During the Vietnam war whilst on leave in Sydney would meet a few yanks on R and R, loved to find Texans and take the "Piss" with them everything was bigger in Texas. Won plenty of Bets with them on the question who has the biggest ranch. Allways won withe answer "Victoria Downs" Was bigger than the entire state of Texas. I think the holdings have been reduced since then.
There was a lady trucker named Toots. She was always surprised at the attention the media gave her truck driving ability. To her it was just a job and one she was bloody grateful to have. Toots was accidently killed in 1992 when she was crushed by a load of pipes at the wharf in Weipa while loading. It was an untimely death to an Aussie icon
Ian CB radio is highly used in the outback to communicate with the trucks and road trains. Being polite and patient with clear communication to these truck drivers gives you another set of eyes ahead of what's Infront of them, thus letting them tell you when your safe to pass or which side to pass giving you plenty of time to do so. wind and bull dust is a huge factor in seeing ahead/ beyond trucks/ road trains and which part of the road they will be on to let you pass beside them. With out cb and knowing your there they will often let you pass by giving you room to do so providing when it is safe. Hats off to the blokes and lady's who drive those rigs as there polite and professional.
Yep, it should be compulsory to have a cb. It’s like you said, extra eyes up front that can see far more than you and they let you pass safely if you call them up on the two way. The same if you get a big one come up behind you, help get them passed, they are doing a hard job.
Also FYI the driving licenses in Australia are complex for driving a truck. There are about 10 different possible licenses for truck types. The most basic is the small passenger van license. The biggest is the articulated truck license which would be the trucks and road trains seen here. Many truck drivers in their 50s transition from truck driving to long haul passenger coach driving. p.s had a look at truck driver training and the system has changed a lot since 20 years ago. Seems to be about 5 licenses now. We have a memorial as well at Tarcutta, a town of 446 people, to remember any truck drivers who passed while truck driving.
If I recall right, there is (or was) a driver despite / support facility in Tarcutta run by the Australian Trucking Association, for drivers experiencing mental distress or other life issues to stay at and get some help. I used to collect motel soaps and shampoos to send to them as donations (they had an active request for them at the time). Tarcutta is half way between Melbourne and Sydney and is known as THE trucking town of Australia. A lot of companies use the change over parking there. You can drive Melbourne to Sydney in one day, but then you need to sleep over night before returning. The change over parking allows two trucks to leave from Melbourne and Sydney, meet in the middle and swap trailers before driving back to their respective homes. The trailers complete the full trip, but the trucks and drivers only ever go half way, meaning they can go home and sleep in their own beds each night.
I went through there six years ago and stayed a couple of days in my motorhome at a cattle station just out of town. Cue is very small but quite smart and clean with some well-preserved sandstone buildings. About 48km (30 miles) to the west is Walga Rock, the second-largest monolith in Australia (behind Uluru) with a lot of Aboriginal rock paintings. A short detour soon after leaving Cue will take you to the ghost town of Big Bell, constructed to service a gold mine. The town was abandoned in 1955 when the mine became uneconomical after about 20 years of operation, and there are still remnants of buildings, roads, etc.
I used to work as a truck detailer in central NSW for a bit of fun and a break from chef work and standing back patting yourself on the back looking at a big, sparkling, freshly detailed and polished truck is the best feeling I've ever had! Wet and cold but totally worth it when you get to admire the end product!🤤🤩
The awesome sight of some of these road trains is impressive. The thing that blows my mind even more is watching the driver BACK some of these multiple trailers into a dock. I have a hard time backing my lawnmower trailer down my driveway, lol.
Each axle on those trucks can carry just under 7 tonne each, so a triple axle group can carry 20 tonne, quad axles 27 tonne. Quick counting will give around 21 axles plus 3 drive axles on the quad trailer triple axle road train, equalling roughly 168 tonne, The quad trailer quad axle had 23 plus 3 drive axles, 182 tonne. Counting the axle groups gives 175 tonne plus 6 tonne per steer axle = 187 tonne for the quad quad, and quad triple = 160 plus 6 for the single steer = 166 tonne. Some combos can be rated to around the 200 metric tonne, 220 US tonne, mark. For comparison, at 16.5t per dual axle group, an 18 wheeler would be 33 tonne plus 6ish for the steer, making it around 40 metric tonnes. 53.5 metres long, 175 ft, some can be 60m - 195ft and the thing I read said roughly 12 car lengths.
Great information! When I drive to the outback, I smile when I see my first road train....I'm there. I found out the fuel trucks carry 90,000 litres of diesel or 100,000 litres of petrol. Much respect and appreciation for these trucks and drivers.
In a !966 Ford "XP" Falcon on a the trip from Perth to Port Hedland a distance of 1200 Miles took me just over 15.5 Hours. With at least 600 of those miles being on unsealed surface. The red dust is just basic Haematite or low grade iron ore. The problem is the dust, it has the same consistency as flour and get into every nook and crany
The partial enclosure for the car carrier is to reduce broken windshields on the cars, lots of stone damage on outback roads if you follow or pass a road train
It must take a tremendous level of skill to drive one of those giant trucks! I have only been over the outback in aeroplanes. it is a scary place! Thank you for the video!
Great video as usual, I went to that channel looked at the video of transporting a HUGE wind turbine blade , the rig was only 1 trailer BUT a very long trailer, it passed a stationary 4 trailer rig that looked about 1 trailer shorter than the 1 trailer rig, worth checking out.
The truck you said was short was actually an extendable trailer for goods too long for a regular trailer. We used one when I worked for a trucking co a few years ago.
American - I drive a truck, an 18 wheeler man. Australian Road Train Truckie - Hold my beer (well maybe not beer while driving lol, you get the point) There's a sign on a lot of trucks, probably in the US as well that has words to the effect of 'If the trucks stop, so does the Nation' or 'Without Trucks, the Nation stops' something like that. They all do an epic job, and some are away for days if not weeks on end.
American - I drive a truck, an 18 wheeler man. Australian Road Train Truckie - well isn't that cute...., that first Quad that went past (~7:00) we added a zero in the middle, it had 108 wheels. Love the country around that area, spent a lt of time through there in years gone by (80s and 90s mainly).
