Fontaine Modification Company developed a narrow cab for Peterbilt trucks to help fleets improve maneuverability and efficiency when hauling special loads. The narrow cab option provides a unique method for hauling utility poles and steel to off-road sites.

Utility companies and steel haulers often need to carry large items, like utility poles, to locations where tractor and trailers have trouble going.  Because the cab width limits the amount of product that may be hauled on either side of the cab, fleets have typically had to use trucks that have been crudely modified, or they run over-width trucks which require permitting each time they haul a wide load. 

When presented with this problem, Fontaine worked with equipment manufacturers and a utility company to develop a solution.

“We narrowed the cab of a Peterbilt 365 6x6 truck by 18.5 inches, taking it from 72.5 inches wide down to 54 inches wide,” says Dan Jaynes, VP of Product Development for Fontaine. “This modification creates more space to transport poles or steel on both sides of the cab, while meeting legal requirements.”

One of the most important aspects of the modification was Fontaine’s ability to narrow the cab while maintaining the factory aesthetics particularly in the interior driver environment.  The design also provides a unique door in the back of the cab that allows the driver to exit the cab when cargo is loaded on the sides. The narrow cab was designed in Fontaine’s Charlotte Product Development Center.