fuel economy has got better, no doubt about that, but not by much. You don’t have to try so hard to get good mpg in a new truck, but that’s relative anyway, because not many people tried to get good mpg in the ’70s through the ’90s. Better manufacturing methods and better materials have made en- gines last longer before they need ma- jor work, but there are far more things to go wrong on a new truck and newer trucks see the inside of a workshop far more often than older trucks did. And I’m not just talking about problems
with the emissions control systems - that’s a whole other story.
I’m talking about completely unnec- essary things like electrically adjust- able mirrors, climate control systems, electric windows and those types of things. Sure, they’re nice to have – they’re luxury items and we all like to be spoiled – but do they have a place in a truck? I don’t think so. There is more
I’m only going to Alberta and back each week, not orbiting the moon, so I need a simple work horse, not a space shuttle.
wiring in the door of a 2016 truck than there was on an entire truck from the ’70s, with the exception of the wiring to the dash gauges.
My trucks even have an electronic control module for the windows and mirrors! That is far too much complex- ity to replace a window winder and how often do I adjust my mirrors? Every
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