At the 11:35 mark, you talk about the extra signage on the back. Main Roads WA (WA Governing road body) have mandated new laws that all road trains now have to have the new signage, which shows how many trailers you have and how long the vehicle is. No sure when we have to have them all changed, but they're getting rid of the roadtrain signs (I think). Single trailers dont need signs unless vehicle is over 19m long (need oversize sign for length), B-Doubles/Pocket Road Trains only need "Long Vehicle" signs. Unless longer than 27m. (All lengths include the truck/prime mover)
Linfox is one of Australia's largest logistics companies, founded in 1956. The company offers freight and logistics services and specialises in transport and warehouse management. With over 23,000 employees globally, Linfox has an extensive network across the Asia-Pacific region, making it a leader in its sector.
9:00 I've seen many types of trucks in my life. Especially Australian road trains. But I have never seen a 4 axle dolly, at that point that's just an empty trailer.😂
This is CUE, Western Australia And that was my super liner i used to drive when I worked at MLG , i also drove the kenworth water tanker on occasions, loved working there , but what a freezing cold place in winter !!
i live in Wodonga on the border of Victoria- New South Wales this is what i hear on a friday and saturday night where the truck do their overnight deliveries in New South Wales,South Australia and Victoria on the Hume Highway. Its part of Australia's Highway 1 is a network of highways that circumnavigate the country, joining all mainland capital cities except the national capital of Canberra. At a total length of approximately 14,500 km (9,000 mi) it is the longest national highway in the world, surpassing the Trans-Siberian Highway (over 11,000 km or 6,800 mi) and the Trans-Canada Highway (8,030 km or 4,990 mi). Over a million people traverse some part of the highway network every day. It is the longest continuing highway in the world as the Pan-American Highway is separated by the Darién Gap and AH1 is separated by the Sea of Japan.
Wheel is a spider, the rim is held in place by cleats located behind the wheel nuts. The cleats are under pressure, when removing the nuts are backed off a few threads the cleat is hit with a hammer, danger averted.
Bull dust is "fun", driving along a dirt road and finding a massive "pot hole" that's filled with bull dust that complete hides it. The bull dust can be finer than talcum powder. Some towns have pull over areas with signs, where trucks must stop and sweep out the bull dust from inside the wheel hubs so it isn't tracked into town.
I drove along the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor, East to West, in April this year and overtaking Road Trains is a bit of an experience. Some of the large mining trucks are limited to 90kph. (55 mph).
Id love to see a video like this on an intersection where all the rigs are turning, not just blowing through.. so I can hear them decelerating and accelerating, gear changing etc.. would sound epic 🔥
If you’re going the other way you can feel the air in front of them that they are pushing. Then when you pass one, it’s the calm as you’re next to them, then you get the blast of air as you come out front. It’s cool.
So, if you're following from behind, and haven't seen the truck from any other angle - then the sign behind lets you know how many cars - trailers - bogies?, it is towing - so you can calculate when to overtake. I hired a BMW Z4 from Hertz in Adelaide and drove it across the Nullabor to Perth - when overtaking ON A STRAIGHT - you need to have time and move with the trailers, as they do move slightly from side to side. Tried to see how fast the BMW would go on the Western Australian section, where there was the Flying Doctor's Emergency Landing Strip, built into the hwy, when no one was around and full to the horizon visibility - I had to back off at 160 kmh, because the car had early electric steering and felt very nervous - very Autobahn unlike feel. Run flat tyres, and your bottom near the rear axle, made it a very bumpy ride. Tight body for a soft top - both Volvo C70 and Mustang convertible soft tops had massive body flex - particularly in the doors and windscreen scuttle.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an automatic road train transmission. Also, you gotta feel for the blokes towing 3-4 trailers on a straight road that has 20 kms visibility in all directions that have to stop all that weight for a stop sign 😫 Cheers to the Truckers out there doing this for us 🍻🍻🍻🇦🇺
Yes the Mack's, quite right. I did a trip from auski roadhouse to Port Hedland in a Volvo I think. The guy said if he'd been in the mack I could have had a drive ( I did hold a truck licence btw). We were carrying chromite. Great fun!
@@automation7295 No, only used where necessary, like here. If a car was to only give way to a loaded road train pulling 175+ tonnes theres a chance they're gonna be a hood emblem on a Kenworth C509 because road trains are not that good at slowing down in short distances... i see in the US you have a lot of stop signs at cross roads rather than round abouts.
@@dontwobble *"only used where necessary, like here"* It's an open intersection, truck drivers can easily when someone is coming or not before approaching the intersection. Why stop when there's no one coming? In Europe and UK, such road would have a give way sign. There was a dangerous 4-way intersection in the UK, which had stop signs. But the intersection was staggered and replaced with give way signs in 2020.
The "Strange Wheels" are called Spider Wheels. The Spider is attached to the truck axle. The Tyre is mounted on a Rim that attaches to the Spider with "clips" on the end of each Spider spoke. The Rim is just a band of steel with no centre.
Since the covid pandemic, road trains that were not allowed south of Port Augusta in the mid-north of South Australia, now come all the way down to the northern suburbs of Adelaide. For the first 12 months, people in Adelaide got all excited seeing a road train. Now we just go 'meh' when one rumbles by.
Another great video Ian, thank you kindly. The dust is called bull dust. A very fine dust and gets into everything. In Australia trucks are very necessary. A common saying, Without trucks, Australia stops. Excluding minning trains, trucks carry a huge amount of our freight. If you need a good meal, find a road house, ( service station ) with a lot of trucks. Always a top meal.
Round 9m. Look at the amount of wheels/axels and then the small puller. (direct dutch translation of 'trekker') There is a serious engine in that thing. It's a daily driver because it has no sleeping room. I didn't expect this when I saw it coming up.
Did a road trip in Westaustralia this year and some of these are so scary, you feel the pressure when they pass you but the drivers are so helpful and polite! They are not just long, they are also very high, like a house. Keep in mind, where I live I never even need a car and most transport is on rails.
In 2008/2009 Cue had all its overhead power lines moved to underground so the over size loads going north to the iron ore mines didn’t need to get the electricity company out to lift power lines
The US truck in Australia are higher, they have an extra layer. You can see it pretty clearly under the cab. They also have the fat tires on the front axle. In Europe we call them super singles, here also a lot of trucks have them on the front. The wheels you are referring to are Trilex wheels. They are pretty dangerous when you chance tires.
Great video mate. Those rims you mentioned at the start are spider rims and they're bloody dangerous to undo if you don't know what you're doing. They will cause serious injury. Drove B Doubles and RT for the last 15 years of my brilliant truck driving career, retired now. Those rigs all looked good but the blokes that I respected the most were the cattle trucks, whether it was one trailer or three, those blokes earned their money.
