Aussie style, it may differ elsewhere on the planet, but Tas demonstrates a couple things that have confused some of you, eg supply valve, next to the parking brake and independent trailer brake control, on the right side of the steering column.
The only thing I don’t agree with Tes, is the height he dropped his trailers. Too high, the bloke who dropped the trailers, Tes collected dropped them at the right height IMO.
Australian/American trucks have no facility to raise the suspension, above travelling height. Also worthy of note, is fridge trailers, sag on the legs more than a full chassis trailer.
Correct, the supply is cut to the trailer, automatically exhausting the air pressure to release the maxis.
I’ve never had an issue with the electric plug shorting out. Sounds like the base isn’t located properly, the pins are generally recessed, inside the body of the plug.
I agree with you about the trailer height, but then I am from an era when manually adjusting the tractor height was not a normal option. I always preferred the trailer to be a bit low so that the unit backing under lifted the legs clear of the ground, obviously not so low that the 5th wheel would not make a start at going under.
But I do disagree with him about connecting the airlines before engaging the kingpin. All too easy to forget and nothing worse than seeing a trailer slide away backwards to its knees. Again, in my time there was no safety on that, if the redline was connected the brakes were off on the trailer (after the era of taps of course). I know about the lack of space, but am surprised it was an issue for him unlike in Europe with strict overall length limits, and as I have said elsewhere I was horrified to see drivers risk it here in France.
Another personal criticism, I would never do all that stuff outside the cab without gloves on, that way lies manky steering wheels.
Too busy at the moment, less than half way through the video, but will have a look at the rest later.
OK back again, one more thing, did I miss something or did he do Brisbane, Parkes and back again? Really? By my reckoning that is over 1,900 kms, surely not. So where did he sleep?
Be interested to hear you put me right, when you wake up again SDU,
I agree about wearing gloves, I always had two pairs, cloth/plastic dipped for fuel and airlines, and leather for buckles/straps etc.
Good use of unit height means that the grease on the fifth wheel stays on the fifth wheel and rubbing plate; it doesn’t get wiped on lip of fifth wheel and isn’t rubbed from there onto airlines, catwalk, and trousers.
Apologies for my tardiness Spardo.
He’s done a Brisbane~Adelaide return so the final shift for his week will be a Parkes change over, to get him back to Brisbane for his days off.
He’ll head north, getting as far as he can within his legal fourteen hours working day.
I don’t understand your licence classes, Cooper but ours are in the link below.
That is the Queensland definition but other states are the same with minor differences. eg, I had a UD class on my Queensland licence but when I changed it to WA no such class existed.
It doesn’t make sense why the tractor unit can’t lift the trailer higher
He said the trailer he was picking up was too low yet even after dropping the airbags and going under it and levelling it he still had to wind the legs up which by logic the legs should have lifted slightly, what year is it there 1960,
All seems to be normal to where it’s coming from and everywhere has its systems and technology and ways of doing things but seriously its all pre historic and way behind the modern world
Looks great big truck, long nose, big bed,
I remember looking at a YouTube video of a American truck going over a railway track and there was a bit of a revene like a dip then a raise and the legs got cought and all he had to do was raise the airbags, as it was not possible he had to call the breaker truck,
For a simple thing like that it just doesn’t make sense why you can’t lift higher
Just incase if that side of the world doesn’t know we have trailers with airbags that can lift higher than what’s on the video
The ability to raise the drive suspension above travel height, is in my opinion, the only advantage European trucks have over Australian/American trucks. The latter trucks’ shortcoming is merely a minor inconvenience in most cases.
Trailer suspension, raise and lower functionality is available, but usually only optioned on trailers expected to be loading/unloading from docks.
Getting caught on level crossings is a rare event, akin to your lot hitting a low bridge. The very few crossings that could belly out a trailer, are well signed, forewarned and normally directing alternative routes.
Roads have to meet an Australian Standard, which includes minimum widths, height clearance, road marking, approach, departure and ramp over angles, to name but a few.
OK, but I am still confused. Brisbane to Adelaide is about 22 hours or so, right? You don’t say if his 14 hours working day is also his driving day, but if it is he would still be 8 hours short of Adelaide and thus 5 hours short of Parkes on his return trip.
It is around 11 hours from Parkes to Brisbane so he will be 2 hours short of Brisbane on the way home. 3 nights out, right?
Fair enough but he definitely gave me the impression that he did Brisbane to Brisbane in one hit, the only stop apart from for fuel was his shower on the last leg.
