Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Bmblbzzz
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Fuel consumption does not rise in straight line with load though. A small truck of say 5 tons (guessing the size of a supermarket delivery truck/van) does not use as much fuel as two and a half 2-ton cars. But the trucks have refrigeration, which obviously uses some fuel. I think it mostly is going to come down to distance travelled, which itself is going to vary according to area and the picking policy of that retailer - whether from store or from warehouse. They will do more damage to roads though, as that's down to pressure (mass/tyre contact patch) and IIRC rises in square power.
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Redvee
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by Redvee »

Bmblbzzz wrote:But the trucks have refrigeration, which obviously uses some fuel.


Refrigeration is fueled by red diesel from a seperate tank on the vehicle/trailer.
pwa
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by pwa »

Redvee wrote:
Bmblbzzz wrote:But the trucks have refrigeration, which obviously uses some fuel.


Refrigeration is fueled by red diesel from a seperate tank on the vehicle/trailer.

No. Just one fuel tank on most grocery delivery vans around here. Maybe you are thinking of the HGVs used for distribution to supermarkets.
tim-b
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by tim-b »

Hi
I know there are delivery vans using that AdBlue stuff

It's just a means to comply with the current Euro 6 emissions regulations. You can buy vehicles that are Euro 6 compliant without needing additives, i.e. more efficient, unfortunately these tend to be smaller engines. Fiat has gone for a different technology for its Ducato vans and those models are AdBlue-free.
On the upside; the Euro 6 engines can be a tad more powerful
On the downside; the AdBlue tank and gadgetry takes a chunk of the vehicle payload
Regards
tim-b
~~~~¯\(ツ)/¯~~~~
pwa
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by pwa »

For a standard van such as a Tesco delivery van, the sort of thing many of us with older driving licences could hire to shift furniture, the blind spot is low down alongside the front wheel. A recumbent could sit unseen there. Beneath the mirror. If it moved up alongside the van while the van was stationary and the driver was looking elsewhere I suppose there is a theoretical possibility of a problem.
reohn2
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by reohn2 »

pwa wrote:For a standard van such as a Tesco delivery van, the sort of thing many of us with older driving licences could hire to shift furniture, the blind spot is low down alongside the front wheel. A recumbent could sit unseen there. Beneath the mirror. If it moved up alongside the van while the van was stationary and the driver was looking elsewhere I suppose there is a theoretical possibility of a problem.

Do they not all have to have a wide angle down mirror on the nearside?
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pwa
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by pwa »

reohn2 wrote:
pwa wrote:For a standard van such as a Tesco delivery van, the sort of thing many of us with older driving licences could hire to shift furniture, the blind spot is low down alongside the front wheel. A recumbent could sit unseen there. Beneath the mirror. If it moved up alongside the van while the van was stationary and the driver was looking elsewhere I suppose there is a theoretical possibility of a problem.

Do they not all have to have a wide angle down mirror on the nearside?

On the ones I have driven the little wide angle mirror beneath the main mirror does show you more of the ground to the rear of the passenger door, but a crouched person could hide beside the front half of the passenger door and be out of sight. Not that anyone would deliberately do that, but just to show there is a zone around the front half of a van where a low lying object could just about be out of sight. Not an adult on a diamond frame bike though. The test is, I suppose, can the cyclist see the driver, because if so the driver can see the cyclist.
reohn2
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by reohn2 »

pwa wrote:
reohn2 wrote:
pwa wrote:For a standard van such as a Tesco delivery van, the sort of thing many of us with older driving licences could hire to shift furniture, the blind spot is low down alongside the front wheel. A recumbent could sit unseen there. Beneath the mirror. If it moved up alongside the van while the van was stationary and the driver was looking elsewhere I suppose there is a theoretical possibility of a problem.

Do they not all have to have a wide angle down mirror on the nearside?

On the ones I have driven the little wide angle mirror beneath the main mirror does show you more of the ground to the rear of the passenger door, but a crouched person could hide beside the front half of the passenger door and be out of sight. Not that anyone would deliberately do that, but just to show there is a zone around the front half of a van where a low lying object could just about be out of sight. Not an adult on a diamond frame bike though. The test is, I suppose, can the cyclist see the driver, because if so the driver can see the cyclist.

I think it's more like if you can see the mirror(s)the driver should be able to see you,of course that's if s/he's looking.
It's a few years since I drove a 7.5 tonner box van but my recollection is that the only place I couldn't see was directly in front and directly behind the truck,a down mirror would've solved the front view problem and a reversing camera the rear.
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pwa
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by pwa »

reohn2 wrote:It's a few years since I drove a 7.5 tonner box van but my recollection is that the only place I couldn't see was directly in front and directly behind the truck,a down mirror would've solved the front view problem and a reversing camera the rear.

I've driven vans more recently and anything low down at the side of the front of the passenger door is out of sight. The cameras are in the mirror body and don't point directly down, so really you just see along the side of the side of the van, not down alongside the front door. That area is really only visible through the passenger window, so an adult cyclist on a diamond frame bike would be visible directly that way. If you cannot see the driver's face, directly or through a mirror, they cannot see your face either.
reohn2
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Re: Trucks Do Not Have Cyclist-Obscuring Blind Spots

Post by reohn2 »

pwa wrote:
reohn2 wrote:It's a few years since I drove a 7.5 tonner box van but my recollection is that the only place I couldn't see was directly in front and directly behind the truck,a down mirror would've solved the front view problem and a reversing camera the rear.

I've driven vans more recently and anything low down at the side of the front of the passenger door is out of sight. The cameras are in the mirror body and don't point directly down, so really you just see along the side of the side of the van, not down alongside the front door. That area is really only visible through the passenger window, so an adult cyclist on a diamond frame bike would be visible directly that way. If you cannot see the driver's face, directly or through a mirror, they cannot see your face either.

I'll take your word for it :wink:
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