You heed to have a look at the TV show "Outback Truckers". Will see if I can find anything on livestock road trains. They are brilliant in terms of where they can get to on stations and looking after cattle and sheep.
The wheels look like Tristar wheels in the fifties here. To change a whel, the inner 'star like' part stays on the hub while the outer rim can be broken up in three parts, that allowes a wheelchange without much tools. The disadvantage was, that the rim is not airtight, so you need to use tyres with an inner hose. That is why they went distict here in Europe. But they make have their use in Australia.
The bottom lettering on the signage of that road train is the vehicle length in meters. As for cabovers and your favourite Scania. There was one tailing me to day at 115kph or 71mph. So those big V8 Scanias aren't a slouch.
Hi, first time I’ve seen your channel. Watching from Queensland Aus. My father, 3 brothers & a nephew are/were all truckies, all work such long hours. I remember going on trips with my Dad as a kid, it was frightening as he constantly tried to stay awake. Thanks for sharing. Oh try pronounce Aus this way, Austrayleea lol
Look up "the centapede roam train " 27 axles, 100 + wheels running 24/7 to haul zinc to the port. It hauls 250,000 tonnes a year and they've just built a second unit.
The most terrifying to me was the fact that the speed limit for trucks in Australia is much higher than in Europe. One time we had a flat and had to stop in a corner coming down a hill. The trucks coming down that hill were seriously frightening.
Yeah that would never happen in Europe, especially on motorways or rural roads. Good thing HGVs (I believe only HGVs over 3,5t) in Europe are speed limited to 90. Some US states like New Mexico even have 75 mph limit for trucks, same speed limit as cars.
I think you maybe a little mistaken, the speed limit for trucks is 90 or 100km/hr, depending on the truck and the state, so only 10km at the max, faster than Europe.
That red dirt is a nightmare. Red Bull Dust. It is fine like talcum powder and gets into everything, and i mean everything. It gets into fabric and into vents for heating and airconditioning in cars, trucks and tractors. If you live up there, never ever wrap up your lounge suites or any kind of fabric covered furniture. Naturally it all sweats out, and if there is red bull dust inside, the red sweats out and leaches into the fabric and stains it. So when moving furniture, always leave it open and uncovered so that it can breathe and it will not stain. You know when furniture has been up north, when it looks really clean and you pat it with your hand and red dust puffs up and out of it. If that dust gets into your clean furniture it is doomed. Had a friend who borrowed his parents car without asking or telling them, he thought he cleaned it immaculately. The parents got in after coming back from their holiday and turned on the A/C and got blasted in the face with red dust. God he got hell for that.
Loved you coments re Trucks here in Aus. A 4 Trailer has to start with 104 tyres just to add a little excitement when 40 Plus celcias and you get a flat . Those rims you were refering to are called a Spider and it has just the 6 bolts for light changing and quicker heat exchage with more air flow around the rim. Not to dangerous to change in has what is called a split rim and yes like any thing if not done right then of coure it can split under pressure and kill . Take the time to come here you will be in aw when you see these guys and rigs in Person and ride in a one on one situation. Lets hope you do some day and enjouy our great outback as it is known. Aussie Bob.
Mount Magnet, Cue and Meekathara are the 3 major towns in the Murchison goldfields of Western Australia, approximately 750 kms North of the Capital city, Perth.
Ian you need to look at Outback Trucker and a guy called Steve Graham it was a TV show here in Australia and is now on UA-cam. Steve Graham is an outback trucking legend and you will be amazed where he takes his road train
The rims you’re talking about are spider rims, to remove the rim loosen the nuts don’t remove, then tap the rim with the wheel braise to release the binding. Loud bang then remove the wheel nuts.
The car carrier- CEVA LOGISTICS carry cars all over the country- I've picked up cars I've bought interstate on ebay several times from their Adelaide depot. You see lots of nice cars awaiting pickup there!
These outback truckies are super professional and work with car drivers to facilitate safe over taking. Using cb radio or else blinkers ....but i dont fell that safe taking a blinker lead to go .
The odd type of rim is called the split-rim, or widow maker I believe. By not mounting the rim correctly the lock ring can/will let loose and will send the lock-ring and outer rim flying! That will seriously hurt you. And it will likely un-alive the man or woman who's standing in its way when it pops. Diesel Kreek said that in a video ones where he was working on such a split-rim wheel a few years back
6:30 ish mark that truck is owned by LINFOX the yellow and red colour scheme is them you see them all over the country it’s one of Australia’s biggest if not the biggest trucking company should watch a doco on him and how he started it pretty cool really
The wheels you are talking about are called ' spider ' rims. Many years ago many trucks had them. The reason they are preferred by many in Australia is the ease of changing tyres. Flat tyres are a common occurrence in the outback due to the hot climate. A typical triple roadtrain has 62 wheels. They can be dangerous to change if you do not follow the right procedure. Never take the nut off until you have knocked out the ' dogs' , otherwise they can fly out and possibly kill you. The hardest part is lining up the wheel straight so that they don't wobble when you are driving down the highway.
Its even more hair raising for me. Im a crane operator up in the Pilbara and drive from mine site mine site. When they overtake me in an oversized crane theres not much room.
I honestly don’t know how the folk that made the ats and ets truck sims haven’t expanded to Australia, we have such diverse truck types and roads/surfaces. With the info they have from the other games they make they could really make game that not only beats there previous games but also get more eyes on Australia aswell. I mean who doesn’t wanna drive a semi down a desolate dirt road in the outback. They could honestly start on the east coast and with expansions expand to the west and have even more harsh conditions. But I doubt it will happen they seem way too focused on improving the other games.
The blue Volvo road train with the four trailers has a huge load of rubber on it. I counted 108 tyres on that road train, these tyres alone do cost as much as a very nice passenger car. Imagine the strain on the truck from the friction of all these tyres alone, and add load and wind resistance at speed to this.
