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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- 👉Original Video: • Why Australia Is The O...
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If you ignore Alaska, Australia is the same size as the USA but Australia only has a population of around 25 million. This means that rail transport is not cost-effective for most regions. The normal semi trailer is 22 wheeler and the extra wheels on the trailer enable it to carry larger loads than the American 18 wheeler.
Because of the very low population and very flat terrain, Australia has a lot of very long and straight roads between communities that can be over a days drive from each other.
Yes I do feel lucky to have been born in Australia and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked in some of the most remote locations where you can see more stars than you can imagine is possible, I know why our galaxy is called the milky way.
If you ignore Alaska, Australia is quite a bit bigger than the US. I've also worked in some extremely remote places in the Outback and feel supremely privileged to have been born and raised in the sunburnt country.
I didn’t realise we were one of the few places with road trains. I’ve lived in Alice when everyone knew each other and many areas more populated- even in the States for a few years & yes like you I love my country.
Yeah you're thinking about profit as an American though.
We do have an extensive rail network that isn't pictured here.
We usually call it "The Pilburra Snake" and they're over 2 kilometres long. They're exclusively for moving iron ore and carry roughly 3 million dollars worth per load.
As for the roads, heading through WA takes roughly 3 days of driving and a large chunk is through cattle farms. Those roads aren't fenced, you just have to avoid the cattle because fencing that much area is too damn expensive.
The Nullarbor has a train line but t it can be expensive, so Road trains follow along.
Keep in mind all of this can and often does flood. So if the train track gets washed out you can try taking the coastal road.
Yeah mate Mad Max isn't a movie.
In Australia it's just life ;)
Thanks for the smile. Cheers.
also how do we get goods from the bullet farm and gas town without them?
Haahahahaaa
Hint for drivers approaching road trains……pull right off the road as far as possible and stop until you have clear vision.On a dirt road you will be blinded so wait for the dust to clear. On tarred roads make sure the road train has plenty of room to stay in the center of road if single lane, if they have to move over the angle can easily make them topple over. Many of these trucks have cattle on board that makes them unstable if on an angle. Our truckologists are very professional…..just be considerate.
Distance is the main reason we have road trains
They always struggle for drivers too. So if one guy can take 4 times as much its good.
@@InquisitiveBaldMan Yeah interstate trucking is a young man or womans game, nobody wants to be regularly away for weeks at a time and miss out on their kids growing up. Yeah I know many jokes can be made, but all of that time adds up over years of being a career trucker.
And lack of train trains .
I would suggest the flatness of the land has a lot to do with it. Australia is flat not many hills to climb.
Yeah distance is definitely the biggest issue specially going forward and on to electric trucks.. they may work on the east coast but when they come where i live they wont make it
Having roads with pre-built overtaking lanes every so often on main roads makes it easier and safer to pass these trucks. Road infrastructure design makes such vehicles possible. And those drivers are usually the most polite road users out there.
And the most patient and forward-looking while driving. No surprise, there's no quick stopping 200 tonnes of vehicle if something goes wrong. It just keeps going. And going. And going. Until it finally stops.
The issue is we had trains but due to flooding in wet season they get washed away
Then during summer the extreme heat 50 degrees the lines buckle and cant be used
These are the main reasons as the up keep is to costly
Even these road trains don't drive on sealed roads for half their trips unless there travelling city to city
Still they are limited in wet seasons due to flooding and roads can be shut for weeks
These road trains spend half their lifes on dirt road or tracks with large corrugations as road crews can only repair them so quickly
We even designed and build our own truck for our climate and are based of American kenworth truck with Australian modified mechanical systems to handle the ruff terrain and extreme heat as normal rigs / trucks cant cope with the conditions here
Basically it all comes down to money its cheaper to used road trains then trains and road trains are more versatile in where they can travel
We can use these vechiles as most of the area's and Australia 🇦🇺 is flat which again make using road trains more viable as not climbing up and down hills where you used massive amounts of fuel
To answer your question on how big are the tanks they have 4 tanks and generally carrying about 1 tonne of fuel in them and thousands of dollars of diesel
The guys doing very long runs will carry extra fuel normally under the trailers in tanks they can pump into main tanks when needed
Even though they loose carrying weight that pays
But the costs of fuel out there can cost more then the freight they leave off so cheaper to carry the extra fuel
Most of these trucks are around 800 hp
If your interested look up the Australian centipede its for mining they now have two and run 24 hrs a day they just change drivers
So while one driving another is sleeping in mining camp waiting for the truck to return for their turn and think 12 hr shifts
Also in cities its common to see duel trailer's driving and delivering and these normally use the cab overs because of space
But certain cities like mine they've modified the intersections to accommodate road trains so you also see them now in our city area's as well and would be only permitted on certain roads with permits of authorisation
Cheers mate 🦘🇦🇺👍
As you said about the upkeep in addition to that is the time it would take to evaluate the safety of each track, you cannot tell from a glance that one of the concrete slabs is suffering from wear and tear but you can easily spot and feel damage accumulating on the road and we got plenty of km markers to help get that information to the relative parties and the problem resolved before it gets out of hand. I loved watching Road trains as a kid rolling through the outskirts of Dubbo and they are some mean beasts.
