Cab Over

Cab Over

Cab-over, also known as Cab Over Engine (COE), cab forward (all US English), or forward control (British English), is a body style of truck, bus, or van that has a vertical front or "flat face", with the cab of the truck sitting above the front axle.

This truck configuration is currently common among European and Japanese truck manufacturers, because the laws governing overall vehicle lengths are strict and the body style allows longer trailers (in the case of a tractor-trailer truck) or a longer cargo area (in the case of a "straight" truck, a truck with a single rigid frame supporting all components and the load) for the same overall length.

Although popular among United States heavy truckers and trucking companies during the 1970s because of strict length laws in many states, when those length laws were repealed, most heavy-truck makers moved to other body styles. It is, however, still very popular in the light- and medium-duty truck segment, with models such as the Isuzu NPR series or the Mitsubishi Fuso FE and FK/FM series.

Most Japanese minivans like the Suzuki Carry, Toyota Hiace and Mitsubishi Delica also use this body layout. It was also used for the (rear engined) Volkswagen Type 2 van, and in military vehicles such as the Land Rover 101 Forward Control the Pinzgauer High-Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle and the US Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles.