Day Cab Tractor Units - an Overview
There have been many advancements in sleeper cab comfort in recent years, but for many applications in several industries, a day cab is more than sufficient. If you drive a heavy-duty truck delivering equipment and building supplies to construction sites, for instance, or if you spend your days making local or regional deliveries, you can save money by opting for a non-sleeper configuration that only has features that you’ll actually use.
The main differences you’ll find between these trucks aside from brand names are the same ones you’d find in any other category. There are 4x2, 6x2, and 6x4 configurations, manual and automatic transmissions, etc.
Urban Tractor Units
Many day cab tractor units fall into the 'urban tractor unit' category - also called urban artics. These are typically lightweight 12 or 13 tonne rigids that have been converted to take a trailer. They will always be in 4x2 axle configuration and are able to access tighter delivery points that their full-sized counterparts. Take a look a the brewery trucks - they will often use urban artics.
Payload is King
Day Cabbed Tractor Unit for high Payload Operations
For operations that need to run with as much payload as possible - tipping operations, tanker duties etc. then the lighter the truck the better. there is no point in carrying a heavy sleeper cab around that will never get used, if you can get an extra 150kg of payload on instead. There is therefore a strong demand for these trucks in the used market, as they are relatively rare and can earn the operator more money.
In years gone past many supermarkets had day cabbed tractor units, but they struggled to sell in the second hand market. This was because there was so many of them and most buyers of second hand tractor units were owner drivers looking for sleeper cab versions. As a consequence, many dealers took to stretching the chassis and turning them into tippers or hookloaders for the UK markets - or exporting the trucks overseas.
Now the supermarket fleet buyers recognize that they need to buy tractor units with sleeper cabs - their operations are not payload sensitive - they will space out before their weight out. This means that day cabbed tractor units are a relative rarity - so snap one up for higher payload if you can find one.
You’ll find a big selection of used tractors without sleeper cabs for sale on TruckLocator.co.uk, including models from popular manufacturers such as DAF, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Scania, Volvo, and others. There are also a few used tractors for sale on the site that come with trailers as a part of the package, including refrigerated boxes, tandem axle trailers, curtain-side bodies, and more.
