Europe

Top of the Horsepower Tree

Top of the Horsepower Tree

Not that long ago most (if not all) of Europe’s truck makers were still vying to climb to the top of the horsepower tree, reckons Diesel News’ European Correspondent, Brian Weatherley. Today it’s another story altogether. I’d say the first truck maker to publicly take its foot off the power pedal was Mercedes.
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Build More Flat Floor Cabovers

Frankly, I’m surprised more manufacturers don’t do it. ‘Do what?’ I hear you ask Down Under. Build more flat-floor cabovers, that’s what. Given the fact that every night hundreds of thousands of European long-haul drivers are bedding down for the night in a truck (and I reckon 99.99 per cent of them will be doing it in a cabover prime mover) you’d think that all of Europe’s truck makers would be keen to make their cabs as easy to move around in as possible.
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industry need to start getting smarter

Looking at Future Trucking

When we are looking at future trucking, we need to look at the way all business will be changing in the next twenty years. A number of basic building blocks in business look likely to look completely different than they do today. Read More

New Scania’s Australia Launch Early Next Year

Just over 18 months will have passed since its global launch when the new Scania’s Australia launches in mid-March next year. This represents quite a quick turnaround, from initial unveiling to Australian model launch, for a European truck manufacturer. The Mercedes Benz Actros new generation was available for five years in Europe before its appearance here.
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Improved DAF Cabin

Diesel News’ Europe Correspondent Brian Weatherley reports on the improved DAF Cabin on the latest Euro 6 XF and CF, launched in the European market. For DAF’s engineers at Eindhoven in The Netherlands, the watchword is with evolution, not revolution and their latest CF and XF proves it.  New CF and XF gain a face-lifted interior along with an updated night control panel by the bed plus an upgraded instrument and dashboard layout. But what are they like on the road? The answer, to use the pommie habit of emphasis through understatement, is rather good. We tried out the new models in Holland and while it’s not a country famed for its contours we did manage to find the odd hill on our test route which included motorways and local roads. With the new 450hp rating on the MX-11 likely to appeal to European fleet operators, we first tried a CF 450FT ‘lightweight’ 4×2 prime mover hitched to a tri-axle tank trailer running at around 32-tonnes, somewhat below the normal 40 tonne EU limit, but enough to get a feel for it working.
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Flat Floor Thoughts

The long-awaited arrival of the right-hand-drive Renault ‘T High’ tractor in the UK has given Diesel News’ European Correspondent, Brian Weatherley, some flat floor thoughts – thinking about the benefits of flat-floor cab-overs to overnighters. Frankly, I’m surprised more manufacturers don’t do it. ‘Do what?’ I hear you ask Down Under. Build more flat-floor cab-over models, that’s what. Given the fact that every night hundreds of thousands of European long-haul drivers are bedding down for the night in a truck (and I reckon 99.99 per cent of them will be doing it in a cab-over prime mover) you’d think that all of Europe’s truck makers would be keen to make their cabs as easy to move around in as possible.
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New Kid on the Block

There is now a new kid on the block – after eight years at the helm of Scania Australia, Roger McCarthy has handed the tiller to Mikael Jansson as the local Managing Director of the Swedish truck brand. Diesel News looks at Roger’s legacy. The Managing Director’s chair at Scania Australia headquarters used to be a bit of a hot one. There were a couple of short-term appointments, due to a certain amount of churn in the Scania organisation in Europe. The arrival of Roger McCarthy in 2009 was, in retrospect, a calming influence. One that allowed the Australian operation to get its bearings and then find new directions in which to move forward.
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2018 International Truck of the Year Announcement

In Europe, the 2018 International Truck of the Year Announcement has been made today. DAF’s new XF/CF truck range has been elected International Truck of the Year for 2018 by a jury of 23 commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing 23 major trucking magazines from throughout Europe. The prestigious award was handed over to Preston Feight, President of DAF Trucks, during the press day of the Solutrans Commercial Vehicle Show in Lyon, France.
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It’s Access, Stupid!

Manufacturing in Australia Is Dead!

We are constantly being told manufacturing in Australia is dead! In fact, we in the trucking industry know manufacturing in Australia is far from dead, as far as trucks, trailers and trucking is concerned.   Yes,
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