Driving a Semi-Truck with Digital Mirrors: Pros, Cons and What to Expect

I took on a new local gig and to my surprise I was assigned a 2022 Freightliner that has digital mirrors. I have driven the truck close to 60 hours now with these non-conventional mirrors so if you are curious what it is like to drive a truck without your standard large west coast mirror attached to the side of your truck then read on.

Hey, Where Are My Mirrors?

This was the first thought I had when I hopped into the driver seat of my newly assigned truck. Instead, what I had were two large vertical monitors located to my immediate left and the other one mounted close to the passenger side window. I felt half blind all of the sudden. To make matters worse the truck was turned off, and my mirrors were just black, so I had no idea what was located behind me. But once I powered the truck on the mirrors lit up instantly and showed me what was behind the truck like a normal mirror would.

Why Replace a Truck’s Mirrors with Digital Ones?

This was one of the first questions to pop in my mind after driving this truck. Are there really any advantages to using a camera and monitor instead of a real mirror? I am still trying to determine if they are worth having. Of course, they look really high tech and cool. You also do not have your mirrors sticking way out for someone to swipe if they drive too close but other than that are digital truck mirrors really worth it?

No More Headlight Glare at Night

When I started my first night shift with the digital mirrors last week one of the first things, I noticed was the glare of other vehicles headlights driving behind me were gone. No more getting a high intensity high beam targeting your retinas at 3AM in the morning as with a conventional mirror. This is definitely a big plus for having these versus a standard mirror.

Auto Panning of Your Trailer During Turns

Another really cool feature of the digital mirrors in a truck is the system will follow the tail of your trailer on a turn, so you never lose sight of what is on that side. When you have a conventional mirror all you are going to see is your trailer on a tight turn. This is definitely a big safety bonus.

Out of Focus Without My Glasses

My biggest gripe with these digital mirrors is the fact that they are out of focus unless I am wearing my reading glasses. The monitor to my left is close to my eyes so I need my glasses to see the traffic clearly and to even judge the distance correctly. With a standard west coast mirror I had no problem with anything being out of focus. It is just like watching a computer monitor so if you require glasses to use a computer or read a book you will also need glasses to see things clearly on your digital mirrors.

Lack of Depth Perception

Another problem with these digital truck mirrors is the lack of depth perception. What I mean by this is it is harder to tell how far the vehicle in the mirror is away from the end of my trailer. Because of this I end up taking longer to change lanes, so I make sure that my trailer is cleared of the vehicle behind it and that it is safe to change lanes.

Bumping the Dock Just Got More Challenging

Now I have only run six shifts or around 60 hours with these digital mirrors and have bumped the dock a dozen times or so with them. I have found out that it takes me longer than a conventional truck mirror to line my trailer up to the dock. Also, my alignment of the trailer is usually off more. I still feel half blind with these mirrors versus a normal mirror. I appear to be getting used to them though and may be getting a little better at backing up my trailer. Wearing my glasses while backing does seem to help a lot.

More Privacy

No one can look in your mirrors anymore. This means that it is a one-way street. So, while you are sitting in your cab a car driving up on the side cannot see the driver before they get up beside you. If you value your privacy than a digital mirror will give you a little more from prying eyes behind your truck.

No More Cleaning Your Mirrors

We all know how important keeping your mirrors clean on a truck is. Well with your digital mirrors all you have to do is wipe the small camera lens down once in a while with a microfiber cloth located above each door. And since the monitors are inside the truck, they will never collect road grime. So, if you hate cleaning your mirrors all of the time you are going to love having digital ones in their place.

Summary of Digital Semi-truck Mirrors

If you have good vision, drive at night a lot, make frequent turns in the city, value your privacy while in the cab and hate cleaning your mirrors then having digital mirrors in your truck could be a good thing. On the other hand, if you need glasses to see a monitor clearly, are a pro at using the standard conventional truck mirrors, hate excess technology, never had a problem with your mirrors before than moving to a digital mirror setup can be a huge adjustment as they have been for me so far. Granted I am only 2 weeks into using them, but I still need a good amount of additional practice before I will feel as comfortable using them versus my old classic real mirrors if ever and I am starting to have my doubts that time will ever come.