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DEPENDING upon the location of the front wheel, the door and step are placed either at the front or back of the cab. Some designs incorporate a protruding “hood” portion, whereas others extend the cab fully forward. The engine compartment is either immediately back of the radiator or under the cross seat. The floor and seat heights are relatively higher than in the conventional truck, and better visibility is obtained. The engine hood is well insulated for heat and sometimes for sound as well. Most powerplants are removable readily for major repairs although, in most instances, major maintenance operations can be done readily within the cab. Front axle treads have been increased in order to give greater stability on the road as well as to avoid an excessively large wheelhouse. The change in weight distribution has called for considerably more study on braking distribution.

THE TRACTIVE ability of a motor-vehicle, as stated by the author, is the measure of its power to overcome outside resistances to its translation, based on the tangential force exerted by the driving wheels at their points of contact with the road. The propelling force is derived from the engine. To compute the “tangential force” of the foregoing definition it is engine torque that interests us rather than the horsepower, he states. If the horsepower is given, it can be converted into torque. After analyzing this point mathematically, the author discusses typical tractive-factors of modern motor-trucks so that he is enabled to develop an economic factor mathematically and thus be prepared to discuss tractive resistance as opposed to tractive effort. Air resistance is considered in detail as a particularly important factor concerning motorcoaches, and the author's points are backed up by diagrams and charts as well as by numerous tables of statistical and computed data.