Its funny hearing Prime Mover trucks teferredyto as a "tractor". My first job at 15 was driving a tractor in rural NSW ploughing paddocks. They're the only "tractors" I'm aware of. Anything hauling semi trailors has been known as a truck or prime mover.
Technical in Australia they can be classed as tractors
Tractor unit and Tractor are different things
@@deanriley5690 I thought Tractor for a Prime mover was an American word. I have only heard it on American movies etc I believe. I have by now spend 46 years in Australia and I don't think I have heard anything other than Prime mover from any Australian here.
The north-south rail line through the centre, which is mainly hot desert, is named "The 'Ghan", as a tribute to the Afghan cameleers who pioneered that route.
For many decades it stopped @ Alice but then they extended it to Darwin, i believe in the 90s?
I think that's the Dingo fence.
The main fence that runs north to south? That would be called the Rabbit Proof Fence
Edit: nup mate, you were right. It is in fact the Dingo fence, my bad
There's several unbroken very long fences .. two "Rabbit Proof Fences" - one being less than 200km east of Perth where it crosses the Great Eastern Highway. Not sure how much further the other one is. Google it if you're interested.
@@audreydoyle5268 .. I camped overnight near the Rabbit Proof Fence and took pics of the sign that names it and tells it's construction history.
Was thinking the rabbit 🐇 fence
The Centerpede is the longest road train. Can't remember how long it is but i think its a 110 wheeler , its used in the NORTHERN TERRITORY. There's a couple of them in use .
Forty years ago when I was learning to drive, my teacher was actually a road train driver and had taught guys to drive them for years. He taught me a fail-safe way to reverse park!
He told me some hysterical stories about driving in the outback.
The train lines get regularly washed out by floods, and there aren't many towns in the outback off the main road. The extreme heat also does a number on the rails and signals, while trucks can keep on going.
I'd bet that guy was one of the most defensive and generally cautious drivers you've ever seen up close, too. No?
Very insightful comment about that railroad running north-south through the centre... maybe you could watch a video about it ! BTW It's call "The Ghan". The northern part of it was only finished in 2004. There is a weekly tourist/passeneger train going all the way from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north and then back again, and I guess some freight rail as well. Traveling the whole distance takes just over 55 hours.
Other countries probably don’t have open dessert roads to travel on
Yum dessert!
Aussie highways are rocky roads.
the biggest truck in the world was built by 1 of our mining companies. the truck was nicknamed the centerped
There's two fences here that you're probably thinking of. The Dindo fence in the east and the Rabbit Proof fence in the west.
“Dindo”????? Mate, I suspect you mean “Dingo”….. Mate, it’s actually the Dingo-proof fence. Grüße aus Australien. Tschüss.
@peterfromgw4615 yes dingo. Need more coffee first thing in the morning. But no, it's called the Dingo Fence and the other one is called the Rabbit Proof fence.
Australian truckies are also supremely proud of their rigs and jobs. Which is why all big trucks look so well maintained, and often very lit up with side lights. Never say negative things about their trucks. And they really live in them. With their best mate, their dog.
Owner operators sure, but if you're driving a company truck it's probably been flogged lol
Long nose Kenworth rocks🔥
Awesome reaction mate 👍🏻
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Keep up the good work
Regards
Nigel
WMH Team 🇦🇺
That train line was buolt in many parts. But the bit from Alice springs to Darwin took 5 years. They decided to do it in 1999 and finished in 2004. So it is pretty recent.
Thet also cut through farms and cattle stations, not allowing the farmers to water feed or muster their stock on the other side, so it's controversial. They needed to allow a culvert here and there, and the farmers had the equipment to put them in but they would not budge. The extreme heat can buckle the rails, so they need maintainence frequently. The map does not show Queensland's rail system at all.
The same issues apply to private transport vehicles versus electric only vehicles. Not viable to create EV charging stations along vast outback road network. So city-based drivers would need to hire an EV for road trips or keep second internal combustion engine (ICE) car and an expensive EV in city residential areas.
