(Not sure if this is the correct sub forum to post this in. My apologies if not but I figured the best place for answers would be where the pro drivers hung out.)
I always got the impression US trucks were huge compared to UK ones. I know for a fact US road systems are far wider than skinny UK roads and just imagined US trucks to be bigger all round to take advantage of this.
I recently looked this up and it states here… answerbag.com/q_view/2284646
… that the maximum wight for a US truck is 40 tons.
Now, keeping in mind a UK ton is acctuall heavier than a US ton… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton
… This mean a UK truck can legally carry 50 US tons.
So with all that out of the way I have two questions.
1- Does this explaine why most US trailers have 2 axels at the rear and UK has 3?
2 - Is this info I have taken from the net corrrect of wrong? Anyone know for sure.
those peterbilts must weigh 40ton on there own. There are at least 4 yank truckers?on here so sure they’ll put you right. Those extra long trailers that are allowed in some states must carry more than 40ton?
Hi there, I’ve had this question from friends in the USofA before!
My vehicle can easily carry a payload of 29,000 kgs which is 63.934 US lb, on a flatbed trailer
The legal gross vehicle weight over 6 axels on air suspension in the UK is 44 tons which is 49.28 US tons
We also have length & cornering restrictions which is why we’re stuck with cabover type trucks and close coupled trailers instead of the huge beasts (?) you have over there
Our trucks are mostly single axel drive to and can come with various options of lifting different axels off the road at certain times (ie empty or light running) to save tyre wear & reduce rolling resistance (ie costs )
kola:
Mind my source IE answerbag is hardly 100% reliable.
neither is Curryfart! Lol haha
so for example…
only weighs 40ton fully freighted??
and what about these then fully loaded?
I’m no expert but a lot of people confuse Canadian weight limits with American ones and A and B trains are subject to weight and route restrictions both in Canada and US (turnpike doubles).Many States have their own weight limits but the relevant one,in the context of the lower US limits compared to Euro ones,is the general Federal DOT Interstate limit which has been well under 40t gross for years.
But newmercman and BTD will shoot me down quick enough if I’m wrong.
ok ,yup a regular usa semi weighs 80000pounds gross…3+2.
a canadian regular semi 39.5 metric tonnes,front axle max allowed 5.5 tns ,double drive 17tns , trailor tandem 17tns …3+2
canadian b-train 3+2+2…56.5 tnns
super b 3+3+2 …62.5tns? duhhh moment ,should know ,not had coffee yet.
but remember the canadian weights are for ATAC rds (main rds),also not including winter weight restrictions/spring road weights.
ie i haul out of a quarry on a restricted rd (looks like a A class rd in uk to me)for 5mls till i hit main rds(dont look any different to the restricted rd) so im expected to run at 53.5 gross .not 56.5.for next 90mls back to yrd.
only did 6mnth in usa hauling , spent more time in canada running…
jimbo…
The link gives information on weights permitted in Canada using various combinations of trailers. Within the report some comparisons are made with US truck limits.
It was commisioned by the railway lobby so, as is to be expected, it is anti heavy truck.
I can get 45000lbs in mine, within the US gross of 80000lbs, the most I’ve loaded is 46500lbs, but that was in a box van and I usually pull a reefer, getting axle weights right can be a bit of a pain at gross as there is no tolerance, it’s 12000lb on the steer axle and 34000lb on both the drives and trailer axles, although once you get your 5th wheel in the right place you should hit 12000lb on the front as your drives hit 34000lb, then it’s just a case of moving the trailer bogie around to get the weight on it as close to 34000lb as possible and the unit takes care of itself.
Having experienced trucking on both sides of the pond, I can see that it seems madness to run such big trucks around at such low weights, but having experienced the roads, weather conditions and most importantly, the terrible driving standards, I’m glad that we only cart 80000lbs around
That’s a question I often ask myself, I’ve experienced some pretty bad conditions so far this winter, lots of ice and more deep snow than I would like, I would’ve been able to cope with all of it with a 6x2, my preference would be for a mid lift, as you know, the short pin depth on our trailers means that you couldn’t get the 5th wheel far enough forward to make a tag axle practical, I reckon that the mid lift with dual tyres would give us the best of both worlds, we’d get the stability of the tandem bogie at the back of the unit and have the ability to lift it when we needed extra traction
But then what do I know, I’m sure there’s an expert out there somewhere who could enlighten us all
robson drive like the swedes would be ok as well (wheel drops down between drive axle 6x2 and tag axle).turns a tag into a driven-ish axle.
saves a bit o weight .
jimmy
wow, some super technical answers way over my head.
The photos posted seem irrelevant as the weight is spread out over two separate trailers where as I am talking about one trailer. Correct me if Im wrong but surely the UK weight limit is 44 UK tons (IE neigh on 50 US tons) per trailer not total load? Can someone confirm this?
Im guessing this is to do with how much the road can handle. So, if the load is spread out over two trailers both with 3 rear axles each then this is no different to two separate trucks and in that case a double trailer UK truck would again be heavier.
Surely there is an easy answer. To ask this another way, I know how much a UK truck can take as I understand the law here. Can someone just bottom line how heavy a US truck can legally take.
a usa artic 3axle unit &2axle trailor -=80,000 lbs gross weight.
payload on box van was around 46,000 in usa imo,kw unit ,53ft trailor.
its in lbs as that is what the americans use.!
NMM & myself have already mentioned this…
kola:
To ask this another way, I know how much a UK truck can take as I understand the law here.
Hi kola,
I’ll leave the US/Canada stuff to those who understand it better than I do, but unless I’m reading this wrongly (perfectly possible ) you might be confusing some terminology, because of this:
kola:
Correct me if Im wrong but surely the UK weight limit is 44 UK tons (IE neigh on 50 US tons) per trailer not total load? Can someone confirm this?
The UK weight limit is 44,000kgs (metric) for a six axle artic. (An artic is the cab unit + the trailer together.)
44,000kgs is the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)
Taking zebadee’s nice easy load weight figure (thanks John ) of 29,000kgs, we call this “payload.”
44,000kgs (GVW) minus 29,000kgs (payload) means that his artic weighs 15,000kgs (tare) before any load is loaded. (Tare = empty weight.)
Or to put it another way, the tare + the payload can’t normally exceed 44,000kgs GVW for a UK artic.
FMCSA regulation §658.17 states: “The maximum gross vehicle weight shall be 80,000 pounds except where lower gross vehicle weight is dictated by the bridge formula.”
)
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but a lot of people confuse Canadian weight limits with American ones and A and B trains are subject to weight and route restrictions both in Canada and US (turnpike doubles).Many States have their own weight limits but the relevant one,in the context of the lower US limits compared to Euro ones,is the general Federal DOT Interstate limit which has been well under 40t gross for years.
…but why do we have double drives!!!
) you might be confusing some terminology, because of this: