In the Australian outback, the railways are few, the roads long and the demand for delivery work plentiful. The “road train” is Australia’s solution: a tractor unit pulling two or more trailers. They barrel along the long, straight roads at 90 to 100 kph, crossing the country and leaving almost obliterated road kill in their wake. Similar vehicles ply the roads in the USA, Canada, Argentina and Mexico, but Australia knows how to make them really big.

Delivery Work

Road trains transport many materials and goods, most commonly livestock, fuel, ore and general freight. For some isolated communities, their regular delivery work is essential. Double trailer combinations are allowed in most parts of Australia, outside of heavily populated urban regions, although Tasmania and Victoria do not allow road trains to operate on any of their roads. Triple road trains operate in parts of New South Wales and Queensland, while triples and quads (3.5 trailers) are permitted in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The basic two-trailer and triple rigs are an impressive sight, often brightly decorated with individual designs or advertisements for the company using their services, and lit up like part of an ever-travelling festival at night.

Longest operating road trains

Once you get into the outback you’ll see the triples and quads doing delivery work across the narrow highways and even unsealed roads. Go up to the Granites Gold Mine in the western Northern Territory, however, and you might see the “powertrains” – a body and six trailers running on a 100 km round trip, bearing gold ore. As their delivery work is done on private property, they’re not subject to state restrictions. These are the longest road trains operating in the world.

Road train records

Longer road trains than the above have been run for record-breaking purposes, although not for delivery work. The past two decades have seen almost a dozen efforts by Australian truckers to get their names in the record books, successively bettering one another each year. It kicked off in 1989 when a trucker called Buddo tugged a 12-trailer road train down the main street of Winton, Queensland. In 1993 Plugger beat him with 16 trailers, but only a few months later Darwin driver Malcolm Chisholm’s 290 tonne launch x431 pro plus, 21-trailer rig took the record. That road train was 315 metres long, but don’t be too astounded yet. By Australia record standards, that’s pretty small.

For instance, Doug Gould has set the record on two occasions at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia: first, in 2000, with a 79-trailer road train weighing 1,072.3 tonnes and measuring 1,018.2 metres; the second time, in 2004, he had 117 trailers and the road train drove 1,500 metres down the road after a replacement was brought in for the first tractor unit, which suffered a broken driveshaft.

The current record is held by John Atkinson, then 70 years old, whose Australian-built Mack truck with 112 semi-trailers and a weight of 1,300 tonnes drove 100 metres in Clifton, Queensland, in 2006. That road train extended 1,474.3 metres. While it could never be used for delivery work, it certainly would be a sight.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for the same day courier and express freight exchange industry launch creader vii. Over 2,500 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading courier jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Related Links

Gas prices are still on the rise. Many people are asking themselves if they can hold on much longer. Fuel costs have more than doubled in the last ten years and there is no end in site. Not surprisingly, many people are turning to alternative sources of energy and transportation.

With the economy in a recession, it makes it even harder on the working class. People are losing their jobs and are having a hard time putting gas in their car to go search for another one. Some people are turning to bicycles or public transportation to get where they need to go creader viii. Other people are searching out other means of dealing with the steady rise in gas prices like purchasing a hybrid car or even a full electric one.

And the trucking industry is getting hit the hardest by rising gas prices. With ever increasing fuel costs, semi trucks have to increase their costs of transporting everything we use in day to day life. This of course increases the costs of everything from toothpaste, to bread to building materials x431 diagun iii. Many trucking companies are going out of business or downsizing. And independent truckers are getting hit even harder. Could there be some solutions to getting better gas mileage right around the corner?

With the fuel crisis, one thing is certain though. With the heavy dependance on foreign oil, there is a rising demand for alternative means of transportation and energy. New inventions to help the situation are popping up as well as new techniques for running existing technologies more efficiently. This is creating a bit of a vacuum for the aggressive entrepreneur who wants to help solve the fuel economy crisis.

But it is a volatile situation. With heavy government regulations and major oil interests slowing progress of alternative fuel systems such as natural gas, bio-diesel, electricity, propane, and hydrogen fuel cells, it leaves one to wonder if we’ll ever make it out of this fossil fuel dependent predicament.

Although you can see a ray of hope with steady interest building and grass roots support for a more efficient transportation industry. Certain new technologies are already being instituted by commercial fleets, local municipalities and private individuals. Many people are taking the matter into their own hands and seeking out alternative fuel supplies that may not be promoted on the evening news or on billboards for everyone to see.

Research is proving that the technologies to lift us out of the fuel crisis are indeed in existence today. The challenge lies in getting mass appeal and awareness of these much needed improvements. Bringing change to a large industry that has been monopolized and virtually unchanged for a few hundred years takes a massive effort. It also requires avenues of supporting the existing infrastructures and the dependent economies so a drastic change doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.

With all in consideration, when demand is high enough, and enough people develop awareness of the situation, more efficient, cleaner technologies will help alleviate the current rising gas prices and we can all enjoy a more sustainable future. As technology progresses, we can help usher in this new paradigm by doing our part to promote and consume the new technologies as they become available.

Extreme Energy Solutions Inc. is helping scores of vehicle owners overcome high gas prices with the SMART Emissions Reducer. Getting one installed can drastically lower your emissions and increase your miles per gallon while reducing engine maintenance.

Related Links

Ever since the first car was made manufacturers and tuners have been producing literature to promote their products x431 diagun.

One of the most interesting aspects of collecting auto brochures is that they provide a unique social history of the time they were produced Launch Creader VI.

For example if you have a brochure for a Volkswagen Beetle from the 1960’s you will find information about the time in which it was produced like hairstyles, clothing and popular decor of the time.

Add to this, the fact that most brochures can be bought inexpensively and take up little space to store (unless you get obsessed!) you have the basis for a popular and rewarding hobby.

However, as with all collecting there are many ways (especially as a beginner) that you can come “unstuck” and end up spending your hard earned money on inferior, fake or incomplete brochures.

Over the coming weeks, amongst other things I will cover the purchase, safe-keeping and suggested themes for brochure collections and provide an analysis of a number of my favourite brochures both expensive and in one case commonly available for less than ? or $8!

Hopefully you will find my articles both a valuable resource and one that improves your knowledge of this area of collecting.

Related Links