They’ll present the most over-specced uber-stuffed with extras and luxuries specimen which 99.4% of drivers will never get to drive and be like ‘Yep, this is the new [insert make/model here], isn’t it just AWESOME?’
Just like those supercar reviews which get 10s of millions of views on youtube but I somehow doubt the people who actually buy/drive them watch these reviews
Truck reviews - pointless entertainment for the masses.
You’ve never read any of my used truck tests then? Or any of the many many fleet-spec tests I and my fellow road-testing truck journalists regularly undertake?
One of my recent favourites has been a gas vs diesel direct comparison, which was done in standard dealership-style demonstrators…
Trucking International (now Trucking) magazine pioneered the concept of testing ‘real-life’ trucks in the Truck on Trial feature. A bloke called Dave Furlong did the first ones, then Tim Blakemore took over, and from him Bob Beech.
The trucks tested were working trucks, not demo models, and in whatever spec the operator had chosen. Some had every extra in the book, others were bare-bones. There was no ‘demo driver’ from the manufacturer telling the driver what to think about the truck, and the trucks tested were chosen and driven by a freelance (one of the three gents mentioned above), so there was no manufacturer pressure to choose a particular vehicle. The vehicle operator and the driver both had a ‘voice’ in the article, saying what they thought of the truck and the manufacturer’s back-up.
Sometimes the manufacturers were delighted with what was written, other times we got an angry phone call (the truth can sometimes be painful) and occasionally advertising was cancelled. But I did once have the pleasure of telling an angry man he could cancel all the advertising he liked, as none of it was ever booked with us anyway!
The trucks provided for model launches are different. Naturally, the manufacturers load them with extras because they want customers to tick as many boxes as they can on the order form. Car makers do the same. In percentage terms, there’s more profit in the extras than there is on the vehicle. An honest journalist will say, space permitting, that the leather interior or whatever is a cost option.
Well that post backfired 
His post is pretty fair to be honest.
Although Lucy made a point about checking out used truck reviews just likes cars most HGVs are reviewed with all the bells and whistles.
Then again, if you are a truck driver worker for the likes of Tesco what difference does it matter 
?
GasGas:
Trucking International (now Trucking) magazine pioneered the concept of testing ‘real-life’ trucks in the Truck on Trial feature. A bloke called Dave Furlong did the first ones, then Tim Blakemore took over, and from him Bob Beech.
The trucks tested were working trucks, not demo models, and in whatever spec the operator had chosen. Some had every extra in the book, others were bare-bones. There was no ‘demo driver’ from the manufacturer telling the driver what to think about the truck, and the trucks tested were chosen and driven by a freelance (one of the three gents mentioned above), so there was no manufacturer pressure to choose a particular vehicle. The vehicle operator and the driver both had a ‘voice’ in the article, saying what they thought of the truck and the manufacturer’s back-up.
Sometimes the manufacturers were delighted with what was written, other times we got an angry phone call (the truth can sometimes be painful) and occasionally advertising was cancelled. But I did once have the pleasure of telling an angry man he could cancel all the advertising he liked, as none of it was ever booked with us anyway!
The trucks provided for model launches are different. Naturally, the manufacturers load them with extras because they want customers to tick as many boxes as they can on the order form. Car makers do the same. In percentage terms, there’s more profit in the extras than there is on the vehicle. An honest journalist will say, space permitting, that the leather interior or whatever is a cost option.
Yes this is what I mean, however it seems the masses want to see the unobtainable (hence the 10s of millions of views on the latest whatever supercar model) and the most popular truck reviews at least on youtube seem to be the ones reviewing models with ungodly amount of extras of which maybe a handful will ever be sold but people look at these and think oh my, that truck looks better than my apartment while the reality is well we all know what it is 
You’re very much right on the extras which is why I’ll never buy a brand new car as the price can go up by as much as 30% if you add some basic things like changing the color for example and transmission type, lol. I was looking at the DAF website playing around with the configuration tool - there were probably 100 different ‘options’, every one charged extra of course. I wouldn’t be surprised if the price difference between a ‘base’ model and a fully loaded one is close to 100%
If you read historical road tests from the 60’s you will notice the reports are written by engineers and people with a technical background, they would talk about gear ratios, bore and stroke, not how many tubes of Solvol Autosol it takes to keep the tank shiny.
Then we had the fabulous Pat Kennett who devised the International Truck of the Year competition. a prestigious award for manufacturers, and a useful sales tool for the dealers.
If you road test for Transport Engineer you still DO provide technical details like gear and axle rations. I’ve developed a bit of a “thing” about axle ratios, in fact… 
(Even they don’t ask for bore and stroke, mind…)
If you read historical road tests from the 60’s you will notice the reports are written by engineers and people with a technical background, they would talk about gear ratios, bore and stroke, not how many tubes of Solvol Autosol it takes to keep the tank shiny.
Back then, the customer had to pretty much design the truck…
"Here is your chassis frame, Sir. Now what make of engine would you like…oh, and gearbox?
“Oh, sorry sir, Gardners are on strike again. You’ll have to put up with a Leyland, unless you’d like to wait another year.”
“Now all we’ve got to do is draw an outline of the chassis on the factory floor. Sid, where’s the chalk? The gentleman wants us to start building his lorry. I wonder how many axles he would like…what’s that, we’ve only got two in stock…oh dear, and they are both drive axles.”
“Sid, run across to Foden and see if they’ve got a spare steer axle or two. Remind them that they still owe us 10 brake drums.”
The things never commented on were comfort and safety…there was little of either.
GasGas:
If you read historical road tests from the 60’s
…
The things never commented on were comfort and safety…there was little of either.
[/quote]
Well it was a little over a decade after the most devastating conflict in human history (economically so too) so it’s probably a contributing factor, looking at cars from that same era they weren’t much better I’d guess?
The Commercial Motor roadtests from the '50s are hilarious…some of the trucks and buses tested are just bare chassis…not even with cabs!