January 25, 2017 Vol. 14 No. 02

Two weeks back I wrote about the inadequacies of headlamps in a newsletter issue entitled ‘Got Enough Light?’ It seems I struck a chord as there was more than the usual amount of feedback on the subject. You can read that one here but to be brief, I started this way…

“I’ve long held that North American headlight standards are inherently dangerous because they don’t allow brightness levels to match the speeds we travel. It’s just too easy to over-drive your lights, meaning you don’t see obstructions like stalled cars or animals or — may all the gods forbid — pedestrians in the way until you’re past the point of being able to stop in time.”

I ended things this way…

“Until a decade or two ago, my own first step upon getting a new car was to make  lighting upgrades, but modern cars — and most trucks are no different — make that very difficult and/or expensive. There’s nowhere to find a solid mount for driving lamps when ‘bumpers’ are plastic, to start with. Headlamp bulb changes are easier but seem not to be cheap. I find this very frustrating as I haven’t had a new vehicle in quite a few years with what I’d call adequate lighting. Long-range driving lamps are essential for me.

“I have yet to explore the LED headlamp option so can’t comment, but I’d be grateful to hear from any of you have tried it.”

ONE SMALL-FLEET OWNER in Ontario responded to my LED comment request this way, slightly edited, about the Freightliner Cascadia Evolution tractors in his yard…

“They have LED headlights,” he wrote in an e-mail, “and that sells my drivers on these trucks… You can’t drag the guys out of them. Anyways, the LED headlights are spectacular. You can see everything bright, shiny and clear, regardless of weather, and they don’t bother oncoming drivers either (unless you leave the high beams on). The downside is if you smack one, they’re $800 to replace.”

THE MANAGER OF ANOTHER SMALL FLEET, this one in Alberta, also offered some useful observations…

“Poor headlights have been a sore point for me for all of the 37 years I have been in this industry as a fleet manager,” he wrote. “Unbelievable how you buy new trucks and the headlights do not give adequate lighting.