Thread: Road trains in Vic

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Most of the wharf runs these days are stack runs,used to be a single container straight out to client but now back to depot then out.

I was doing that ten years ago. Either from the wharf or from hire yards. Double back the the depot, side loaders out to the customer and back. PITA for the drivers doing the "stack" drivers. Gotta love DP World.....

Originally Posted by TonyC

Thanks all, for the info.
So what's the down side of an A Double? Restricted road access?
Tony

Basically same rules as a B double, which is restricted road access. As I said earlier, the advantage is higher pay load.

I don't know if it applies to all A doubles, but the milk tanker set up in my recent post has the rear wheels steer when under 40 kph.

This meant that you could access places B doubles could not. This gave us access to a lot of farms that previously could only have a single pick up milk.

A lot of the roads that had the farms we went to were not double rated. We had special permits from Vicroads to access these farms.

You will see lots of them around the western suburbs, mainly around the ring road.
Like loanrangie said, most are primarily containers(boxes), but there are lots of Cleanaway doing Dandenong to Truganinna run.
The Cleanaway rigs are an awesome sight to watch getting unloaded at the land fill.
They don't have the hydraulics to dump their own load, so they get loaded onto a ramp(called a Columbia) and they're tipped. The look like they're about 20m in the air when getting tippeed.
Considering the quagmire at the landfill ... amazing how it hasn't toppled over yet.

When they first started we called them Super B's .. don't why folks stopped calling them that, and blokes look at you funny when you use the term now.


I can't remember when they stopped, but a for a few years Ford had B-triples(to A trailers and a B trailer) running from Geelong to Campbellfield, and IIRC Ceva were doing it.
I recently saw one along the Ring Road, just can't remember what company was running it .. strange to see one again.

Originally Posted by AK83

When they first started we called them Super B's .. don't why folks stopped calling them that, and blokes look at you funny when you use the term now.

Super Bs don't have a dolly and therefore are not the same. They are really just a B, but with a 40' A trailer. I still call them that btw.

A Doubles are classified as 'trains' I think because they DO have a dolly.

https://www.nhvr.gov.au/files/201409...y-vehicles.pdf

Originally Posted by AK83

I can't remember when they stopped, but a for a few years Ford had B-triples(to A trailers and a B trailer) running from Geelong to Campbellfield, and IIRC Ceva were doing it.
I recently saw one along the Ring Road, just can't remember what company was running it .. strange to see one again.

The Ford ones had to follow a very specific route. They stopped when the Falcon did, in 2016. Yes, it was Ceva.

Correct John, we have quad/quad super Bs, working PoB, with steerable B trailers. They can negotiate a roundabout with the same agility as a single.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Correct John, we have quad/quad super Bs, working PoB, with steerable B trailers. They can negotiate a roundabout with the same agility as a single.

I'd love to see the steerable B in action. Is it a bit like a jinker type of thing ( if you get my drift )?

Originally Posted by Tins

I'd love to see the steerable B in action. Is it a bit like a jinker type of thing ( if you get my drift )?

More like a steerable float, John. All happens automatically, I believe from an actuator in the throat of the tt. All the steerable thinkers I've had anything to do with, required input from another operator up the back. I suppose technically, the junker could be operated, remotely by the driver, but it would be a handful manoeuvring both ends independently.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

More like a steerable float, John. All happens automatically, I believe from an actuator in the throat of the tt. All the steerable thinkers I've had anything to do with, required input from another operator up the back. I suppose technically, the junker could be operated, remotely by the driver, but it would be a handful manoeuvring both ends independently.

Yeah, I get that. Jinkers are a PITA. I was trying to think of a comparison to older tech. I guess the NYFD type hook and ladder trucks with a bloke up the back would have been closer. Tipping the auto thing through the tt is more efficient.... Does the whole quad thing turn, or do the individual axles steer? I'm thinking mobile crane ( Liebherr), but not so dramatic.