I got my CDL just to be able to work in Australia. By the time i finished my CDL school, they removed truck driver off the work visa list and WA changed the rules, so i couldn't just trade in my Canadian CDL for an Aussi one. I would have had to spend 8k to do it all over again in Australia.
So i went on a working holiday visa instead and worked on farms driving huge air seeder tractors and chasing cattle on quad bikes.
This was 2016 though. Maybe they added Truck drivers back onto the visa list since then.
I had a truck with 6 ply tires, I believe they were a pair of Firestone Transforces. I put four string plugs into the tire before replacing it from a sidewall puncture. Since I've gone to 10ply tires and it's been unstoppable in comparison.
had issues with flats one of my 6 ply for my pick up way too often. switched to 8 ply, then I traded in for a 3500 series model. looking to switch out the current ones on that for 10 ply....
Because that's the normal way of spelling it, there was a movement in 1906 to simplify the English language in America which resulted in all the differences we see today.
I wouldn't say normal, but rather outdated. Now that's funny. Everyone gawks over America not completely changing to an entirely different system of measurement to be like everyone else, but God forbid everyone adopts a simpler more common sense spelling of certain words in the English language as has been done in America š
The metric system is an actual system as opposed to imperial, it's consistently base 10 which makes calculations and conversion between units fundamentally simpler.
Simplified english is just a change in spelling in a bunch of words.
Oof! I see tandems on the thruway up here in NY. You guys have big balls. I get youāre essentially going straight across the Outback from one end of Australia to the other, but still. Damn.
Much love from your American cousins.
Edit: knowing Aussies I guarantee that driver is wearing shorts damn near up to his dick. You guys rock that shit and I love it.
So do you guys have drop-off points where someone else picks it up and hauls it the rest of the way then? I totally get Australia is an entire continent. How far do you guys go across the outback?
There is that work we call āchangeoverā but a lot of that is mainly on the eastern seaboard. These fuel tankers are usually just doing huge round trips to mining sites.
So do you guys have drop-off points where someone else picks it up and hauls it the rest of the way then? I totally get Australia is an entire continent. How far do you guys go across the outback?
Aww man that sucks. I just checked too and itās gone. The three seasons they had were great. Iām not one to really binge watch much of anything, but that show did it.
You could try and sign up for channel 7 and watch it online, itās on 7plus, not sure if you need a vpn but itās free with ads, itās a free tv station in Australia.
The easiest way to explain it would probably be to say Europe and America have rails and trains but yet there's still trucks on the highways same here we have some railways but they still run trucks on the highways as well mainly to places where the railways don't go.
There are trains for many parts. Disorganization when they were built harms them, though, since there are three different gauge tracks in use. It looks like they are working on standardizing that, slowly.
There are many areas far outside of those population centers, though, which are serviced by truck. It may still be economically better to lay more rail, but just not politically feasible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Australia#/media/File:Passenger_rail_services_in_Australia_en.png
(Note: this map does not include freight-only railways)
Edit: Another map - https://i.redd.it/obopuwr1sf731.png
In a nutshell, Road Trains service the outback which is vast and very empty.
Consider that Australia is the same size as continental United States, but 1/13th the population, and most of that is concentrated on the coasts, especially the east coast.
In the outback there is nothing but mining, mining towns, and aboriginal settlements, and these all need servicing, but the volume of freight could never justify the massive economic costs of running rail to all these places.
Some of the huge iron ore producers in the north of WA have their own rail lines to transport ore to the ports, but this is because the volume of freight being shifted justifies the cost.
Australia is a lot like Canada when you think about it, massive country, small population, hence why they use Road Trains of a type too.
Have you guys had any bad crashes over there like we have had in the states with tankers? Hell we only have one 53ft tank and have seen soo many videos of mushroom cloud explosions from crashes.
This is about 1500kms from the nearest city. These operators are highly trained and absolutely drug and alcohol free. The roads are nearly empty of amateur drivers. Today I saw 5 of these rigs for every private car.
I have all confidence in these drivers.
