Australian Trucks Make More Sense
This video was brought to you by me, the guy who made the video. Don't believe me? Too bad! (Though I have heard rumors, and there's evidence for it in past comments sections, that somebody is thieving and doing crime around here on the Yukon channel. Don't tell anyone though.)
Sources for Images:
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commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
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www.dekra-solutions.com/2018/...
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Sources for Information:
Smart Trucking
www.smart-trucking.com/trucki...
TruckNet AU
www.truck.net.au/public/austr...
Queensland Government
www.tmr.qld.gov.au/business-i...
NHVR.gov
www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/r...
Ravnet
maps.sa.gov.au/ravnet/
"Who do you think you are? Whitney Houston??"
The room erupted in laughed except for the man wearing a rockets jersey.
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Why does everything in Australian society end in -ie or -o. Does it have anything to do with Australia's history as a penal colony for the criminal class? I'm just asking questions. I say this because somebody I know owns a trucking business down under and also he's a homosexual.
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You know Charles, I was up late tossing and turning last night thinking the same thing and let me just be the first to say that thank GOD somebody put those horrific thoughts I was having into words.
@S2 NaDimi m
M?
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can't argue with that
A Bloke called John Parnell was the whole reason that triple roadtrains exist in Australia. He worked with the department of transport and it actually worked. Then he used triple road trains to cart fuel to remote NT, SA and QLD with his business Parnell Transport. For those efforts he was inducted to Australian Transport Hall of Fame. And hes my Grand Dad.
I've seen quite a few four dog trains and once near Winton I saw two by five doggers, one behind the other. Never seen one since but I believe they are common round mining sites.
Actually it is widely recognised that Kurt Johansson who first pioneered road trains in the Northern Territory around Alice Springs. His truck "Big Bertha" is in the Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Spring and Noel Buntine iis another Pioneer who revolutionised the Road Train in the 1960's making it what it is today. My Father worked for Mr Buntine and they were mates and he treated us like family as he treated all his drivers. "In 1983, with the Australian Road Research Board, Melbourne, considerable research work was undertaken with Parnell equipment to provide information on which the requirements of operation of triple roadtrains were developed. With Dr. Peter Sweatman and others from ARRB assisting, the first triple roadtrain running from Pt. Augusta to the SA/NT border commenced operations under strict supervision." Quote taken from the Road Transport Hall of Fame. Triple road trains were already in use in NT at the time and the . I remember my fist ride in a Tanami Cattle truck with my Uncle Bruce "Pissy" Pepperill about 1983 and Road Trains were every where. Sherwins, Buntines (later to become Road Trains Australia or RTA), Co-Ord where all running trains across the NT from Mt Isa Qld to Derby WA and Clan Contracting (Derby WA) and Gulf Transport (Jim Cooper is a legendary pioneer of the Road Train industry, he later bought RTA forming GulfRTA) from 60's and 70's. In the 1979 the Federal and SA Government undertook to seal the Stuart highway completing it in 1987, just in time for the Bicentennial Celebrations'. Massive road building project required massive amounts of machines and fuel. And there wasn't just one camp. There were road work camps North of the SA/NT Border, The Alice to SA Border Section was being sealed at the same time. Your Grand Dad would have nailed it with the contract to cart fuel to the road work crews! How ever in the late 70's and early 80's there were several cases of Fuel Tankers catching fire or rolling over about 30km South of Alice Springs on the old dirt Stuart Highway. My Father caught one incident on his brand new Super 8 movie camera in the very early 80's or maybe '79 that was used in a court case in Alice Springs where a car cut of and dusted a Road Train carrying fuel causing it to crash and catch fire. The entire train burned. If your Grand Dad is still alive, ask him about that one. It might have been one of his trucks.
@@InTheDarknessWhereIDwell Ok thanks for the correction! I couldnt help myself from laughing someone being called pissy. I never thought someone could be called that. And yes John Parnell is still alive and I enjoy his company. Hes an idol to me and I'll ask him about it.
@@Hayden_TGM He was called Pissy because he was a big piss head. Always drunk, got sacked from Sherwin Transport a few times for being piss wrecked but Peter Sherwin would always re-employ him hahahaha. John Parnell was probably, just guessing, a huge contributor to how safe fuel tankers are today.
@@Hayden_TGM Tell him Richard Kay is also bright and Healthy in Darwin was talking with him just the other day! Spent many an hour chatting about outback trucking, I am an Indentured Tradesman Diesel mechanic. who did my Apprenticeship in the late 70s in Darwin, if he knew pissy he knows Richard Kay.
Fun fact: The vast majority of Australians have never seen a roadtrain in real life, because most of them live within a 100 kms of the ocean on the east coast. Australia is roughly the same size as mainland USA. Edit: Judging by the comments, a lot of Australians don’t know the difference between a roadtrain and a B-Double. A B-Double is NOT a roadtrain! Not surprising considering Australia is one of the most urbanised nations on earth, and as I said, the vast majority live within a 100 kms of the coast in the south-eastern part of the country.
double road trains in Melbourne metro ,ceva b triple used to run Geelong Broadmeadows daily .
That will change. We now have road trains in Victoria
@@JohnCacic Are doubles not classed as 'long vehicle'? I always thought road trains were 3 or more carriages.
@@htejjke2228 b doubles are not road trains.
@@rawnature8148 But A-doubles are.
As a Western Australian, I had no clue that the rest of the world didn’t have the same variety in trucks as us. I knew we were special for our road trains but I assumed the rest of the trucking world would look fairly similar.
