Posted on 03/03/2014 12:37:37 PM PST by posterchild
Or why not use existing research and shape the front of the truck like any number of the jets currently in the skies? Some low profile fenders over the front wheels and they’re golden. Put the driver in front of the engine (a mid-engine semi if you will) and use ducts to feed air to the diesel.
Yeah, beat me to it. And everyone will see him scratch his butt and everything else.
The Safelite Auto Glass people are gonna love that windshield.
It was already done....
“The Highwayman”
I know. But THIS re-boot would have a nuke-powered truck. :-)
It was a fun show while it lasted.
Me too.
The side window visibility isn't all that bad in conventional trucks, if a driver takes the time to look. though there can be a blind spot if the driver doesn't turn his head and actually look to his left, and downward too.
It's the right-hand side which has the larger blind area...if a driver isn't always monitoring the mirrors...some dummy can sneak up into the right-side blind, then stay there. Changing lanes to the right is one of the more dangerous outmaneuvers.
But look at those tiny mirrors. How is a driver supposed to see much in those little things?
I know mirrors cause a lot of drag (old fashioned, so-called "West Coast" mirrors which can be flat. slab like affairs, about the worst)
But trucks need mirrors. The more the merrier, and a driver should use them all, all the time.
They’re probably replacing the mirrors with cameras? Maybe with proximity sensors like in the rear bumpers of late model cars?
I'd hate to have need be washing THAT window. Do you have any idea how much time drivers have to spend, just washing the windshields? It's a PITA, everyday, for over-the-road long haul drivers.
If there might be rain ahead, wash the windows first. Get those bugs off (Spring-Summer-Fall) and the grime too, before getting under the rain. But if not --- whatever you do when the rain starts, particularly if it's only light to moderate -- DO NOT turn on the wipers until the stuff on the windshield is well hydrated.
Like I used to teach trainees, do not look at the water on the windshield, look through it and past it as long as you can stand it.
If the windshield wasn't reasonably clean (like--only a few hours or half a day of driving since last washed) then turning on the wipers, even with decent blades and washer fluid, can be regrettable.
Looking through a dripping wet windshield is clarity itself, compared to trying to see through smeared bugs and gunk.
That would be great. Until they don't work. And then dispatch keeps pushing the driver down the road for day after day, stretching into weeks on end...
Wow carbon fiber chassis.
That thing is gonna be orders of magnitude more expensive than a current model. (not to mention crash repair costs)
Not sure if this is gonna work economically.
Stupid Stupid Stupid. The dumba$$ company needs to add fender skirts. I get so pissed off in the rain trying to pass a semi.
The Big Bus!
It becomes self aware, and tries to destroy humanity.
Looks like a death trap for the driver.
Maximum Overdrive. :-)
What cracks me up are the people here who seem to think modern trucks are designed with no concept of fuel efficiency.
Shocking as it may be to some, modern trucks aren’t designed by by an elderly scribe using an abacus and slide rule under candle light. They actually use computer modeling and wind tunnel testing.
I suspect most trucks on the road today are at least as efficient or more efficient than most passenger cars by weight carried. 7 or 8 mpg is pretty good for a vehicle pulling between 40,000 and 80,000 lbs.
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