Those road trains are impressive but very practical in Australia. They'd be nothing but a headache in most places in the states. We have long stretches of straight roads but not enough to make them practical here.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
States that allow triples normally allow only 3 28' boxes. No place in the US allows 4 trailers that I know of. Until Reagan forced them to change, PA only allowed 1 trailer, no matter how long. I worked for a major truck line at the time. Our trucks going through PA along Lake Erie had to drop 1 trailer, single across that narrow stretch, bob tail back, then take the 2d trailer across. It was very costly for the trucking industry.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Years ago, a friend of mine lived in Australia for a while. He had to go on a pretty long trip cross country and got a ride with an OTR trucker his Australian girl friend knew. A few hours into the trip the trucker told him, "Here, you take over." Without stopping or slowing down, they changed seats and my buddy drove (steered) the truck non-stop for a few hundred miles until the (real) driver had enough of a nap and took back over. They did that a few times during the trip. My buddy never drove a tractor-trailer before or since.
what's the advantage of 2x28 v. 1x53 , higher weight capacity?
here double seem to be mostly side-dumps
Usually flexibility. People like UPS can just drop one trailer at a yard, hook another and the truck keeps going to the next stop in the middle of the night.
For LTL carriers, often the 28's won't be up to max weight but they'll be full volume wise. 2 of them with the extra 3' over a 53 can haul a lot more freight. Then, like Dutch said, a box can be loaded to a single destination and dropped off enroute. LTL carriers use mostly 28's just for that reason. In states where they can pull triples, 3 28's will haul a lot more than 1 53 or even a set of Rocky Mtn doubles (1 53 plus 1 28').
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
In 1997 my wife and I spent 5 weeks in Australia. Part of that trip was to drive the Stuart Highway from Darwin in the north, through the Red Center to Adelaide in the south. About 1800 miles. We saw many road trains and they would really buffet our small motor home as they roared by. That is some remote and rugged country. Always filled up with fuel any time we could. The most memorable stop was at Coober Pedy, a mining town that looked like it was part of the set for Mad Max.
The NT section of the Stuart Highway had no speed limit until a few years ago. They then introduced a speed limit of 130 km/h (about 81 mph), but found that the rate of accidents went up slightly. Over the past couple of years, after a formal trial, the open speed limit has been returned to much of it.
There are long straight stretches through treeless flatland, where you could see approaching cars or wildlife for miles, so you can wind her up a bit. A bit of pedal also gets you out and around road trains without hanging out on the wrong side of the road for too long. Interestingly, though perhaps not surprisingly, accident rates appear to have gone back down again with the removal of the speed limit. It is some long and boring driving at lower speeds.
FWIW According to the trial report, the highest speed anyone actually admitted to during the trial was 295 kmh (about 184 mph).
The NT section of the Stuart Highway had no speed limit until a few years ago. They then introduced a speed limit of 130 km/h (about 81 mph), but found that the rate of accidents went up slightly. Over the past couple of years, after a formal trial, the open speed limit has been returned to much of it.
There are long straight stretches through treeless flatland, where you could see approaching cars or wildlife for miles, so you can wind her up a bit. A bit of pedal also gets you out and around road trains without hanging out on the wrong side of the road for too long. Interestingly, though perhaps not surprisingly, accident rates appear to have gone back down again with the removal of the speed limit. It is some long and boring driving at lower speeds.
FWIW According to the trial report, the highest speed anyone actually admitted to during the trial was 295 kmh (about 184 mph).
Montana discovered the same thing but federal pressure and one dumbarse lawyer has made us have one.
A serious student of the "Armchair Safari" always looking for Africa/Asia hunting books
You know as a kid ,I lived in England for 3 years and off base... one thing that was hard to ever get use to the funky-ness of the site, was an American car, with Right Hand Drive....
watching the Truck Videos, I think it would be even harder to get use to American Mack TRucks with Right hand drive...
