The History of “Road Train” and its connection with Heavy Hauling

 

A road train is a trucking notion used in far-flung areas of Canada, Australia, Argentina and the United States to move objects or goods efficiently.  In the United States, Australia and Canada the term “road train” is often used. For longer combination vehicles the terms “triples”, “turnpike doubles” and “Rocky Mountain doubles” are frequently use in Canada and the U.S.  A road train is made up of relatively standard tractor unit but instead of pulling one trailer or semi-trailer a road train pulls two or more of them.

 

History

The old road train is made up of traction engines pulling multiple wagons. In the Crimean War, a traction engine was used to pull multiple open trucks. By 1898 steam traction engine trains with up to four wagons were utilized in military maneuvers in England. In the 1900s John Fowler & Co. offered armored road trains for use by the British forces in the Second Boer War. In the 140s The Government of South Australia run a fleet of AEC 8x8 military trucks to transport freight and supplies into the Northern Territory replacing the Afghan camel trains that had been trekking through the deserts since the late 19^th century. Kurt Johnson is known as the Australian inventor of modern road train. His first road train comprised of a U. S. Army World War II surplus diamond-T tank carrier and two home-built self- tracking trailers. Both wheels sets on each trailer could drive and could negotiate the tight and narrow tracks and creek crossings that existed throughout Central Australia. Freight trailers in Australia viewed this enhanced invention and went on to build self-tracking trailers for Kurt and other customers.

The largest and heaviest road-legal vehicles in the world are found in Australia with some configurations topping out at close to 200 tons. The majority are between 80 and 120 tons.  Doubles also called two-trailers are road train combinations which are permitted in most areas in Australia within the environs of Adelaide, South Australia and Perth, Western Australia. A double road train should not be confused with a B-double which is given access to most of the country and in all major cities. Triple or the three trailer road trains operate in western New South Wales, Western Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Road trains are not allowed in Tasmania and Victoria. Road trains are used for transporting all material such as livestock, fuel, mineral ores and general freight.

The multiple dog-trailers are detached, the dolly removed and the connected individually to multiple trucks at assembly yards when the road train gets close to populated area. The flat-top trailers of a road train need to be transported empty, it is customary practice to stack them. This is generally referred to as “double-up or doubling-up”. In the United State, trucks on public roads are limited to two trailers (two 28 ft. and a dolly to connect). The limit is 63 feet end to end. Some states allow three trailers, though triples are usually restricted to less populated areas. Triples are used for long distance less than truckload freight hauling or resource hauling in the interior west. Triples are sometimes marked with “LONG LOAD” banners both front and rear. Turnpikes doubles are tractors towing two full-length trailers are allowed on the New York Thruway and Massachusetts Turnpike as well as the Ohio and Indiana toll roads. The term road train is nor usually used in the US.

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