Probably because rural australia has literally nothing in it, while rural america and canada still have paved roads and communities every couple dozen kilometers/miles. That means people will complain, and police will pull you over. Road trains don't have many external factors to worry about
It is a bigger safety concern in America since almost all roads have a specific lane width. In Australia it seems you have hundreds of miles of open land with hardly any traffic and wider roads but over here in America there will always be some traffic and the risks involved in having a trailer train of that length means the whole train can shift many feet to the left or right due to bumps, wind, and unlevel roads. The longest trailer you can tow with a pickup truck (Ford F350 and the like) is 53 feet long. The longest trailer train you can have is a triple which maxes out at 105 feet long and they are exclusive to semi trucks. This is the highest maximum length I know of, there are almost certainly different laws on this depending on the state. Had to research if it was possible to tow a 24 foot enclosed trailer while towing a camper behind that at one point. The laws have too much legalese talk to them but from what I understood it is also possible to tow multiple trailers behind a pickup as long as the towed items when attached to each other do not exceed 53 feet total.
I've seen small road trains in the US. Two small trailers instead of the typical long one. But we get cabovers and bonneteds. Not too many japanese semis though
In the USA it's mostly bonneted trucks. Cabovers are mostly a leftover and not being sold here at all to my understanding, while In my opinion being superior for many tasks
In England everything 18th metres long class as road train 😂🚂.
Ex Aussie truckie here. You've hit the points pretty well mate. I've driven both conventional and cab overs from the centre of Sydney to the remote centre of West Oz and I can say that while my personal preference is for conventional style I wouldn't be without a cab over while in a city. It makes things so much easier to be able to have that much smaller turning radius and the extra 2 to 3 MTRS we can pull forward. The only thing I will add is most of the guys running long haul and road trains would kill for some of the American setups that have things like a small kitchen or toilet/shower because there are a lot of lonely stretches with nowhere to stop and rest properly.
Must be the pits being 150km from the next place with a shower and shitter when you have only 30 mins wheel-time left, and the owner can't be arsed paying for AFM certification because 'BFM is just fine... and cheaper.'
American here! We were in a conventional truck and all we had was a mini fridge and a microwave. The problem with the shower/toilet setups is that they add weight and length- utterly impractical if you have to be anywhere near a city. I don’t know what your DOT equivalent is like but ours will absolutely slam you on weight. Funny thing is that we were never more than about 2 hours from a gas station (usually with showers) so that kind of a setup would be way more practical for a trip to Alice Springs or wherever than it would be anywhere in the US!
@@Axqu7227 they also add cost. Only trucks I've seen with that kind of setup were show-grade trucks. Not necessarily purely for show, but they had that kind of money poured into them.
I'm american trucker looking to drive in australia. comment if you can help me
I'm now imagining a road train where the "caboose" is a camper trailer. 😂
this was great and informative and now i want Australian truck simulator.
Someone’s been working on one for a while i think.
If that exists, you can pick American, European and Japanese trucks there.
yeah it’s called truck world australia or something
I wanna do that! I am Victorian.
I think there is a mod for that in ATS and ETS2
As an American trucker, I knew about the road trains but I had no idea how versatile the truck market is in Australia. Hats off to the road warriors down under!
My dream is to be a truck driver like my dad He has been driving since he was 18. This year he will be 60 and still driving
@@alpharaptor7510 They are making those old trucks easier to live and work in all the time. Back when I was young in the 1950's, those poor old drivers looked like they were beat to death by the time they were sixty. I retired at seventy, and was in far better shape than those okd guys a generation before. The truck itself as well as available services have made the job far easier. It still remains a high stress and often difficult occupation.
And, until the liberal government killed it, we had a local car industry making Utes which were great for hauling without the unpleasant verticality of american trucks.
@@superchroma Actually it was GM recording Subsidiaries and Assistance Loans as Income then sending the cash to the US, they then said the market was Unsustainable and Unprofitable, further Holden was preventing the growth of US Brands around the Pacific rim, Indian Ocean and such, so they shut down GMH so GM's American brands could take over. the closure of GMH was going to force up Parts Manufacturing costs so Ford followed, Toyota held on as long as they could but they had to go as well.
@@superchroma anime profile pic. Your opinion is invalid.
Fun fact about outback roads! When you're near towns they're two lanes, when you're not near towns they become one lane with a wide shoulder on either side. So every now and again you'll have a road train coming at you at 100k's, they definitely have right of way. If you think that's scary, wait until you see the words "wide load" coming at you at 100k's. You get off the road AND off the shoulder and hope it won't get you.
@@redhammer9910 ahahaha what a bastard! Glad you survived your ordeal. I think the scariest one we came across was one carrying a massive bulldozer from the mines. The blade on the bulldozer stuck out from either side of the trailer and all you saw was a shiny steel blade fly past the window :S
Rural NSW here (Riverina exact), and it's not uncommon seeing B-Doubs hauling grains or a truck running pair of livestock trailers or fuel tankers, or a flatbed hauling a tractor from a farm with the "Wide Load" warning, mixed with hatches, sedans, utes, 4-ton rigids and SUV's along the A20/Sturt Highway or on the winding 2-lane blacktop between towns. Sometimes even encounter roadwork teams prepping for jobs to start, during job, or after a job is done.
I lived in Alice Springs for 40 years. Triples are everywhere there. Then they added the extra 1/2 trailer to the triple. They drive through town as its the only way from Darwin to Adelaide. I learnt as a young kid to respect trucks.
Australia has also had much looser emission regulations than Europe or the US especially in the outback euro 2 was good enough untill 2006 you could buy a brand new mechanically injected diesel with no EGR in 2006 and pre 1995 there were absolutely ZERO diesel emissions standards. Unfortunately you often see many newer, cleaner more efficient trucks in the Outback and old smelly trucks in around cities doing port to distribution center runs but you can still see plenty of REALLY old 2 stroke road trains driven by owner operators. As those old motors are easy to legally mod and and easy to fix when you're half way between Dingo piss creek and bum fuck nowhere with the nearest town being 1000 kilometers away.
