In the USA,why Cab Over Engine trucks are produced anymore?
As other answers stated,these are still made often in Europe and other places around the world. And of course there is cab over box trucks everywhere in the United States.
The answer is simple. It involved two components. Safety and United States roads.
I’ll start with the roads. US roads are giant. They are wide and easy to move a truck around on. Some places are tighter than others. But the majority, and especially high semi truck traffic areas, are built to easily move a big semi truck with a long snout. In Europe, because the cities are older, the roads are smaller and harder to navigate. So it’s nice to have a cab over which are much easier to turn in tight spaces.
Now the reason they aren’t sold in the United States is since truckers don’t need the shorter trucks to navigate through the streets, why is there any reason to put them in more danger. If you hit a semi truck head on with a large engine sitting in front of the driver what happens? Yup you’re toast and the truck’s front end is messed up. The semi driver almost always climbs out unhurt. Now what happens if you hit a cab over head on? Well there is no more engine in the way so guess which part of the truck is pretty much smashed first? It’s the… dang what’s it called again… it’s like the most important piece of the truck… oh yeah! The truck driver.
It just dawned on me that I missed another huge reason cab overs aren’t as common. Maintenance costs. It is much, much easier to work on a semi truck with the long snout. Where engine access in much greater. The ease of access cuts down on labor costs. Since the mechanics doesn’t have to spend time getting to the engine and then trying to work in more cramped quarters. So if you don’t drive in a congested, tight area. Why buy a vehicle that costs you more in the long run.