Seasonal flooding can affect rail lines in outback areas, requiring rail maintenance workers. Also roads.
If more rail freight lines were built they would need to be electrified and maintained, or go back to using fossil fuels to create steam for steam locomotives.
Road infrastructure is cheaper than rail infrastructure.
Australia has many demands on taxpayers money so building and maintaining infrastructure has to be weighed for its impact.
I tell you it gets a bit exciting when you pull out from behind a long road trail and get halfway along it, and you see a car coming the other way.
7.10 yes. we have several of the longest fences on earth:
the rabbit proof fence. runs north-south around the western farming areas around Perth. keeps rabbits & emu's from destroying important grazing & farming lands (solution to the Emu war)
the dingo fence: stretches from the north east coast of Queensland to the south coast in South Australia (territory). longest fence in the world: intended to stop native dogs (dingoes) from hunting farm herds, it also stops Emu and interferes w many other native animals.
I overtook a road train in the red desert of Western Australia and it was scary. The rear trailer was wandering a bit so I had to time my acceleration when it was the most optimal for me to begin passing. Then the sheer amount of time it took to get past it had me very concerned if I came across an oncoming vehicle as I had nowhere to go. I started the overtake at the same speed as the road train. 60MPH. When I cleared it I was doing over 100 MPH. Lesson learnt. Never tempt fate overtaking one.
The Australian continent is the flattest continent on Earth, and where most road trains are used there would be no large hills or mountains to cross over. Compare this to America where most long distance routes would require the crossing of at least a couple of relatively large mountain ranges in the midst of heavy traffic which remote Australian country roads do not usually have. On many remote Australian country highways if one passes a vehicle coming from the other direction more than once every ten minutes it is considered heavy traffic. Some highways can average less than one vehicle per hour at times. These can be major highways on interstate routes, not just backwater country roads. If these trucks are hauling heavy freight over long distances and then have to climb long rather steep rising grades quite a lot of the prime mover's engine capacity has to be held in reserve for these climbs otherwise the freight haul may fail to be delivered on time or at all. With known flat roads and terrain most of this reserve power rating can be used for extra trailers and freight carrying capacity.
Great Northern Hwy from Perth to the WA far north and Darwin, including the many mines is quite busy with road trains mate. The Hume fwy Melbourne to Sydney is very very busy with all types of trucks but not road trains as there's a railway.
That north-south railroad was upgraded in the 1970-80's. My father worked on it in the 70's. The train which covers that route is The Ghan, named after the Afghani men who drove/led camel trains on a similar path north, through The Outback.
I first encountered road trains while motor cycling Highway One many years ago. One day I made the poor decision to overtake one only to discover that he was following another monster. The blacktop was only the width of the trucks which meant that I spent the time getting around them riding into a dust storm on loose gravel at about 135 kph. I survived it and decided to never do that again.
Big respect to the people who drive them.
You're correct on your comment while looking at a shot of the desert regions - saying it looked "deadly". I was a passenger on a transcontinental train a few years ago and after leaving Port Augusta in South Australia heading west bound to cross two days of absolute desert (The Nullarbor), an announcement was made stating that should anyone get off the train while stopping at crossing loops, there was the risk of death. Crossing Australian deserts is awesome from my own perspective. I've done it many times driving Perth to Sydney and that took a week (includes time stopping to sleep). The train takes four days. I love it.
Even though USA and Australia are similar size, there are far greater distances between towns in remote areas.
There are some places in Australia that only road trains and aircraft can reach. This is because rail washes away in floods, and roads be become impassable for smaller trucks when the water over the road is 7 feet deep or more.
There definitely are some places in the US where road trains make sense, and there are lots of areas where trucking companies use "tandem trailers"...which is really just another kind of small "road train". There is a Federal highway limit of two trailers, so a "double" is the longest road train you will probably ever see anywhere in the US. The only longer road trains you might encounter in the US would be on roads that are not generally considered "open to the public", like for logging or mining, or maybe in Alaska traveling up and down the pipeline.
Tandem trailers in AU are generally a semi trailer and dog trailer (tow bar), or some variety of what is called a "B-Double" (semi trailer (with turntable on the rear) attached to the prime mover and a second semi trailer attached to the first). You find these getting through mostly city suburbs and freeways within the cities and rarely in the central commercial districts, and used a lot in state and interstate transport where it is either not practical or regulations do not allow the use of road trains.
ETA: Slight edit to make a bit clearer.