I recently drove my Hyundai towing an AVAN camper from Jurien bay WA which is 200 km north of Perth to Adelaide SA. Left Jurien bay on Sunday am arriving in Adelaide Thursday pm. Close to 3000 km
Cue is situated in gold mining country. The road trains featured in this video service mines such as Hill 50 mine, the largest of all the gold mines in the Mt Magnet district, which is 80 km from Cue. Fun fact 1: Western Australia is still the largest producer of gold in Australia with more than 70% of the nation's overall gold production. Western Australia is believed to have the largest gold reserves in the world: 16% (9,100 tonnes) of the world estimated gold reserves of 56,000 tonnes Fun fact 2: Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 - October 20, 1964) was an American geologist and mining engineer who had worked at several mines in Western Australia before he was appointed Mining Superintendent (manager) of the Sons of Gwalia Mine from 1 May 1898. He was later elected the 31st president of the United States of America, serving from 4 March 1929 to 4 March 1933. He died on 20 October 1964.
Sons of Gwalia is just south of Leonora, I deliver freight to their stores every week. l'm only on the surface but it's more than six thousand feet underground nowadays.
@@peterfalconer-h3k Yes, indeed, I've been there a few times. I used to work in exploration and did some work for SoG, but I got out of it for ethical reasons.
Oh and I don’t know how much in feet it is but to overtake a quad you better have a uhf 2way and give them a call before starting, coz it takes a good 650 - 700 meters to get past them comfortably.
The wheels that look like they don't move are called Spider hubs , Look at the number of Axel's on the Quad's and that's just the Tractor as you call it .
Spider rims, unlike normal rims that have a middle section that the axle studs go through to bolt onto, have an empty centre like a donut. Instead you have special bolt on clamps. The problem with them is, they don't self align. So you have to place them on, measure the distance from the tire to the ground, rotate it 180 degrees, measure it again, work out out from offset it is and then loosen and adjust it.
@@Aaron_Hanson no, a split rim is where the rim is literally cut in half and bolted together. Split rims mean you don't need to use a machine or struggle with hand tools to force the tire over the rim, you simply slide each half of the rim in and bolt them together. But once the tire is inflated, it's pushing the two halves of the rim out, so you had better hope you bolted the rims correctly, the bolts aren't fatigued etc or they can split apart and send a big piece of metal flying with 100psi of force. You can have split rims that are also spider rims, but that's not always the case. No modern truck uses either split rims or spider rims, you'll only find them on older trucks.
6 weeks ago I was staying down the road at Mt Magnet for 6 days the trucks go through town at a slow speed about every 5 to 10 minutes 24hrs a day 7 days a week the roads in Western Australia are the best in the country considering the number of trucks that use them
The real busiest roadtrain area will be the highway at Port Hedland, 200tonne (220short ton) 60m (~200ft) superquad "rigs" nearly tip to tail converging from all over the Pilbara to the Port Facility... Plus the general NorthWest Freight "trains"... 7:20 BAA Quad, basically a B-Double leading two A-hitched Full Trailers (3 axle semitrailermon a 3 axle dolly converter.). Tri drive 8 axles per trailer.... Flying into a Pilbara Port, the convoys of trucks are endless, and unbroken like caterpillars, then there are the ore trains stretching to the horizon...
Man I've never seen a load like that Newhaul road train load. It had 4 full trailers and more axles than I've ever seen. It must have been a 700hp Volvo prime mover pulling it. No other cabover does that.
Volvo goes up to 780hp, Scania to 770hp, generally the European cab overs have larger hp, whereas the US engines are around 600hp max, but its not just the hp that counts, its also the torque, the gear and diff ratio, etc. For example Mercedes 630hp is rated to 250t, and there’s plenty of US engines pulling the max weights allowed in Australia.
Fun fact: Western Australia is the second largest subdivision (in our term state/territory, other countries may use province, protectorate etc) in the world after Sakha in Russia. (If you want to include areas with no population the largest is the Australian subdivision of Antartica but like most people I don’t really think that counts) Edit: Spelling
When Americans refer to trucks (what we would call utes) we smile and say, "that's not a truck, this is a truck"
During the Vietnam war whilst on leave in Sydney would meet a few yanks on R and R, loved to find Texans and take the "Piss" with them everything was bigger in Texas. Won plenty of Bets with them on the question who has the biggest ranch. Allways won withe answer "Victoria Downs" Was bigger than the entire state of Texas. I think the holdings have been reduced since then.
There was a lady trucker named Toots. She was always surprised at the attention the media gave her truck driving ability. To her it was just a job and one she was bloody grateful to have. Toots was accidently killed in 1992 when she was crushed by a load of pipes at the wharf in Weipa while loading. It was an untimely death to an Aussie icon
Sad
RIP Toots
Yep she drives a M.A.N bulnose
@@lanzonova i wold loved to see that truck for real
I remember toots lived in hay NSW she drove a Flinstone mack that was back in the 70,s I loved in Deniliquin so seen her quite often
@@catmogguy i first saw her on a tv show called This Fabulous Century with peter luck it was interesting
Ian CB radio is highly used in the outback to communicate with the trucks and road trains. Being polite and patient with clear communication to these truck drivers gives you another set of eyes ahead of what's Infront of them, thus letting them tell you when your safe to pass or which side to pass giving you plenty of time to do so. wind and bull dust is a huge factor in seeing ahead/ beyond trucks/ road trains and which part of the road they will be on to let you pass beside them.
With out cb and knowing your there they will often let you pass by giving you room to do so providing when it is safe.
Hats off to the blokes and lady's who drive those rigs as there polite and professional.
Yep, it should be compulsory to have a cb. It’s like you said, extra eyes up front that can see far more than you and they let you pass safely if you call them up on the two way. The same if you get a big one come up behind you, help get them passed, they are doing a hard job.
Also FYI the driving licenses in Australia are complex for driving a truck. There are about 10 different possible licenses for truck types. The most basic is the small passenger van license. The biggest is the articulated truck license which would be the trucks and road trains seen here. Many truck drivers in their 50s transition from truck driving to long haul passenger coach driving.
p.s had a look at truck driver training and the system has changed a lot since 20 years ago. Seems to be about 5 licenses now.
We have a memorial as well at Tarcutta, a town of 446 people, to remember any truck drivers who passed while truck driving.
If I recall right, there is (or was) a driver despite / support facility in Tarcutta run by the Australian Trucking Association, for drivers experiencing mental distress or other life issues to stay at and get some help.
I used to collect motel soaps and shampoos to send to them as donations (they had an active request for them at the time).
Tarcutta is half way between Melbourne and Sydney and is known as THE trucking town of Australia.
A lot of companies use the change over parking there.
You can drive Melbourne to Sydney in one day, but then you need to sleep over night before returning.
