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Concept
Cab over
Summary
Cab-over, also known as cab over engine (COE), cab forward (U.S.), flat nose (Canada), or forward control (UK), is a body style of truck, bus, or van that has a vertical front, "flat face" or a semi-hood, with the cab of the truck sitting above (or forward of) the front axle. This contrasts with a conventional truck where the engine is mounted in front of the driver.
This truck configuration is currently common among European and Asian truck manufacturers. European regulations set restrictions for both the total length and the length of the load area, which allow a cab length of in combination with the maximum load area length. This allows a sleeper cab with a narrow bunk, and would allow a bonneted (hooded) day cab. Nonetheless, no manufacturer in Europe produces such day cabs with bonnets. The last manufacturer of a conventional in Europe, Scania, stopped production in 2005 due to a decline in sales to less than 1000 units worldwide, with European sales declining by 50% and sales in South America by 90%, within one decade. Generally speaking, Asian regulations are even stricter, and the relatively shorter journey distances allow more heavy trucks to forgo sleepers to save even more length.
Cabover trucks are widely used in the United States for refuse collection, terminal tractors, and other vocational applications requiring a tight turning radius or frequent ingress/egress by the driver. Autocar, the oldest surviving motor vehicle manufacturer in America, produces primarily cabover trucks. Although cabover trucks were popular among United States heavy truckers and trucking companies during the 1970s because of strict length laws in many states, when those length laws were repealed, most heavy-truck makers moved to other body styles. One of the reasons is the Federal Bridge Formula, which is unique to the US, and encourages spreading out the load. If axle distances are too tight, the maximum load allowance is reduced. For COEs operated at maximum weight in the US, this required an axle directly behind the front bumper.
Official source
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