For truck drivers, trucks are both vehicles and homes away from home. They need to be suitable for mobile and sedentary comfort, and the more they can automate the little tasks necessary for keeping a truck moving safely and efficiently, the better.
Long a leader in the trucking space, Volvo is making a big push to attract drivers to its brand with a refresh of its VNL line. Designed with the help of input from truckers, the VNL is meant to be the ultimate in driver comfort, and packs in a number of attractive features.
Wondering what you can expect from this vehicle? Here’s what future dispatching pros need to know.
Drivers Will Love the Comfortable Features Included in the VNL
Drivers spend a lot of time on the road, so it’s not surprising that the VNL is getting a lot of attention for the many little tweaks it has made to make it more comfortable.
Some relatively small tweaks are getting a lot of love. For example, the sleeper cab is nine inches longer and six inches wider than the previous iteration of the VNL, and includes a reclining bed. Neither change is huge, but the difference in terms of comfort is likely to be notable. Many compartments have also been added around the cab, making it a lot easier for drivers to store their things and keep their cabs nice and tidy. A number of other alterations have also been made to improve on the user experience in a number of other places within the truck.
Here is a closer look at the VNL’s luxurious interior:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76yRcaxtNN0]
Volvo claims to have spoken to many drivers and expects this sleeper truck will be a top seller for the company. If that prediction holds true, expect to see this model become hugely popular once you complete dispatch training. Whether you pursue a career as a driver manager, trainer, recruiter, or one of the many other options open to grads, you’ll soon see that comfortable trucks can go a long way towards keeping truckers happy while on the road.
After Dispatch Training, You Might See that Other Features of the VNL Are a Huge Upgrade
Fuel costs are a big expense for fleet owners, so the VNL’s aerodynamic improvements—which claim a 1 per cent improvement in fuel economy—could quickly add up to great savings for those fleets that adopt the vehicle.
The headlights, too, offer some compelling functionality. They’re LED, which means they consume little energy while in operation, and they also feature a unique automatic defrosting feature. For those drivers who find themselves working in colder climates, this is something that can be a great help in maintaining visibility, and something that would save a good amount of time, too.
Graduates of a transportation operations program will quickly see that reducing fuel costs is a top priority for many transportation businesses, but any opportunity to improve efficiency and safety is welcomed, too. For those reasons, these features of the VNL could be pretty popular within the industry.
The Inclusion of a Sway Bar Is Something Students in Dispatch Training Should Note
A sway bar helps reduce the amount of body roll, or movement, that occurs when turns are being made, or when a vehicle is driving over unusual terrain or through obstacles. They’re a popular addition to trucks over in Europe, but have never caught on in North America. The VNL could help change that.
The truck includes a sway bar that early testers of the truck have said does a great job of improving truck performance, and therefore driver experience, with turns or uneven terrain. While it does cost a little extra to include it with the model, it’s not a huge expense, and given the importance of efficient and stable transport, it’s something that transport companies may want to invest in when given the opportunity. Until the competition catches on to the utility of this kind of part, the VNL might be the only option for parties interested in buying one.
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