[jbkiv]

I remember when Mercedes Benz bought Freightliner, the major US truck manufacturer,in the 80s. The Mercedes Benz engineeers were astonished to see how UN-sophisticated the engineering of Freightliner trucks was. Example: no assisted steering!!! That choice was justified as more macho. I was told that assisted steering was not manly enough...

[anarazel]

The noise level of some US trucks still surprises me. Jet engine like.

[LinuxBender]

If it's when they are slowing down it's likely the jake-brakes j-brakes you are hearing especially if they have straight pipes. Diesel engines don't have engine braking by design so a mechanism was added to the heads to create artificial engine braking that can be toggled on per head.

[ Edit for clarification: ] I have created some confusion with this statement. For clarification diesel engines never had engine braking due to the lack of a throttle plate but this has been worked around with add-ons using different techniques. On a big-rig this is jake-brakes. On smaller modern vehicles this is usually a small turbo or an exhaust baffle. The operator of a modern diesel vehicle will effectively experience engine braking when they let off the throttle. On older diesel pickups and cars there was no engine braking.

[kfarr]

There can be value in simplicity - fewer things to break and easier to repair.

[CountSessine]

Exactly. The irony of Mercedes-Benz engineers marveling at how unsophisticated a simply-engineered vehicle is brought a smile to my face. Most owner-operator truck drivers want to be able to fix and maintain their trucks on their own, not bring the truck into the dealer every 3 months like some temperamental S-class.

Although I guess Mercedes was still pretty reliable back in the 80's.

[iSnow]

That's not something a German engineer will easily understand, though :)

[throwaway0a5e]

It's really easy to spin a naive fanboy (of a particular brand, technology or otherwise) narrative like this and when you aim your tropes ("ze backwards yankees") right at audience's bias you're sure to get a bunch of virtue points in response.

The fact of the matter is that there's very, very, few secrets in the automotive and heavy equipment industries. If someone is or isn't doing something it's because they've run the numbers and they don't think it pencils out for what they build and who they sell to.

[reaperducer]

It's really easy to spin a naive fanboy narrative like this and when you aim your tropes right at audience's bias you're sure to get a bunch of virtue points in response.

That's one of the big problems with internet blogs. They do a bunch of Googling and speculation and that's it. Laughably, they sometimes they even call themselves "journalists."

How hard would it have been to go to a truck stop and sit at the counter and ask some truckers? They know all about trucks. And after being along all day, truckers love to talk.

If you're afraid of people, get a $10 CB radio from Goodwill and talk to them on the radio.

[brudgers]

Historically, Freightliner’s reputation was for driving fast…and you would be prudent to get out of the way when one was coming into the mirrors.

Speed perhaps explains the lack of power steering. In multiple ways.

[potamic]

What does speed have to do with power steering?

[EricE]

Extra crap = extra weight. Extra crap = extra complexity = extra maintenance costs. "Sophistication" does not always equal better!

More macho - what a laugh! Keep it stupid simple.

[gambiting]

But also extra effort from the driver = more tired driver, higher chance of accident, more mistakes and issues with every delivery.

I have not driven a truck like that personally, but I know what sort of difference all the modern assistance systems have done on my cross-continental drives. Previously a 12 hour drive would leave me absolutely exhausted, like I'd need a full day to recover after that - in a modern car with lane assist and adaptive cruise and comfortable seats and what not - I arrive relaxed every time. Long dull stretches of road don't take such a mental toll anymore.

I imagine the exact same principle applies to trucks.