Mate, you're not wrong. I was talking to a bloke that had an injector fail outside Ceduna. Trucks computer said "no". He said a mechanic had to come from Melbourne to fix the thing! For those outside Oz thats about 1500kms (950 miles). With an old truck, he could keep going on 7!
@@cme2cau Yeah I heard there are no truck mechanics in Adelaide or any of SA for that matter! Nice story John FFS 🤦🏻♂️
@@spatialguy5571 It would not be impossible that it was a BS story. This was a few years ago, and computer controlled diesels weren't exactly thick on the ground. Yes, there are diesel mechanics everywhere (on every farm, for one) but it's a bit different in a modern engine than putting a new injector in a mechanically injected diesel. Without the right software (sometimes dealer only), you've got Buckleys.
@@cme2cau OK. So no computers in Adelaide then, my mistake.
'halfway between dingo piss creek and bum fuck nowhere' I love you
I rode my Motorbike across Australia and back, and passing the big Road Trains is scary. The roads are only single-lane, so all passing is done on the 'wrong' side of the road. Plus the roads are fairly narrow and soft-shouldered. The trucks are not just long (and so take time to overtake), but are so big they produce massive air currents and eddies, which buffets a motorbike wildly. Good times. Oh, and around the outback mining towns like Kalgoorlie, there are road trains with four(!) trailers that only drive between the mines and the railway freight stations. Those things are crazy as they "worm" down the road, sometimes across both lanes!
Crazy! Only ever seen a similarly lengthy roadtrain like that down the road past coober pedy while 4x4 touring a couple years ago, the sheer intimidating massiveness of those things is hard to put into words hey
I live in kal I see quads daly
I bet that was a thrill on two wheels! I am a retired USA trucker, and yet have enjoyed biking my whole life. I have always said, "Share the road". But less people go out of their way to be considerate to another driver. So sad!
Sounds like every road in the UK near enough
298 likes
Australia needs to ban overall length and only focus on trailer length. Too many companies cutting driver space and comfort for the sake of 2-4 extra pallets on a trailer
same with europe i guess then
Hey! 2-4 extra pallets is 10 extra dollars per load, how as a capitalist am I to feed my family for the sake of your comfort??
@@nakoda1610 no. Europe is fine. We don’t have this problem.
@@digiornopizzadelivery8062 yeah but it’s incredibly dangerous
@@bamron265 yea. yea we do have this problem
The big fleets are almost exclusively euro brands these days, cab style doesn't necessarily factor into the corporate beancounter decision at all, they are focused on fuel efficiency, green points and safety features on their spreadsheet. Owner operators and small fleets tend to like an American truck and add extra chrome and pinstripe paintwork.
The American style trucks are always better suited to long haul. Plus conventional trucks are sexy. As far a a truck can be anyway
American trucks have better fuel efficiency in general due to their better aerodynamics.
The K200 clawed back a lot of market share once it was shown to be competitive alongside the European trucks for efficiency. I know a couple of companies that cancelled Volvo orders in favour of them.
@@Anon.G More bull 💩! Don’t comment if you’re not 100% sure. Fool.
Not sure what you are saying Joel, American trucks are more fuel efficient
This is one of the many reasons why I have been calling for an Australian Truck Simulator, very good video mate. Fun fact: my Grandfather’s brother used to run a trucking business out of Margaret river back in the 70’s-90’s period and he ran 5 K100’s from Kenworth. But he had to sell up in the mid 90’s as his age was catching up to him. His final truck, a K100C No.1 painted in a black livery with Red-Orange-Yellow arrows on it’s side was sold to My grandfather and was named “The uncle Ken” in his honour. It still sees the road to this day, and as far as I’m aware, the only one from Uncle Ken’s trucking fleet still running in its original livery
Australian truck Sim might have a settlement problem though, with an unusual solution that may elevate the late game. You have a lot of empty space for vast mines, cattle runs and forestry areas. They need to be developed in order to create logistic demand. If the player can invest in the industry, and then have drivers servicing logistical supply chains, you get more sensible routes (instead of everyone running Turkey/Scotland or Finland/Portugal routes), and you make money have meaning beyond the phase of $100K a week. All this isn't easy, but it would be amazing if it were possible.
Truck world Australia is upcoming, popped up randomly for me on steam the other day
I'd want to see Truck Simulator New Zealand actually. Not only would you still get the vast selection of trucks just like in Australia, but you'd also get a vast selection of terrain as well!
Australian Truck Simulator would be a lot of sand, mostly.
@@dallasfrost1996 I never knew I wanted this but now I do
this video feels longer than it is, in a good way. incredibly information dense.
Right on
It felt like a 15 minute video wtf
i think our perception is getting warped from tiktok and short speed clip forms of information blasting our brains have gotten use to. God help us.
If he knew his stuff and showed Aussie trucks it would have been better! FFS 🤦🏻♂️
Here I am wanting to see more trucks and lorries and thinking the video is way too short
Aussies: bonneted truck. Americans: Large Car. Hats off to those road trains though, that's crazy stuff.
A Big Truck goes as fast as it can....a Large Car goes just as fast as it wants to.
So slower…
bro semi trucks to americans are medium-sized cars
@@lakesnake2005 I hear a similar saying, a Big Truck changes gears, a Large Car changes lanes! Hmm does an 800 horse Cat, 18 speed and 3.36 gears on tall rubber mean my fld 120 is a large car? Lol
@@rickcorey5908 are those 18 gears in multiple groups, or just one stick?
