Regular readers may recall that this truck’s predecessor graced the cover of New Zealand Trucking in July 2019. In actual fact, the truck and trailer combinations then and now are virtually identical. They’re both Arocs 3246 8x4s with dual-axle Jackson Engineering car-transporter trailers (10 cars total between truck and trailer), as are their opposite numbers. Two identical units leave from Auckland and Wellington each day and meet in the Turangi area for a driver swap. Then they do it again for the night shift.

As such, just over two years and 480,000km later, our July 2019 cover star and colleague have been shifted to the regional roster and replaced with two of the latest MirrorCam-equipped units. Already, No. 218 has clocked up more than 137,000km, and No. 220 – which joined the fleet a little earlier – 200,000km.

As it was in 2019, it’s a 5am departure from the Carr & Haslam Wiri depot onto SH1, direction Tokoroa. Andrew Porter is the man behind the wheel. He’s been on this run since February (with Mike Foote on the night shift) and these are the first mirrorless trucks he’s driven. The fact that he’s had plenty of seat time in the other 10-car Arocs transporters means he can make a good comparison between the mirrored and mirrorless versions. “The system has its benefits and also its weaknesses,” he immediately offers.

Because the sun is still a couple of hours away from breaking over the horizon, we’re presented with the perfect opportunity to see how MirrorCam copes at night, in the daylight, and during the transition at dawn.

As we pull up to a set of lights, with other vehicles lining up behind, the first comment Andy makes is interesting. “I’ve found that it’s difficult to tell whether an emergency vehicle was behind me or just a car with LED headlights. It’s hard to tell the difference until they’re right on you, but you want to be able to see them [the emergency vehicles] coming in the distance.”

Image quality at night is pretty good – if you’re surrounded by good street lighting. As we head down Auckland’s Southern Motorway, there are no issues with judging what’s behind and what’s coming up alongside. This is made easier by the distance indicator lines and, as Andy indicates to move over one lane, the lines on the driver- side screen extend to show how far behind the vehicles in that lane are. As we indicate to move back over to the left, the lines change to three zones; a yellow one furthest back, a dark yellow one in the middle, and a red zone nearest the cab. “You don’t want to move with a car in the red zone,” says Andy. “That would be bad…”

Overall, he likes the concept of the guidelines. “They are helpful. When you hop into a truck with conventional mirrors, you go ‘where are my lines?’, and you have to readjust your mindset because they don’t tell you how far behind a vehicle is. This gives you better insight.”

However, when it comes to driving in the dark, Andy has his reservations.

“Without street lighting, there’s no depth perception – that’s definitely one of its weaknesses. Without the distance lines, you wouldn’t have a clue.” I can see what he means as we motor along SH2 before continuing on SH27 at Mangatarata. “You can see there’s a car because of its headlights, but beyond that, it’s very difficult.”

Andy’s general feeling is that MirrorCam is more effective during the day than at night. But what about the transition between the two? Interestingly, as daylight breaks and the sky brightens, the image on the screens becomes rather grainy. It doesn’t affect what you can see, though, and the image quality improves the more natural light there is. As we twist and turn our way south, I notice that the camera copes easily with the sun striking it from all angles.

“When it’s wet out, the image can get obscured,” says Andy. “We have an easy solution, though… We use the air duster air guns to blast them dry. It works great!”

Andy says that although the screens have a smaller area than a mirror, how much they show is probably the same. “In some cases, I can see more in terms of vehicles in the distance behind me during the day.

“One of the biggest drawbacks is that the view doesn’t change when you move your body for a better angle. The mirrors have been calibrated and set – we don’t touch them,” Andy adds.

Overall, it’s a good report from Andy and Mike. “It doesn’t take long to get used to looking inside the cab at the screens and not outside at mirrors. Once you get used to them, I’d say you don’t want to go back. It’s like getting a new phone – after the adjustment period, you don’t want to go back,” says Andy.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

“Overall, there’s a lot to like about the Arocs,” says Andy. “These new ones are a totally different environment. I do like the displays. They’re good, once you know where everything is.”

Andy cruises along the motorway using the adaptive cruise, which maintains good distance from vehicles ahead and does a good job of managing the truck’s pace up and over climbs.

“It gets on nicely, doesn’t struggle,” says Andy as we climb the Bombays at about 60kph and 1300rpm. “I usually leave it in auto and shift down when I feel it needs it. And I flick between Eco, Normal and Power if I really have to.

Lifting his foot off the accelerator pedal without engaging the retarder drops the engine to idle speed and allows the truck to coast along. It’s quick to pick up the correct gear again and continue providing power.

I ask Andy if he’s noticed less wind noise around the cab without air resistance caused by conventional mirrors housings. “I don’t think that’s noticeable because of the air whipping around the vehicles on board. Not that it’s a noisy cab anyway,” he says.