ive read alot recently on these uk 60/80 ton roadtrains and how there a fantastic idea they,ll benefit everyone .well what a load of crap they,ll only benefit the companies that use them by increaseing profits.all this there good for the enviroment and the general public as there will be less trucks on the road is rubbish.and the best of it is the so called truck mags who claim to be aimed at the driver think there great aswell.well if these mags are for the driver instead of backing these roadtrains how about they get behind a campaign. that gets us bigger cabs to live in .its simple really you increase the artic lenght to 18 metres the legal lenght for drawbars.then an amendment that states trailers must not exceed 45 foot thats to stop firms building longer trailers so hauliers cant by em which then means truck makers can build and sell trucks with bigger cabs like the longline scania.or am i just ■■■■■■ in the wind,cuz that idea benefits the driver and we cant have that can we.cuz after all us drivers are ten a penny 
I remember when thyey were on about putting the blokes over the cab in pods! Thankfully it didnt catch on, the Dutch were well up for it though! I agree, the mags aught to back better conditions for the driver. And yes Carl, it is becoming that we are ten a penny, and as the coaches arrive from all the new EU states, it’ll be a understood reality very soon!
I’ve been saying that for years Carl, limit trailer length not overall length. Trucks wouldn’t get too long as a result because owners would still want them to get round corners 
.
Top pods were the pits and I for one would not have driven one if only on H&S grounds.
Salut, David.
A bit like when “B-Doubles” were introduced in Australia.the usual hyperbole about less trucks on the road,drivers of the B/Doubles would be on high wages etc didn’t eventuate.
Escpecially for the owner drivers that invested in the trailers,not to mention prime movers that had strict guidlines,the government/road authorities saw the chance to make a killing with new fees.
Their reasoning was that as the B/Doubles were carrying more freight the operators are making a lot more money and charged highway robbery in fees,registrations etc.This mentality was soon picked up by freight forwarders,customers,media etc and it didn’t take too long for operators to see running a single trailer was just as profitible.
An example is on the wharf,a single trailer taking two X 20’ containers as opposed to a B/D carting three X 20’ containers.The B/D gets paid on a sliding scale?!?“You are alreading carting 2 boxes ,so your third box is a bonus and you don’t need to be paid the whole rate”
The promise of wage increases,that did occur,was pitiful.
Accesing delivery points in old areas involves breaking up the combo.First you must find somewhere to drop(park) your trailer and come back and do the B/Double shuffle.
Good info Boots, and you blokes down there know all about rodtrains! It’d be a crock all round, and messing about at drops with the extra trailer would be a nuicanse too!
As you most likely know in Finland we have these 60 tonne and 25.25 meter combinations. In these length of cargo space is limited by legislection to 21.42m which allows combined use of 13.62m long semitrailer and 7.7m long (demountable) box on a truck (and little extra to make polices happy when they use measuring tape…). Original idea was to allow foreign trucks to get benefit of this modular system if they want and at same time to prevent local hauliers from introducing new generation of mecagube transportation. These long combination are even called as “module combination”. This is one (very small) step towards separating length of truck and length of cargo space in favor of larger cab. What Spardo said about trucks not getting too long I think to be partially true. I think that by time there would come situation somehow similar which is already in US truck markets where manufacturers has to have cabs of many different lengths.
Spardo said that artics should have same maximum length as drawbars which I think to be litter wrong statement as also trucks towing drawbars should get advantage of longer cabs. Most likely there would come turning issues as by now 18.75 meter long drawbar combination have to be able to turn in same space as 16.5 meter long artic or I should say that artic have to able to turn in same space 
. What I mean about turning space is what legislator has meant “when outermost corner of truck or trailer is following a circle which radius is 12.5 meter trailers innermost spot is inside or following a circle which radius is 5.3 meters”. I have never drove mid-axle drawbartrailer so I cant say how much less it “cut” when compared to an artic but I think those are longer becouse they are more agile. Finnish legislection allowed 22 meter long a-frame trailers before we joined to EU and law says almost same about those and artics turning circles, only difference is that innermost spot have to follow circle which radius is 5.0 meter and that remaining 3.25 meter which was added to finnish maximum lengths made that inner turning circle to go as small as 2.0 meter… What I’m trying to say is that most certainly there would come turning issues if you’d have to stay inside current regulations.
In Finland “generally applicable collective labour agreement” (I blame dictionary if you didnt understand previous 
) says that wage for driving truck with a-frame trailer is about 5% higher per hour than when driving an artic (or mid-axle). Thats not much, I know. Boss once said when he tried to get new job for his another wagon and a-frame, that it’s much more profitable than operating an artic, which he has many. Of course there is also problem where you leave trailer. When you have driven an artic some time you wouldn’t want to go back to drags becouse you have to split truck and trailer much more, or at least this is what I have been told.
I hit preview-button and now I think that I lost plot somewhere after first sentece and this became much longer than I designated I could have used that time much better by continuing that little diary which I have “under construction”
Kyrbo:
Spardo said that artics should have same maximum length as drawbars which I think to be litter wrong statement as also trucks towing drawbars should get advantage of longer cabs.
Wasn’t me Krybo but Carl and I agree with you on that point. Drags of same length corner better than artics.
Kyrbo:
I hit preview-button and now I think that I lost plot somewhere
No you didn’t mate, a very well argued post IMO.
Salut, David.
JUST THINK HOW MUCH YOU WOULD EARN MORE BY DRIVING ONE
thats actually a Tractor with “ONE” Trailer
Fred, I aint got a clue how much more would earn M8, but id be quids in as i’d flog the house and live in that no problemo!