One funny thing about road trains is that with each trailer any variance in the direction of travel is amplified. This means that with any slight wiggle from the prime mover, the first trailer will be pretty quiet, but the last one looks like it's dancing. It's a strange thing to overtake!
Worse with a cab over.
Can get pretty interesting to drive too, especially when you pass another road train and your trailers are empty!
Saw that 1st hand on the Stewart Hwy north of Alice Springs following a triple trailer. 3rd only was all over the place .the 2nd was dead straight
so in theory you"d want more rolling resistance on the wheels of the further back trailers, so they stay straight under tension?
@@AnarchistMetalhead The whip comes from the chassis flex in the prime mover mostly. Or cheap, poorly built trailer/dolly. Longer and stiffer prime mover chassis as well as longer drawbars on the dolly help immensely.
As an Australian with a Dad who is a truck driver… this was a surprising find in my recommendations. Although I am not much of a gear head I appreciate and understand the importance of truckies in regards to logistics. I live in Tasmania so it’s semi-rural and a smaller place meaning that my dad can get home by the end of the day which is a unique part of the circumstances in Tassie, but like… he wakes up at 3 am, I don’t envy that at least. 😅 I find it amusing how my parents work stories contrast with my mum’s role where she needs to bullshit around toxic coworkers… while my dad and his coworkers don’t take shit and swear like troopers. I can’t help but grin when my dad uses all the profanity in the book to describe a bad driver slowing down massively after overtaking him, or some operator or manager doing certain things. Another great thing is when ever something gets written off, sometimes they give it to my dad. About a month ago he got given three boxes full of various AAA and AA batteries. As someone who’s hobby is video games… very appreciated ngl. I won’t have to buy batteries for years. Lol
This just popped up on my recomends, and now I'm fascinated that australia actually has a different type of truck to specific jobs, while in Brazil every truck it's the semi-truck cabin thing
It's definitely not, Brazil has all sorts of different trucks being used to haul shit around.
Exactly, we have both cabovers and front engined trucks. Cabovers are mostly seen near urban areas and front engined in the country side
@@MrCrazypb That's cool. Here in Germany you simply it simply doesn't make sense to operate a bonneted Truck because Europe overall simply lacks the space.The only companies operating these kind of Trucks merely use them as an eyecatcher.
@@fidel_manuwa1827 that makes sense considering most truck routes are fairly short in Europe compared to Brazil or Australia. The longer routes and lack of infrastructure require us to use both types depending on the job. We even have Road Trains here but they are mostly seen in highly agricultural areas where it is more economical to overload a single truck between short routes (say from harvest to mills)
Brazil has all sorts. Even older long nose scania's i wouldn't be suprised if they got bedfords and leylands...
The Aussies have a very practical way of doing everything, if it works, they use it. If it doesn't work, they're not interested. Bullshit's not tolerated, unless it's amusing bullshit, then they're all for it!
As an Australian I will go out of my way for amusing bullshit any day of the week.
@@OTSomewhere Australian from Victoria here, couldn't agree more
The government is the exception.
@@satya.anandakrishnan Unfortunately, Nobody get to choose weather or not their government is full of shit, they just are.
@@theafro I mean, we live in a representative democracy. That’s kinda the point of choosing members who aren’t full of $hit.
I remember in 1991 seeing a huge green and yellow Tipple Framed Superliner. She had a 800 HP V8, and was at a dealership in NJ waiting got the ship to take her down under to work as a Road Train for a mining operation there. Quite the Work Unit!
That's a really cool video. Here in Brazil we also have our own road trains, we call it "Rodotrem", that is the abbreviation of "rodovia" (highway) and "trem" (train). Almost all goods are transported by trucks, except for iron ore and the soy produced in the Midwest, so trucks are really important for us and truckers have a lot of respect from the people (but they still earn such a small portion of what they represent. The most commons trucks for road trains here are Scania, Mercedez and Volvo, and the interiors and the engines are praticaly the same. Some rodotrens can carry up to 91 tons, and it's impossible to not see them in rural areas such the São Paulo Interior. In 2018 occured a strike by the truckers and the internal economy almost collapsed, some things were 5 times the prices the used to cost 2 weeks ago, you can search it by typing "2018 truck drivers strike".
Yeah i love how there's all sorts of trucks in Australia. The Kenworth k200 cabover is rlly cool!!
likewise, It makes watching truck spotting videos pretty interesting since it's never the same thing after the other
I would love too be able to drive a k200 in the states
@@WillBilly. Australian fleet tech here, we have a mixed fleet of k200s, k909s, Volvo, Daimler etc All our kenworths are X15 with 18 speed ultra shift road ranger setups. As much as older guys complain, we have never had any internal transmission faults, only clutches. These things are great for scooting around with the shorter wheel base, however the ride quality compared to the euro cabs is shite, the drivers seat is air ride and that's about it, the cab just sits on big round cased bushes. Main advantage to the k200s are shorter wheel base and cost, they are allegedly* significantly cheaper than buying a comparable performance euro cab over. Vs the K909s with longer wheel base, air ride cab etc, for pulling long distance trains, drivers prefer either the 909s or the euro trucks. Hence we are apparently cutting back on the k200s and acquiring some more k909s and Volvo's I think.
It's a pretty rough truck
@@jordanbrolsma2724 I find it odd why American truck manufacturers all use the same blueprints for trucks in general, and they barely change from generation to generation. Cabovers don't have air suspension for the cab itself, that's why the ride quality is absolute shit. And they're not ergonomical whatsoever cuz they put the steps behind the front wheel. It doesn't improve handling and it's a hazard for the driver to make it that way since the risk for slipping and falling is greatly increased.
1:22 - in russian, colloquial name of bow bars for vehicles is "кенгурятник" ("kengur'atnik", as a reference to the word "кенгуру", that means "kangaroo"). Finally i understand, why it was called like that...) They was quite popular over here in 90-00's
In Australia, we call them kangaroo bars, or roo bars. Kangaroos are really stupid and have no understanding of how roads work. I've been on remote highways where there is a dead kangaroo at least every 100 meters, for many, many kilometers.
@@Starfireaw11 In Sweden we call them "Älgstaket" which translates to "Moose Fence".
Yep, just Roo Bar in Australia
@@tbone2646 Might be regional.... They're bullbars here in northern NSW. To me, a roo bar is the softer, lighter type often used on family size sedans, 8 seater vans and some smaller SUVs.
We have short road trains in the US, occasionally you see them on the interstate. They don't usually pull more than two full sized trailers, but very rarely you may see three. It used to be more common, but with our nearly 140,000 miles of freight rail and the extreme reliability of diesel-electric locomotives, we have no need for the longer road trains like you may see in the Outback.
You dont have roadtrains they are called B doubles
@@aussiedrone1511 that and their infrastructure is better than ours
I'm a truck driver; I see triples frequently, but usually only West of the Mississippi.
Yup. True. Triples aren't legal in all states. No US states allow more than 3.
A double or a triple is not a road train, son
A Volturnian Lobster is explaning to me Australian Trucking. I'm neither an Australian nor a trucker, and hell, I'm enjoying it anyway.
@@cruize55 what? why would I?! pff, no?... ..ugh.. fuck it, I'm breaking radio silence COMMAND THEY ARE ONTO US, THE HUMANS FIGURED OUT THE INFILTRATION, GET ME OUTTA HERE
I’m a kiwi who thinks he’s Australian and I do drive trucks and I enjoyed it too
Such a great philosophy from this guy
Cab overs are definitely taking over in Australia. 20+ years ago there would have been more conventional styled trucks, now there’s more cab overs getting around. It’s pretty normal to see a b-double with a cab over. Even road trains are going cab over. The Asian trucks are usually only ridged trucks or maybe a smaller single trailer. You don’t see many Asian trucks hauling huge trailers.
Cabovers offer superior driver comfort, visability, manovability and versatility. Look at Volvo Australia's XXL cab. Designed, tested and manufactured in Australia for our unique extreme conditions. 👍👍🇭🇲
Well I mean, Scania and Volvo's insane horsepower wars might be slightly to blame here.
@@HrHaakon I'm waiting to see who will release the first 1000hp engine in a commercial vehicle. Both Volvo and Scania produce 2000hp + industrial engines but these monsters are not a commercially viable option due to size.👍👍🇭🇲
Asian trucks focus more on efficiency and cost effectiveness. The largest Australian Isuzu engine is only 540hp out of a 15.7L 6 cylinder 6WG1. They often run at max GVM, which is 54 tonnes for the larger models. They aren't made to drive up and down mountain ranges fully loaded or do cross country trips, they were made by a small island nation for inter-city commerce. Asian trucks dominate the market of small to medium trucks, as there are models that can be driven on a car licence, and they're cheap and efficient for light and medium rigid trucks. They're also like Lego, in that they are fully customisable from cab, engine, gearbox, driveline, axles, body type and GVM. american and European trucks are only any good for B-doubles or bigger.
@@CantBeFucked69420 Not necessarily accurate. Take note of the increasing numbers of Volvo, Scania and MAN vehicles in heavy rigid configurations that have infinite modification options. Volvo are growing the light rigid market with UD.👍👍🇭🇲
Watching this at 11 PM after cramming for a test. I have little to no interest in trucks, but I’d be dammed if I didn’t say this video is educational, interesting and really well edited! Im saving this channel and looking through more of your vids later!!
01:43 the truck on the right is from a firm called Intake transport, they're literally based 10minutes away from me! - I used to load steel trailers (what he's got on the back) at the docks that they would sometimes run loads out of! Small world!
this channel has sparked my interest in trucking for some reason. for the past week ive been on wiki pages for different trucks and trucking cultrues, never thought it would come to this.
Yeah me too, since I'm also playing ETS2 recently that leads me into this trucking world
@@spidergoblin. for me, ive never touched a trucking simulator but now im considering getting one. which one do you recommend?
@@Sixtixx Depends on what you like. If you like American trucking, then get American Truck Simulator. But if u like European trucking which I do, they get the Europe Truck Simulator. It is best with a wheel if U have one
If you're interested in the industry you can get yourself in almost any part of it right now from how understaffed it is, be it driver, dispatcher, mechanic, salesman at the dealership, gate guard at the drop yard, there's a lot of desk jobs even, for every driver and mechanic out there there's usually 1 person behind a desk helping them out
🤣🤣🤣😂 I did it from 1991 to 2018. Drove my first truck in the US Army and have driven in 3 countries. If you count my Army experience I have over 30 years trucking. After having a heart attack, bypass surgery, being put on insulin after surgery the Government I can't drive anymore. Since being retired 2022 has been my best year.
Used to drive a 4900 Western Star as cattle train, water cart and machinery float, going through the bush always offered something different and was never dull
Fairly comprehensive explanation. The only thing I’d really differ on is the forward crash bars. Many would call them “Roo bars”. Especially in Australia, as the kangaroo is fairly common in the Outback.
bull bars mate roo bars go on you mums corolla
Also called Bull bars
Another fun fact - In Australia length is always the limiting factor on different routes. In aus length is measured from the from of the Bullbar to the back of the trailer. Sometimes having a bonneted truck can put you over length. That's why the Cabover Kenworths are so popular
As a aussie truckie myself I approve this video
Your approval isn't needed for this video to exist though
@@RileyWhitts virgin?
