Surprised how much the roads (in built up areas) and vehicles generally look like what we have in Australia. When the first truck footage popped up I immediately thought "B-Double!". I guess there is somewhat comparable geography and economics to the the Eastern Half of Australia.
@@Makon112 So were Canada and the US but their roads, signage, line markings and urban development are pretty distinct from other former British colonies. To give you an example, the average Australian suburb is about twice as dense as the average American suburb, while house sizes are broadly similar.
This Trucking World series is great, hope to so more! Also, could you do a video about trucks that carry liquids. You've already touched fire trucks as such, others would be appreciated.
South Africa's one of my favorite countries, this video was very informative and answered some questions I had regarding why American trucks were less common there now as compared to the 80's. During Apartheid no one really knew about South African trucking, I think a Dutch magazine devoted a couple pages to it in 77 but other than that nothing. Then in the 90's a bunch of South African truck spotters got online and we got to see the rare American beauties they had down there, old Peterbilt 377's and 359's, Kenworth K100s and W900s, set back axle Internationals, late 80's Whites, custom Western Stars with homemade RHD conversions, and so much more. The European and Japanese branded trucks there are cool too, whereas most American trucks in South Africa come straight from the US the newer European models seem to have more of an Australian heritage while the older ones are still grinding it out and proving their worth despite their age. South Africa's best kept secret is their truck manufacturers, which are small and have a limited export market. Aside from Powerstar, TFM and URI have made some iconic police vehicles, but by far and away the most beautiful South African trucks were built by a company called Ralph. Ralphs are very, very rare, and they look like a Kenworth mixed with an Autocar. They had Detroit diesel engines and were built for life out in the veldt. A lot of them wound up in Johannesburg where they were built. On a final note, if you ever visit South Africa and want to see some USDM trucks down there, there's a company called Kobus Minnaar Vervoer in the Limpopo province that has a huge fleet of antique American trucks, mostly imported in the late 80's and early 90's. Each one is a show stopper and they're constantly backdating to build their fleet.
I think a large reason that trucks in general were not as common in the 80's was the fact that our national railways were pristine. My Dad told me a lot about how most cargo was shipped via rail when he was a police officer in the late 80's and through to the 90's. As the railways deteriorated trucking obviously became the go to for cargo shipping.
@@Kjrulz101 Interesting! Here in the US the railroads literally could not survive without trucks, since our rail network is so abysmal. It's rare for small towns to have a rail link here, and big cities usually just have a hub yard and few major industries that ship by rail, so everything else is up to the truckers.
@@diogeneslantern18 There's a photo gallery website called South African transport, which hasn't been updated in years but it paints a very good picture of what South African trucking was like from the late 80's to the late 2000's, and it especially highlights American and Canadian brands like Kenworth, Pacific, Western Star, and Peterbilt. I learned about Ralph trucks while I was reading a book called "The world encyclopedia of trucks" by Peter Davies. There's also information in that book about a potential South African truck manufacturer that sadly never got off the ground.
The footage used when speaking about trucks being hijacked was actually the attempted highjacking of a cash in transit vehicle. There are actually videos on RU-vid of this and interviews with the driver afterwards.
Yes, his name is Leo I think. It was a support vehicle, for the other vehicle that was hijacked of valuables, I heard it was cell phones not cash. But truck hijackings are terrible. Just saw one today that seemed like fake cops doing the hijacking
Well done with the pronunciation of the different provinces. Most foreigners get it wrong. Great video. I wish it was longer. I'm pretty sure the dangers of trucking here can be a video on its own.
A point of clarity: We don't call them "B-doubles" - they are interlinks. The regulations allow for this length as standard, and it has been updated to 22,5m to permit bull bars. Interlinks are by far the most common long distance set-up, as the standard configation allows for 1x 40' and 1x20' container to be carried on the same truck. Other abnormal loads are also permitted, including longer and heavier road trains, particularly for mining and timber products.
Good comment. I think it's worth mentioning that abnormal loads are only allowed if special permits have been obtained (per trip). These permits usually mandates marked escort vehicles, sometimes even law enforcement escorts, limited working hours (6:00 - 18:00 only) and frequently way lower speed limits (sometimes as low as 5km/h, but mostly 40 or 60). The convoy may usually not go off the pre-prepared route plan. Sometimes the electricity company (Escom) is involved to lift power cables if a truck that needs to pass underneath them are too high. The mining and timber road trains don't need per trip permits as they operate on dedicated routes mostly isolated from public routes, but I stand corrected on this.
I know it's not a country but could Maine please make it on the list? It has such a rich history of logging, a unique culture and topography for the US, and a very interesting trucking culture!
You could have also touched on the SA Taxi industry, an interesting phenomenon in it's own right. Since SA is fairly poor but very urbanized, most people rely on 18 seat minibus taxis for transportation. Driving these taxis is the single largest employer of black men in the country, and there are significant political implications. Also, we have taxi turf wars. Lots of shootouts and stabbings to control territory.
There are some inaccuracies pertaining to speed and length limits. 100 is for buses, 80 is for vehicles with GVM over 3500kg. The absolute max length is 22.5m, not 26m. Any longer than 22.5 is classified as abnormal and is subjected to the abnormal load permit system to be legal.
How common are scania in the US? I know they're not officially sold, but I imagine being the only modern truck available with a V8 they're quite desirable among enthusiasts.
Cant really import anything to the USA unless its older then 25 years (this is for regular cars so maybe different for machinery), this is done to protect US brands from international competition.
