Driving In The Midrange
An Owners' Guide To Spec'ing & Operating Medium Duties
Sponsored as an industry service by Kenworth Truck Company
Produced by Heavy Duty Trucking
By Deborah Whistler
Editor
Steve Sturgess
Senior Editor
Tom Berg
Equipment Editor
The long-predicted driver shortage is now upon us. Large long-haul fleets are reporting they can't meet demand for service due to a lack of quality truckers. The dearth of qualified operators will impact every segment of the industry - including operators of midrange vehicles and especially those operating equipment that requires a CDL.
This makes selection and specifications of vehicles in the midrange increasingly important.
Fortunately, manufacturers in this segment have completely revamped their product lines in the past couple of years. The whole medium-duty lineup has changed to provide fleets with a wide choice of up-to-date products featuring improved performance, economy and serviceability. Newer models also offer a wealth of driver comfort and convenience features that set them worlds apart from their predecessors.
Spec'ing For Comfort
Medium-duty trucks offer far fewer options than heavies, but most come well-equipped for drivers' needs. On air-braked trucks, there may be an air seat option, though that's not absolutely necessary with the vastly improved ride on the new vehicles. Spec'ing upholstery in sturdy fabrics is essential so they can withstand the strain of drivers sliding in and out of the truck all day. This is especially important in low cabovers.
Allowing the driver to get as comfortable as possible in driving position not only eases the workload, it likely enhances safety and productivity. To this end, a major convenience - especially in a vehicle that is to be driven by different people - is a tilt, or tilt-telescope steering column.
With such a wide variety of steering wheel sizes available, choice can be an issue. Some are so unusually small they can cause peculiar handling.
Improved cab suspension may be an option. If so, upgrading can be worthwhile, since it adds to the driver's comfort and alertness. It also gives a softer ride for all the equipment in the cab, and that includes sensitive in-cab electricals, wiring and gauges.
Dashboards have a minimal set of gauges, but there should be room to accommodate all the switches needed when spec'ing the truck for a vocation. It is much more satisfying for the driver to have everything integrated into the dash rather than having supplementary panels hanging from it.
If the truck is to have any communications equipment, bar-code readers or other driver-accessed features, there should be adequate real estate on the dash or the surface above to accommodate it without hindering the driver's performance or the view forward.
The new trucks all handle driver needs for cupholders, ashtrays and lighters. But buyers need to look for accessory outlets to power cell-phones and storage that will accommodate a laptop computer if one is needed as part of the driver's tasks. There should also be storage for work clothing when required - at least a convenient coat hook.
Air conditioning is a given, but additional ventilation through electric windows is a worthwhile option many drivers appreciate, especially if the driver's side is an automated full-down type. This makes paying tolls much more convenient in cities where they are a fact of life. Another enormous convenience - especially if a driver is carrying a clipboard or electronic reader - is remote door locking. It also adds to security, because a driver is more likely to lock doors when leaving the truck. And as a practical plus, the driver is unlikely to lock the keys inside.
Providing a radio/CD/cassette player might seem like an extravagance, but it enhances the vehicle and shows the driver you value him. It avoids having a driver provide his or her own boombox with attached earphones. Over-the-ear headphones provide distraction, don't allow drivers to hear emergency vehicles and potentially impact the safe operation of the vehicle.
Noise and ride also impact drivers' productivity. Fortunately, with the passing of the earlier generations of medium trucks, this is much less an issue today. Cabs are well sealed and engines feature pilot injection for better emissions. These cut down on noise finding its way into the cab.
Specs For Safety
Driver safety has to be a prime concern when specifying the medium-duty truck. Anything that can lessen the chance of the driver damaging your vehicle, another vehicle or worse - injuring someone in an accident - should be considered. Backing accidents can be addressed by equipping urban vehicles with back-up alarms and even rear-facing radar or video cameras. These technologies are now quite affordable.
Additional pedestrian safety can be gained by using wide-angle convex mirrors, similar to those on school buses. Overnight package delivery services and the Post Office use them front and rear with a great deal of success. With blind spots eliminated, the driver has a much less stressful time in busy traffic, narrow alleys or family neighborhoods.
In the shop, this attention to visibility should include regularly changing windshield wiper blades and filling windshield washer containers with the proper solution. To ensure other drivers know what's going on with your vehicles, make sure turn signals are in full working order, and that they cancel when they are supposed to.
