My brother's son came on a 11,000 km round trip in my Kenworth from Perth WA to Melbourne VIC to Karratha WA & back to Perth. Here's some of what we saw, including overtaking and being overtaken by triple roadtrains, and some wide loads.
On the eastern seaboard where most of the population lives there are plenty of weighbridges, but on a 5,000 km trip Melbourne to the north-west, there are only 2 fixed weighbridges on the road-train route (which are in South Australia) & you don't often see them worked hard except during the wheat harvest. But generally we stick to axle weights because it comes back on everyone with the "chain of responsibility" laws we have here, and that includes fatigue. Thanx for commenting.
I used to haul my boy when he was 5 or 6 whenever I could. A day cab Superliner tri-axle with an E-9 and a 12 -speed. He called it the 'BIG Dog! Pillow in the floor for naps and plenty of drinks and snacks and pee stops all over. GOOD times!
Another great video! Yes, as others said, sunshine and warmth. Here's something for you to contemplate. I live in roughly the southern middle of the US (Missouri), and was checking the long range forecast a bit ago. Supposed to get above freezing twice in the next 10 days. Average high will be around 22F and lows down to 5F. We still have 2 to 3 more months of winter to go. Heat is uncomfortable, but cold is just plain miserable. HAPPY NEW YEAR. Wish I was there.
I have only seen them on heavy-duty Kenworths and Western Stars these days, but nearly all Mack trucks used to have them up until a few years ago. They cost a lot more than electric start. They are more reliable and last longer as long as you maintain them properly.
Its like a breath of fresh air to see BLUE skies and I think...I can feel a bit of the warmth too. Those trains/trucks are so long! Crazy you guys do that over there!!
Hi Mike, it's his older brother that wants to join the army. Christmas day was perfect weather in Melbourne. about 23C, but a few days ago it was 36C. Got back home last week.
a round trip of 11000 km !!!! LOL amasing coutry you guy's live in.. great vid again chris as always! and the best wishes for you and al the drivers down under for 2010.
Er, warmth? It was 120 deg out there!! But we did get a bit of rain at the end, which only made it humid. We've got the space out here to run these trucks, it's an everyday thing for us. Happy New Year!
@AussieBoy4Life111 Actually yeah. It says Western Star on the bonnet if you freeze it. Most of Mitchell's are KWs on that particular run so I automatically thought it was a KW.
They are liquified natural gas (LNG) fuel tanks. It is a lot cheaper than diesel fuel but it is only good for short haul which is what that truck is doing. Hauling gold ore from the mine to a treatment plant, about 100 kms I think. You can hold as much diesel fuel as you like, but 2600 litres is about the limit. Mine holds 1800 litres.
The 5 videos on the top line of 'my videos' were all from that trip. I've still got some more footage which I'll put up when I've got time. The 11,000 kms was one big circle, so I didn't go on the same bit of road twice, except for the Nullarbor crossing itself of course.
Awesome vids you got up here mate. I just got one question though. How hard is it to get used to the gears in a truck? Im only talking a roadranger i think....that they use in HR trucks, cause i been wanting to get a licence to drive them
LNG is only used for short-haul at the moment so you don't see LNG pumps outside of the big cities. Diesel is about $A1.23 / litre in the city but we get a government fuel rebate & tax rebate so that brings it down to about 95 cents / litre. About half what you pay in Europe I think, but more than in USA. I don't know how much LNG costs.
@HUTCHtopher Don't forget the air operated windows and air ride seat as well. Most of this stuff is electric nowadays but you can order air start if you want but it costs a lot more.
Saw a k104 pull up the other day. Door opens and driver steps out I kid you not like he was stepping out of a car. He was 7 foot tall! I reckon he must have pulled the drivers seat out and sat on the bunk to fit behind the wheel and reach the pedals.
i would love to drive one of those things im moving over to melbourne from NZ soon to hopefully find some sort of driving work intersate would be awesome. great vid
Hey mate. Love your video's. I was driving for I.F.E seen you once. I left Australia, couldn't stand the heat, missed the cold. Now I have 2, Freightliner 620hp, and 2, Volvo 660hp, contracted to Mainfreight NewZealand. Cant wait to put some video's on here. Gotta wait for my young fella too get back from auzzie. I have trouble working these toy's. 5/5 keep on posting. How's about a tour of you cab?
Great video Chris and merry christmas I hope you were where you wanted to be. Thats a great video and the young lad should get used to climbing up into equipment if he's still off to the army
@bonzoAU umm the other truck was over taking him... in Australia we drive on the left side of the road... and it wasnt rain, it was blue skies and that was dirt on his window, not rain... just putting it out there
@angodamango I know we drive on the left hand side of the road.If as you say it was dust on his wind sc reen then have a look at 2.58 in this video with his wipers on and it is raining.......Im just putting it out there as you put it You shouls have another look at the video again
So, triple, at tri axle, 30 T each , do they pay 3X the tariff ? we in the states get 1 tariff for 22T on the trailer. You probably get 1 mile to 1 gallon of fuel in consumption on the road. I can tell the truck work hard. You do get free truck wash when it rains.TH
@gm16v149 .. I was going off the slant on the sleepr cab.. I hate being wrong.. so I had to watch again.. I hate it when guys put Western Star sleepers and muffler shrouds (1:27) on Kenworths...lmao :-P
ok chris .. now dont tell me thats all of the 11000 k trip we are going to see ... nice to have a steady hand working the camera .. he did a nice job ... and for you to do the crossing twice would have been fun ... pity i cant climb up on flat tops and do what you do ... that sort of work can be fun at times ... im going to have to stick to the tippers and be a round town clown !!! so chop chop get back editing again .. we want some more gold from you !!! PLEASE MATE !!! 10 OUT OF 10 AGAIN !!
yeah, but what about cars? are those roads restricted for Roadtrain only or is everyone who wants to drive trough the Outback required to have a radio onboard? Greets from the other side of the globe(Germany)
Roadtrains don't have their own roads, they go on public roads, but they are restricted to certain routes. Cars don't have to have a UHF radio, but experienced travelers have them.
I was a little concerned about how long you were on the wron side of the road while over taking another truck,hile it was raining dont make sence to me
@bonzoAU ohhhh.... i didnt watch the whole video... i take back what i said... thought you were refering to 1.30... but yes your right, it was a while on that side of the road... and my bad... thought you were american...
No way you could pull this type of trailers in Ky. U SA. This is flat land stuff. You couldn't keep drive shafts, tran., or rear ends in the hills we have.
