Ed and I checked out a bunch of new truck interiors today at the show - we were specifically looking for dashboard setups we like - and I have to tell you, I don't know who's designing some of these things. They're just not laid out practically.
I know everyone has different needs, and many of these trucks are geared toward solo drivers not teams, but I have a real pet peeve when I see important switches or brake knobs in areas that can easily be accidentally bumped into by another person in the cab while the truck is in motion.
Just in my experience in my own truck, I can't tell you how many times I've gotten up from my seat to go into the sleeper while Ed was driving and snagged my purse strap, or hoodie pocket, or phone cord on something attached to my seat or the dashboard. I'll tell you right now, you DO NOT want to accidentally apply brakes while going down the road at sixty miles an hour.
We still have shopping to do but right now I think our front runners are the Freightliner Cascadia (which Ed test drove today at the Ride and Drive area), and the Volvo.
And I know a lot of people like Peterbilts, but I just can't get into a truck whose name makes me think a bunch of little penises built it.
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2013: The Hospital Survives Another Week
2012: More Distracting Than Texting While Driving
2011: The Aftermath
2010: More Than Halfway To A World Record
2009: If You Need Your Hump Fixed, This Is The Place
2008: The Flight, The Hotel, The Walk, And The Sleep Deprivation
2007: A Lot Of Beauty, A Little Citrus And A Mini Moo
2006: Shorn
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!
3 comments:
I think that the people that design some of these things never use them. Like they might drive the truck for a few hours, but they don't live in it like you do. It is the same with: cars, household appliances, tools, etc. I like that bright red!
Good point. So why DON'T they have experienced drivers checking out the designs and prototypes throughout?
I'd bet they're more careful with racecar engineering. They'd listen to driver specs there.
This might be the trucking companies getting to where GM and the Big 3 were in the 1970s, once they figured out lots of women (too!) were buying and driving cars and the sizing/features needed changing.
GIL: I wonder about that. I know there are people in the industry who drive these things and do work closely with them, but I think because they don't spend 300 days a year in one, they don't really know what's needed.
BELLEDOG: I would imagine they do consult with drivers. And I wish it was something you could customize when you buy the truck, but I think that would be too involved and would not fit with their assembly line setup, cranking out trucks as they do.
As for talking to women drivers - I recently read something about one of the women's trucking groups working with a truck design company about that very thing. Because women are typically smaller, have a shorter reach for the dashboard, shorter legs not able to reach the pedals, etc. What they really need to do is ask us about designing other stuff too - like practical cubby holes, visor placement, etc.
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