The tractor and semi-trailer combination on the left is the most common type of heavy brick hauler in my country. The truck and mid-axle trailer combo on the right is far less usual. Both of them are rated at the same legal maximum weight of 50 metric tons. Besides bricks, such rigs are also used to transport (roofing) tiles and all kinds of concrete products.
The tractor, a MAN TGX with a steering pusher axle, tows a tridem axle semi-trailer with two steering axles (the second and the third) and a self-propelled roller crane.
The DAF CF truck, with a steering tag axle, tows a tridem mid-axle trailer. The crane is mounted on the truck’s rear. The biggest advantage of this set-up is that the trailer can be detached and parked, while the truck can maneuver itself into tight spaces without too much hassle.
In the past few years, I caught several of the usual suspects, like a Volvo FH with a Kennis semi-trailer, all set and ready to go.
This Scania R500 and a GS semi-trailer.
And a stunning Volvo FH16 with a Vogelzang semi-trailer.
Here’s a demonstration video, showing a Scania 4×2 tractor and a Pacton semi-trailer with four axles (still a grand total of six axles, like all the others featured above). Get concrete and hit the bricks!
I really like these posts, thank you for them. There seems to be way more diverse styles of heavy truck/trailers everywhere else. It seems like 80% of “semi trucks” in the USA are exactly the same… I know local conditions dictate this, but it’s nice seeing things I never encounter over here…
Ditto on these posts. I think local (State, national) regulations also heavily influence what configurations are seen around the world. IIRC, there used to be a shorter overall OTR length limit here in the USA that drove a lot higher use of cabover tractors than we see on the roads today.
Wow, a GMC Astro 95. Very popular back in the day. Supposedly Larry Shinoda of Corvette Stingray fame worked on the styling.
Here in Vegas, I see quite a few setups of the mid-length truck with an almost equally long trailer – especially in a side-dump configuration. Mostly they seem to be hauling stone, gravel, etc. The tongue on the trailer is often exceptionally long – 10 feet or more – which I think aids in maneuverability. It’s also a more versatile setup in that smaller loads can be hauled with the main truck, leaving the trailer back at the yard.
I’ve read a lot about US big rigs in the eighties and nineties. IIRC, those very long tongues had something to do with local/regional “bridge formulas” related to the rig’s weight. ScoutDude and others must know all details.
Dump trucks (to haul sand, gravel and such) very rarely tow a dump trailer here, as a straight truck with five axles will do to get to the legal maximum GVM of 50 metric tons. I posted a few of them here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-global-terberg-man-and-ginaf-10×4-dump-trucks-heavyweight-champions/
Dump trucks towing a mid-axle dump trailer are very common in Germany, for example. It’s all about regulations, as mentioned further above.
Long draw beams allow the truck to be tipped without unhooking the trailer but for screwing the combination around in tight spaces such as some orchard load pads I pick up from I prefer a short drawbar, long combinations simply dont fit up the access tracks and Japanese brand trucks with their tighter steering lock work well in this activity
That setup is also common in British Columbia, but is almost entirely absent from the roads in Manitoba, where full length end dump trailers hauled by semi tractors with PTOs are far more common. I have no idea why there is the variation, but your statement about maneuverability may be related. Perhaps mountain states & provinces have more need for maneuverability than prairie jurisdictions.
All this talk of maneuverability has me thinking…
https://youtu.be/1O9xuEMp4DQ
GIVE ME 40 ACRES AND I’LL TURN THIS RIG AROUND!
Yes Dan thats one of the problems with American trucks too much wheelbase and pitiful steering lock the Japanese eight wheeler I drive has great steering lock could be related to the size of the country it comes from but even with its trailer I can get it in and out of tight spots Here it is loaded with 56 bins of apples about to head to a coolstore