Vehicles working in urban areas should have especially close attention paid to brakes and steering as well as thorough tire maintenance. Timely tire replacement ensures good wet weather grip and braking. For happy and effective drivers, heaters and air conditioners should be fully functional. Any missing or broken steps or handles that are aids to climbing aboard the truck should be repaired quickly.
Seatbelts should deploy properly to encourage their use.
For maximum driver productivity as well as ensuring alertness through the working day, it's a good idea to provide convenient materials-handling equipment. This could mean rollers set in the body floor and logistical track in the body sides to restrain cargo in the truck. Racking that will make it easier to organize tools and equipment should be provided when necessary.
Translucent roof panels make it easier to find stuff in a truck. Overhead roof lights are also handy for evenings.
If a driver needs to climb in and out of the back of a truck, there should be some sort of step arrangement to make the task convenient. Grab handles are a good idea, too.
Liftgates are a special case. They make loading and unloading a much simpler task, especially for big and bulky stuff like appliances. However, they can be dangerous to be around and a little instruction is required to ensure they are operated safely. Drivers should be especially careful they don't catch their feet either when lowering the gate to the ground or when riding up - it's all too easy to pinch toes as the gate reaches the top.
Operations
In a business where the mainstream activity may not be trucking, but where trucks are used as support, it can be easy for dispatch to lose sight of safety.
The demands of getting a service vehicle to the site of a problem may easily overrule - unconsciously - the need to run first and foremost a safe operation for employees.
When a call comes in for anything from a line repair truck to the delivery of urgent medical supplies, whoever is dispatching the truck must take into account factors facing the person behind the wheel. Often, service promises are made that bear no relationship to the driving conditions facing the driver.
Dispatchers need to understand how different factors impact schedules. These include the prevailing traffic conditions and how they vary with the time of day, weather, construction, holidays or a host of other external circumstances. The end result of a missed appointment or a promised delivery that cannot be met is pressure on the driver/operator that compromises safety.
And while it is rare for a medium-duty driver to have to keep logs, dispatchers have to understand how rest and hours on duty impact the safe performance of the driver toward the end of a shift. Not for nothing do interstate driving hours limit driving to 11 hours.
Most medium trucks operate locally where they are exempt from any driving record keeping. However, such operations often rely on good communications in real time for efficient and timely service. Drivers and service technicians can keep in touch with the dispatcher via cellphone, but this is acknowledged as potentially hazardous when driving.
There is a growing awareness that use of a phone involves cognitive failure when dealing with complex tasks. Failure to recognize a driving situation that has accident potential is one of the consequences of this, and is quite apart from the difficulty of operating a vehicle with one hand holding a phone to the ear and the other hand on the wheel.
The same applies to traditional radio dispatch: If a driver is concentrating on instructions or directions coming over the two-way, he's not paying attention to driving. The driver is less likely to be affording the necessary concentration to be safe and competent behind the wheel. In an accident, the consequences might be cause for litigation.
Companies that dispatch drivers via any kind of interactive messaging should have a firm and written policy about how such communications are used. Even familiar names in the cellphone industry do this. One of the fundamentals is that detailed messages are only exchanged when a driver has had the opportunity to park. This is especially the case if there is any chance the driver might need to make a note.
Service providers can do their customers and their technicians and drivers a huge service by dispatching in real time. Currently, delivery companies and utilities will often give customers a window of a morning, or an afternoon for deliveries or service. That is unacceptable given modern communications. It upsets the customer - which is a bad thing - and if the customer takes it out on the technician or driver, it certainly doesn't make the truck operator's day go any better. Stressed drivers are not safe drivers.
Real-time communications make the process go much more easily, taking the load off the driver. Inputs about traffic conditions, weather, pick-up and delivery delays - communicated to the customer and relayed to the driver - take the pressure off. There's no need to speed and there's a satisfied customer at the other end of the trip, waiting for professional help or an urgent package to arrive on the revised schedule.
Conventional Versus Cabover
A major impact on driver accommodations is choice of the truck cab. Before choosing a truck, it's well worth climbing aboard different models to check out the space. If you haven't been inside the later model medium duties, you need to see for yourself the changes in newer models. Trucks with pickup-derived cabs may look like they will be shorter on space than others, but the configurations vary widely, as do the different seating arrangements.
The lower, stretched out driving position in pickups makes them handle more like a car. At the other end of the spectrum, the cabs from the heavier trucks have a more upright seating position. But while headroom might seem an issue, it's not.
