I have a sugestion that should be put to the guy`s who make all the rules and regulations for the transport industry.
Why dont they make it unlawfull to drive a truck without having AIR CON fitted.Regardless of country of origin.
Now that would be something we would agree with. wouldnt it.
i asked my boss for air con in my truck and this was his reply, " your truck has two windows and a sunroof, open them all up and there you go instant air con" . typical answer from some bosses i would suspect lol
That’d be US army issue AC2/50… 2 windows down, 50mph 
In Austria you get each Day,the Temperature goes over 30 degree Celsius a Icecream from the Company paid 
I think air con or rather the lack of, is a health & safety issue, but it seems to me that the HSE only get involved if it means they can be a pain in the arse to everyone who has to adhere to their often silly rules.
Think about this, you’re driving down the road with your windows down & a bee/wasp comes into the cab & stings you, you end up losing control of the vehicle while you’re jumping around like a lunatic & you hit something, now that something could be a fence that would only damage your vehicle & the fence, but it could be a bridge support & that’s going to hurt, a lot, or it could be a bus stop with 20 kids standing there, not good whichever way you look at it.
Well that’s the safety part, but what about the drivers health, bee stings apart, what about all the fumes you’re breathing in, they’re not good for you & then there’s the noise level & the effects of the wind on your ears, none of it is any good for your long term health.
Normally I would reply to this kind of post in a different way, accusing you of being a bunch of fairies, but not in this case, this time I’m 100% behind you, yeah I know we used to do without it, I myself have spent many years on the continent in very hot conditions without it & it made the job hard work, in them days though the only real air con available in lorries were the roof mounted ones & they were really expensive & from what I hear fragile too, Volvo offered it as standard in the later F12s but they were the only ones, I think, although I’m sure someone will know better
I have been stung by a wasp while driving, this nearly caused me to go through a crossroads on a red light as I was in pole position, foot on clutch ready to pull away when it zapped me & when I jumped my foot came off the clutch & I went bunny hopping across the junction, funny thing is I was in one of the previously mentioned F12s with A/C & thought I’d enjoy a nice breeze instead of using the air con, even worse was being in a village with a 6ton weight limit trying to avoid a section of road that was notorious for being heavily populated by the boys in blue looking to make a fast buck 
Hope this don’t make you air con-less boys & girls too sick, but I have 2 A/C units in my current ride, 1 for the cab & the other for the bunk & if it’s hot at night I just leave the engine running & stay nice & cool, last week I had 41deg C tempretures & still slept under my quilt & I woke up with cold ears, BRRRRRRRR 
I’m quite lucky in that my own car has aircon as do all the patrol cars. 
With you there, Mark…
Like you, I did many years without AC, but now I would find it tough to go without it. I have the same set up as you and I appreciate it fully, although I never used it at night with BFS. Now I am allowed to use it without question or rancour and I do…
It seemed worse when I drove a reefer with a diesel powered fridge sitting above the cab roaring away, just rubbing salt in the wound. At least I could keep my lunch cold, and there was the benefit of getting in the box about 25 times through the day.
Air con will not be suitable for all - there are drivers out there who suffer from medical conditions caused by air con - I’m sure there were a few on here…
According to anti-terrorism laws, all vehicles carrying hazardous good MUST have their doors locked and windows up whilst the vehicle is in transit…but most don’t have aircon
Lovelyperson:
In Austria you get each Day,the Temperature goes over 30 degree Celsius a Icecream from the Company paid
In Slovakia, every day the temp goes above 30degC every employer is obliged to “facilitate adequate drinking regime for all employees” (water dispensers, bottled mineral water/fizzy drinks). Lorry drivers on local jobs do get bottled water, those on intl./long distance jobs are on their own.
There are rules regarding minimum workplace temps but nothing about maximum. However, there are various pieces of “advice” in the UK suggesting temps from 24c to 30c as a maximum that should be tolerated. The WHO advices 24c as reasonable and HSE suggest “reasonable” in their advice. But what your boss thinks of as reasonable - well this is the transport industry
I had the air-con running most of last night - at midnight it was still 21c on the M42
Air con - Whats that■■?
hptruck:
‘…Why don’t they make it unlawful to drive a truck without having AIR CON fitted.Regardless of country of origin…’
Your 'aving a laugh ‘…Why don’t they…?’ How about because of the negative environmental impact that increased loadings caused by air-con systems on internal combustion engines contravening what we (Britain/Europe) are telling the rest of the world to do, ie, reduce carbon emissions by not loading up lorry donk’s with extraneous niff-naff, etc.
