Small hauling companies, family businesses and owner-operators take pride in their trucks, tractors and big rigs. Typically, they also take the time and effort to present their spotless and colorful vehicles to the public at the truck shows.
Among this group of owners, Scania, Volvo and DAF are the preferred suppliers in the Netherlands, which became almost painfully obvious when I visited last year’s edition of the WSI XXL show; there was just a handful of vehicles from the other truck makers (MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Iveco and Renault) in a sea of Swedish and Dutch rides. Enjoy the tour, I know that I did.
2017 DAF XF 460 FT tractor with a Super Space Cab. The model designation explained: the XF is DAF’s top model, it has a 460 DIN-hp engine (a 12.9 liter inline-6) and FT stands for Frontstuur Trekker, a cabover (4×2) tractor.
2016 DAF XF 440 FT, also with the truck maker’s Super Space Cab. Its engine is a 10.8 liter inline-6.
2012 Mercedes-Benz Actros 4146 8×4 truck with a heavy Fassi crane behind the cab, owned by the globally operating heavy-haulage specialist Mammoet (Mammoth).
Christian Lerche from Denmark brought his late model Scania S500 tractor to the show. This generation of heavy Scanias was introduced in the summer of 2016.
2016 Volvo FM 6×2 roll off truck for hauling open top containers. A huge one, in this case. The FM is Volvo’s mid-size truck model, this one has a 10 metric tons front axle.
A traditional 6×2 chassis, meaning a truck or tractor with a non-steering, liftable tag axle with dual wheels.
2018 Iveco Stralis Hi-Way tractor with 440 DIN-hp from an 11.1 liter inline-6. Obviously a demo. The tractor features a steering and liftable pusher axle with single wheels (often super singles); highly common, as can be seen in many of the following pictures.
The total axle load at the rear is 19 metric tons (7.5 for the pusher axle plus 11.5 for the drive axle), exactly the same as the tandem of a factory 6×2 -like the yellow Volvo further above- or 6×4 chassis.
2017 Volvo FH 6×2 refrigerated truck for transporting fresh onion products. That’s what it says on its side.
2018 DAF XF 480 FTG Super Space Cab. The letter G means that the tractor is equipped with a steering and liftable pusher axle. Owner Goedegebuure likes a Less-is-More look and so do I. What a magnificent, super clean machine.
And the DAF truck logo of yore, as seen here on the back of the roof, will never fade away. It’s simply too phenomenal.
2017 Scania R580 8×4 tow truck with a 16.4 liter V8. This beast, with a curb weight of 25,170 kg, represents the top segment of tow trucks, perfectly capable of repatriating the heaviest vehicles from all over Europe.
2017 Scania R650 tractor, naturally with a V8. It has a 9 metric tons front axle, as always the drive axle is good for 11.5 metric tons maximum axle load.
Many drivers still like an old-school steering wheel. As an aside, the interior reminds me of a legendary David Lynch movie.
This must be one of Mr. Sneepels’ former tractors, on the back of the cab of his current set of wheels.
2017 DAF XF 510 FTG Super Space Cab.
2010 Volvo FH 8×2 tractor with a Palfinger crane, 500 hp from a 12.8 liter inline-6. Pitch-black and orange, a rather unusual color combination, but it’s looking just fine. Well done!
Michel Kramer’s Street Judge 2.0, a 2017 Scania S580 tractor.
It’s towing a 2015 Broshuis 2CONnect double semi-trailer for transporting shipping containers. The whole combination has 5 steering axles: 2 on the tractor, both axles of the first semi-trailer and the last axle of the second semi-trailer.
Another one, a 2013 Scania R520 with a 2018 Broshuis 2CONnect double semi-trailer.
This is the first, front semi-trailer.
And the whole combination, connected and ready to rumble. Of course the semi-trailers can also be used separately.
This video shows how it all works.
2016 DAF XF 460 FT Super Space Cab. A fully covered frame has become quite common on owner-operator tractor units.
2017 Scania S580 6×2 tractor.
An LZV, also called an ecocombi. That’s any combination with a maximum overall length of 25.25 m (82’10”) and rated at a GVM of 60 metric tons. The tractor is a 2018 Volvo FH 4×2.
Another LZV configuration, with a 2014 Volvo FH 6×2 truck as a starting point.
