For decades “cabin design has remained largely-similar for the simple reason that legislation restricts the overall dimensions of a truck”, according to Bart Van Lotringen, DAF’s Director of Design. Truck drivers need to drive, work, relax and sleep in a space smaller than a student’s studio apartment ౼ often for days on end.
Recent regulations, however, have opened the door to breakthrough design. “Regulations have significantly altered, and created a paradigm shift,” he says. “The loading length is still restricted to 13.5 m, but the overall length of the truck is now left open as long as the turning circle meets the usual standard. Designers can choose how long to make the cabin, with the condition that any extension must improve aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, safety and driver comfort”. With this new design freedom, Van Lotringen and his team literally went back to the drawing board, designing a new cabin from scratch: DAF’s New Generation trucks.
Safety first
“We set out to eliminate the strains of driving,” says Van Lotringen.
"Our philosophy is: Hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. That’s why we started with a best-in-class intuitive Human Machine Interface: all important driving control buttons are directly on the steering wheel – or logically positioned on the stalks. No touch screens. Physical buttons. Just like the drivers want to have it, as they stated during the extensive sounding boards we organised. In addition, we added unprecedented visibility with no less than 33% larger windscreens ; unseen in the industry! We wanted to maximise direct vision ౼ the more you can see and the more eye contact you can have with others on the road, the better you can interact and avoid accidents.”
