Truckers' Q&A

[KubaJAM]

Hey guys,

I figured there are many people who are real truckers on this forum. I also figured out there are many people on this forum who love trucks, and/ or would love to be truckers. This is why I have created...

"Truckers' Q&A"

This may not end well.

This is how it works:
- Any non-truck driver can post a question on here that they would like to be answered by a trucker.
- Any trucker can answer a question posted by a non-trucker.

Now, I figured that this could get a bit hectic, so I'm going to state some "rules", but I'm not a forum moderator and I'm not trying to enforce anything. If we could try and stick to a plan that would be great, though.

In general:
- Truckers only answer what they want to answer.
- Therefore, if your question isn't answered, please try not to get annoyed or too persistent - only ask once.
- Truckers please quote the question they are answering.
- If it is a generic question like "Where is Paris?" non-truckers are allowed to answer.
- I'll say a maximum of five questions per post to avoid confusion.

I'm happy to receive any further suggestions by PM.

So...

1) What is the greatest truck you have ever driven?

2) What is the most interesting delivery you have taken?

3) Please can somebody explain to me the numbering system on DAF trucks (what does the 105 mean), Volvo trucks (16 in FH16?) and MAN (e.g 26.680?)

4) What is the greatest mileage/ kms you have clocked up on a single truck?

5) How does ETS 2 compare with real life? (Ok, I know this is a pretty obvious one, but still)

Thanks guys.

[warstrikerrr]

1. I've driven Volvo one time, and i'm more attached to the Scania R560 that i am currently driving.

2. No idea, most loads are different than others, But i have delivered a car once, so that might be it.

3. Daf 105.510 for an example is "105 <-- is the model" 510 is the horses.
Volvo FH16 is just the model name. FH16s engine goes from 540 up to 750 horses while the normal FH volvos has engines up to 480.

And last of all the older scanias Let's say Scania 143L 420 <---- "14" stands for engine (14 liter engine). the 3 is the model "3 series". The L is the cabin type. 420 is the amount of horses.

4. Alot. You drive over 400-600 km a day, and that is 4 days a week. (10 hour shifts) and so on.

5. Wouldn't call it too realistic, you don't really feel the "truck". The maps is nothing like real life.
But for a simulator game, it is a very very good progress.

[TheScaniaBoy]

1. The nicest truck I drove with was a SCANIA R620 V8 with an open pipe

2. My most interesting load was a delivery to a ship in the harbour of Kiel where I had to unload next to a ship. The load was just some food, but still interesting to unload at such a location

3. MAN 18.440 means: 18 is the weight the truck can pull on the drive axle and 440 is the horsepower

4. I drive daily up to 350 kilometres, sixt times a week

5. In real life I don't have to attach a trailer, drive to a company and detach it there. I have to load my truck up, secure the load and unload it myself. I think there will never be a simulator who can simulate that work, because there are just too many different types of goods.

[LaFuAzz]

I wonder if some of you guys could tell what kind of loads you are transporting. I like to make my own loads in ETS and I am stuck now because almost everything I could imagine is in use now (about 70 new loads by myself exclusive Jazzycats work) and I don't want things twice.
Best regards,
Wilbert a.k.a. La_FuAzz

[TheScaniaBoy]

I wonder if some of you guys could tell what kind of loads you are transporting

I haul fruits and vegetables for supermarkets and after I unloaded I drive to load 23 tons of bananas back to my hometown

[CaptainFlint]

The game implements a special external sound distortion, lowering its pitch when you're sitting in cabin, so that:
a) when a small car is beeping, it sounds almost (but not quite entirely) like a train or another truck;
b) when I pass some road-fixing activity, with outside camera the pneumatic hammer sounds like a burst of machine-gun fire, but in cabin I hear a succession of separate individual "strokes" at significantly slower rate.

Do the sounds really change this way when you are in a truck cabin?