Something from Melbourne , for a country of the size of Australia , the streets and roads are quite narrow in the suburbs and city and for big truck this streets are difficult to negotiate and then you can see long trucks , longer than the trucks in other countries , with 34 wheels and the truckies manage to turn without difficulty
The east coast has restrictions on length .you have to travel to Western Australia if you want to see the big rigs ..triples not allowed on the Eastern seaboard. Pocket road trains only which are much shorter
Lots of wheat silos ..check out silo art in Australia its pritty good.
I'm from Australia and I've seen quiet a handful of road trains myself, also just discovered your channel✊
They also have road trains in Finland.
to answer your question on the fence yes we do its the dingo fence its over 5000km long stretching from north east to south
Electric will be a challenge. The 2023 Bridgestone Global Solar Challenge, running N-S of Australia, from Darwin to Adelaide, had days where there wasn't sufficient sunlight to fully charge the purpose-built solar prototypes. (BTW 1st Sunswift 7 (Australia) 91.1 points; 2nd University of Minnesota (USA) 22.4 points.)
That place you paused ("The Main Reasons why Australia...") shows at least one compelling reason: that "wall-to-wall f***-all" geography.
A friend worked on a station (= "farm", yeah, a farm the size of several small countries) in Western Australia. One of his jobs involved going around the windmill-powered pumps pulling up water for the stock to drink. He would leave the base in a truck with no glass with a rifle and two 44-gallon drums - one for fuel and one for water - in the back with his tools and drive out into the desert with no form of communication for a week.
The "driveway" was a dirt track. 100 miles to the road. Supplies for the owners and staff came in by the hundredweight. No nipping down to the shop for a packet of tea. A trip to the nearest "shop" would have involved at least one night in an hotel. Some of the supplies and equipment would have arrived on a road-train.
I have travelled the outback extensively and often go hundreds of km without seeing another vehicle. Furthermore, most properties in remote areas are often many km from the road.
The Alice to Darwin section has only been completed this century.
Road trains are not used in coastal areas.
Road train trucks can have up to 3 drive axles
Yeah the Dingo fence is a thing, there's vids about it.
The Rabbitproof fence too, although the buggers got through anyway.
I use to live in Western Australia and it just seems weird to me that they don't have a rail network that heads north to places like Geraldton, Canarvan, or far north as Broome even.
There is rail north of Perth to Geraldton etc. They just don't use it for passenger services anymore. All freight
Well that's just stupid ... It basically means either find out which coach services go that way and how often, or just get your drivers licence. How dumb is that.
@@tevman09 you have to either fly or take the greyhound bus or drive yourself..the only towns you can get to with rail are Bunbury and Kalgoorlie ..Geraldton, Busselton, Albany definitely should have rail for passenger service as well
5.44 yes. that rail line is one of the most remote and empty lines on earth: i believe it mainly exists to support mining purposes. it Also transits some of our wildest, riskiest and most changeable tropical areas near Darwin.
the east west line was almostas bad to construct: almost Everything between Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie is desert.
They used a road train in Fast & Furious 4, suggesting that it is certainly not exclusive to Australia. That was way back in 2009.
On the road from Perth too Adelaide ( east west ) 3000km. there is a 90 mile straight. No shops. No lights. Nothing
The fence you speak of is called the rabbit proof fence
Given the wet season up north and where that water can ultimately end up, I don't think rail would work. Trucks can avoid using a flooded road and wait until the water recedes, and although a train can wait out the water, the rails would have to be checked and/or repaired before it could be used again. The overheads of maintaining rail would probably be too expensive in comparison.
In the early 2000s the UK government trialled a double trailer combination running between 2 major distribution hubs, but it was only allowed on the motorway that linked them. What happened to the idea? who knows, it was quietly dropped.
Roughly the route from Adelaide (capital of the state of South Australia) and Perth (capital of the state of Western Australia) crosses a dessert called the Nullarbor ((null = no Arbor = trees) about 1200 kilometres. Obviously no marketing gurus were around when they were named. A niche Australian export is tied to the building of track across the Nullarbor Australia exports racing camels to Saudi Arabia. When the line across the Nullarbor and the line to Darwin ( capital of the Northern Territory) were built camels and camel drivers were imported for the track work along the desserts. The job completed the camels were let loose and are now a feral pest in some areas so they cull them from helicopters, some are slaughtered for meat and some are exported. Outside the tourist destinations and routes there are roads that can go days without a single vehicle.
To put the emptiness of Australia into context;
It is 80% the size of the U.S.
With 8% of the population of the U.S.
Approximately 10x the size of Texas, with about the same population.
Australia is larger than continental USA (not including Alaska and Hawaii) by 250,000 square kilometres.