I’m sure it must be me, not him, and he wouldn’t have publicised such serious transgressions, but I’m blowed if I can work it out. But then I never drove anything that was controlled in a straight line when I lived there, the furthest in a wagon was Katherine to Wyndham which is only 6 or 7 hours nowadays but even back then would have been within legal reach, if there had been any law that is. Our transgression of non-existant laws would have been the reduced rest periods at each end.
I haven’t read your link re licences yet, but when I arrived in Darwin I was allowed simply to change my UK licence for an NT ‘Lorry Licence’ which, I kid you not, allowed me to drive triple road trains.
Different story when I got to Sydney though, they wouldn’t allow me to drive artics because the NT licence did not contain the words ‘semi-trailer’.
As regards rail crossings, there is a reason why they are called ‘level crossings’ in the UK and that is because most of them are level. I have seen online so many low trailers stuck on US crossings and I reckon that must be because many of theirs are raised, not level. Don’t remember, because it never concerned me, what the situation was/is in Australia.
Nowadays there are two options, when filling out a log book; Rest or Work. Paper log books may seem so yesterday to Europeans, but there are “Safety Cameras” on all the main interstate routes. The cameras electronically record numberplates, speed, average speed, time, et al. A log book check is compared to the electronic information. Woe betide the driver who has more than a few minutes discrepancy. Time, speed and other telemetry are recorded on modern truck computers, only accessible by manufacturers/dealers and enforcement computer programmes. This information can be downloaded roadside.
There is little opportunity to run hot these days, particularly with a major player like LBs, who he is working for.
He can work and drive for fourteen hours in twenty-four, with minimum mandated breaks. He’s only doing linehaul, so driving all of those fourteen (a Carryfast ■■■■■■■■■ * ). Brisbane~Adelaide~Brisbane will take him 3 x 14 hour days. Leaves plenty of hours left to do a Parkes change over.
I’m assuming he’s working under BFM, it’s possible that he is operating under the more generous AFM.
Every chance Cooper, makes for an early knock off.
It’s Goondiwindi, pronounced gun-der-windy, but I like your interpretation.
On the Queensland side of the NSW border, same place as the nag.
Thanks mate, I thought it might be something like that, but it wasn’t clear to me from the video.
14 hours driving seems a bit generous by modern standards though, I remember when I was driving for Gauthier here having an altercation on the phone with my freteur (despatcher) about whether or not I had time to do a last minute change of loading.
I had been hanging about in a service station near Bordeaux for most of the afternoon waiting for a load and had several times warned him that my time was running short. Finally I phoned and said I was going 20 minutes off the road to a routier I knew and then my time would be up. I got there and signed off the tacho just as he rang and gave me a load to get, now. I refused and in the end was diverted elsewhere in the morning. The load had been brought into the depot of the firm who had subbed it to us. They punished me by insisting that I open all my curtains and side loading me instead of backing onto the dock where the pallets were. Only later did I realise that I was allowed to do 2 15 hour spreads a week and could have done the load legally. My excuse is that I had spent the previous 15 years in the own account sector where such long shifts never happened.
In true French fashion though, there was no comeback on me, despite the fact that it must have cost the company by a lower revenue for the load, everybody from the Boss down thought it a great joke. A great outlook on life which others might benefit from.
Back to the original subject if i may. it seems a sensible system. pull one lever in the cab and all the trailers brakes are on because there is no air. no hunting around for a knob on each trailer or double checking its pull for brake on and if the thing runs away your right there to deal with it (foot on brake etc)
are they all on this system or is there some variation?
Have to disagree, but am never again in this life going to be able to demonstrate much less prove it.
My system was:
set handbrake in cab and jump out
onto unit, disconnect all couplings
jump down other side and walk back to wind down legs
carry on towards the rear and set trailer brake
round the rear and back towards cab
pull pin**, last of all.**
result, never had a trailer roll away onto its knees, or onto its legs come to that
2 exceptions, the one which was my fault but only because someone else had pulled the pin maliciously, and when my mate at Gauthier had pulled the pin and moved the unit forward before disconnecting.
Ok if you have a knob in the cab for the trailer brakes, but only if you don’t forget one day to pull it. It is, of course, possible to forget to set the unit handbrake but unlikely as you have to do that every time you come to a halt if you take your foot off the brake.
Just my thoughts, old fashioned, but never failed.
There’re all like that. I think the Euro stuff has been modified, by the manufacturers, to comply with Australian Design Rules, so the trailer air supply is also controlled by the prime mover parking brake valve.