2015 DAF XF 510 FTG Super Space Cab.
On the right, a 2016 DAF XF 440 FT Space Cab. A forefather on the left, a 1986 DAF 3300 ATi (Advanced Turbo Intercooling) Space Cab.
Classy and with a perfect stance, this 2018 Scania S520 tractor. Scania-Vabis (on the back of the cab) is the truck maker’s pre-1969 name, the old name has become some sort of badge of honor.
And then I noticed the much older, orange Scania 143 Streamline COE (with the silver striping) in the background of these pictures…
…an almost identical tractor is driving aroung in North America, it’s a small world indeed! I’m quite positive that both Scanias were originally owned by the same Dutch company, S. Verbeek.
2018 Scania S450 (12.7 liter inline-6) 6×2 truck with an HMF crane and a drawbar trailer. Because of the permanent weight of the crane, the Scania has a 10 metric tons front axle. Typically, such low flatbed trucks and trailers are used to transport machinery and big aggregates.
2017 DAF XF 460 FTG Super Space Cab. Hop in!
Meanwhile….what’s cooking? Most certainly not a Burgundian meal, I’d say.
2018 DAF XF 480 FAN Super Space Cab. FAN: DAF-language for a cabover 6×2 truck chassis with a steering tag axle (single wheels).
The DAF tows a 2008 Van Eck mid-axle trailer. This type of trailers is easier to reverse than the more traditional -yet still widely used- type of drawbar trailers, an example can be seen in the picture below.
Another advantage is the very short distance between the truck and the trailer. The trailer has cargo doors at the front, with a small ramp the (un)loading process of the whole combination can be done in one movement.
2017 Volvo FH16 6×2 truck with 750 horses from the truck maker’s 16.1 liter inline-6.
2017 DAF XF 480 FT Super Space Cab.
2016 Scania R450 (12.7 liter inline-6) tractor.
2016 Liebherr mobile crane, type LTM 1070-4.2.
2017 Scania S450 4×2 truck, towing a mid-axle trailer with 3 axles.
So, what are the “premium” truck brands in your part of the world?
Some previous 2018 WSI XXL truck show reports:
CC Global: Scania Quartet – Three Livestock Haulers And One Reefer
CC Global: The Typical European Eighteen-Wheeler Rolls On Twelve Wheels
Very interesting article, and great pics! I did see that most of the tractors are dual axle. Watch truck and traffic videos from eastern Europe area a lot, And have noticed that most if not all tractors are single axle, and the trailers are triple axle. The opposite of tractor-trailer combos in North America, Wonder why this is? Any European truckers out there that know?
For many decades, the norm for a big rig on the continent was a tractor with 2 axles, towing a semi-trailer with 2 axles (and dual wheels). That was basically all you needed, given the maximum GVM ratings throughout Europe back then, certainly for international haulage.
Note that the maximum GVM ratings were -and still are- fairly higher in the Netherlands and Scandinavia than, for example, in Germany and the UK; traditional 6×2 and 6×4 tractors have always been very common here thanks to the 50,000 kg (110,231 lbs) weight limit for standard rigs.
During the seventies, the semi-trailers in Europe got 3 axles with 6 super singles as the new norm. Click on the link at the bottom of the article for more info and pictures.
For international Euro-transport, the maximum GVM is 40,000 kg (88,185 lbs) these days. Like driving from the Netherlands to Spain. Any standard 4×2 tractor with a tridem-semi-trailer can do that job.
In Brazil the “premium” truck brands are Scania and Volvo, at least as far as I’m concerned.
DAF and MAN are relatively new players in our market so I’m not qualified to say anything. Mercedes Benz and Iveco might be considered by most drivers as second tier brands, and VW and Ford are probably at the bottom level. No American or Japanese truck makers around here. International has tried in the 2000’s but failed and exited.
DAF trucks have been around here a bit longer 🙂 The permanent market share, from year to year, in their home country is around 30%.
Thanks for the information. Do you know which brands are the top sellers of heavy tractors in Europe as a whole ? Is there a huge difference when comparing countries or regions of the continent? I assume some brands may have bigger market shares at their own country (i.e. MAN in Germany and so on).
Sometimes there are historic reasons for popularity of certain brands in certain countries. Just based on what I’ve seen, Mercedes seems unusually popular in Iberia, Volvo and Scania are dominant in Scandinavia.