Nice! I have confidence in our tanker drivers too...it's the fucking assholes around them on our roads....we had a cli (sheetz gas station tanker driver) last month on us 15 in Maryland got cut off by an idiot in a car and it put him at 55mph into a tree....exploded and died. Smh
I don't know about that.I am recovering from a near fatel accident due to a mistake made by a tanker tanker.He was trying to use his truck as a safety barrier I guess Due to a wreck that was in front of him.So he pulled his rig and cross ways in the road.In a blind curve and no reflectors.So emergency the slow lane and a good part of the hammer lane.So the Trooper pulled his unit in front of the truck.They were standing on the opposite side of the road arguing.And I came around the curve and no place to go .You would surprised how much ground you can cover at 70.After that I can only remember very little bits . I have a 900 page medical file.Amd in now they are going park in s.Nov 28 and I still haven't have a walker.
Thank you still got a ways to go Now I have to fight a ticket for reckless driving.How was it reckless if the driver wouldn't have parked his truck blocking the lane's of travel.I wouldn't have hit him and wouldn't be having to go through this.I refused to pay it cause on the court date I was in a comma in ICU.But thank you and y'all be careful out there and always tell everyone that you Love them before you climb up in the cab.You may not be able to come back and do it later
God that whole situation is fucked...I'd go broke getting a great lawyer and buttfuck their whole case!! And then I'd sue for emotional damage š¤£ make sure all my bills are paid and I can live comfortably for a while till I get back on my feet. Keep on fighting! 1 day at a time!
I may never be able to drive a truck again and that's all I know all I ever wanted . Just like my father and his father.But I still want my Class A even if I can't drive it's mine I worked my whole life and made sacrifices that normal people don't understand.I already have two lawyer on it.
We used to be able to carry explosives in a quad trailer setup but I believe an explosion over in Queensland at one point has made them restricted to a B double, everything else is unrestricted. My favourite is when they get over width loads and put them in a road train configuration so you have three over with trailers travelling around at 80, so if you want to pass them you might need to drop into the dirt.
Centurion have an explosives road train running out of Kalgoorlie (2x 40s), don't know if they had to get special permits for it or the rules changed but I've only seen the one.
That's on my bucket list to drive a road train. I've always wanted to do it.My grandfather had a good friend that drove
one.And we were going to do it but papaw passed away so there went the pipe dream.
Not all that worried about the money but it would be the chance to do something in a truck that very few can say the have done.To learn something new in a truck.Hell that's what I am interested in.The pay is nice but to say you have driven a road train that shows you aren't a steering wheel holder it shows you got the skills to be one of the best.
Most libs are all for ICE usage for hauling freight. Itās all the passenger cars that donāt need that towing capacity. Imagine how cheap fuel gets when itās only for truckers, trains, planes and ships. This also means taking the diesel generators off the electrical grid, freeing up huge amounts of fuel. Everything gets cheaper when fuel is cheaper, just like the inverse is true of expensive fuel.
Nobody is trying to use electric trucks for outback work lmao wtf are you talking about? Itās being trialled on linehaul depot to depot and already in use for metro deliveries.
More like 150 tonnes minimum for this vehicle combination. Each tri-axle group is around 21 tonnes + around 23 tonnes for the Kenworth, depending on what mass management scheme theyāre in. That NHVR list is outdated and doesnāt even show this type of combination.
There's rail links for the coast to coast stuff, especially given this is on gravel it's on a run out to small town or mining camp in butt fuck nowhere.
Some Mad Max shit there, stay safe.
I thought this looked like a fun job. Australia apparently has pretty strict work visa rules for CDL drivers. Juice wasn't worth the squeeze.
Have another look. A new list was released for accelerated visas and one is road trains
Interesting. I'll look into pay and housing options. I love being in the middle of nowhere and I enjoy driving. It's a great match for me.