Can't say it really exists at all... I'm the US, there are no overall length restrictions, only trailer length. Therefore, cabovers are not present outside of much older, long out of production, privately owned units, and even then they are super rare to ever see just for the American brands that exist. They lack any real living space, and as such are impractical for the average long haul driver in NA who spend weeks at a time on the road, living in the trucks. Same reason in AU why road train trucks are more commonly of the conventional cab design over the cabovers. We driver's spend lots of time literally living in the trucks, so we want to be comfortable. Now if they came out with a conventional cab design, like Volvo and Hino have, later of which only makes up to medium duty trucks in NA, they could prove to make an impact here. Would be interesting Signed, A veteran NA truck driver
@@OkieOtaku what I don't understand is why there aren't cab overs with just really big sleeper cabs? I get that maintenance is easier on a conventional but is still easily done on a cabover
I've never seen one here. According to Wikipedia, Scania tried the US market beginning in 1985, but sold only a few hundred trucks over a period of two to three years. They were marketed only in New England, because Scania thought conditions there more closely resembled those in Europe.
This is such a great video, But heres a fact. My dad also works at a mining company called Maxam. And My dad Was a A Manager at a mine,When He heard One of his truck Drivers Went Head On Into another truck killing both people. ;
South Africa has its own fair share of troubles like any other nation. Seems like they’ve got a long way to go as far as improvement or development is concerned in some areas.
replacing a competent rulling class with a bunch of corrupted and useless idiots never ended up well for a country. the only barely working province is the one without ANC rule...
@@Tonyx.yt. And it only works barely because people keep voting for equality retarded DA only to keep ANC out. Only solution for success of Cape is to become independent and make having connections with ANC and EFF illegal for new parties.
@@bldontmatter5319 yh sound one pal, definitely doesn't happen I Latin America, parts of Europe, Middle East, parts of North America, or pockets in asia
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As a retired SA truck driver I need to point out a few errors in this video. In SA the 100km/h speed limit is only applicable to long distance passenger buses. As for goods vehicles the weight of the cargo being hauled is irrelevant concerning speed limits. If a vehicle is registered lower than 3500kg GVM (gross vehicle mass) the applicable speed limit is whatever the limit is on the road being travelled on. If a vehicle is registered over 3500kg GVM the applicable speed limit is 80Km/h or whatever the limit is on the road being travelled on if that it is lower than 80. The only speed limit that was changed was somewhere in the early 2000's when the limit for buses was reduced from 120km/h to 100, following a number of fatal bus accidents over a short period of time. Concerning the length limits, no vehicle or combination of vehicles may measure over 22.5 meters, not even if it is pulling "B Doubles" (we call them inter links or super links if it has 6 + 12 m trailers).Which is why you will rarely see conventional prime movers pull "B Doubles". The exrta length of a conventional almost always pushes over 22.5m when hooked up to a "B Double" set. Regarding height restrictions I stand corrected, but I believe it to be 4.1m, not 4.3m. However if a vehicle exceeds these dimensional limits the operator needs to apply for and obtain special permits (per trip) to legally operate them. These permits mandates extra safety measures like special abnormal load signage, marked escort vehicles front and back, no night driving (no exceptions), even lower speed limits and compulsory pre-determined route plans. These measures are determined by the size, weight, destination and type of the cargo to be hauled, so they will differ from trip to trip, which is why they need to be applied for for each trip.
It was dangerous, total lack of respect for other drivers 20+ years ago when I drove HGV's How could it possibly be worse..? I quit after two near fatal collisions because of ignorant, stupid driver's
Trucking in South Africa is a menace to other road users as the laws governing trucking are not enforced. Fat lazy cops and bribery being the main culprits. 1). Trucks have become too large. Minor incidents involving cars is a life threatening situation for the occupants of the car. 2). Trucks are way too long, 22metres on single lane national roads is absurd. To overtake a 22m super link traveling at 100km/h with a car you need 500m of clear road ahead. Not much of that around. Being overtaken by a reckless superlink is an even more harrowing experience. Narrow roads and intersections in urban areas were not designed for such long vehicles. Although shorter trucks will mean more trucks on the road, it will also lead to more employment for truckers.
The maximum speed limit statement is incorrect. The maximum permissable speed limit is 80 km/h. Only buses have a permissable speed limit of 100 km/h. Truck drivers do not have a statute maximum driving hours per day or per week limit.
Oh no, they have road works and congestion, so they have to be patient. How lucky we are in Europe that we don't have that here, and this especially applies to the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Every truck driver knows you don't want to drive in South Africa. Even in low-crime countries, you still have to have your wits about you for thieves and bandits.
5:08 Last year a truck just like that one pulled that same stunt and killed 18 children as a result. It's terrifying to see someone drive something that big that recklessly
It probably won't be registered in SA, more likely unboxed and registered in eSwatini, Lesotho, Zimbabwe or Zambia, where "grey imports" are allowed. Hope it has a good second lease on life here!
Mate if really want to stop dangerous drivers try trackers in the trucks seams to work in australia you no the speed hours they drive and how their driving is
Powerstar is not South African it's Chinese , We assemble it along with Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Scania trucks. We also manufacture BMW X3, Mercedes Benz C-Class , VW Polo , Ford Ranger , VW Amarok and multiple Toyota models for domestic and international markets
Truck driving could hardly be considered a "profession". I'm surprised they don't have American brands such as Mack and Kenworth like we have in Australia.
