If safety is really a concern, why is it not a Cabover design? Aren't those supposed to be safer due to better visibility?
Short haul and in town they win with a tighter turn radius.
Old cab-overs were pretty much tin boxes and they were plentiful before the length laws in the USA were relaxed in the late 70's. After that happened the cabover in the USA died a pretty fast death and the only company to attempt a proper modern cabover design was Freightliner with their Argosy. Other than that maybe the Mack MH Ultraliner was decently modern introduced in the early 80's that replaced the F Model and WS series Cruiseliner.
Maybe it’s a trade of “better visibility” vs a “battering-ram with no front crumple zone”?
They have a lot of disadvantages like serviceability and driver comfort. I don't think that looks really figure into it, since a lot of truck purchasing is driven by businesses which would gladly run an absolute pig of a truck if it saved them money.