Width is likely more of a factor, depending on the truck's use. For a driver to be comfortable while carrying a crew, there has to be adequate three-across seating. For bigger crews, there are crew-cab options. Crew cabs are offered in all the pickup-derived models. They are also available from the short-hood conventional medium-truck manufacturers. All makes can accommodate drivers and crews to a greater or lesser extent.
There used to be more significant differences between conventional trucks with a hood out front, and cabovers, which have the engine under the cab - primarily in the areas of visibility and maneuverability. Those differences have diminished with the latest introductions in the medium field. Now all models, even conventionals, feature tight steering cuts so they can be more easily spun around in narrow city streets.
Visibility has been improved dramatically, big windshields and - with the exception of the pickup cab - sloping hoods that intrude very little into the forward visibility.
Low cabovers often still have the best front and side visibility, with the rearward view determined by mirror location and size. As such, they offer the best safety in crowded urban operations, where close-in sight to the ground is a plus. Given the number of fender benders that occur when drivers back up, this is an area that deserves careful consideration and attention.
Because cabovers have a shorter cab than conventionals, they generally feature a shorter wheelbase for the same length freight body. As a general rule, because the cabovers often come from Asia or Europe where many city streets are narrow and congested, they have the tightest turning steering gears, too.
Where cabovers score with maneuverability, they pose more of a challenge to driver access. Since the mediums are relatively low, there's a minimal step, but they still require a driver to use grab handles as he or she swings up into the seat. In contrast, a good step arrangement on a conventional can allow a driver to enter and exit more easily. All trucks benefit from well-placed grab handles and they are preferable to using the steering wheel as an access aid.
Steps are not all equal, so take a look at spacing and whether they can be seen when stepping out of the cab and looking down. A nice touch is a courtesy light in the cab that illuminates the steps at night when the door is opened.
The conventionals - especially those with pickup-type cabs - have more under-cab space for chassis components such as fuel and air tanks, battery boxes, mufflers and so on. This can often mean less equipment hanging off the frame rails behind the cab, simplifying the body design and mounting. That translates into a less expensive body installation and one that is easier to service.
Also, more effort has gone into providing electrical systems that upfitters can easily tie into without disturbing the factory electrical system. Some of these are multiplexed, which can cause concerns at the smaller bodybuilders. Those in the mainstream, though, welcome these more sophisticated wiring systems and often use them to advantage, offering additional features that can be controlled from modular switches on the dash, for instance. The downside: the more sophisticated the system, the more expensive the chassis. That can be offset by time saved in the body mounting process.
Specs For The Job
Whether you buy new or used, you need to be very particular about the specs you choose or risk owning a truck that will be too much or too little for the job. This is especially true among medium-duty, where size and cargo-carrying abilities vary considerably among the industry's weight classes.
The ideal truck will be built just for you and your job. But the reality is that, as close to your hauling application as it may be, certain compromises are involved. For instance, the engine may be over- or under-powered by a little or a lot, yet get the job done every day. And something in the cab may not quite suit your driver, but he'll get over it - you hope.
The main thing to avoid is a truck that's way too large or somewhat too small for the job. If it's too big, with a powertrain, wheelbase and chassis components grossly oversized for what they need to do, you'll probably pay more in price and operating costs. And the truck will be more to handle for the driver than it's worth. If everything's too small, you may save some upfront costs, but you won't be able to carry as much as you want - or at least not for long - because you'll break down early and often due to overloading.
Everything in the truck-buying process starts with your hauling job. How much in weight or "cube" must you carry, and where? Who'll drive the truck? And how long will you keep it?
You must have the correctly sized body in mind, because the chassis must be long and strong enough to tote that body, and to properly distribute weight between (or among) the axles. If you're buying used, you can probably find many trucks on dealers' lots - ones that were built for your kind of hauling - that will work. Still, it's good to check some basics, such as:
• Gross vehicle weight rating - GVWR is declared by the truck's builder, and appears on an ID plate somewhere in the cab or perhaps on the firewall. GVWR is the sum of the weights of the chassis, body, all anticipated equipment, plus the maximum payload. Payload capacity, in turn, is determined by the strength of the frame, suspensions, axles, and wheel-tire assemblies. But of course payload plus chassis/body weight must not exceed the vehicle's GVWR.
Honestly and accurately determine all those weights in your operation, add them up, then go shopping for a truck. Tell any sales person or seller what GVWR you think you'll need. It may be OK to buy a truck with more weight-carrying capacity than you need, but never buy one that's rated for less than your anticipated full gross weight.