Area of continental USA is 7,653,006 km2 and the area of Australia is 7,741,220 km2, so Australia is actually *larger* than the contiguous 48 US states. The area of Texas is 676,587 km2 so is smaller than each of the Australian states of Western Australia (which alone at 2,523,924 km2 is nearly four times as big as Texas) Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales. Texas is only bigger than the states of Victoria and Tasmania.
I don't know if you can access it, but there is a great series called "outback truckers", on TV here in Australia, a camera crew follow many different truckers as they drive through many isolated areas doing their delivery's if you're interested in road trains you couldn't find a better show.
Great to see your genuine interest M'8 (Mate) that's the word we use over here instead of "bud. or buddy" , one additional factor you may not have considered is the relative flatness of the entire country. Of course there are long and steep grades, and winding and twisting sections of road. One of my cousins has been a long haul "truckie" for a while, but eventually the grueling loneliness is what caused him to find other means of earning his keep. Yes, the country is that sunburned and deeply red coloured in most places, since i have made a few solo "road trips " through it myself. Thank you for your mainly accurate and well researched presentation. I am sure your domestic audience will enjoy it as much as i did.
Kindest regards, Nick C. (Nicko)
Most outback roads are dirt, not sealed & they are only average in the surface . Sometimes very hard to drive on.
Connor you wondered about the railway lines... the one that virtually runs vertically through the centre was built in two major stages, from Adelaide in the south to Alice Springs in the centre in the early 20th century, and the section from Alice Springs to Darwin in the north a century later. The other major inhospitable run is the one linking east with west across the southern section, opening in the early to middle 20th century. The railway issues were compounded by the three main (and two minor) gauges - the Standard 4'8½", Irish 5'3" and Cape 3'6" (and 2' and 2'6") - South Australia used all three, Irish to connect with Victoria and around Adelaide, Standard to connect between Sydney and Perth, and Cape originally anywhere north. It can be simplified as New South Wales on the east coast is Standard, Victoria is Irish, and Queensland is Cape. Standard connects all mainland capitals, Tasmania is it's own island of misfits on Cape. The two other gauges are somewhat industrial, the larger networks are 2' and are mostly used in Queensland for sugarcane trains.
When you are supporting a industry that is supplying the world with millions of tonnes of energy and resources, in a country with limited rail networks that are linked to major cities, you get creative, and we are known for being creative , 🇦🇺
There is an electric truck - it is called an electric train; you see them all the time in Europe, running between cities and towns.
The Dingo fence is the longest fence in the world
In regards to the fence, look up Rabbit Proof Fence.
Connor you are correct about the fence ,did you know that Australia has more camels the Egypt. There is a police station north of perth western aus. That has a beat greater than great Britain.
Q. Why Australia Is The ONLY Place With Road-Trains? A. Because apart from a few coastal settlements there's basically nothing f*&^ing there - it's just a giant dust-bowl
So, you've never actually been to the Outback then?
Australia is described as miles and miles of fk all.
The rail map is missing 80 percent of the rail. According to that Queensland rail doesn’t exist but I can assure you it does and with extensive routes to remote places like mount isa and Cloncurry just to name a couple.
In northern Territory in the late 70s (We )my dad driveing overtook a 5 trailor road train on dirt road couldn't see if any vehicles were coming from other direction so just went for it road is quite wide about 4 vehicles wide ..in 2014 l overtook a 4 trailor road train had to do over 100mph..my speed was 180klmph
The vast majority of train networks are up and down the East Coast.
It really isnt feasible to have too much train networks outside of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia due to the hot deserts and the massive strain of weather damage and maintenance costs in the rest of the country.
Road Trains is a very easy and far easier to maintain way of hauling mass freight.
The biggest double stack freight trains moves freight between Perth and Sydney and Perth Melbourne..STC and Pacific National.Those trains are usually 1.8 kms in length as well
@@ACDZ123 in once got stuck at a crossing on the border between WA and SA, saw it parallel ahead and when I looked over my shoulder in saw the lights in the distance so floored it. Damn gates came down before I could get across. I had to wait 45 minutes for the damn freight train to go across and go past.
@@G.H.O.S.T.254 yeah that's mad having to wait it out that long ..it's like those iron ore trains in the Pilbara up around Newman ,Karatha and Port Hedland..you'll be waiting for ages for them buggers to pass 😀
@@ACDZ123 luckily I have never had to experience those trains. Those Freight trains though I just painfully trundling along at a snail's pace. Always wondered what it would be like to drive those trains for a living.