Besides, a politician’s limo/office are undoubtedly cool, so why should they fight a corner for workers - whose welfare is already regulated (choked?) by the likes of the WTD & EDR’s, etc?
Also, sweating isn’t unhealthy …it’s just that we are not used to doing it very much: Given sufficient plain, ambient tap-water then working & sweating aren’t incompatible - it’s just that many of us '‘want, want, want’ (…for a two week per year event?)
Lastly, I’m wondering what the job plundering Poles/Bulgarians/Romanians/Easties, etc, reckon…?
Airbags and ABS is now standard and the price of those has reduced from what they once were - why can’t the same be done with aircon 
Happy Keith:
hptruck:
‘…Why don’t they make it unlawful to drive a truck without having AIR CON fitted.Regardless of country of origin…’Your 'aving a laugh ‘…Why don’t they…?’ How about because of the negative environmental impact that increased loadings caused by air-con systems on internal combustion engines contravening what we (Britain/Europe) are telling the rest of the world to do, ie, reduce carbon emissions by not loading up lorry donk’s with extraneous niff-naff, etc.
Besides, a politician’s limo/office are undoubtedly cool, so why should they fight a corner for workers - whose welfare is already regulated (choked?) by the likes of the WTD & EDR’s, etc?
Also, sweating isn’t unhealthy …it’s just that we are not used to doing it very much: Given sufficient plain, ambient tap-water then working & sweating aren’t incompatible - it’s just that many of us '‘want, want, want’ (…for a two week per year event?)
Lastly, I’m wondering what the job plundering Poles/Bulgarians/Romanians/Easties, etc, reckon…?
You should just be called Keith
No, it’s wrong, most offices are air conditioned, most factories/warehouses have some kind of cooling system installed so why not a lorry, it’s a place of work too? Air con is an option on pretty much every vehicle on the market, except motorbikes so it means that when the lorry was ordered or bought used a decision was made to not order it or that it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t have air con, that’s how much the lorry driver is thought of in these instances & that’s all wrong.
As for greenhouse gases, plant a few trees 
Lastly, for now anyway, Rog, stop whining man, if you have an affliction incompatible with air con, well that’s simple, DON’T TURN IT ON!
its also possible to get the roof top air con units,they dont use diesel,
just fill the tank at the back of the cab with water and away you go.
thay run off the truck electrics.
and they will keep the cab cool without any problem.
i suppose a lot of owners wouldnt want to spend the money on them of course.
i think they are in the 12/1500 pound range.
newmercman:
Lastly, for now anyway, Rog, stop whining man, if you have an affliction incompatible with air con, well that’s simple, DON’T TURN IT ON!
I don’t - I love it 
all I said was -
ROG:
Air con will not be suitable for all - there are drivers out there who suffer from medical conditions caused by air con
newmercman:
‘…You should just be called Keith…’
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger - being switched-on to life’s realities keeps me ahead of the pack…!
newmercman:
‘…No, it’s wrong…’
But the argument being put up to
newmercman:
‘…plant trees [and that] most offices are air conditioned, most factories/warehouses have some kind of cooling system…’
Hardly considers much else other than ‘me, me, me’ doing the ‘want, want, want’ - and certainly doesn’t replenish fossil fuel.
It seems as if someone is begrudging warehouse wallahs - who are lucky enough (?) to work where the expensive kit lives and office wallahs too …although they often dont have windows to open (not even at zero mph) & where environmental conditioning is aligned 24/7/365 with the heating system: Woe betide if Santa gets in wrong with a ‘pre-enjoyed merc’ in your house, eh!
newmercman:
‘…that’s how much the lorry driver is thought of in these instances & that’s all wrong…’
But it’s a reality in a real world for those of us lucky to be paid to drive in our own bit of that real world - maybe stop the ride if you wanna get off, but I’m not too precious not to be able to cope.
[PS Why the scant recognition that our summer is barely longer than two weeks; water hydrates a human very well & it’s alright to perspire a bit - all of which is to be happy about!]
Air Con is for commoners…
Posh people like myself have Climate Control… 