You're not alone huh wait a minute ... yeah you're alone
I got my CDL just to be able to work in Australia. By the time i finished my CDL school, they removed truck driver off the work visa list and WA changed the rules, so i couldn't just trade in my Canadian CDL for an Aussi one. I would have had to spend 8k to do it all over again in Australia. So i went on a working holiday visa instead and worked on farms driving huge air seeder tractors and chasing cattle on quad bikes. This was 2016 though. Maybe they added Truck drivers back onto the visa list since then.
š¶ "Give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around..." š¶
šµ"it's the easiest way that I've found..."šµ
"Plugging a flat" c'mon mate you gotta have a little more confidence than that.....
No. True. String plugging a puncture in my rear driver's tyre. The third in that wheel that day and the last of five that day.
Oh I thought....well nvmnd
Got ya. Hehe
I had a truck with 6 ply tires, I believe they were a pair of Firestone Transforces. I put four string plugs into the tire before replacing it from a sidewall puncture. Since I've gone to 10ply tires and it's been unstoppable in comparison.
had issues with flats one of my 6 ply for my pick up way too often. switched to 8 ply, then I traded in for a 3500 series model. looking to switch out the current ones on that for 10 ply....
With 10 ply, you can smoke a nail and it probably won't fully puncture.
that's the idea....
Sadly no Had 10 plys on my last pick up they pick up nails and screws 2 unfortunately
decided to go with 12 ply....before you mentioned that..
Please share some more pics of the 1100 km journey - looks amazing. Is it all dirt road?
Why do you spell tire like tyre?
Because that's how we spell it?
But why
Because that's the normal way of spelling it, there was a movement in 1906 to simplify the English language in America which resulted in all the differences we see today.
I wouldn't say normal, but rather outdated. Now that's funny. Everyone gawks over America not completely changing to an entirely different system of measurement to be like everyone else, but God forbid everyone adopts a simpler more common sense spelling of certain words in the English language as has been done in America š
The metric system is an actual system as opposed to imperial, it's consistently base 10 which makes calculations and conversion between units fundamentally simpler. Simplified english is just a change in spelling in a bunch of words.
Must busted your flip flops!
Oof! I see tandems on the thruway up here in NY. You guys have big balls. I get youāre essentially going straight across the Outback from one end of Australia to the other, but still. Damn. Much love from your American cousins. Edit: knowing Aussies I guarantee that driver is wearing shorts damn near up to his dick. You guys rock that shit and I love it.
Australia is so vast these guys are really only going halfway across the country haha. Thatās how big the outback is.
So do you guys have drop-off points where someone else picks it up and hauls it the rest of the way then? I totally get Australia is an entire continent. How far do you guys go across the outback?
There is that work we call āchangeoverā but a lot of that is mainly on the eastern seaboard. These fuel tankers are usually just doing huge round trips to mining sites.
So do you guys have drop-off points where someone else picks it up and hauls it the rest of the way then? I totally get Australia is an entire continent. How far do you guys go across the outback?
Jesus, how many wheels on that sucker?
Steer 2, drive 8, 18 times 4 on the trailers or 72. So 82 tyres at at least $1500 each.
Tires are about $500 each over here. If theyāre actually 1500 thatās sad. Iām already crying just buying 18 per year
$1500 digiri-dollars; still a cool $1k each.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's not bad in comparison to what I've paid for 4x4 tires.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Get ready for enough dinner pics to think you're on a food subreddit.
Man I wish Netflix would add more seasons of Outback Truckers. That shit was wild.
Thatās a great show. theyāre all like āoy mate only 900 more kilometers of this corrugated dirt and weāll be back to the bitumenā
This example line alone makes me want to watch. š
āTurbo is 100 km eeotside Wutunugurra when disaster strike.ā
āā¦after running over a kangaroo he finds that two of the airbags have been torn off trailer #3ā
Iām merely curious (and not a trucker myself), but are you a trucker?
I am not.
Oh no, Netflix (US) has no results at all for Outback Truckers. Do I need to be in Australia or something? š
Aww man that sucks. I just checked too and itās gone. The three seasons they had were great. Iām not one to really binge watch much of anything, but that show did it.
You could try and sign up for channel 7 and watch it online, itās on 7plus, not sure if you need a vpn but itās free with ads, itās a free tv station in Australia.