• Powertrain - Diesel or gasoline, and automatic or manual transmission are your two main questions. Diesels are taking over the medium-duty markets, as they did many years ago in heavy trucks, because they are usually durable and stingy on fuel. There's still a place for gasoline engines, but only one domestic builder (and its import affiliate) still offers them. Arguments for gas include consumer use (meaning rental trucks), low mileage (20,000 or less per year) and the need to burn alternative fuels like propane.
Any horsepower rating is often "enough" for a non-driving owner, and never enough for any driver. But remember that a truck, especially one with a tall van body, must push air as well as carry the load. If you're inclined to be stingy with horsepower - or even if you're generous - add aerodynamic enhancers to the front of that truck body or to the cab's roof. A good aero-aid begins helping above 35 or 40 mph. It'll ease the work of the engine, let the truck cruise at a reasonable speed, and save you money in fuel.
• CA dimension - The right chassis will have enough frame space on which to mount the body. The space is called cab-to-axle, or CA, which is the distance from the cab's rear wall to the center of the drive axle (or from the cab to the center of the tandem, or CT). Sometimes exhaust or air-intake stacks behind the cab reduce that space, so "effective CA," which begins just behind that equipment, becomes the working figure.
• Wheelbase - The longer or shorter the wheelbase, the greater or lesser the CA. Of course, cab style (cabover or conventional) also comes into play. Generally, a cabover needs a shorter wheelbase and shorter overall length to mount the same body that might otherwise go on a conventional. This helps make cabovers maneuverable and useful in tight urban quarters. Conventionals have gotten more compact in recent years, and have other advantages - comfort and perceived collision safety, for instance - so they still account for 80% to 90% of sales, depending on weight class.
If you intend to buy a cab-and-chassis unit, first have in mind the type and length of the body that will go on it. If you've found a real bargain in a cab-and-chassis truck, whether new or used, remember that it won't be a bargain if it isn't right for your body. The CA of the chassis will be a varying amount of the body's length, with more or less overhang behind the axle allowable for varying types of bodies. For a 24-foot high-cube van, six feet of overhang might be OK; but for a dump truck, only a foot or two is allowable.
• Brakes - Air brakes are optional on many Class 6 and 7 trucks, and are favored by buyers of trucks with GVWRs of 28,000 pounds and up - but sometimes down to 24,000 or so. This is because an air brake system's foundation brakes (the actual stopping apparatus, usually consisting of drums and shoes) are beefy in size, and can absorb a lot of heat. That means they last a long time before replacement. And replacement shoes and other parts are common items, available at many parts shops as well as truck dealers. Plus, they're less expensive.
Hydraulic brakes generally have fewer square inches of lining material per pound of truck, so they can wear out faster. And the parts are often proprietary to the truck builder, so they must be purchased from the dealer at relatively high prices. However, engineers improved hydraulic braking systems during the '90s. Many systems now have high-performance discs at all four wheels, and on many trucks, hydraulic systems are approved right up to 32,000 or 33,000 pounds. If your truck does not need a compressed air system to run anything else, today's hydraulic brake systems are probably more than adequate.
• Tires and wheels - Try to get tires that are right for your application and wheels that are easy to maintain. Trucks today come standard with radial tires, but you may want to try to specify "urban" radials if yours is an entirely city operation where tires must bounce over curbs and combat potholes. A highway tire is better if your truck spends a lot of time on freeways. Wheels today are almost always steel discs, though you might want aluminum discs for light weight or appearance. Older used trucks might have spoked wheels, which may run on "split" rims for bias-ply tires. If you buy an oldie-but-goodie truck for limited use, be prepared to put up with higher maintenance and limited availability of parts, not just for wheels and tires, but many other items.
You can spend as much or as little time as you want in buying a midrange truck. Managers of big leasing fleets, for instance, develop specs as part of their jobs, and you might take some cues from them - or even buy their used trucks, if they're right for your hauling task. If you've got another business to run and can't afford to make truck specs a career, either buy the type of truck that successfully hauls what you do, or work with dealers so you'll get what's right for the job.
Specs For Resale
Common wisdom says the most efficient truck is one that's spec'd exactly to do the intended job. Yet a chassis and body set up in too specialized a fashion becomes an oddball that nobody but its original owner wants. That cripples prospects for resale. Which route - specialized or generalized - is better for you?
The longer you plan to keep a truck and body, the more sense it makes to design it just for yourself. Then again, if plans go awry and you have to dump the truck, you'd better have something that a second owner can use, and with features and componentry that he'll appreciate.
