In the Netherlands extra long and heavy big rigs are allowed to drive on the main roads. These rigs are called LZVs or ecocombis. LZVs stands for Lange Zware Voertuigen, Dutch for Long Heavy Vehicles.
The usual legal maximum overall length for a tractor unit towing a semi-trailer is 16.50 m (54’2”), for a truck towing a trailer it’s 18.75 m (61’6”). The legal maximum GVM in the Netherlands is 50,000 kg (110,231 lbs).
However, the length limit for an ecocombi is 25.25 m (82’10”) and its maximum GVM is 60,000 kg (132,277 lbs). Now that’s some serious trucking.
Actually, it’s so serious that an official certificate is needed for driving them. Only professional truck drivers, with at least five years of experience in driving a standard big rig, are allowed to get an ecocombi-certificate.
Ecocombis come in multiple forms. The one I caught is variant D.
The towing vehicle is a 2016 DAF XF truck with a 435 hp 10.8 liter DAF-PACCAR MX-11 engine. Its registered legal maximum GVM is 19,500 kg (42,990 lbs); 8,000 kg on the front axle and 11,500 kg on the rear axle.
The mirrors on the left and right side of the cab.
Dhollandia doesn’t come from Holland. It’s a Belgian manufacturer of hydraulic tailgate platforms.
The semi-trailer is a 2005 Chéreau. Needless to mention that’s a French company.
A tandem axle dolly connects the Chéreau to the DAF. Super singles on both the dolly and the semi-trailer.
Good luck to all candidates on passing the driving test!
met de vlam in de pijp…
…too long and heavy for the Brenner Pass.
DAF, at the other end of the size-and-weight scale: http://www.carstyling.ru/en/car/1968_daf_siluro/images/22284/
And probably needing fewer gearchanges ?
Thats configured as a five axle pull trailer semis connect via a fith wheel on the tractor unit, I tow a four axle eight twin tyred wheel trailer but five axle pull trailers are a common configuration on our roads now 25 metres but we can only gross 50,000 kg my unit grosses 44,000kg, I am licenced to tow the longer ‘H’ (high productivity) trailers and have done on previous jobs
I don’t exactly understand what you say Bryce. What I see is a 4×2 straight truck towing a three axle semi-trailer, connected through a tandem axle dolly with a fifth-wheel coupling.
All pull trailers are on a front steering dolly a semi trailer mounts on a turn table on the tractor unit not a towed dolly,that trailer above is towed by drawbar not a turntable king pin, what I see is a four wheeler truck pulling a five axle trailer, the big difference in the configurations ie pull trailer as opposed to semi trailer is the technique for reversing they are completely opposite.
The rig’s dolly does have a turn table, the semi-trailer can easily be disconnected from the dolly and can be used as a “regular” three-axle semi-trailer, towed by a tractor unit with a turn table.
I see Roger’s picture below, that’s a drawbar trailer, which can only be towed by a straight truck.
Or maybe it’s just my lack of knowledge of English trucking jargon…
The dolly is what makes the difference that changes it from a semi trailer into a pull trailer, its not actually jargon but actual configurations that are different in how they are operated as I said above backing one shows you what the difference is, on your chart the only configuration that can be called a semi trailer is F where the trailer is carried on and towed by a turntable on the tractor unit.
I (re)checked the plate of the 2005 Chéreau. It’s registered as an “oplegger”. That’s Dutch for a semi-trailer, which can be connected to a tractor unit or a dolly (as offically described by the authorities). The dolly doesn’t change it into a (pull)trailer.
So in the end there actually is a difference between Dutch and English/NZ trucking jargon… 🙂
This picture pretty much wraps it up.
In the US that would usually be referred to as a converter, short for converter gear or converter dolly. They typically look like this without all those fenders and lights that aren’t required by law.
Always good to read Johannes’s pieces, showing the range there is in Europe. Thi sis longer than anything in the UK.
Here’s something similar saw in New Zealand earlier this year.
Splendid! And I like the side pipe.
Yes Roger thats the type of rig I drive but a DAF, eight wheel truck pulling an eight wheel trailer not a H set, but with stainless milk tanks not a curtainside body as shown I will take some decent pictures of it when I go back in two days currently home on my break.
You know I like these reports, Johannes! Thanks for the article. Tom
In Oregon triple trailer semi truck combinations are allowed, and can be up to 105′ (32 meters) long.
I’ve seen some similar variations on the combinations you showed here, although trailers without a front steering dolly/axle is quite unusual here.
This is the obvious solution to the shortage of truckers. Especially in the wide open, relatively uncongested USA as contrasted with densely populated Europe. If such an EcoCombi concept works there it’s a surefire success here. Pay fewer, more qualified drivers more money to haul more cargo. All the hubbub about platooning self-driving trucks when the humble converter dolly does the same basic job.
The extra mirror at the bottom on each side, is this specifically required for a longer vehicle like this? Or a second set so the passenger/instructor can keep an eye on things?
I did a Google Image Search for “LZV combinatie”. I don’t see the big lower mirrors on their cabs, so they must be there for instructor-reasons.