@@G.H.O.S.T.254 be a great job I'd say. Probably pays well also
This is a very remote country and we don't have very many trains anywhere because they get washed out in floods so we need the trucks to supply all the farmers and everybody in the remoteness of Australia everything from fuel to food it all relies on road trains in Australia is same size as USA except for Alaska with only 8% of the people
The fence you were thinking about is the 'rabbit proof fence', which is located in Western Australia. It stretches some 2,032 miles (3,256km) from near Hopetoun in the south to Cape Kenaudren in the states north. It took 6yrs to build.
Sorry Mate.
But it’s the Dingo Fence that’s the true top dog (Pun intended 🤪).
@@mareky1234😂😂😂
@@mareky1234 The only true fence is de fence... 😂😂
A good lot of videos to watch Outback Truckers. Dramatised some for viewer content on TV. But a lot is real.
Not a lot of trafic at all on some roads they travel. Perticularly to mines, and cattle propertys they could drive a day or more and see no one. Break down and you are on your own. Satelight phones help, but to call for help you could wait 2 or 3 days. They have refrigeration and freezers to carry food. Small gas stove, or wood for a fire to cook on.
Only the best survive, In many ways some of the toughest driving jobs any where.
A memorable experience is trying to overtake one on the highway.
Regarding electric power for long distance trucks, I saw a TH-cam video on sections of overhead power lines for trucks with pantographs - in india and sweden. Worth googleing for a look. They look very weird but the system works.
Optimus prime actually used to be a cab over truck, it wasn't until the new movies he was changed to cab back👍80s kid🇬🇧
Road trains can be forced to drop trailers outside of larger towns, ferry them through 1-at -a-time, then put the train back together. Imagine checking the hitch, tie-downs and chains and every tyre on every trailer every so often on a long trip. That takes time, as does just walking around the truck. The other day I was in my small town in NQ and a b-double cattle truck came through, around a roundabout, with hooves stamping, in it's 2 trailers. It also takes time to stop, which he had to. We don't see them too often, we have a choice of 3 mountain ranges, to get down off the great dividing range, to the coast that only goes from north of here down to Victoria. The Gillies Highway, has 365 bends, a lot of folk don't like getting car-sick so they go to Kuranda, lots of accidents or the Palmerston, built on the top of the ridge, with a semi-circular bridge on it, where we see milk trucks. Have you ever driven through the clouds? We walk through them in our main street. There is a road called "the bump" a bit further north at Mossman too. How many gears do your trucks have, 26?
We are Australian and some do the easy and some do the hard. We do the impossible .. it just takes us a little longer to work out how to do it. Mates, we are just the greatest and bloody good!!!
There are even some townships that were created because of Road Trains much like how Vegas was created when the airbase was erected.
they probably also don't suit other countries where there's more traffic on the roads
Camels and their Afghan handlers were a major part of the construction of the long railway line from the South to the North of the continent. The train is called 'The Ghan' in recognition of their contribution. The Ghan is a luxury train which is famous in Australia.
Some of the cattle's stations you'd never see the road from the center. Anna Creek is the biggest at 23000 square kilometers. Or 8, 880 square miles.
about the same size as Israel.
I remember people used to be able to have a working ranch holiday at the Anna Creek Station, but I don't think they do that now. It was famous for being the biggest cattle station in the world, and larger in area than some countries, not sure if it still is.
One reason not mentioned, was the relative flatness of the Aussie interior. Roadtrains don't like hills.
They've still gotta go up and down them though.
@@user-rc8oy1nm1d True, but unless I'm mistaken, there are very few serious mountain passes on roadtrain routes.
@@alancritchley5901 Bindoon Hill, Munjina gorge and Marandoo Hill are a few that come to mind, you're supposed to drop your third and come back for it at Marandoo Hill. Pulling a loaded quad through the Chichester ranges is pretty solid going too. There are others and that's not even getting out of WA.
Other countries are full of cities with people driving small vehicles, low bridges, bends and turns is why. You can't be driving a road train through built up areas. The US has at least 200 large cities. We have 86.
America has the long straight roads, but it also has a lot more cities closer together.
But the real reason is the road maintenance required is costly.
Still if your driver shortage continues, companies may lobby for some law changes, although that too would be tricky.
Other than Texas and Alaska, most of your states are tiny, meaning far more law changes to accommodate. You could fit like 45 States into 5 of ours.
Here's a facinating fact...in Australia, US trucks companies like Mack and Kenworth manufacture flat nosed trucks as well...these don't exist in the US even though they are US companies.
Cab over Macks haven't been available for years.