The change over parking allows two trucks to leave from Melbourne and Sydney, meet in the middle and swap trailers before driving back to their respective homes.
The trailers complete the full trip, but the trucks and drivers only ever go half way, meaning they can go home and sleep in their own beds each night.
Idk about over east, but for us in WA, when it comes to trucks, there are only LR, MR, HR, HC, MC for licences.
@@johnmatheson7779 Same as the east coast.
@@johnmatheson7779Yes, but then you have auto, synchro and non-synchro licences
I went through there six years ago and stayed a couple of days in my motorhome at a cattle station just out of town. Cue is very small but quite smart and clean with some well-preserved sandstone buildings. About 48km (30 miles) to the west is Walga Rock, the second-largest monolith in Australia (behind Uluru) with a lot of Aboriginal rock paintings. A short detour soon after leaving Cue will take you to the ghost town of Big Bell, constructed to service a gold mine. The town was abandoned in 1955 when the mine became uneconomical after about 20 years of operation, and there are still remnants of buildings, roads, etc.
I used to work as a truck detailer in central NSW for a bit of fun and a break from chef work and standing back patting yourself on the back looking at a big, sparkling, freshly detailed and polished truck is the best feeling I've ever had! Wet and cold but totally worth it when you get to admire the end product!🤤🤩
The awesome sight of some of these road trains is impressive. The thing that blows my mind even more is watching the driver BACK some of these multiple trailers into a dock. I have a hard time backing my lawnmower trailer down my driveway, lol.
4:30 those wheels are called spider rims. They are really old school now. They aren’t dangerous but they are significantly more difficult to change.
Each axle on those trucks can carry just under 7 tonne each, so a triple axle group can carry 20 tonne, quad axles 27 tonne.
Quick counting will give around 21 axles plus 3 drive axles on the quad trailer triple axle road train, equalling roughly 168 tonne,
The quad trailer quad axle had 23 plus 3 drive axles, 182 tonne.
Counting the axle groups gives 175 tonne plus 6 tonne per steer axle = 187 tonne for the quad quad,
and quad triple = 160 plus 6 for the single steer = 166 tonne.
Some combos can be rated to around the 200 metric tonne, 220 US tonne, mark.
For comparison, at 16.5t per dual axle group, an 18 wheeler would be 33 tonne plus 6ish for the steer, making it around 40 metric tonnes.
53.5 metres long, 175 ft, some can be 60m - 195ft and the thing I read said roughly 12 car lengths.
Great information! When I drive to the outback, I smile when I see my first road train....I'm there.
I found out the fuel trucks carry 90,000 litres of diesel or 100,000 litres of petrol.
Much respect and appreciation for these trucks and drivers.
In a !966 Ford "XP" Falcon on a the trip from Perth to Port Hedland a distance of 1200 Miles took me just over 15.5 Hours. With at least 600 of those miles being on unsealed surface.
The red dust is just basic Haematite or low grade iron ore. The problem is the dust, it has the same consistency as flour and get into every nook and crany
The partial enclosure for the car carrier is to reduce broken windshields on the cars, lots of stone damage on outback roads if you follow or pass a road train
It must take a tremendous level of skill to drive one of those giant trucks! I have only been over the outback in aeroplanes. it is a scary place! Thank you for the video!
the bumpers you mentioned about the 4x4, we call them bullbars, self-explanatory 😊
love the diversity of our trucks, just like our land and people
Great video as usual, I went to that channel looked at the video of transporting a HUGE wind turbine blade , the rig was only 1 trailer BUT a very long trailer, it passed a stationary 4 trailer rig that looked about 1 trailer shorter than the 1 trailer rig, worth checking out.
The truck you said was short was actually an extendable trailer for goods too long for a regular trailer. We used one when I worked for a trucking co a few years ago.
American - I drive a truck, an 18 wheeler man.
Australian Road Train Truckie - Hold my beer (well maybe not beer while driving lol, you get the point)
There's a sign on a lot of trucks, probably in the US as well that has words to the effect of 'If the trucks stop, so does the Nation' or 'Without Trucks, the Nation stops' something like that. They all do an epic job, and some are away for days if not weeks on end.
" Truckers carry this country"
American - I drive a truck, an 18 wheeler man.
Australian Road Train Truckie - well isn't that cute...., that first Quad that went past (~7:00) we added a zero in the middle, it had 108 wheels.
Love the country around that area, spent a lt of time through there in years gone by (80s and 90s mainly).
At the 11:35 mark, you talk about the extra signage on the back.
Main Roads WA (WA Governing road body) have mandated new laws that all road trains now have to have the new signage, which shows how many trailers you have and how long the vehicle is. No sure when we have to have them all changed, but they're getting rid of the roadtrain signs (I think).
Single trailers dont need signs unless vehicle is over 19m long (need oversize sign for length), B-Doubles/Pocket Road Trains only need "Long Vehicle" signs. Unless longer than 27m.
(All lengths include the truck/prime mover)
In Western Australia distance is measured in how many 10 hour drives
Reference
The waifs
A western oz band
Linfox is one of Australia's largest logistics companies, founded in 1956. The company offers freight and logistics services and specialises in transport and warehouse management. With over 23,000 employees globally, Linfox has an extensive network across the Asia-Pacific region, making it a leader in its sector.
They have the famous marking on the back " You are passing another Fox"
@@Zed483 Yep i was aware of that sounds great
I met Lindsay Fox once, what a brilliant man - 'your passing another fox' is a great Australian success story!
Hey you work Linfox or you getting paid for a ad😅
@@christianmiddleton7738 😄
I love seeing them travelling at night. They are lit up like xmas trees and you can see their head lights several kms away.
9:00
I've seen many types of trucks in my life. Especially Australian road trains. But I have never seen a 4 axle dolly, at that point that's just an empty trailer.😂
This is CUE, Western Australia
And that was my super liner i used to drive when I worked at MLG , i also drove the kenworth water tanker on occasions, loved working there , but what a freezing cold place in winter !!
i live in Wodonga on the border of Victoria- New South Wales this is what i hear on a friday and saturday night where the truck do their overnight deliveries in New South Wales,South Australia and Victoria on the Hume Highway. Its part of Australia's Highway 1 is a network of highways that circumnavigate the country, joining all mainland capital cities except the national capital of Canberra. At a total length of approximately 14,500 km (9,000 mi) it is the longest national highway in the world, surpassing the Trans-Siberian Highway (over 11,000 km or 6,800 mi) and the Trans-Canada Highway (8,030 km or 4,990 mi). Over a million people traverse some part of the highway network every day. It is the longest continuing highway in the world as the Pan-American Highway is separated by the Darién Gap and AH1 is separated by the Sea of Japan.
