Features
Technical Information
No more spreadsheets! We combine sensible defaults with your inputs, to present complex technical calculations in a simple graphical way.
Calculate the distribution of weight over front and rear axles of the truck, trailer axles and pintle hook or coupler. Calculated weights are compared to manufacturer ratings, state regulations, and user-defined limits. Issues are flagged by color-coded indicators.
Calculate after-frame, front and rear overhang, overall length, width and height dimensions, cab to body clearance, frontal area and many more. Relevant dimensions are checked against state regulations and user-defined limits. Issues are flagged by color-coded indicators. Know what will fit before you proceed with the build.
The amount of payload that can be legally carried on your truck is influenced by the chassis spec, body weight and position, as well as the placement of all of the ancillary equipment on the vehicle. Experiment with dimensions and placement of components to realize the full payload potential of the truck, while complying with axle weight limits, overall length, etc.
Overall vertical center of gravity is auto-calculated by combining the weight and center of gravity of the truck, the body, and each additional item of equipment. Calculating the overall vertical center of gravity of a truck is vital to assessing its stability. The program also calculates the Static Rollover Angle, that is, the angle to which the truck could be tilted before the center of gravity is brought directly over the roll point.
Turning Radius, or Turning Circle, is a measurement of the smallest circle in which the truck can make a 360° turn. The wall-to-wall turning radius includes the space required for the vehicle front overhang, while the curb-to-curb turning radius assumes that the vehicle can overhang the curb to turn in a smaller circle. The Turning Ability of the chassis may be specified using Inner Steering Angle, Curb to Curb Radius or Wall to Wall Radius.
Wide Range of Combinations
From Class 1 right up to Class 8 trucks, with infinite possibilities for bodies and equipment, and pulling up to 2 trailers behind.
Choose to do a weight study for a chassis cab, or ‘straight truck’ – single or twin steer -, semi truck, box delete, pickup truck or van. The program supports trucks with up to 6 axles – 2 on the front and 4 on the rear, with available axle layouts including 4×2, 4×4, 6×2, 6×4, 6×6, 8×2, 8×4, 8×6, 10×4 and 12×4. Both US-style ‘conventional cab’ and European-style ‘cab-over’ trucks are supported.
Add a body to carry payload. Choose from service bodies, box or van bodies, curtainside, stakebeds, platform or flatbeds, forestry bodies, livestock carriers, dump bodies, roll-offs, beavertail bodies, tanks, garbage bodies, hooklift bins, or import your own. The possibilities are infinite.
As with bodies, the program supports any and all types of equipment or accessory. Pre-defined categories include cranes, refrigeration units, lift gates, 5th wheels or gooseballs, pintle hooks or couplers, hooklifts, bullbars, aerokits, snowplows, aerial platforms, fairings, toolboxes, outriggers and rear bumpers. There is a catch-all ‘Other’ category into which you can import any equipment of your choice.
When a body has been added to the truck or trailer, the maximum water-level (or evenly-distributed) load that can be legally carried is automatically calculated. This can be overridden with a user-defined load. Alternatively, multiple separate payload items may be positioned on the load deck. All technical information is re-calculated on the fly, as the load’s position, weight, volume or center of gravity changes.
Adding axles increases the load-carrying capacity of a truck. You can add pusher or tag axles to your truck, and define them as being liftable or not. Override the weight, Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) and the Bridge or regulation limit for the lift axle. Axle weights can be calculated based on the lift axle being in the raised or dropped position. The number of tires on the axle and tire width are taken into account when calculating the footprint of the tires, and this in turn is used to determine regulation limits against which the design will be verified.
Add up to 2 trailers, with up to 4 axles on each. Choose from Semi-trailer, Full Turntable Drawbar trailer, Center-Axle Drawbar trailer, and Interlink or A-B trailer combinations. Axle weights are calculated for all axles or axle groups, as well as for the pintle hook or coupler, where applicable. 5th Wheel offset and Kingpin Setback are all configurable, and all technical information is re-calculated with each change.
Library of Product Specs
Save time searching for weights and dimensions, and use realistic graphics to bring your proposals to the next level.
TruckScience is backed by a library of product specs, which include general arrangement drawings, weights, dimensions, center of gravity and ratings. Specs for trucks, bodies, equipment and payload are added to the library on request. OEMs may choose to distribute product information to all users, or to only approved dealers and distributors.
Generic templates are provided for all common bodies, equipment and payload items, which can be used to experiment with theoretical dimensions, weights and center of gravity positions. These are useful if you have not yet settled on a particular product, but wish to determine the spec of a potential product for your configuration. These may also be used as substitutes when a product spec is not yet available in the product library.
Import drawings of bodies, equipment and payload items, to build up your library of product specs. Save these specs to your own Personal library, your Team library, your approved Distributor library, or publish them to all users.