They manufacture their trucks in Australia because they can then upgrade the components. Standard US-built trucks are designed for smooth roads and simply can't handle hundreds of kilometres of corrugations.
@@ianes6377 Kenworth are the only company that has an Australian manufacturing plant.
Yes we have the longest fence called the " rabbit proof fence " 3900 miles . From top to bottom of Australia.
The dingo fence is the longest at 5614 km and the rabbit-proof fence is the second-longest at 3250 km.
@@ianes6377 never heard of the dingo fence , at 5614 km does it do circles ? As the longest distance is 3900 or so km in Australia.
@@JosephCowen-fz8vj I've tried to respond to you with a link to the dingo fence, but TH-cam won't accept the link. Just google 'dingo fence Australia' and you'll get a map showing that the fence is hugely convoluted, hence the greater distance than a straight line.
The only vehicle that doesn't have to stop after an accident, until next town.
We don't really have what could be described as road trains in Canada, or the US either. The longest youll see on the major highways are triples, with a standard 53' trailer, and then two 28' pup trailers. And they're pretty rare. Not like Australia, where they could be pulling six 53' trailers.
You will never see a truck with six 53' trailers in Australia. The trucks you see on public roads with six trailers have iron ore in them and they are no more than 60m or 196 feet long but are around 200 metric tonnes.
@@anthonyj7989 yeah. The maximum on a public road is 4, dependent on the state. That's not to say you won't see larger, they have to get special permission and only to a set destination and route.
@@anthonyj7989 The trucks hauling iron ore are four trailer combinations called ''quads'' and max out at about 175 tonnes.
@@tazgecko good luck with getting permits to pull more than 4 trailers or anything longer than 60 meters.
@@user-rc8oy1nm1d I've seen 5-trailer units on the road between Newman and Port Hedland, but maybe that is designated as a mining road despite being open to the public.
Hey I am from Alice Springs our hottest day on record is 46 degrees Celsius
Flat or cab over trucks are best for in city's as far better visibility being at the very front makes turning easier, a traditional truck that's too say engine in front of the driver not under are more powerful and better for pulling heavier loads but are harder to operate in built up areas
Only 46 degrees! I have tried 48 in Melbourne. Admittingly official was some thing like 46.4 I believe. 48 was just outside my house not far away from the aircon. We had lots of bush fires around that day. 173 people died and many more hurt. Over 2000 houses lost. 250,000Ha burnt. I spend most of my day on the cool end of the aircon.
All of Australia’s Kenworth trucks for example are Australian made Kenworth Australia’s Melbourne plant in the suburb of Bayswater and are built with a high local content from other Australian manufacturers and suppliers and differ from their American cousins as they are far more robust as this is quite obvious due to Australian conditions with the terrain, temperatures and tonnages these things have to haul compared to all other countries and the Australian Kenworth K series or Cab Overs are the only place in the world where these are still built in large numbers, Kenworths are the the number one and are the truck of choice for many Aussie operators, Volvo and Mack’s are also manufactured in Australia akso
One day, when I was touring the outback I got a flat tire. I was in the middle of nowhere so I decided to camp for the night a couple hundred meters from the road. I was there for about 15 hours and not one vehicle went by. It was awesome. I fitted my spare tire and headed to a town to get it fixed the next day.
Of course, in Australia, they're 'tyres' and 'metres'.
@@ianes6377 phcough! Couldn't be fucked correcting auto correct.
Ya wanna try overtaking a 4 trailer RT that’s doing 90/100 kmh on a standard dual road in the middle of no where, ya need eyes like an eagle, nerves of steel, decent power under ya bum and a slight bent towards enjoying adrenaline 😉 many peeps have come unstuck trying to overtake a RT and on the Stuart highway ya can drive a while before a passing lane pops up
Have a drink everytime he says "road trains"
If you want to know anything about the trucking industry over here just keep in touch with me I was born in a truck over here my father was the very first one to start interstate transport in this country so I know all about it keep in contact anytime
Australia also has 1,222 islands.
Because of the Afghan people who were brought to Australia to conduct CAMEL 'track trains' early in the outback (interior) we now have many thousands of feral camels that run around there. Some are rounded up and exported to the Middle East (their greatest number of camel import) ! And as others have commented, there is a luxury tourist train (and goods train) named, ' The Ghan ' ( after those Afghan immigrants whose descendants still live here) that travels up and down from north and south of Australia, in the interior, from Adelaide to Darwin.
I have been on 'The Ghan' but it only went as far as Alice Springs back then.