I absolutely loved this video! The editing and pacing are great, and you have a nice, soothing narrator voice. I like that trucking in Australia is hybrid of American and European ways of doing things. Bless the drivers who drive those big rigs to the outbacks.
I remember traveling across Australia a couple of times as a 9-11 year old. From Perth TO Sydney, Perth TO Melbourne. Was great staying at different truck stops and seeing the small towns and some beautiful natural sights (Mountains, Australian Bite etc). Was all done in a Mack truck, once as what you'd say is a road train. Good vid mate, just brought back some memories from 20+ years ago.
Mate how do you know so much about the Aussie trucking industry? You absolutely nailed it. Legend.
Missed the part about there being a huge amount of older American trucks still on the road. Aus is a US truck enthusiasts dream
As an Australian who lives in the central of Queensland I game agree that conventional trucks are seen a lot here and are used pretty frequently in the central part of australia
Just discovered & binged your great videos yesterday. Was pleasantly surprised to see you had just posted a video about my own country 🇦🇺. Love your stuff!
For sure you’re an up and coming KZheadr, can’t wait to see more quality bite sized videos like this
this is the type of content i've trying to find for years. i hope to see more in the future, and i'm glad to finally find someone as enthused by trucks as me!
The Australian trucking industry as a whole is just so much cooler than the rest of the world
Yeah it is lol I’ve seen it
not really it is going downhill due to new regulations and companies pushing drivers to their boundaries and crap pay. i am an australian and a truckie. we have lots of imported drivers( immigrant ) that can only go forward and dont know how to reverse a semi.
@@biteme0973 People don't respect truckers who can maneuver their vehicle backwards into tight spots. They do love their groceries though
@@biteme0973 We are seeing that here in the States also. And they are getting a CDL without knowledge of the equipment and the rules. Some even cannot speak or read English. Unfortunately many newer drivers do not possess backing or maneuvering skills when they start. All of this is making it interesting here. Also made it easy for me to retire when I hit my seventieth birthday. It is getting crazier on our roads all the time here.
@@ronfullerton3162 sounds like I'm on for a treat. Learning and training to get my CDL currently through a company and a school. Were learning loads about backing and they're making us practice it every day for hours.
I saw only a dozen australian cabovers in the US, and they are exclusively owned by very rich drivers who literally have the job just for fun, no clue how they got them into the US
I seen a newer cab over in Ohio/WV once, and I was so confused. But I was amazed by the cab over. It took me a while to assume that it was imported from Australia.
@@DraxTrac I seen them in newark
I seen European cab overs in the US, they were all Scanias. And even one Scania was driving with European trailer and license plates.
I believe what folks are seeing on US roads are the Freightliner Argosy. The last cabover Freightliner built in the US for over-the-road use. Still available new as a “Glider Kit” which is about an 80% complete truck.
It's very rare to see a euro trucks but I've seen 2 Scanias and a few Man trucks in the USA and there's a Foden that drives regularly on i49 in Louisiana
This was well put together.being an Aussie myself,it was great to hear you pronounce everything perfectly as it would have been said here.👍
As an American trucker, we have both cab overs and bonneted trucks here in the USA. You see bonneted trucks makin fling Hal’s of 6,000 miles across great expanses of wilderness, and cab overs doing lots of deliveries in the cities. Most of America is rural with great distances in between cities, so bonneted trucks are more common
Well, they're both usefull
I think we have different ideas of what 'Great distances between cities' is
@@devo3243 3,000 mile drives are common
As an Aussie, I am surprisingly very proud to see this 🤣🤣
I am arguing in the comments about which cab design is better
Oh no you're not... Let's go!
Cab under style is the best as the engine shades from the sun.
There are many legal requires for Heavy Vehicle: So you have Tractor and trailer combinations max length is 19 metres or 64.4 ft. B double being 25 Metres 82 Ft ....so the choices for many operators is how many pallets you need to haul. That goes along way to the choice of Cab over vs bonneted prime mover/tractor. Great video!
I love watching the road trains drive along the port access road (I live in Townsville North Queensland) some are absolutely huge with 3-5 trailers attached at a time. They truly are a beautiful site, or when I’m driving down a gravel road and I pass by a road train (you always have to give them a lot of room).
Sure Australia is a paradise for truck lovers like me, so much variety of brands and configurations. Nice to see American looking trucks pulling "European looking trailers" and vice versa. The only problem of course is the harsh environment.
*"Nice to see American looking trucks pulling "European looking trailers" and vice versa"* Well, trailers in Australia has different requirements. Just like Europe, all trailers in Australia require amber turn signals and reverse lights. Most American trailer come with red turn signals and no reverse lights at all.
@@automation7295 Also america really don't like curtainsiders. Meanwhile here in europe we LOVE them to the point it's impossible not to see one.
The fridge van trailers are thicker than European or American trailers
@@automation7295 The fridge van trailers are thicker than European or American trailers
It's not harsh when it's the only thing we've known. It's normal.
Bolivia and I think many south American countries also "give" you the "freedom" to choose which truck style you prefer. Cab over or with a bonnet. Also brands vary, from UD, to Scania, to freightliner, to Volvo (European, American and Brazilian) to even some Chinese brands. You can purchase whichever style you prefer and use it.
Did I just hit a random video and straight up see my bus stop 0:21 casually pop up? Also, can't believe you didn't mention our mining gear! Oversized road trains have Hilux pilots front and back on country roads that signal (depending on how far over the line they are) us to pull over. Giant Lego bricks for mining jobs up north and central desert are HUGE
You sure do cram a whole lot of information into short watch times. It's refreshing to see someone not drag it out longer than necessary while also keeping it to landscape mode
All this roads look so cool! I wish Australian people were real 🤌🏽
Lol
Shhhhhhh
I wish I was real as well.