Compliance Checks
Knowing that your configuration is safe, legal and efficient is not just about compliance. It’s about peace of mind.
Federal & State laws define maximum weights that a truck may carry, depending on number of axles, axle spacing, the tire footprint of those axles, etc. In addition, there are limits to vehicle length, rear overhang, etc. Limits vary significantly from one jurisdiction to another. As you work, your configuration is being checked for compliance with the laws in your chosen states, and any issues are flagged.
Chassis manufacturers define Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings (GVWR), Gross Axle Weight Ratings (GAWR), and Gross Combination Weight Ratings (GCWR) for their trucks. These are the maximum allowable weights for the vehicle and its axles, as stipulated by the OEM. As you are adding or making changes to components, your configuration is automatically checked against these ratings.
You can define your organization’s internal standards for weight distribution, dimensions and vehicle stability. For example, the minimum percentage of gross weight that must be carried on the front axles, the maximum rear overhang as a percentage of wheelbase, or the maximum height of the truck’s overall CG. These compliance checks are in addition to the checks against manufacturer ratings and state regulations.
Graphical PDF Reports
They say that a picture paints a thousand words.
We say a picture catches misunderstandings early in the process, and helps get the sale.
Reports are customizable with your company logo. Presenting a professional proposal with your logo makes a strong and memorable impression, maintains brand integrity and fosters brand loyalty. Just another way to differentiate your organization from the competition.
The reports include a sign-off area, for you and the customer. Obtaining sign-off ensures that all stakeholders are informed and in agreement about the proposed design, and helps to prevent misunderstandings that could cause problems down the line.
Users can add custom text to the reports. This can be used for a company-wide disclaimer, or job-specific notes regarding current lead times, etc. In addition, certain ‘Favorite Measurements’ can be highlighted on reports, and these can be toggled on and off, depending on the intended audience.
Collaborate with
other users
Great things happen when clever people work together to come up with the best solution.
In addition to the reports that can be shared in PDF format, live calculations can be shared with other users. Sharing calculations in this way allows multiple users to collaborate on a configuration, suggest improvements or experiment with different layouts. Calculations can be shared in read-only or edit mode.
When you add a body, or an item of equipment or payload, either by importing a drawing, or by using a generic template, you can save it to your Team library, so that your colleagues can reuse it in future.
Body and equipment manufacturers can make product specs available to approved distributors through a ‘Distributor Library’. Product specs are added to the library by uploading drawings in DXF format, and providing weights and dimensions for these products. Manufacturers control their own Distributor Library, including what is added to it, and who has access to the information.
Manufacturers can experiment with different vehicle configurations before releasing a vehicle to the market. This allows Product Managers to define a spec that is optimized for local conditions.
Define multiple teams on one subscription, each with their own logo, distinct custom text on reports, and separate Team Library.
Get detailed statistics on your company-wide usage, to ensure your organization is getting value from your subscription. Usage reports include the most recent login and frequency of use for each of your users.
Intuitive Interface
Our design team are driven by the desire to give you an interface that is simple, intuitive and consistent.
To move bodies, equipment or payload around on the truck, simply drag & drop the components. As things are repositioned, all technical information is re-calculated, compliance is re-checked and maximum payload is re-calculated in real-time. Drag items around, to examine the point at which an axle becomes overloaded, or to watch the maximum payload rise or fall.
The drawing is interactive. Click the CA dimension to extend the wheelbase, the truck chassis to edit the rear overhang, the body to edit the body weight, or the crane to edit the crane CG … No more searching around in menus to find where to change a value!
As you work, your configuration is checked against what we call the ‘3 pillars of compliance’ – Manufacturer Ratings, State Regulations and Organization Standards. Compliance is confirmed by green color-coding. Overloading issues or problems with dimensions are flagged in red.
The default view is simple and uncluttered. You can however examine detailed views of weight distribution for the truck, fuel and crew, or the trailer. You can review center of gravity points for individual components, and see overall center of gravity. You can examine detailed weight information for Bridge groups, or see a bird’s-eye view of the turning radius of your configuration. You can also switch between side and top views, to help with lateral positioning of equipment and payload.
Help when you need it
We’ve got a team of real people, across multiple timezones, ready to assist you.
We pride ourselves on awesome support! If you need help, simply click the Chat icon and start chatting to one of our support consultants. If you need to see our screen, or would like us to see yours, we can invite you straight into a live screenshare. In addition to all of that, we make sure that all of our users get off to a successful start with a free live onboarding session.
We provide a series of short videos, to help users accomplish common tasks. These videos walk through the task, step by step, explaining the reason for performing that task, highlighting the relevant fields in the interface, and explaining inputs and outputs. Because the videos can be paused and watched over, they are ideal for self-paced learning.
We run regular webinars for our user community. These are live and interactive sessions, where we demo real-life scenarios. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions and provide suggestions for improving the interface.