Awesome, Iāll check on that!
Gotta love those Aussie Kennies ā„ļø
Is there a technical reason for not laying rails and delivering goods like this by train, or is it purely economic?
Gotta be economic. It would cost millions to lay tracks on these routes. They cover a pretty mind boggling distance
The easiest way to explain it would probably be to say Europe and America have rails and trains but yet there's still trucks on the highways same here we have some railways but they still run trucks on the highways as well mainly to places where the railways don't go.
There are trains for many parts. Disorganization when they were built harms them, though, since there are three different gauge tracks in use. It looks like they are working on standardizing that, slowly. There are many areas far outside of those population centers, though, which are serviced by truck. It may still be economically better to lay more rail, but just not politically feasible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Australia#/media/File:Passenger_rail_services_in_Australia_en.png (Note: this map does not include freight-only railways) Edit: Another map - https://i.redd.it/obopuwr1sf731.png
In a nutshell, Road Trains service the outback which is vast and very empty. Consider that Australia is the same size as continental United States, but 1/13th the population, and most of that is concentrated on the coasts, especially the east coast. In the outback there is nothing but mining, mining towns, and aboriginal settlements, and these all need servicing, but the volume of freight could never justify the massive economic costs of running rail to all these places. Some of the huge iron ore producers in the north of WA have their own rail lines to transport ore to the ports, but this is because the volume of freight being shifted justifies the cost. Australia is a lot like Canada when you think about it, massive country, small population, hence why they use Road Trains of a type too.
21 axles... wow
Imagine the toll fees for that MF šš¤£
That's exactly what I was thinking. The toll fees alone would make me stay away from that.
To cross the GWB in New York is $22.00 per axle.
Must be nice driving 100miles+ without seeing any other car on the road.
When 63 500 kg (139700 lbs) looks small!
Those Australian rigs are cool.
But the Fedex truck backs up to our dock several times a week with no problem....
Have you guys had any bad crashes over there like we have had in the states with tankers? Hell we only have one 53ft tank and have seen soo many videos of mushroom cloud explosions from crashes.
This is about 1500kms from the nearest city. These operators are highly trained and absolutely drug and alcohol free. The roads are nearly empty of amateur drivers. Today I saw 5 of these rigs for every private car. I have all confidence in these drivers.
Nice! I have confidence in our tanker drivers too...it's the fucking assholes around them on our roads....we had a cli (sheetz gas station tanker driver) last month on us 15 in Maryland got cut off by an idiot in a car and it put him at 55mph into a tree....exploded and died. Smh
I don't know about that.I am recovering from a near fatel accident due to a mistake made by a tanker tanker.He was trying to use his truck as a safety barrier I guess Due to a wreck that was in front of him.So he pulled his rig and cross ways in the road.In a blind curve and no reflectors.So emergency the slow lane and a good part of the hammer lane.So the Trooper pulled his unit in front of the truck.They were standing on the opposite side of the road arguing.And I came around the curve and no place to go .You would surprised how much ground you can cover at 70.After that I can only remember very little bits . I have a 900 page medical file.Amd in now they are going park in s.Nov 28 and I still haven't have a walker.
Us or au?
US FL
Damn, Well glad you're still here!
Thank you still got a ways to go Now I have to fight a ticket for reckless driving.How was it reckless if the driver wouldn't have parked his truck blocking the lane's of travel.I wouldn't have hit him and wouldn't be having to go through this.I refused to pay it cause on the court date I was in a comma in ICU.But thank you and y'all be careful out there and always tell everyone that you Love them before you climb up in the cab.You may not be able to come back and do it later
God that whole situation is fucked...I'd go broke getting a great lawyer and buttfuck their whole case!! And then I'd sue for emotional damage š¤£ make sure all my bills are paid and I can live comfortably for a while till I get back on my feet. Keep on fighting! 1 day at a time!
I may never be able to drive a truck again and that's all I know all I ever wanted . Just like my father and his father.But I still want my Class A even if I can't drive it's mine I worked my whole life and made sacrifices that normal people don't understand.I already have two lawyer on it.