[Alexxz]

1) What is the greatest truck you have ever driven?: I would say that it's the new Volvo FH, I am 197cm tall and the new Volvo FH is one of the few trucks where i can actually stand tall in the middle floor without hitting my head in the roof. I also like the new gearbox for the new FH, its fast and changes gears really smooth. Tho I got to hand it to Scania too, their new Streamline series has a complete new gearbox which is also very fast at changing gears and quite a lot better at knowing what gears to kick in and so on, we had a majority of Scania trucks at work and non of them were really good here in northern Norway since all the downhills and uphills they rarely knew what gears to use and you lost all the power you had if you let the automatic gearbox gear on its own. During winter we usually switched the button to manual mode(We had to pull a "stick" up or down to change gears by our own then) and therefor didnt lose as much power or traction as we did on auto.

But my conclusion is that the new Volvo FH is still the in both gearbox, engine, drivers space, comfort and so on!

2) What is the most interesting delivery you have taken?: I wouldnt say I have had any really interesting deliverys, I havent like driven any big like windmill wings or so on. But I would dare to say that my whole job is interesting, living in Norway and working there especially the north is interesting and just stunningly beautiful. During winter its basically just dark up here and we get about 2 or 3 hours of light per day, however in the summer the sun never sets. Ive been driving a couple of times from Narvik to a city called Alta high up in Norway during night time and its just so majestic to look out and its still daylight out at 2 and 3 in the night and you see all the fjords and mountains. A couple of reindeer too usually theyre on the road and theyre just really stupid but beautiful animals.

3) Please can somebody explain to me the numbering system on DAF trucks (what does the 105 mean), Volvo trucks (16 in FH16?) and MAN (e.g 26.680?): I cant speak about the DAF nor MAN since i havent really been driving them so much, but in a Volvo I would say the numbers stand for the size of the cabin and truck. The FH itself is the biggest Volvo type and in FH you can get 12, 13 or 16 if im not completely wrong and I think thats about the sizes of the cabin. Not certain about it tho.

4) What is the greatest mileage/ kms you have clocked up on a single truck?: Cant say I have on any truck since at my company we rotate the trucks since the cargo is really time sensetive we got to rotate drivers a lot and the trucks barely stand still anytime.

5) How does ETS 2 compare with real life? (Ok, I know this is a pretty obvious one, but still): It's a good game and they have moved quite a lot forward since the first Euro Truck Simulator. However I would like to see some other combos in the game than just trailers, I used to drive 25.25m long trucks in Sweden and that would be fun to have in a future game, there's like loads of different combos they can add if they just had the time and resources.

[Jan Verschueren]

When reversing around a corner with a trailer, is there a trick to judging when to start straightening up? -it seems I can "cut in" ok, and I manage to keep a steady angle between the trailer and the truck, but for some reason I usually start straightening up a fraction too late, so I end up having to pull forward to correct. Not the end of the world, obviously, but it's getting a bit frustrating I can't seem to "nail" this.

[realdeal350]

What would be the best gear to start in?

[keesjan8]

1) What is the greatest truck you have ever driven?
Drive 3 types of trucks a DAF CF 360pk our own truck with trailer (no extra's but drives like a charm), DAF XF 480 PK this is a combi that a friend of mine drives and we go double manned sometimes this thing is a beast last one is our own Scania which is a 230 PK it is a small truck (bakwagen) and when fully loaded he has a hard time going uphill

2) What is the most interesting delivery you have taken?
Most intresting delivery was hauling young roses from Bleiswijk (Netherlands) to Flughafen Frankfurt Hahn (Germany) But normally flower and young plants transportation in the Netherlands. Most close by which is fun because you get to know the customer and sometimes end up on really small roads so you can show them how to drive

3) What is the greatest mileage/ kms you have clocked up on a single truck?
The CF has run 650.000 KM but I just started driving so most is done by my co-worker. Single day longest drive was Germany 10 hour drive which was around 850 KM. Normal days low amount of kms because of clients close by so lots of loading/unloading less driving

What would be the best gear to start in?

I always start in second gear, go to fourth gear and then 5,6,7,8.
But it depends on the load because young plants are not so heavy with heavy loads you sometimes need to take it a little easier.

PS. If I find a nice picture of the trucks I am driving I will post them here soon