Why no B doubles in the US?

[hvy 1ton]

Except for some turnpikes throughout the US, the max GCVWR isn't high enough to justify B-trains even the shorts one that are run on between the cities down there. Canada and Australia both run B doubles up to 140,000lbs, a full 60,000lbs more than the interstate cap and 10,500lbs more than the interstate's designed limit. The Kansas Turnpike bumps the gross to 120,000lbs, but they also allow vehicles to 120ft so anyone wanting to pay for all the axles just runs 2 48' vans with a single or tandem dolly between them. There isn't enough continuous road where B-doubles could be used at present to give a good return on investment.

 

[heavylift]

73 bucks to run 9 axles... 236 miles on the Kansas turnpike...

they do show up to 12 axles but no rate scale

I don't know what the fuel difference is between 2 tractors versus 1.... but paying for that extra driver for 6 hours must be the deal maker...

 

[hvy 1ton]

73 bucks to run 9 axles... 236 miles on the Kansas turnpike...

they do show up to 12 axles but no rate scale

I don't know what the fuel difference is between 2 tractors versus 1.... but paying for that extra driver for 6 hours must be the deal maker...

I've noticed the pay scale going to 12 without prices too. If i remember correctly a turnpike double/b-train will drop less than 1mpg compared to a 80K truck. Another plus has to be maintaining half as many trucks.

I think a large part of why the Truck Size and Weight Freeze hasn't been lifted is special interest groups "protecting" jobs. If you ask me, any boost in productivity will produce a surplus of jobs. I really need to polish the paper i wrote and link it again.

 

[Hendrik]

Well my figuring was that at the loading docks they are not set up for B doubles, most general freight B doubles here are curtain sided, I noticed that the US trucks all just about have solid sides, meaning you un/load them from the back.
I don't understand the concept of gross vehicle weight, what are they scared of? That a truck can't brake as quick? ABS is standard on B doubles now, you have an extra 2 or 3 axles braking.
Job protection? From what I understand the US has the same problem as Oz, insofar as not being able to attract enough drivers to fill the shortfall, which is one of the reasons why B doubles have become popular, that and the extra efficiencies gained by having one truck pulling more weight.
Back when single trailers where the norm, the average truck had 350hp, now that is closer to 500 with B doubles and road trains.

 

[245dlc]

Don't forget North America also has a well established rail network, we really don't need to double up like that.

 

[Hendrik]

Don't forget North America also has a well established rail network, we really don't need to double up like that.

You may not believe it but Oz has a choo choo or two as well but some freight is better on trucks, particularly time sensitive stuff.
Another thing is the environmental issue, you have the politicians jumping up and down about industry reducing emissions and I would have thought reducing emissions per tonne shifted would be an area that could be looked at.
BTW what is the average engine output of those single trailer units?
Anyway it seems that it's a case of "my daddy did it like this, so I'll do it like this and when the youngens take over they'll be doing it like this as well".
Perhaps NASA will have to come up with a B double space shuttle to make it pay

 

[245dlc]

Hey Hendrik can you post some pics of the trucks you guys have in Australia I've seen the shows on t.v. with the massive road trains, but I would like to see some pictures of "ordinary" trucks like gravel trucks, van trailers, lowbeds etc. And what kind of axle weight and g.v.w.'s are you allowed on your roads? Here in Canada I think the maximum at least before special permits is 63,500kg, but here in the province of Manitoba it's 62,500kg. For us the governing factor is winter and what frost does to roads, plus how we build roads for example in my home province the department of holidays (highways) always builds on the cheap and does the worst maintenance possible like spreading asphalt with a grader and trying to pack it with a truck or with the same grader. lol Hence why I bought a four-wheel drive pick up truck last fall.

 

[PSDF350]

Hey Hendrik can you post some pics of the trucks you guys have in Australia I've seen the shows on t.v. with the massive road trains, but I would like to see some pictures of "ordinary" trucks like gravel trucks, van trailers, lowbeds etc. And what kind of axle weight and g.v.w.'s are you allowed on your roads? Here in Canada I think the maximum at least before special permits is 63,500kg, but here in the province of Manitoba it's 62,500kg. For us the governing factor is winter and what frost does to roads, plus how we build roads for example in my home province the department of holidays (highways) always builds on the cheap and does the worst maintenance possible like spreading asphalt with a grader and trying to pack it with a truck or with the same grader. lol Hence why I bought a four-wheel drive pick up truck last fall.

