Road trains proposed.
 

From (and more at):- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8349923.stm

“The lead vehicle would be handled by a professional driver who would monitor the status of the road train”

Do they mean someone dedicated to providing this service and has no other purpose, if so it won’t be cheap?

Highways Agency . . . :D

What happens if the lead vehicle or 'professional' driver has a problem? All following won't be able to react so total carnage will ensue, as they we all in effect be tailgating each other.
The whole thing sounds totally bizarre. Glad to know the money us taxpayers pay to Europe is used so sensibly!!!

road trains
 

Hi to you all ,the road train is allready in existence,when was the last time any one travelled on theA 34 CONTAINER HIGHWAY, it used to be 4 hours from BANBURY TO SOUTHAMPTON,before BYPASSES,it is as bad now, stop being elephantine,i am pleased i do not drive for my living. thanfully retired ,some sit behind the curtains driving,how can they do that like big kids,bring back rope,ing and sheeting,BIG BOOTS AND BLACK HANDS,GREASIE OVERALLS.Stop bunchinning up like girls,road train fashion.I can now see why more frieght is moved by rail ,a lot of it is road HGV drivers ignorance driving as if they are connected like road trains to each other and stuff all the others.

Quote from original article

“Those joining a platoon or road train may one day pay for the privilege of someone else effectively driving them closer to their destination”

The magic word is “pay”, what you save on fuel you lose to the lead driver so the only advantage would be to businesses. The driver could catch up on paperwork and play with his/her laptop and phone.

These proposed road trains, would probably in the interests of safety have lower speed limits and may not suit many car drivers who are accustomed to getting from A to B much faster.

road trains oz style have an artic pulling at least one extra trailer & upto a max length of i think 53.5meters depending where in the country the rig is in use a less length of 35.5 meters nearer the larger cities this differs in each state

a little more clarification oz style road train is an artic pulling upto 5 trailers in all in the more remote areas to a max lenght of 53.5 meters here in Perth W.A there are designated routes where long trucks are allowed ie 35.5 meters or the B.double a rigid 8 or 6 legger with turn table a trailer with a turn table on the rear with a second trailer on that all available space used for freight & often picking up more trailers the further north the truck goes these trucks are speed limited ? to 100kph(60mph app) nuless it is dangerous goods like fuel it is less Here in W.A the regulations are relatively new penalties need revising as owners seem to want to push hard drivers suffer owner drivers are the big worry more work more money, the vicious circle not enough checks done but we will get there

Thanks for that info, darloboy.
100 kph sounds a lot - no truck can exceed 90 kph here in the UK (and that only on motorways otherwise it is 64 kph on single carriageways).

speed
 

hi in the northern territory extreme north central oz speed is limited to 130pkh but only for the last 30months or so we are spread out well here I am 4200kms from darwin about 4000 from sidney our last voyage with the wobbley(caravan) on the back was 33746kms at an average fuel use of 16.2 lters per 100 ks at av speed 63kph using a 4 liter petrol engine with auto trans the wobbley is 18 ft 1800 kilo all up travel weight the wagon is an aussie ford territory wagon not 4wd but big & heavy enough todays fuel(91oct) is 119cents a liter(68p) as is diesel 98oct is 131(73p)goes up tomorrow by 10 cents & will drop slowly till next thursday 6am back up called the weekly fluctuation in our state fuel price is held for 24 hours & must published no later than2pm previous day on the fuel watch website so we can work out where it is priced& if if it worth the drive chasing a deal

the uk
 

well to all who read this i am an ex pat from darlington used that a1 by thumb as a sqaddy for a few years moved south on leaving the army more work but we came south to oz no regrets at all i spent 7 years in germany a couple at catterick what a posting for a darloboy (her is a cov kid) but the north is where we liked most up in the dales but no we only visit once in a while too cold & wet we did christmas 08 that white stuff has knobs on it we didn't like it slip sliding away & no brit cars or woolies

territory
 

yes thats the beast woderful car mine is 'poverty pack' don't believe in paying for stuff i dont use put on extras at my price not theirs might be something to do with the scot/jewish heritage

speed limit
 

as a kid i mean young i can remember the 20mph on the back of trucks & listening to dad & his mates story telling(times don't change?)about 'knocking on' 24/25 mph seems so long ago when i see the size of engines today at 600hp full auto trans etc with 140 tons up at 60 mph on the flat 4 trailers like (the matchbox truck)where next like previously said drive by wireless comms as used by the mining co's on the 3km long iron ore trains 1 man 6 engines what a thought the big if well off to do my bit darloboy

road trains/truck speed
 

evening from oz we previously touched on speed one of the problems here is distance the next city north is 350k's then after that another similar run & so on up the coast inland going north via northern highway maybe a 1,000 km but with small towns regularly spaced .At lower speeds it will take forever to get any where but too fast is a danger too. I have a 3800 km run in our wagon (estate car sorry) to do Christmas with our son so try london to well past moscow over some of the most deadly tiring country on earth but we enjoy it

Deadly?? In what way, because of the heat?

deadly
 

deadly boring, straight roads for many miles one stretch is 90 miles in the real measure known as the 90 mile straight naturally across the nullabor plain there is a roadhouse(service area) at each end more or less with plenty of boys in blue checking I have seen a pic of speedo at 190 kph engine on speed cut (governor) a similar engine/trans to mine .the artics(semi trailer to us) 2 trailers or b doubles are main freighters leaving depot in perth with upwards of 900 liters of diesel on board some are equipped with a tank on the lead trailer pumped forward as required letting them do 4,000 or km without a fill sleeping in the cab using roadhouse to clean up etc the heat becomes a problem if the air con stops or a tyre pops but winter ??? top temp is not less than 15*c nights go below 0, summer well we have had 47*c 2pm 14*c at 4am thats just out of ceduna south australia in early feb

servo price
 

i forgot todays fuel petrol 91oct is about 72p 95oct 77p diesel 78pjust filled the 250 4 1/2 liters the 4liter 69 liters at 77p what is your price ?

I personally have never had a problem as regards "dropping off at the wheel" and once drove from Zakapane right through till half way through Germany before my co driver insisted he take over. I believe in having the window open, or having the fan blow cold and have the music on.
As my Brother would say, "it's an attitude of mind"! Shame he didn't bear that in mind when he was my co driver that time!!

dropping off
 

it all depends if one makes driving boring white line fever is a problem for some & not others the longest trip was about 8,500 kms 10 days inc a day laid over for 2 tyres for the trailer blew them saturday evening had to wait till mon 8am to have them fitted used that time as compulsory stop dragged it away hoping not to get stopped till the time evened out the co pilot was a waste of space had to do his shift as well poor fella was sick there are ways of cheating at that time there wasn't much in the way of gps tracking glad i am retired just doing the odd school bus drive besides i don't have multi combination ticket for a semi & extra trailers a rigid with a short trailer is all i have had never fancied being away too long too much

I don't blame you.

I've been watching the TV programme on Stobarts and they have day drivers who have a different wagon every day and go home after their shift and they have what they call "Trampers" who pick up their wagon (their own) and stay with it for 6 days and just have the Sunday off.