Keep in mind that these long and heavy rigs are only allowed in the Netherlands and in Scandinavia. If you want to see some proper Euro-big rigs, then visit those countries.
And extra length doesn’t mean anything without extra weight. Is the US interstate GVM limit still 80,000 lbs? That’s even less than an 8×2 or 8×4 straight truck here (like the concrete mixer I posted last weekend).
No you can go to 105,500 if you have enough axles and distance between the first and last axle, though of course there are local restrictions that may be in place on specific roads. Some states will let you go to 129,500 with the right permit and combination.
Thanks!
And apparently Montana will let you go to 137k, again with the right permits and equipment. It is also important to note that in many states with the 105,500 limit you can get “over weight permits” and it is common to have posted restrictions of no-over legal loads when their is a problem with the road or bridge conditions on that route.
Here are some of the current special restrictions in my state. http://www.wsdot.com/Small/CV/default.aspx?sr=SR+99. Note in most cases you can still roll at 105,500 and with standard axle limits. It is just the heavy hauls they aren’t allowing.
It’s strange to see a truck driving school with an almost new rig, most of the ones I see around are well up there in years, especially if the school also trains mechanics. Probably not trustworthy on the open road but acceptable since the student drivers probably never go more than a few exits at a time in it and dealing with breakdowns is a learning experience as well.
Over here driving instruction outfits try to use what is industry current no point in training drivers on old rubbish that is no longer in use, the down fall of that is the prevalence of autoshift transmissions when really new drivers need to know how to drive manual shift trucks, which are still the freight industry standard, most autos are useless in the real world on steep roads and off road conditions the exception being Volvo Ishift it actually mirrors what a competent driver would do.
Very interesting – definitely some serious hauling.
A and especially E look scary as hell to drive in all but the best conditions. What are the laws on drag chains? Because I wouldn’t want to touch either of those combinations w/o all axles chained on those trailers if there was any hint of snow.
I don’t understand the obsession with towing with a straight truck, the only vocations you’ll commonly see that used n my area is on a “dump and a pup” and occasionally on tankers. You never see it on Vans like pictured above. Dromedary trucks and B-train trailers have all but disappeared from van use too. The nightmare of loading and unloading ruins any advantage they had from exploiting mainly retired length restrictions. If I can’t drive a forklift into the van straight from my dock, don’t darken it, unless you are hand unloading it w/o my help.
Ecocombis are not allowed to drive in extreme weather conditions. Keep in mind that these only drive on Dutch (so perfectly flat) freeways.
About the straight truck + trailer combination. The mid-axle trailers have become very common (A, E and G). These have cargo doors at the front too. There’s a small ramp inside, to bridge the gap between truck and trailer. A forklift can drive from the back of the trailer to the front of the truck.
Below an example of a widely used truck + trailer combination (not being an ecocombi).
That example has curtain sides which open the entire cargo area for side loading, Nobody is going to derate their trailers or truck bodies by reinforcing the floors to make them capable of allowing a fork lift in the extra tare weight involved would make the truck uneconomic to operate forklifts operate at ground level and the whole truck/trailer body opens via the reinforced curtains as shown on your pic Johannes
Yet that trailer has front cargo doors too.
Yes it has doors but they dont get used the curtains open for loading and unloading when the vehicles are connected the doors are useless and will not open fully anyway
Like this. With curtain sides.
Forklifts do NOT drive into trucks ever
Oops, I meant something like this little thing.
It is commonplace for lift trucks to enter trailers in USA. I have done it countless times myself
Forklifts drive into trailers and trucks all day every day all across the US. There is a reason they make 15k and 20K dock plates.
Curtainsides would never work in a US style distribution center, it would waste to much real estate to load and unload a truck and you have to take your forklift outside in the weather.
Very common here is that a truck or rig carries its own lift truck, like below. Mainly used at the delivery address, of course.
Curtainsiders are used for all kinds of palletized goods (naturally) and longer loads, like boards. Everything safe and dry behind closed curtains…
Loading the whole truck in the evening/morning, and then mostly multiple delivery addresses during the day.
Here curtain sides are mainly for bulky stuff like lumber and steel that are to long to load easily from the rear.
We drive forklifts on trucks all the time here. I used to work in a warehouse used to freak me out but we did it all the time. 4500lbs capacity lift was usually ok but the 7000lbs capacity one used to make floor creek alot in most trailers.
Keep posting the pictures of the Euro trucks. Love seeing all the different configurations.
It seems in the US that the doubles and triples are not as common as they used to be. I would guess that the failure of some of the large trucking companies is why. Yellow Freight, UPS and FedEx are about the only doubles we see here anymore. I’m thinking the 53 foot trailers put a dent in the doubles business. I here rumors that a 57 foot trailer may be the future.
I remember when the first doubles pulling 45 foot trailers came around. Those were really cool.
My best one was on the Kansas turnpike. A triple bottom being passed by a double bottom. Trailers dancing to and fro. Slow truck must have been governed at 62 mph and the double was probably set at 63 mph. It seemed to take about five miles for the double to finish the pass. Wish that triple would have relaxed out five seconds and let the double go. My Fusion was waiting patiently to get back up to 80 and get home.