Ok. just saw back end in picture
JIMBO47:
0 lots like this on aggregate work PITA. gypsum quarry.
It doesn’t make much sense to add another point of articulation by using the combination of artic and drawbar if it can be avoided.
Here’s my one man convoy, it’s a 53’ trailer with an A frame dolly pulling another 53’ trailer.
MGVW is 63.5tons and it’s 41m overall length on 9axles. Last night I parked next to an oversize load who had a front and back pilot car escorting him, I was about 30’ longer and 15ton heavier 
aye carryfast they are a royal pain but some o the outfits have an air operated bolt that drops down and locks the turntable on the wee trailer BUT most drivers don’t use them (that’s for screwdrivers).
Nice story, we were in New york last year and went on I95 down to Washington on a coach trip. We stopped at Delaware Services (I think) which was in the middle of the carriageway. She did let me have 5 mins to take some photos lol
Cheers Ade
newmercman:
Here’s my one man convoy, it’s a 53’ trailer with an A frame dolly pulling another 53’ trailer.MGVW is 63.5tons and it’s 41m overall length on 9axles. Last night I parked next to an oversize load who had a front and back pilot car escorting him, I was about 30’ longer and 15ton heavier
Blimey if I’ve read it right you’ve now seen the light that LHV’s actually work and that’s with an artificial weight limit. 
They work for me, I earn more and work less 
newmercman:
They work for me, I earn more and work less
I told you those Ozzies know what they are doing. 
newmercman:
They work for me, I earn more and work less
You don’t half spout some bollox mate , from a(we are not worthy) Pete driver running all 48 states , hating Volvos and pikes ,to running Canada only for better coin, to office boy for more coin , now piloting the mobile freakin chicane to earn more, decide whether you need a crap or brush your teeth but ffs make your mind up . Full of the proverbial … 
Oh I’m ever so sorry that the way I run my life doesn’t agree with how you think I should do things.
However I stand by all of those things, if I ever go back to being a company driver I will not be seen dead in a Volvo, I will want a blinged up 80mph Pete, but all the while I am paying the bills I will be in a Volvo.
I will be pulling pikes too because, as I said, I earn more for doing less, just as I did in my office job, which was going to involve me running my own lorries in the fleet, it never worked out for various reasons, but I had to go and try it to find that out.
That’s what I do pal, I try new things, I don’t just sit their resting on my laurels thinking I’m better than everyone else. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but hey ho, at least I have a go.
If you don’t like that, well that’s fine with me, I think from my posts on here that you’ve worked out that I’m not a people pleaser…
newmercman:
However I stand by all of those things, if I ever go back to being a company driver I will not be seen dead in a Volvo, I will want a blinged up 80mph Pete, but all the while I am paying the bills I will be in a Volvo.I will be pulling pikes too .
To be fair there are probably plenty of drivers who’d be happy enough with a North American ‘guvnor’s spec’ Volvo being that it isn’t exactly the same thing as the Euro box version.
As for road trains the only thing wrong with those is that they could carry even more if they went back to the original Oz idea of pulling them with a rigid not a unit and then allow the things to run Interstate throughout North America at their real potential weight.
The fact is the idea of the LHV is the definition of a truck. IE the ability to haul more is historically what development of the road transport industry is all about.It’s called progress and productivety. 
Mine ain’t “guvnor’s spec” whover ordered it had ticked quite a few boxes on the option list.
And as for carrying more weight, no thanks, 63.5tons is plenty enough for me, in fact it’s way too much, the lighter the better as far as I’m concerned.
newmercman:
Mine ain’t “guvnor’s spec” whover ordered it had ticked quite a few boxes on the option list.And as for carrying more weight, no thanks, 63.5tons is plenty enough for me, in fact it’s way too much, the lighter the better as far as I’m concerned.
The point was just the inference in your post that the Volvo was more of a ‘guvnor’s wagon’ compared to the Pete when it is still obviously a world away from its Euro type counterpart.
As for the weight surely that is the object of pulling an A train outfit ( together with the extra volume ) and it is that ‘combination’ which is providing that more revenue for less work situation.In which case it seems obvious that running that type of outfit at less than 75t gross is just a case of taking less revenue than ‘would’ otherwise be possible. 
Although having said the best case engine output option in the US spec Volvo ( 1,650-2050 lb/ft ? ) would probably make its fuel efficiency less than ideal above the 60t point.As opposed to the Euro spec F16 which makes over 2,600 lb/ft from 1,050-1,400 rpm.
For me it’s about operating cost, the biggest one being fuel, the Volvo is pretty good in that respect, mainly due to aerodynamics. There are alternative trucks, Freightliner Cascadia, KW T680, Pete 579, International ProStar, a new Western Star and the Mack Vision which has a slightly different Volvo driveline.
However after a bit of research the Volvo came out in front in the reliability stakes and that’s the most important factor. Even a gas guzzler will earn more than a broken down truck.
So it ticks all my boxes when I use my business brain, however the little boy that loves lorries in me totally disagrees with that, he wants a 379 Pete, dripping in lights and chrome with a big CAT under the bonnet.
Sadly as a grown up with responsibilities I have to ignore my inner little boy and take the sensible option.
B train big enough for me thanks Mark comes in about 100ft long.
I love the look and drive of the Pete but for me being a big fat bloke it’s bit of a squeeze between the seats and for the size of the truck the sleeper is small. Ok if only out for 4 or 5 nights a week but now doing a bit longer trips find it cramped
Yeah well I’m skinny so I never had a problem
taffytrucker:
I love the look and drive of the Pete but for me being a big fat bloke it’s bit of a squeeze between the seats and for the size of the truck the sleeper is small. Ok if only out for 4 or 5 nights a week but now doing a bit longer trips find it cramped
Same as my anteater. Its a very tight squeeze between the seats but the worst thing is the step down in to the sleeper that Kenworths have, so after you’ve rammed your way through the seats, whilst crouching down because the cab is low roofed, you then tumble in to the back, fall down in to the sleeper and end up head first on the bunk. Stupid ■■■■■■ thing. The sleeper is probably a similar size to the Pete one but I don’t mind it, I’m normally only out 4 nights a week but even on longer two week trips I don’t find it too small, its all a matter of what you get used to. A few years back I did a winter in the UK and drove an MAN TGX with the mid roof and I thought I’d hate being out all week in a poxy European truck after getting used to much bigger cabs over here, but it didn’t bother me at all when it came down to it and I rather enjoyed it.
The problem I found with the KW was banging my head on the interior light going in and out of the bunk. Well that and the really hard ride, constant rattles and squeaks from the interior and general cheap nastiness of the thing.
The Pete was not much better in that respect, I took the whole dash apart and put foam rubber between anything that touched and superglued it all together, it didn’t help much 
But for all those axles on the ground the payload is crap …when I finished here was running with payloads to 30 1/2 tonnes on six axles…