What are the hottest and most popular accessories in the current European truck market? Is it an induction cooker on board, plus parking air conditioning? Or do you change the tire frame and add the on-board water tank? In today's article, Tigot Commercial Vehicle Network has compiled some unique and fun add-ons for you. As today's "phenomenal" products, they are becoming more and more popular in Europe. What are you waiting for? Get into our article today!
Cutting-edge attempts from "commercial companies or official bodies"
In order to make the truck more comfortable, or in order to better protect the rights and interests of drivers, many commercial companies and official institutions in Europe are doing a lot of cutting-edge exploration on the truck, let's first look at their "bold attempts".
Roof solar panels
Starting in 2022, more and more transportation companies are installing solar panels on top of truck cabs. This configuration is generally more common on large cars and is used to charge the on-board battery, thereby reducing the use of the engine during the waiting process at the stop. More recently, Duvenbeck, one of Europe's largest transport companies, announced that it would begin testing on-board solar panels and consider installing the configuration for all of its 1,500 trucks.
Initial testing selected a Mann TGX XLX model. The vehicle features three sets of flexible solar panels from The Danish company Green Energy, each with a thickness of 3 millimeters. Two groups are arranged to the left and right of the top of the cab and one group is arranged on top of the deflector. The company claims that this solution will improve the problem of electricity distress when parking for long periods of time, reduce the working time of the engine, and reduce the burden on the on-board generator.
Renault, a truck manufacturer from France, has also developed a roof deflector with integrated solar panels for its new generation of T-Series trucks, with a maximum power generation of 300 watts, without affecting the parking air conditioning arrangement on the roof, and enjoys the original factory warranty. This original product is also the first time in the industry and deserves attention.
Fuel tank burglar alarm
With the soaring fuel prices in Europe and the shortage of urea for vehicles, there are more and more cases of diesel and even urea being stolen from European trucks. In the past six months, the number of crimes of stealing oil and urea has soared by more than 100%. In order to cope with the "fuel consumption", European truck drivers have to equip fuel tanks and urea tanks with better safety measures.
In fact, almost all European truck manufacturers offer options for fuel burglar systems. They are generally installed on the tank mouth and work based on the siphon principle to prevent the fuel from being pumped out. But if you encounter outlaws who punch holes in the fuel tank to steal oil, this anti-theft system is useless. In response to this problem, several truck accessory manufacturers have introduced new fuel burglar systems such as the one shown above. They are mounted on the side walls of the tank, and a set of systems with multiple vibration sensors acts as a preventive role by detecting abnormal vibrations. The driver uses the remote control to manually open or close it, open it when parking, and as soon as the vibration is detected, the system will loudly alarm, intending to scare the fuel guzzle away.
Cab door lock
Recently, there have been many cases of parking lot crimes in Europe. Many offenders take advantage of truck drivers' rest to get in the car to steal or rob. The truck's lock electronic system is simply vulnerable and primitive compared to the passenger car's, and there are many electronic devices that can interfere with the lock. To this end, more and more truck manufacturers are starting to integrate cab door locks for the cab, such as Mercedes-Benz, Scania, Renault, IVECO and other companies we have seen before. The door lock will lock the cab door in a purely mechanical way on the boarding armrest to ensure the safety of the driver.
Cab anti-theft net
Even with parking locks, robbers who don't stop doing nothing are likely to break the windows and crawl into the cab. In order to combat this situation, the window anti-theft net, which is very popular in Brazil, has gradually become a new choice for European truck drivers. It is made of high-strength fabric and metal wire, and is bolted to the A and B pillars of the vehicle, which usually does not affect ventilation. When the cab glass is broken, it can buy the driver time to call the police.
Forced electronic handbrake
In June 2016, near the German city of Weistendorf, a DUF XF 105 crushed his driver. The driver forgot to pull the handbrake when he got out of the car, and when the vehicle slipped due to gravity, he tried to jump into the car and brake the truck, but he was swept under the car and died on the spot, all of which was witnessed by his colleagues. This tragic accident put the mandatory equipment of electronic handbrakes on the agenda.
The European Union has decided to make it mandatory to equip newly produced trucks with an electronic handbrake system in 2024. The electronic handbrake must work automatically, activating when the vehicle stops and changes into a neutral gear, so as to avoid the driver forgetting to pull the handbrake and causing tragedy. The provision was proposed by Germany, where between 2011 and mid-2018 there were 65 accidents caused by trucks without handbrakes, killing 25 people and causing tens of millions of euros in economic damage. For safety, the classic pneumatic handbrake will disappear from the truck cab, the latest configuration for European truckers.
Truck Rollover Simulator
At first glance, it was a cab without a chassis, making it feel like it had just entered a repair shop. In fact, this device is called a rollover simulator, which is the latest product introduced by many training institutions and transportation departments in Europe. It uses a cab removed from an old truck, which is 100% identical to the real truck driving environment.
Once activated, the cab rotates to the overturning position under the action of the motor, which is used to simulate the scene of the truck overturning the highway in an accident. This training aims to teach drivers to deal with this dangerous situation and change habits such as seat belts and handrails in daily driving, resulting in a safer driving process.
Practical modification of the "Great Folk God"
In addition to the forefront modification of the above-mentioned companies or institutions, in the private sector, there are also many truck drivers who have the wisdom of modification, and finally, let's take a look at the practical modification of these truck drivers " folk gods".
Indigenous snowplows
The thick layer of snow increases the weight of the trailer and also increases the likelihood that the trailer structure will collapse. Therefore, before starting again, the snow on the top of the trailer should be cleared. In Europe, many service stations have installed elevated platforms to help drivers clear snow from the roof. But the number is too small, who wants to queue up to clear the snow?
As long as thinking does not slip downhill, there are always more ways than problems. Krzysztof, a driver from Poland, made a snowplow and uploaded a video of the tutorial to Facebook, which received a lot of attention. He bolted together aluminum plates, wooden sticks and brushes to make this strange thing.
With this device, truck drivers can clean the snow on the roof of their vehicles on their own, taking as little as five to seven minutes. The bolted-on allows the device to be quickly disassembled and carried with the vehicle. Krzysztof also recommends that the chosen sticks be at least 3 cm in diameter, otherwise there is a high risk of fragmentation. After the tutorial was issued, many drivers learned to do a set.
Pull out the toilet
People have three rushes. When transporting long distances, it is common to hold back. It is indecent to solve the problem on the side of the road, there is still a long distance to the service station, and you can't always pull your pants, right? Many drivers carry portable toilets with absorbents that are used to solve this problem. Herman Ribberink, a driver from the Netherlands, modified his car with a pull-out toilet fixed under a sleeper, and its core is still a sealed bag with absorbent, but it integrates a toilet seat, which is more friendly to the driver and takes up less space. In addition, truck manufacturers such as DUF have also taken a keen interest in this unique accessory.
From these configurations, the future development of European trucks is still quite interesting. In the overall direction, safer and more comfortable is still the core of future development. Of course, whether it is the official agency or the truck drivers themselves, their attempts or explorations have also provided us with a lot of reference experience.
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Text: Heseaotter