The road trains of Australia are something of trucker lore here in the U.S. We’ve heard the stories of the blazing hot sun, hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of kilometers between evidence of life, gangs of Wallaby attacking at random, the deafening roar of vu vu zela, not to mention the hordes of venomous snakes in the cab just for fun.
I’m not sure we are ready to go there just yet. I’m not even sure of the driver shortage either, but let’s pretend.
As reported on Smart-Trucking.com, road trains in Australia are real, really big, and really dangerous.
At 53 meters and 120 tonnes, they are also HUGE! That’s 173.84 feet – or four times the length of a pickleball court. Almost enough to make a pickleball sweat!
The size is necessary when you think about the size of Australia and the remote population centers across very unforgiving terrain.
Forget turbo beans – just drop an egg, a porkchop, and some biscuit dough on your bonnet and you have breakfast! If you don’t accidentally burn it. Good thing it cooks quickly, because the brush fires, crocodiles, and dingos are on the way!
If that doesn’t entice you, how about the single-lane roads that are covered in melted tar? Ever play chicken with a car at 80 mph on a single-lane road covered in melted tar while hauling 264,000 pounds?
Right!?! Their 120-tons equals 264,000 pounds (1 tonne = 1.1 ton).
Ice road truckers? How about rainy seasons road train truckers?
If you don’t like the heat and want to wait for the cooler rainy season, then you may want to think again. A couple of weeks stuck in the mud isn’t worth five minutes during outback storytime. Get a month under your belt and come talk to me, ya newbie.
One last thing, you know the big brush bars on the front of those Aussie rigs? Those are called bull-bars.
The animals are big and they roam freely. Slamming on your brakes is not an option. The bull bars keep you from destroying your rig – not the animal.
Ever seen a car hit a moose?
Peace and love
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