ATLANTA. A totally redesigned cab is coming to Autocar LLC’s line of Xpeditor refuse trucks in the second quarter this year. It provides drivers with more room, easier entry, and more forward and rear view visibility without affecting the chassis space available to body builders, Autocar said at Waste Expo this week.
“We did a survey about two years ago of refuse operators – municipal and commercial, larger and small – in part to get design feedback on our cabs,” Tom Vatter, Autocar’s vp-sales & marketing, explained to FleetOwner. “From that and other feedback we knew we needed to lower the height of the cab to allow for easier entry and exit for the driver, expand overall interior cab space and belly room behind the wheel, improve visibility, and add more interior storage.”
Autocar’s new cab design resulting from this feedback offers an extra 18 cubic ft. of interior space, tilt steering wheel for more belly room, under-seat storage areas and cup holders, plus a curved front windshield matched by a larger single-piece rear window and corner windows to give the driver an expanded view when backing up, said Vatter. On top of that, the cab as a whole is five inches lower to the ground, he noted.
“This is the same tough cab as before – it’s just bigger and offers a wider range of safety, convenience, and ease-of-use improvements,” Vatter said. “It’s manufactured entirely of fully welded, two-sided galvanized steel – doors included. Added to the new multiplexed wiring system we unveiled last year – which reduced cab wiring by almost two-thirds– electronic HVAC system with 28% better efficiency and integrated camera monitor, it’s a much more driver-friendly and easier to maintain cab.”