True mate. I reckon I'm unreal.
When things are too good to be true....
When i went to Perth, Australia back in 2018, i saw so many types of Trucks, with a lotta diversity of American, European & Japanese manufacturers.
It's worth noting that, in the coastal regions, we have dedicated clipboard warriors in patrol vehicles and running roadside checkpoints to inspect trucks. Legend has it that they can spot an overlength 22-wheeler or B-double from a mile out, so the cab-over is the preferred choice when hauling on their turf.
Part of what makes cab-overs so popular here is our laws, trucks have a maximum length in cities measured from the front of the prime mover to the back of the trailer so a cab-over lets you pull a longer trailer with more cargo.
So the same reason why they were so common here in the states until it was deregulated. You still see them, but if it's a cabover combination vehicle, it was most likely made in the 70's or early 80's.
Scania and Volvo did have bonetted models in Australia in the 80s. American actor Stacey Keach was driving a very modern Mercedes Benz V-series semi trailer through the Nullabor in 1981's Road Games.
My dad used to own a 1980s V8 bonetted Scania in the 90s
@@alpharaptor7510 I love the sound of the six cylinder Scania cab overs from that era, but the V8 your described is a powerhouse.
Spent a few days on deployment in Mungindi and stayed at a hotel that once held the Guinness book of world records record for longest land train. From the pictures it looked like it went on for a kilometer!
And apparently only moved a meter or so.
@@jimzeleny7213 I can imagine after a solid gust of wind or a flood pushing it along lol!
Nice video. I worked at a Dairy for nine years & had to move semis & straight trucks around the dairy and dock them or place them into the work shop & move them to other locations. But operating a road train would be a whole different ball game.
Road trains are pretty much all across the country now except for in the major city centres. The most common cab over in Australia is by a big margin, Kenworths K series truck. The Euro cab overs are way in front of the K series in terms of comfort, but the K series have the front axle forward so could carry an extra 2 pallets of freight on a b-double combination composites to a bonnetted truck or Euro cab over. Also bonnetted trucks and the K series cab overs can have larger bunks so are usually preferred over Euro trucks to go bush for longer periods as they are easier to live in for weeks on end.
Here in Aus both my parents are truckies. Mum drives a mack with a bonnet and dad drives a Mercedes cabin over. Its always funny to see my 5' tall mum clamber down the side of her mack.
Lady drivers are getting more common here in the States also. Some are very good drivers! Plus many of them look better to me than their male counterparts.
😅🤣
I think the conventional cab looks cool asf compared to the ones we see here in europe
They're much easier to live in that's for sure. I spend a month or more in my truck at a time and it even gets a little small at times, couldn't imagine living in a cabover long term. Yikes
If you find the blend of brands in Australian trucking interesting, you may also be interested in New Zealand trucking; similar to Aus in the first respect, but our fleet is mainly composed of rigid trucks with full trailers to service our farming industry and comparatively underdeveloped road network. I’m really loving the video series, by the way. Great job!
I was in Australia for 6 weeks, driving around the country going to motor races. Saw many truck trains, even one that had many....I guess....ore trailers? It was near the gold fields by Kalgoorlie, I believe. Must of had dozens of wheels on it. Pretty cool to see. Also saw them hauling a dump box that was, and I kid you not, much wider than the 2 lane highway I was on. There was a cop car in front of it, going down the center line, waving to the oncoming vehicles to move to the side and stop, because they weren't stopping.
Now I want an "Ausie Truck Simulator" from SCS
Truck world Australia is in development but currently there isn't much footage of the game
MA rating for language ;)
We all do
hello yukon
hello "STAROBEX"
The remarkable information you provide to your viewers needs to be applauded. I sincerely appreciate your effort to expand your viewers knowledge. A sincere thank you!
always good to see a nice truckin channel
did everyone miss this in the description haha "Why does everything in Australian society end in -ie or -o. Does it have anything to do with Australia's history as a penal colony for the criminal class? I'm just asking questions. I say this because my uncle owns a trucking business down under and also he's a homosexual."
Omg this is crazy I was watching your Europe Trucks video and I was thinking he should do one on Australia
Great video. You don't see too many quads (4 trailers) on the interstates, but there are quite a few in the NT and remote WA. The guys at Bruce Rock Engineering designed a quad that has a "goose neck" coupling which reduces the tendency for these road trains to start wobbling at higher speeds.
The big issue we have is that we abandoned diversification of other modes of transport in favour of road trains, leaving them as the sole monopoly on transport, which a couple years ago nearly brought the country to crisis as a result when drivers started getting sick en masse. Not advocating for total removal but having a couple of options in transit is far smarter than going all in on one option that is increasingly getting more and more expensive to operate as time goes on. My Dad’s been a Truckie my entire life and the industry seems to constantly be in a state of crisis.
When you open the hood of a proper roadtrain you see yellow
proper truck**
Seems odd to hear someone mention Peterbilt for brands within Australia rather than Freightliner and or Western Star. Peterbilts do exist here but aren't sold here and are far far less common. Outside of Kenworth, Western Star and Freightliner are the American brands I see the most, with models such as the Argosy and 4800/4900 being the most common models for Freightliner and Western Star.
Kenworth is king here in Australia
Kenworths parent company paccar might be American, but Australian kenworths are design and built in Australia
Lol
This was educative, entertaining, well edited. Thanks.