This is true even for dry van-type truck bodies, which constitute the majority of bodies built for medium-duty trucks, according to builders. Vans may seem a plain-vanilla structure to those who use something else, but in fact can vary greatly for their intended applications. They are often customized, but are also assembled with components that a lot of second users could appreciate.
There are many details and features that lots of midrange users find appealing because they are useful for load securement and delivery.
Furniture stores, for instance, buy vans with rear doors but usually no side doors, because trucks are loaded at docks and unloaded only out of the back. Buyers will want restraints - either hardwood slats to nail to or E-tracks to which hooks and other devices can be attached. Household goods movers may also want the restraining devices. However, they'd probably also want side doors so they can load and unload off of and onto a curb. If you've ever moved yourself and have rented a truck, you also know how important walk-in ramps and lift gates can be.
Forklift drivers can do a lot of damage. If your operation calls for lots of loading and unloading, you might want to look at a forklift package. These include stronger crossmembers in the rear, crush plates on the floor and steel scuffplates on the front wall. Many buyers choose translucent plastic roofs to improve visibility inside the body. They let in light but also heat up the interior somewhat.
Sides can be aluminum sheet-and-post type or fiberglass-reinforced plastic over plywood, commonly called FRP plywood or just FRP. Aluminum saves weight and is strong enough for most applications, as long as interior scuff plates protect the thin sheeting. Heavier "050" sheeting can be substituted for standard "040" sheeting, though it's usually not necessary. But if aluminum is joined with steel, be sure the two are insulated to avoid electrolysis damage.
Pickup & delivery vans can have any number of features, based on what's going to be hauled and how it's handled for example, in carts, individual boxes, or in trays. The various products and methods of packaging may require shelves of various types and ways to get the payload aboard.
If drivers will climb aboard, steps and handles are a good idea.
More fleets are buying curtainside vans, an innovation from Europe that can be loaded from side or rear, and of course can be unloaded in the same fashion. The metal-framed fabric sides slide fore or aft so the load can be accessed easily, but still cover and protect the cargo. One-side curtainsides are the latest; building supply haulers like this because it combines accessibility with a means of restraining loads. The solid side of the van can have E tracks and other devices to handle ties and braces.
Heavier duty roll-up doors are often chosen by buyers seeking to avoid maintenance expenses. Better doors and stainless steel rear frames, which don't rust and need no painting, are both good investments because second buyers are willing to pay extra for them.
Delivery vans sometimes get both lift gates and walk-in ramps - anything to make the driver's job safer, more convenient and less tiring.
A heavy lift gate affects the truck's cab-to-axle, or CA, dimension and therefore its wheelbase. To support the gate, the drive axle should be slightly more to the rear than on a chassis without a lift gate. Without the gate, a general rule of thumb is that 65% of the body should be ahead of the rear axle's centerline. For a 24-foot body, the resulting CA would be 186 to 187 inches.
Another chassis consideration is a frame "clean" of tanks, boxes and other equipment so the body can be quickly and easily joined to the chassis. Some truck builders make it a point to package all such equipment alongside the cab so the frame is clear from the cab's rear all the way back.
More imported chassis are going to the North American standard of 34 inches between rails. For the body builder this simplifies design and assembly, and, of course, installation.
And most chassis makers now include plug-in connectors for body wiring, which avoids any cutting into the chassis harness with resulting bugaboos to any number of electronic functions of the truck. However, there is no standard connector, so body people sometimes have to scramble to acquire special connectors for a job.
Lighting packages often include sealed wiring harnesses and light-emitting diode lamps. Sealed wiring reduces failures over the body's life while LEDs use less current and last far longer than traditional incandescent lamps. LEDs are desirable enough to be stolen, so buyers sometimes spec incandescent tail lights and LED clearance lamps, which are high up and harder to reach.
LED tail lights can also be secured inside sills and other metal housings. Leasing companies seeking to avoid repair expenses now spec tail lamps inside the corner posts. This takes them out from under the body, where lamps and wiring are subject to impacts and snagging. Electrical problems constitute the largest single maintenance expense for leasing companies, so such measures are considered good investments.
Most upgraded components add value without overly specializing the body. Forklift and lighting packages are examples of specs chosen by leasing companies. Horsepower has little to do with the body, but affects the driver's morale, so you need to be sure you have enough power to do the job and keep the drivers happy.
Even an empty van truck encounters considerable wind resistance. Modern aerodynamic improvers mounted high on the front end of the body can help significantly. A truck that drives better makes the driver happier, and he's more likely to take better care of the truck's body.
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