Found myself smiling when that Newhaul was powering up as it was going around the corner, I look over and here's Ian, grinning away as well.
Wheel is a spider, the rim is held in place by cleats located behind the wheel nuts. The cleats are under pressure, when removing the nuts are backed off a few threads the cleat is hit with a hammer, danger averted.
you're starting to talk about distance like us Ozzies, just down the road could be a day's drive lol
The red dirt covering the vehicles in the outback we call "bull dust".
Bull dust is "fun", driving along a dirt road and finding a massive "pot hole" that's filled with bull dust that complete hides it.
The bull dust can be finer than talcum powder.
Some towns have pull over areas with signs, where trucks must stop and sweep out the bull dust from inside the wheel hubs so it isn't tracked into town.
When my sister lived temporarily around Kalgoorlie, she called it far worse, it's completely impossible to control! 😄
If only it covered the outside of car or house.... it goes every effing where!
Such fun, passing,,WITH “NO” wind. To push the, cloud of dust off the RD,,
I drove along the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor, East to West, in April this year and overtaking Road Trains is a bit of an experience. Some of the large mining trucks are limited to 90kph. (55 mph).
Id love to see a video like this on an intersection where all the rigs are turning, not just blowing through.. so I can hear them decelerating and accelerating, gear changing etc.. would sound epic 🔥
Be great to see a similar video near Port Hedland where Quads are the norm. 4 trailers
That last truck was unusual it was a heavy rigid with a normal turntable and trailer set up and two extras
If you’re going the other way you can feel the air in front of them that they are pushing. Then when you pass one, it’s the calm as you’re next to them, then you get the blast of air as you come out front. It’s cool.
So, if you're following from behind, and haven't seen the truck from any other angle - then the sign behind lets you know how many cars - trailers - bogies?, it is towing - so you can calculate when to overtake.
I hired a BMW Z4 from Hertz in Adelaide and drove it across the Nullabor to Perth - when overtaking ON A STRAIGHT - you need to have time and move with the trailers, as they do move slightly from side to side.
Tried to see how fast the BMW would go on the Western Australian section, where there was the Flying Doctor's Emergency Landing Strip, built into the hwy, when no one was around and full to the horizon visibility - I had to back off at 160 kmh, because the car had early electric steering and felt very nervous - very Autobahn unlike feel. Run flat tyres, and your bottom near the rear axle, made it a very bumpy ride. Tight body for a soft top - both Volvo C70 and Mustang convertible soft tops had massive body flex - particularly in the doors and windscreen scuttle.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an automatic road train transmission.
Also, you gotta feel for the blokes towing 3-4 trailers on a straight road that has 20 kms visibility in all directions that have to stop all that weight for a stop sign 😫
Cheers to the Truckers out there doing this for us 🍻🍻🍻🇦🇺
they're automated manuals usually like the Mack titan, Some trucks like the Mercedes Actros have a torque converter but still have a clutch.
Yes the Mack's, quite right. I did a trip from auski roadhouse to Port Hedland in a Volvo I think. The guy said if he'd been in the mack I could have had a drive ( I did hold a truck licence btw). We were carrying chromite. Great fun!
I guess Australians seem to love overusing stop sign?
@@automation7295 No, only used where necessary, like here. If a car was to only give way to a loaded road train pulling 175+ tonnes theres a chance they're gonna be a hood emblem on a Kenworth C509 because road trains are not that good at slowing down in short distances... i see in the US you have a lot of stop signs at cross roads rather than round abouts.
@@dontwobble *"only used where necessary, like here"*
It's an open intersection, truck drivers can easily when someone is coming or not before approaching the intersection. Why stop when there's no one coming?
In Europe and UK, such road would have a give way sign. There was a dangerous 4-way intersection in the UK, which had stop signs. But the intersection was staggered and replaced with give way signs in 2020.
Good to see that you like our outback truckers
The "Strange Wheels" are called Spider Wheels. The Spider is attached to the truck axle. The Tyre is mounted on a Rim that attaches to the Spider with "clips" on the end of each Spider spoke. The Rim is just a band of steel with no centre.
The outback main tar roads are always busy. It’s when you leave the tar that you have to be more prepared to survive lol
Yep, enjoyed it thanks Ian. Your personality makes it.👍
Since the covid pandemic, road trains that were not allowed south of Port Augusta in the mid-north of South Australia, now come all the way down to the northern suburbs of Adelaide. For the first 12 months, people in Adelaide got all excited seeing a road train. Now we just go 'meh' when one rumbles by.
The prime mover at 11:00 is a Mack Titan. It's massive and has 3 sets of drive wheels.
Another great video Ian, thank you kindly. The dust is called bull dust. A very fine dust and gets into everything. In Australia trucks are very necessary. A common saying, Without trucks, Australia stops. Excluding minning trains, trucks carry a huge amount of our freight. If you need a good meal, find a road house, ( service station ) with a lot of trucks. Always a top meal.
Round 9m. Look at the amount of wheels/axels and then the small puller. (direct dutch translation of 'trekker') There is a serious engine in that thing. It's a daily driver because it has no sleeping room. I didn't expect this when I saw it coming up.
It's called a day cab here.
The wheels on a truck go round and round....definitely 😂😂😂
Did a road trip in Westaustralia this year and some of these are so scary, you feel the pressure when they pass you but the drivers are so helpful and polite!
They are not just long, they are also very high, like a house.
Keep in mind, where I live I never even need a car and most transport is on rails.
In 2008/2009 Cue had all its overhead power lines moved to underground so the over size loads going north to the iron ore mines didn’t need to get the electricity company out to lift power lines
The US truck in Australia are higher, they have an extra layer. You can see it pretty clearly under the cab. They also have the fat tires on the front axle. In Europe we call them super singles, here also a lot of trucks have them on the front. The wheels you are referring to are Trilex wheels. They are pretty dangerous when you chance tires.
Great video mate.
Those rims you mentioned at the start are spider rims and they're bloody dangerous to undo if you don't know what you're doing.
They will cause serious injury.
Drove B Doubles and RT for the last 15 years of my brilliant truck driving career, retired now.
Those rigs all looked good but the blokes that I respected the most were the cattle trucks, whether it was one trailer or three, those blokes earned their money.