Excellent video and another thing about Japanese trucks in Australia which are UD Quon Hino 700 and Izusu Giga in tractor trailer configuration they end up being equipped with an 18 speed Eaton transmission seen on Mack Freightliner Paccar Kenworth & Peterbilt. You need that type of transmission to pass a heavy rigid (CDL Class A) license open access test
Love being an Australian 😀
Ausie ausie ausie
@@lachlanarbuckle8539 OI OI OI
@@Str8UpL4zy that’s the one
Great country, despotic govt
the country would be a lot better off without the people running it
It's so weird to see an industry I'm heavily involved with talked about. Many great companies, and some not so great, shown in these pictures. It's nice to see the interest is there.
I am a Commercial Truck & Transport Technician, so I may be able to provide some insight. Cab over trucks are very difficult to service, requiring the cab to be lifted by a built in jack on the side of the tractor (truck). A fairly simple repair on a conventional tractor (Cascadia, 57X or 49X, International) such as a radiator replacement, serpentine belt, or front crank re-seal become exponentially tougher on a cab over. Limited space for an overhead crane and tech means more parts have to be disassembled, moreover, cab-overs can be dangerous (and often require secondary props to prevent a cab falling). The benefits of a cab-over is strictly for the operator, with better turning radius and visibility as you stated. A company must seriously consider this fact, and come to a harmonious solution for their fleet. In North America, day cabs have taken over the industry -although they lack amenities for long haul routes. Over all, I tend to prefer conventional tractors and so do most drivers due to the space.
There are cab overs in the US as well. They were very commonplace in the 70s and 80s but they are still very much produced and used here
This just unclogged something in my brain. For the longest time I assumed Iveco was a japanese manufacturer getting them mixed up with Isuzu, when I do know by hearth that Isuzu is a different brand. Good to know that the Italians actually have a real heavy goods vehicle manufacturer rather then just Fiat being thier peak of utility vehicles.
Iveco occupies the former International truck manufacturing plant in Dandenong, Melbourne. I used to deliver Road Ranger gearboxes and clutches to there.
Iveco Trakker is very popular and effective as off-road truck for quarries and construction sites in Italy, mewnwhile Iveco S-way/Stralis for long haul is not much used compared to volvo or Scania
The former manager of Iveco Australia once told me that the name stands for "It Vibrates, Everything Comes Off"
@@davidbest7859 LOL Drivers have always kidded about truck names. The first one I heard was aimed at the American brand GMC that use to make heavy duty trucks. I was told it stood for "General Mess of Crap"! The International Trucks were referred to as "Binders" while they were still a part of the International Harvester ag-equipment company. That was because the foundation of the company was from the McCormick binder, the predecessor of the combine. Drove both makes, and they were solid trucks. But still called them the same as every other driver did back then.
3:36 Australia has no camels
Actually Australia has heaps of camels... just not the trucks 🤣
It's great that truck drivers can choose between cab-over and conventional style trucks in Australia. It gives the best of both worlds between getting in tight urban areas with cab-over or just driving out in the boonies with a conventional truck.
Haha you get given what boss wants you to drive
one time i got to ride in a road train with my uncle from sydney to darwin, this was ten years ago but i still fondly remember it
Why are you not popular why..
give it some time
@@jaumegenaro7673 2 years
@@mrn8032 2 days more
The new k220 is mad but I like the k200 better
With its electronic dash? Lol that thing will be a bitch to maintain in the Outback.
I was weirdly having a similar conversation with a French sommelier, he was saying he prefers wineries here because we happily drink wines from all over the world. In places like France and Italy you only drink your country's wines
Cool vid, spot on. I work for an American company here, Penske. Our version of the WS 6900 gets a train spec set up and super common up here in Nth QLD. We like our Detroit engines.
and now for the video, why australia is a better, more though out version of everything good about the western world, and other interesting things they do well down under. IMO the coolest car scene is the Australian one, by far and wide too
I am dutch, and I only have seen an american or australian truck ones. we only have trucks with engines bellow you. if we see a truck with the engine in front of you it is really cool. also the blind spot of the 'dutch' trucks is way bigger. but with new mirror's you can't place on australian trucks the blind spot is less. I think it is opinion indeed. both has its pro's and cons
Living in victoria and having never seen or heard of these “iconic” road trains, i was very confused until you showed the map
I live in Queensland at the end of the road train route to Brisbane. I've seen road trains carry mining equipment, water tanks, wind turbine blades and houses.
The point of a cabover being unable to fit a large engine is wrong. The fact is that the trucks with the biggest and strongest engines built today are almost exclusively cabovers. Scania has a 770 hp, Volvo a 750 hp and MAN a 640 hp just to state a few. Volvo also has a presence in the conventional market, but bring at most 500 hp like their competing conventional truck manufacturers.
1:47 I am not so sure about that. The most powerful trucks in production at the moment are both cabovers, with the Scania 770S (770hp) and the Volvo FH16 (750hp)
You are correct. Here in New Zealand the most powerful long nose truck is a Mack MP10 at 685hp which of course is just a Volvo engine (D16) Cummins do a 615hp and Detroit a 560hp.
its always brought up. how do these content creators not know this yet?
I'm living in Montana right now and I've see road trains all the time here! The longest one was towing 3 full length shipping containers. I'm originally from Georgia and I had never seen anything like it until I moved out here
you never want to be behind a road train while driving through roadworks, its hell
No views but two likes, huh? Never change KZhead, never change.
I feel there are way too many videos on the internet that bait there audience into arguing in the comments section to generate views.
I came here to learn why Australia has some cool ass trucks...and I learned nothing of importance, nothing joyful...and am now somehow irritated. I guess it worked.
Conventional cabs have air ride mounts too, plus a longer wheelbase to smooth out the feel of bumpy roads. A cabover is really only a better choice if you need the extra maneuverability.
One thing to add on Australian trucking, is alot of stuff is also restricted by length. meaning that some trailer configurations can only run a Cab over prime mover and sometimes the length is that long you cant even run a Bullbar.