Must have the same hiway dept:Banghead

 

[heavylift]

Actually I think your roadtrains look really cool....

Figures for the choo choo...
1980.... 240 tons per mile per gallon of fuel...
2000.... 390 tons per mile per gallon of fuel...



one rock quarry has railed their rock here for years from Oklahoma

Now a quarry that is EVEN closer is also going to start railing it's rock into the area ... this quarry is about 90 miles away...

so if a train can get almost 400 tons here with 90 gallons of fuel
AND IF a truck hauls 25 tons at the same 90 gallons.... say 1500 gallons to haul the 400 tons

Will the savings be passed to consumer ...NO...

 

[Squizzy246B]

Some info here:

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=97799

The point about the bridge rules and the rail network is the most pertinent to this topic. Australia's rail network is, in terms of general freight, just about as useful as cancer of the testicles. The big tonne-age shifted on rail is mining specific and not open to general freight. getting a vehicle transported East West takes over a week on rail and costs a bomb. A truck will do it under 3 days at half the cost. Our rail network is just not up to it and not extensive enough to compete with trucks.

 

[Squizzy246B]

A couple of pics here:

 

[heavylift]

That log trailer is way cool...

Sound like our rail systems are opposite.... they put almost everything on rail cars here... sadly for the most part it's made in China or where ever overseas...

even secret government stuff... that could be the biggest hazard in the world yet rides unmarked

as for the actual costs ...don't know...

They are trying to build a new intermodal terminal around Kansas City... But it's a not in my backyard fight at the moment...

I've even unloaded water line pipe from flat cars...

 

[heavylift]

we even have a some kind of armed government transport... don't know what they haul...
but they are armed to the teeth... bullet proof glass...
usually run in a group of 3 tractor trailers....with 3 or 4 Suburbans

The last ones I saw... the tractors were Marmons

the picture is just one I googled

 

[MKTEF]

LOL; Thats Blackwater or Xe surving your contry at home!

Same prosedure as in Iraq...

 

[245dlc]

Actually the rail cars are built either in the States or in Canada they are not built in China. China still uses Steam locomotives. Our diesels are built by EMD (Electro Motives Division) or by General Electric. Some smaller hybrid type locomotives are also built on this side of the pond.

 

[heavylift]

Whoops! I meant that the goods they haul are made in chiner...
I have noticed that grain cars say built in mexico...

 

[245dlc]

Maybe in the States, but Canadian Wheat Board cars were made in the good ol' Dominion of Canada.:canada

 

[Hendrik]

Hey Hendrik can you post some pics of the trucks you guys have in Australia I've seen the shows on t.v. with the massive road trains, but I would like to see some pictures of "ordinary" trucks like gravel trucks, van trailers, lowbeds etc. And what kind of axle weight and g.v.w.'s are you allowed on your roads?

This explains the basic load limits
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/heavyvehicles/downloads/heavyveh-mass0706.pdf
Your basic single trailer semi is 42.5 with a bogie-tri combination, which is the most popular in Australia, B double and triples depend on axle configurations but bogie-tri-tri is usually the go. So that is 6 tonnes on the steer, 16.5 tonnes drive bogie, 20 tonnes first axle group and 20 tonnes on the last axle group, giving 62.5 tonnes for a B double and 82.5 for a B triple. On some light weight operations the use bogies on the A trailer and B trailer, such as courier trucks or car transporters.
From memory the maximum weight of a road train is 120 tonnes unless it is on private roads.

Now for another question, why do the semi trailers in the US run a bogie axle set up, instead of tri? American truckers don't like checking air pressures?

 

[heavylift]

Save tires...you will see flat and dumps running empty with a single axle on the ground..
plus some run the micheln super single...
even fuel tanker tractor trailers run the super single...


they are 17" wide and rated for 10200 pound each...

 

[alco]

China still uses Steam locomotives.

Actually, steam engines are becoming more and more rare in China. The majority of their locomotives are now diesel and electric.