EP 274 . 19 Jul 23
Maa kaa aashirwaad, OK TATA Bye Bye, Hum Do Hamare Do, Mera Bharat Mahan – Sounds familiar? I am talking about the slogans written behind the truck. But we are not going to discuss those, rather the heavy vehicles on which these are written. Yes. Trucks.
In 1911, truck designer Charles Martin built a gasoline-powered tractor to pull modified horse-drawn commercial wagons. His most significant innovation, however, was the fifth-wheel coupler. A round plate with a central hole, it attached to the top of tractor frames to connect and support trailers. Trucks are broadly divided into light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty classifications depending on their weight. And in today’s episode, we will try and introduce ourselves to how are trucks designed.
I am pleased to have Sathiya Seelan Gangaasalam with us on Audiogyan. He is currently Vice President of Design at Ashok Leyland. An industrial designer who has spent over 2 decades designing cars, trucks, busses, and three-wheelers. Sathiya is a Design thinker, mentor, and writer and also a passionate watercolor artist.