Why don't we have american style trucks in the u.k

[Harleyman 12]

Call me old-fashioned, but I call them lorries.

 

A lorry is a flat bed vehicle with 6 wheels. A long distance heavy duty freight hauler towing a trailer is called a tractor

[Eccentric 10]

And where does the ‘truck’ bit come in, then?

[phantom309 10]

There is several reasons for not using american Lorries the main one is the length of the unit which would have to have a shorter trailer to adhere to the maximum length limits which would reduce payload and loading space. The steering lock is also not as good as European Lorries so they need a lot more room to maneuver and they have tried to sell them over here without to much success in the 70s and 80s mainly but they only sold in very small numbers because they were nowhere near as suitable to do the work and they were mainly used by plant/heavy haulage companies and other specialist hauliers but they were replaced by European makes as they were also around 10 years behind on technology

[mc55 10]

length, weight, but mainly it comes down to styling - Europe & parts of rest of world tend to use cabover, where USA prefer the 'conventional' styling. US manufacturers offer independent engines etc, whereas European manufacturers are much more vertically integrated.

 

With regards to technology, US is bang up to date, with GHG17 coming up.

[Harleyman 12]

There is several reasons for not using american Lorries the main one is the length of the unit which would have to have a shorter trailer to adhere to the maximum length limits which would reduce payload and loading space. The steering lock is also not as good as European Lorries so they need a lot more room to maneuver and they have tried to sell them over here without to much success in the 70s and 80s mainly but they only sold in very small numbers because they were nowhere near as suitable to do the work and they were mainly used by plant/heavy haulage companies and other specialist hauliers but they were replaced by European makes as they were also around 10 years behind on technology

 

I havent seen any European made heavy duty freight haulers here either except for Volvo which I believe are built here anyway and equipped with Perkins diesel engines.

 

I doubt any Euro made truck could take the wear and tear demanded on American highways crossing hundreds and hundreds of miles of dry, extremely hot desert or the severe winter conditions encountered in many mid west and eastern states.

[phantom309 10]

length, weight, but mainly it comes down to styling - Europe & parts of rest of world tend to use cabover, where USA prefer the 'conventional' styling. US manufacturers offer independent engines etc, whereas European manufacturers are much more vertically integrated.

 

With regards to technology, US is bang up to date, with GHG17 coming up.

 

European manufacturers did make lorries with bought in components the same as the American firms Foden was taken over by Paccar and closed ERF was taken over by Western Star and eventually closed down and a big factor was that cummins engines were unable to make an engine which came up to the European standards. Volvo make lorries in America as do Mercedes Benz or is it Daimler Benz and Paccar as developed a new engine using Daf technology

[aliceBB 10]

Because as a nation we enjoy a quiet confidence in our cultural and psychological wellbeing, which precludes the need to prove ourselves in that aggressive and tasteless way? (ie by driving the biggest lumps of iron on the planet).

 

If you think the trucks are bad, you should see the RVs....

[skinz 10]

Because as a nation we enjoy a quiet confidence in our cultural and psychological wellbeing, which precludes the need to prove ourselves in that aggressive and tasteless way? (ie by driving the biggest lumps of iron on the planet).

 

If you think the trucks are bad, you should see the RVs....

 

I can understand somewhere like Australia (now they do have trucks) where you don't see a gas station for a day or two let alone a town. The US has a fantastic rail network. Driving one of these trucks from East to West must be mindlessly inefficient unless fuel is heavily subsidised.

Edited August 31, 2013 by skinz

[Harleyman 12]

Because as a nation we enjoy a quiet confidence in our cultural and psychological wellbeing, which precludes the need to prove ourselves in that aggressive and tasteless way? (ie by driving the biggest lumps of iron on the planet).

 

If you think the trucks are bad, you should see the RVs....

 

They are the lifeblood of this nation at least. The arteries through which everything we need to live on is transported to our front doors Without them we'd be starving to death and walking around naked

 

Try living a life of quiet confidence and cultural and psychological well being on an empty belly

[Daid 10]

They are the lifeblood of this nation at least. The arteries through which everything we need to live on is transported to our front doors Without them we'd be starving to death and walking around naked

 

Try living a life of quiet confidence and cultural and psychological well being on an empty belly

 

Ours occupy the same status here prety much albeit on a smaller scale.

[Harleyman 12]

Ours occupy the same status here prety much albeit on a smaller scale.

 

I noticed while on a visit to the UK in 2007 that there are many large trucks from Europe to be seen on the motorways

[Sierra 22]

I can understand somewhere like Australia (now they do have trucks) where you don't see a gas station for a day or two let alone a town. The US has a fantastic rail network. Driving one of these trucks from East to West must be mindlessly inefficient unless fuel is heavily subsidised.

 

A train only moves things so far. At some point, it must be loaded onto a truck to either get it to it's destination, or for delivery.