"I just see death" 🤣
Fun fact. The railway company that employed the men to lay the line. We’re the first company to give the men 4 weeks paid holiday a year, to compete with the city companies and get men out to lay the line.
Yes men, get over it.
You realise it was actually illegal to hire women to do it at the time.
Dog fence. Tries to keep dingos out of the south east. It is over 3,000 miles by long.
A truck with 2 trailers is not a road train.. we call it a B DOUBLE ..not to be confused with a single and a dog trailer..which is very common in Australia ..and is driven everywhere
Western Qld, other places as well run 2 trailer road trains, and they are not necessarily b doubles
There are three and two halves types of trailers. In simple terms the "A" trailer - of 1 to 4 axles at one end and full length body/deck; the "B" trailer similar to the "A" except having half body/deck and a turntable over the axles; the "Pig" trailer - of 2 to 4 axles rigid in the centre of the load area on a drawbar; the "Dog" trailer - of 2 to 7 axles similar to the "Pig" except that the axles are in two groups at either end of the load area, the front axle set articulated; the "Dolly" - a composite drawbar and turntable to connect to the leading trailer and under the following "A" or "B" trailers. So a B double is an "A" and "B" trailer, a B triple has two "B" and the "A". Generally a road train will be a truck, and upto two "B" and three "A" trailers.
@@PiersDJackson Maybe the case, the two "A" trailer rigs are sign posted as road trains though.
@@brianlove8413 what I'll say signage is generally anything more than one trailer will have one, a B-double will have "Long Vehicle", anything larger will have "Road Train", a B-triple may have "Extra Long Vehicle".
@@PiersDJackson Legally required signage on a B triple is ''road train''.
The Dingo fence is the world’s longest fence. Not the Rabbit Proof Fence, as mentioned elsewhere. 😅
I was enjoying it, until the end - was giving a clear explanation on the reason behind the existence of road trains - BUT - because the voice is AI and heard on many videos and American, I knew there would be big ommissions.
On Australia's National Broadcaster, recently, more and more truck drivers, particularly in the north of Australia are converting and buying electric trucks. They actually work - BECAUSE - they aren't using charging points, but battery swap overs/exchange - and this network is being rolled out across Queensland. The normal electric hwy is also always expanding.
Some private rail lines in the outback to the coast, by big mining companies, are some of the longest in the world and waiting for one of their trains, to cross a crossing could take for ages. Some of them are also driverless.
These operations run 24/7 including some of the biggest road trains.
Currently there are no electric trucks available that are capable of pulling a road train.
@@user-rc8oy1nm1d correct - just a normal semi trailer - about 400 kms
@@adrianmclean9195 There's no electric prime mover capable of pulling a semi trailer 400 kms either.
@@user-rc8oy1nm1d mate I don't know what country your from - but you need to READ the ABC article on this and the Queensland company making/doing the conversions. Otherwise, just fuck off !!!
One of the repliers, to my comment " believes ?! ", that there are no such electric trucks - the commentor won't disclose country nor his supposed facts and this made me angry, of his ignorance and I replied with a swear word that wasn't published.
SO - for IT particularly, I refer you to REALITY and TRUTH !!, to the ABC Online news, search facility - which you can get off your bottom and see for yourself as others already know and are/going to do - which already makes you look like an idiot and/or trump follower, and input: electric trucks - and then see for yourself, the NUMEROUS articles on the subject and that it is real. Australia is actually moving ahead in this field. If you knew what the cost of petrol was for those road trains, in Australian costs and the even higher prices in the outback, you can see why electric powered trucks would be a hit. Change over battery packs are happening.
Thankyou - " I " WIN !!!!! ( LOL 😂 🦘 )
We have the longest Dench in the world protecting cattle and sheep from rabbits eating everything as well as dingo eating everything it's called the rabbit proof fence there's around four blokes that drive and camp year round makeing sure it's sealed up
They are two different fences - the dingo fence is the longest in the world and the rabbit-proof fence is the second-longest in the world.
Distance isn't the only reason. Politics played it's part and the larger distribution infrastructure that goes into using train based networks.
That northern route between Adelaide to Darwin only got completed in the 1980's or 90's and only because our conservative federal party got control of both our parliamentary houses. Usually the government administration of the federal government never controls our upper house.
there has to be a major major upgrade of electric truck and batteries especially to deal with the extreme heat of Australia so no dont think thats gonna happen anytime soon
Thousands of miles of flat open desert baked hard or sticky mud, and approximately zero inhabitants. Straight roads, just keep rolling, try not to fall asleep. She'll be right!
The corrugations will keep you awake.
Brisbane 5:48.
We think 18 wheelers are Tonka toys.