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International in Brasil , originally uploaded by tuning keifer.

Here’s a good shot of the International cabover sold in Brazil. If Caterpillar trucks are going to be sold here as a cabover then this is probably the design they will be based on.

The design looks pretty basic, reminiscent of the K104 from a few years ago. Imagine this truck with the Cat style grille they are selling in Australia and you can see we are going to have something very similar to a K200 at first glance. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Will they need to set the axle forward or will the 6.5 tonne front axle be able to handle this axle position?

Australia will have a long wait for a Cat cabover, plans for new models don’t seem that well advanced at the moment. They’ve got to sell the trucks they have already built first!

Scania have come up with a cruise control system which uses GPS to know when it is approaching an ascent or descent and acting accordingly to save fuel. This video goes through the way the system works and how effective it can be but also reveals they have only mapped Europe so far. It’s going to be a long time until they create a map for us here in Australia.

etruck has just returned from Japan after a visit to the Tokyo Motor Show as the guest of Fuso trucks. Life seems to be getting back to normal for the Japanese truck manufacturers after their no show at the previous show in 2009.

Fuso had plenty of new stuff to show on their stand. See video below:

We are used to big calls from manufacturers but this seems a massive claim, to save 8% on fuel by using this European trailer. Yes, it is true tapered designs and vortex control on the trailing edges is going to get you some significant savings. But 8%? I think not!

Montracon claims new aerodynamic trailer will save operators 8% in fuel costs.

This week etruck got the first opportunity, for a journalist, to drive the latest version of the Freightliner Argosy. Unfortunately, it was an extremely wet day in Victoria and one of the main problems was raindrops on lenses. That aside, the truck performed well and it was a great chance to see how the new Detroit DD 15 engine copes with running at 60 tonnes on a B-double. When you actually get up close and personal with the new model it is surprising how striking the new grille is. The whole of the front of the truck has a much more modern ‘designed’ feel to it.

Freightliner Aargosy, originally uploaded by Beast 1.

Great shot of the new Argosy, this looks like a publicity shot but I am not sure where it comes from. The new grille is very different and gives a completely new chharacter to the truck.

See more on this truck later this week, as etruck has got the chance to test drive an Argosy. Watch this space!

There seems to be a consensus, this is the new Volvo FH out on the road, in disguise, during a testing program. If it is true, and Volvo don’t seem to be reacting too strongly so that’s tacit confirmation, then the new truck is looking like a lot of its rivals. There is a hint of Stralis, Actros and MAN in this vision, Volvo look like they are going to lose their clear differentiation of design.

The law of aerodynamics is clearly king as all cab designs get closer to the perfect shape and more and more similar. The need to ram more and more cool clean air into the cooling system also stimulates the need for front-end redesigns to increase airflow. Truck design in Europe is all about fitting as much internal space and equipment as possible into a tiny envelope at the front of a 16.5 m long semi including a 13.6 m long trailer.

The implications for us in Australia are a long way off. This new cab may not appear for the introduction of Euro 6 in Europe (2013), but this would be the right opportunity when it comes along. For us in Australia, Euro 6 is a long way off and the current cab has been able to kick plenty of goals in its XXL guise. The chances of there being an extra long version of this new cab are not too high so there will be a reluctance on the part of Volvo here to introduce a new shape.