DAF is strong in Britain, and the 7.5 ton market there was (possibly still is) dominated by IVECO and DAF partly because they inherited the dealer networks and market share of Ford and Leyland, respectively.
More recently, some Foden fleets sleepwalked into becoming DAF fleets, ERF fleets to MAN.
Not too long ago, the 2015 market shares in the EU/EFTA countries:
I wonder about the placement of exhaust pipes in the modern lorries as compared to ones in the past.
When my family holidayed in Europe every couple of years in the late 1970s and 1980s, one thing that irritated us the most was those exhaust pipes routed to the side at the same level as the passenger car’s windows.
Driving along the twisty and hilly Route 500 between Freiburg and Titisee during the summer times was horrendous, especially with windows rolled down in the cars lacking air conditioning. We’d get blast of soot from the lorries as they rumbled past us on the opposite side of road. Don’t get me started on being stuck on the Autobahn with lorries on the slow lanes spewing at us every few metres.
My father made sure that his hired cars in Germany had air conditioning system since he was so spoilt by living in Dallas and driving American cars. It took a lot of effort on car hire agency to ensure that his wish was fulfilled every time.
From the factory, trucks and tractors have a side-pipe, just like in the past. The shiny stacks you see in the pictures are aftermarket.
Yeah been driving stock DAFs recently underfloor exit exhaust is standard exit is right side just behind the cab.
I started trucking at the age of 21 in 1986, and my first truck was a DAF 2800 like the 3600 in the picture. 280 hp was enough to drive all over Europe, Spain, Greece, eastern-europe, name it and we went there.
Did that for only 5 years, but looking at todays trucks I sometimes want to do it all over again. Our luxury was a power window on the passenger side and not much more. 😂
Numerous DAFs 2800/3300/3600 trucks and tractors from the seventies and eighties were exported to Africa after their Dutch/Euro-jobs. The guys there liked them for their durability and simplicity.
Was DAF the first European manufacturer to offer “high” sleeper cabs? Am I wrong or Scania was a little late to offer one like that (maybe in the 2 Series around mid 80’s or in the 3 Series) ?
Have a look here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-capsule-the-reason-why-european-long-distance-trucks-are-so-tall/
Scania was indeed late to the party. The 4-series had the first tall factory roof (as in Globetrotter and Space Cab tall).
Really nice, thanks a lot.
I kinda miss the DAFs I was driving, the quiet and comfort, the manual roadrangers, OK at 510hp they are a bit underpowered for some of the terrain here but that was never a problem, just change down. Eaton Fuller Ultrashift automated 18 transmission may have all the latest technology but its stupid when left to its own devices, lift off for a tight bend pulling uphill it changes up then changes down too many gears when the load comes back on, manual mode doesnt help the program overides the driver, I guess it works fine on nice smooth US freeways but on our steep bumpy twisty ‘highways’ its well out of its depth, I’m runnning up and down the Kaikoura coast highway recently reopened after massive earthquake damage, night runs, thats the other thing I miss decent lights not the cab top rubbish just good headlights.
Great job as usual. I always enjoy your posts. Some seriously beautiful ( and no doubt expensive) machines there. We have a lot of Volvo’s here, as well as Kenworth here in the Pacific Northwest, USA
So different to see brand new cab over sleepers in such large numbers as they are long gone here in the states. These Super Space cabs would cause my drivers to quit on the spot! Our new Petes are like small houses compared to them.
The serious issue with your new Petes here -and in many other parts of the world- is that they wouldn’t make it through the first corner. Well, not without serious damage anyway.
I would have like to see pic’s of the sleeper section. I wonder how wide the sleeping area is?
daf.co.uk
That guy is probably 4’11” 😉
I think I last saw that guy riding in the middle of the front bench in a K-car ad in the early 80’s showing all the room for six people! Look at all the space!
Great pix, JD, as usual, thank you so much, simply stunning machinery,
Around here (Colorado) we see a lot of Freightliner, bunch of Volvo, and some but not a huge amount of KW and Peterbilt. International seems to be getting a bit more popular again as of late.
In my much younger years, way before the days of the interwebs, I used to read multiple Dutch, Belgian and German truck magazines. Kenworth and especially Peterbilt were the US “premium” brands back then. At least, that’s my understanding from what I’ve read.
If that’s still the case, the PACCAR family business offers premium truck brands on both sides of the pond…
…he certainly doesn’t need the raised roof to be able to walk around/stand up straight in the cab…