You heed to have a look at the TV show "Outback Truckers". Will see if I can find anything on livestock road trains. They are brilliant in terms of where they can get to on stations and looking after cattle and sheep.
Yes, I really enjoy that show and the genuine Aussie blokes who can smile every day in spite of the drama! 🤗
The wheels look like Tristar wheels in the fifties here. To change a whel, the inner 'star like' part stays on the hub while the outer rim can be broken up in three parts, that allowes a wheelchange without much tools. The disadvantage was, that the rim is not airtight, so you need to use tyres with an inner hose. That is why they went distict here in Europe. But they make have their use in Australia.
I don’t follow big rigs at all, but as soon as I see a red one with yellow logo in the distance, I know it’s one of Lindsay Fox’s trucks, aka Linfox!
You can't miss a proud Linfox truck! 👍
The bottom lettering on the signage of that road train is the vehicle length in meters. As for cabovers and your favourite Scania. There was one tailing me to day at 115kph or 71mph. So those big V8 Scanias aren't a slouch.
Hi, first time I’ve seen your channel. Watching from Queensland Aus. My father, 3 brothers & a nephew are/were all truckies, all work such long hours. I remember going on trips with my Dad as a kid, it was frightening as he constantly tried to stay awake.
Thanks for sharing.
Oh try pronounce Aus this way, Austrayleea lol
Perth to Broome following the coast is 2046 km which will take approximately 22 hours by car.
Ian, check out the 2024 Casino Truck Show there were close to 600 trucks in attendance it was amazing
Look up "the centapede roam train "
27 axles, 100 + wheels running 24/7 to haul zinc to the port. It hauls 250,000 tonnes a year and they've just built a second unit.
They didn't "just build a second unit". At least one was running in 1998 when I worked at Borroloola.
As soon as I started to watch this I knew it was the Great Northern Hwy in West Oz :) I know my state well.
The most terrifying to me was the fact that the speed limit for trucks in Australia is much higher than in Europe.
One time we had a flat and had to stop in a corner coming down a hill. The trucks coming down that hill were seriously frightening.
Yeah that would never happen in Europe, especially on motorways or rural roads. Good thing HGVs (I believe only HGVs over 3,5t) in Europe are speed limited to 90.
Some US states like New Mexico even have 75 mph limit for trucks, same speed limit as cars.
I think you maybe a little mistaken, the speed limit for trucks is 90 or 100km/hr, depending on the truck and the state, so only 10km at the max, faster than Europe.
That red dirt is a nightmare. Red Bull Dust. It is fine like talcum powder and gets into everything, and i mean everything.
It gets into fabric and into vents for heating and airconditioning in cars, trucks and tractors.
If you live up there, never ever wrap up your lounge suites or any kind of fabric covered furniture. Naturally it all sweats out, and if there is red bull dust inside, the red sweats out and leaches into the fabric and stains it. So when moving furniture, always leave it open and uncovered so that it can breathe and it will not stain.
You know when furniture has been up north, when it looks really clean and you pat it with your hand and red dust puffs up and out of it. If that dust gets into your clean furniture it is doomed.
Had a friend who borrowed his parents car without asking or telling them, he thought he cleaned it immaculately. The parents got in after coming back from their holiday and turned on the A/C and got blasted in the face with red dust.
God he got hell for that.
A have filmed from near that same spot myself, great video !!
Great video the road trains are awesome
Loved you coments re Trucks here in Aus. A 4 Trailer has to start with 104 tyres just to add a little excitement when 40 Plus celcias and you get a flat . Those rims you were refering to are called a Spider and it has just the 6 bolts for light changing and quicker heat exchage with more air flow around the rim. Not to dangerous to change in has what is called a split rim and yes like any thing if not done right then of coure it can split under pressure and kill . Take the time to come here you will be in aw when you see these guys and rigs in Person and ride in a one on one situation. Lets hope you do some day and enjouy our great outback as it is known. Aussie Bob.
Mount Magnet, Cue and Meekathara are the 3 major towns in the Murchison goldfields of Western Australia, approximately 750 kms North of the Capital city, Perth.
Broome is a 27 hour drive from Perth if you drive the coast road.
Ian you need to look at Outback Trucker and a guy called Steve Graham it was a TV show here in Australia and is now on UA-cam. Steve Graham is an outback trucking legend and you will be amazed where he takes his road train
I see the occasional 4 axel trailer near the Port of Brisbane & noticed that the last set of wheels steered
The extra road train sign usually shows the total length of the truck and trailers
I love that Volvo's
FH16 power 💪🏼
The rims you’re talking about are spider rims, to remove the rim loosen the nuts don’t remove, then tap the rim with the wheel braise to release the binding. Loud bang then remove the wheel nuts.
The car carrier- CEVA LOGISTICS carry cars all over the country- I've picked up cars I've bought interstate on ebay several times from their Adelaide depot. You see lots of nice cars awaiting pickup there!
you would love the series outback truckers have a look at it
These outback truckies are super professional and work with car drivers to facilitate safe over taking. Using cb radio or else blinkers ....but i dont fell that safe taking a blinker lead to go .
The odd type of rim is called the split-rim, or widow maker I believe.
By not mounting the rim correctly the lock ring can/will let loose and will send the lock-ring and outer rim flying! That will seriously hurt you.
And it will likely un-alive the man or woman who's standing in its way when it pops.
Diesel Kreek said that in a video ones where he was working on such a split-rim wheel a few years back
Great Aussie show is Outback Truckers , worth looking at for trucking fans .
6:30 ish mark that truck is owned by LINFOX the yellow and red colour scheme is them you see them all over the country it’s one of Australia’s biggest if not the biggest trucking company should watch a doco on him and how he started it pretty cool really
The wheels you are talking about are called ' spider ' rims. Many years ago many trucks had them. The reason they are preferred by many in Australia is the ease of changing tyres. Flat tyres are a common occurrence in the outback due to the hot climate. A typical triple roadtrain has 62 wheels. They can be dangerous to change if you do not follow the right procedure. Never take the nut off until you have knocked out the ' dogs' , otherwise they can fly out and possibly kill you. The hardest part is lining up the wheel straight so that they don't wobble when you are driving down the highway.
Its even more hair raising for me. Im a crane operator up in the Pilbara and drive from mine site mine site. When they overtake me in an oversized crane theres not much room.