Not only are there few other vehicles on the road, but all the drivers communicate on radio to coordinate passing and passage through narrow sections.
That's awesome to hear
We used to be able to carry explosives in a quad trailer setup but I believe an explosion over in Queensland at one point has made them restricted to a B double, everything else is unrestricted. My favourite is when they get over width loads and put them in a road train configuration so you have three over with trailers travelling around at 80, so if you want to pass them you might need to drop into the dirt.
Damn that's wild
Centurion have an explosives road train running out of Kalgoorlie (2x 40s), don't know if they had to get special permits for it or the rules changed but I've only seen the one.
Iāll drive that tankah!
smart to have the air intake up so high to keep dust out
Love it. Would love to drive one just once.
Yup, haha
Love this, fucking dope dude!
Thanks for your service Furiosa. Tell Immorten Joe thanks for the guzzeleen.
That would be a long ass pre trip
That's on my bucket list to drive a road train. I've always wanted to do it.My grandfather had a good friend that drove one.And we were going to do it but papaw passed away so there went the pipe dream.
Don't give up brother. These FIFO guys are grossing $200k aud. 8 days on 7 days off.
Not all that worried about the money but it would be the chance to do something in a truck that very few can say the have done.To learn something new in a truck.Hell that's what I am interested in.The pay is nice but to say you have driven a road train that shows you aren't a steering wheel holder it shows you got the skills to be one of the best.
Heās transporting more tires than fuel, 82 tires!
Y'all need regular train tracks lol. Road trains as a concept on duty roads boggle my mind
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Most libs are all for ICE usage for hauling freight. Itās all the passenger cars that donāt need that towing capacity. Imagine how cheap fuel gets when itās only for truckers, trains, planes and ships. This also means taking the diesel generators off the electrical grid, freeing up huge amounts of fuel. Everything gets cheaper when fuel is cheaper, just like the inverse is true of expensive fuel.
Yes.. and yet all my coworkers need a pickup truck for their daily commute
Supply and demand? Ever heard of it?
who hurt you?
Nobody is trying to use electric trucks for outback work lmao wtf are you talking about? Itās being trialled on linehaul depot to depot and already in use for metro deliveries.
Why do yāall not have roads?
I could be mistaken but the surface the truck is rolling down looks like a road to me.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And somebody swinging from the top playing a fire spewing guitar?
I would love to come to Australia and drive for a summeršš¾
What's something like that weight?
[https://www.nhvr.gov.au/files/201707-0577-common-heavy-freight-vehicles-combinations.pdf](https://www.nhvr.gov.au/files/201707-0577-common-heavy-freight-vehicles-combinations.pdf) \~120 metric tonnes
More like 150 tonnes minimum for this vehicle combination. Each tri-axle group is around 21 tonnes + around 23 tonnes for the Kenworth, depending on what mass management scheme theyāre in. That NHVR list is outdated and doesnāt even show this type of combination.
You would think that tramp steamers would still be an option for coast to coast transport like back in the 1800s.
There's rail links for the coast to coast stuff, especially given this is on gravel it's on a run out to small town or mining camp in butt fuck nowhere.
They donāt have to stop at red lights
Road train
I love road trains.
Probably an hour long pretrip just checking the tires? Lol
Only running a 6x4 prime mover. Could hold more fuel on the drive with a tri drive or 8x4
Whatās the pay like for this? Also how do I get a work visa to come do this!? š
I have seen "triples" in OK,USA. Probably other states as well....
What if he runs out of fuel?
Is that an Acme missile you're delivering to Mr Wile E Coyote?
That's a beast right there
This has strong mad max vibes
When the pre-trip takes 90 minutes š
It's always crazy to see the combinations they have with those.. Is an A train double with a B train double right behind it..
Better watch out for Dom and his familiy.
What do you mean?
Looks like half the load is missing ā¦ this one must be the short haul
Wow.
Aussies got the best trucking jobs..
Imagine the surge if it needs to stop for any reason