That blue quad volvo 700hp is auto ishift and that Mack 685hp quad is also mdrive. Mack have got the 780hp this year for these applications
Different electronics packages but mechanically they're the same engine and gearbox.
I honestly don’t know how the folk that made the ats and ets truck sims haven’t expanded to Australia, we have such diverse truck types and roads/surfaces. With the info they have from the other games they make they could really make game that not only beats there previous games but also get more eyes on Australia aswell. I mean who doesn’t wanna drive a semi down a desolate dirt road in the outback. They could honestly start on the east coast and with expansions expand to the west and have even more harsh conditions. But I doubt it will happen they seem way too focused on improving the other games.
The blue Volvo road train with the four trailers has a huge load of rubber on it.
I counted 108 tyres on that road train, these tyres alone do cost as much as a very nice passenger car. Imagine the strain on the truck from the friction of all these tyres alone, and add load and wind resistance at speed to this.
If you want to see some huge machinery check the WA mining scene,it’s huge
oh neat. that's just 8 hours up the road from me
I recently drove my Hyundai towing an AVAN camper from Jurien bay WA which is 200 km north of Perth to Adelaide SA. Left Jurien bay on Sunday am arriving in Adelaide Thursday pm. Close to 3000 km
They are five or six spoke Spider Hubs and you must loosen nuts then hit the cleats with a hammer before removing the nuts.
Cue is situated in gold mining country. The road trains featured in this video service mines such as Hill 50 mine, the largest of all the gold mines in the Mt Magnet district, which is 80 km from Cue.
Fun fact 1: Western Australia is still the largest producer of gold in Australia with more than 70% of the nation's overall gold production. Western Australia is believed to have the largest gold reserves in the world: 16% (9,100 tonnes) of the world estimated gold reserves of 56,000 tonnes
Fun fact 2: Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 - October 20, 1964) was an American geologist and mining engineer who had worked at several mines in Western Australia before he was appointed Mining Superintendent (manager) of the Sons of Gwalia Mine from 1 May 1898. He was later elected the 31st president of the United States of America, serving from 4 March 1929 to 4 March 1933. He died on 20 October 1964.
Sons of Gwalia is just south of Leonora, I deliver freight to their stores every week.
l'm only on the surface but it's more than six thousand feet underground nowadays.
@@peterfalconer-h3k Yes, indeed, I've been there a few times. I used to work in exploration and did some work for SoG, but I got out of it for ethical reasons.
The distances you talk about, we call it "just down or up the road" It's just another day behind the wheel. Check out OUTBACK TRUCKERS, you'd like it.
Dig your vids Ian. I'm a lifelong Australian who learns stuff from your videos.
Oh and I don’t know how much in feet it is but to overtake a quad you better have a uhf 2way and give them a call before starting, coz it takes a good 650 - 700 meters to get past them comfortably.
The Volvo truck at 9:12 has 114 wheels !!
108, two steer axles, 4 wheels, 3 drive, 12, 1 x 3 axle dolly, 12, and 5 x 4 axle groups, 80 wheels, equals 108 wheels.
The wheels that look like they don't move are called Spider hubs , Look at the number of Axel's on the Quad's and that's just the Tractor as you call it .
Spider rims, unlike normal rims that have a middle section that the axle studs go through to bolt onto, have an empty centre like a donut.
Instead you have special bolt on clamps.
The problem with them is, they don't self align. So you have to place them on, measure the distance from the tire to the ground, rotate it 180 degrees, measure it again, work out out from offset it is and then loosen and adjust it.
Would I be correct to assume that they’re similar to or the same as a split rim?
I could just Google it I guess 😅
@@Aaron_Hanson no, a split rim is where the rim is literally cut in half and bolted together.
Split rims mean you don't need to use a machine or struggle with hand tools to force the tire over the rim, you simply slide each half of the rim in and bolt them together.
But once the tire is inflated, it's pushing the two halves of the rim out, so you had better hope you bolted the rims correctly, the bolts aren't fatigued etc or they can split apart and send a big piece of metal flying with 100psi of force.
You can have split rims that are also spider rims, but that's not always the case.
No modern truck uses either split rims or spider rims, you'll only find them on older trucks.
@@35manning thank you for the explanation mate, cheers 🍻🍻🍻🇦🇺
They're the same on the rlm the tyre is put on the same
That’s it, Thanks for the explanation 🎉
Yes it's the camera mans car later you see him flying a drone , the more you watch the better it gets , I sent this to you and maybe some others
6 weeks ago I was staying down the road at Mt Magnet for 6 days the trucks go through town at a slow speed about every 5 to 10 minutes 24hrs a day 7 days a week the roads in Western Australia are the best in the country considering the number of trucks that use them
I was hoping to see my tuck in there. I've spotted a few people filming in the past.
The real busiest roadtrain area will be the highway at Port Hedland, 200tonne (220short ton) 60m (~200ft) superquad "rigs" nearly tip to tail converging from all over the Pilbara to the Port Facility... Plus the general NorthWest Freight "trains"...
7:20 BAA Quad, basically a B-Double leading two A-hitched Full Trailers (3 axle semitrailermon a 3 axle dolly converter.). Tri drive 8 axles per trailer....
Flying into a Pilbara Port, the convoys of trucks are endless, and unbroken like caterpillars, then there are the ore trains stretching to the horizon...
Those truck drivers definitely earn their money.
Perth to Broome is about a 20-24hr drive
Oh the sign on the back about passing , along the bottom it wil usall say how many meters to pass , i believe 4 trailers is 75 meters to pass
53 meters in generally the limit but there's a few places where you're allowed 60 meters with permits.
Some of the mine haul trucks use quad trailers full of coal, must be around 200 ton
Man I've never seen a load like that Newhaul road train load. It had 4 full trailers and more axles than I've ever seen. It must have been a 700hp Volvo prime mover pulling it. No other cabover does that.
Volvo goes up to 780hp, Scania to 770hp, generally the European cab overs have larger hp, whereas the US engines are around 600hp max, but its not just the hp that counts, its also the torque, the gear and diff ratio, etc. For example Mercedes 630hp is rated to 250t, and there’s plenty of US engines pulling the max weights allowed in Australia.
Fun fact: Western Australia is the second largest subdivision (in our term state/territory, other countries may use province, protectorate etc) in the world after Sakha in Russia. (If you want to include areas with no population the largest is the Australian subdivision of Antartica but like most people I don’t really think that counts)
Edit: Spelling