Robinson: On the double!
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From January 2001 artic operators will be able run at 44 tonnes on general haulage, but Stan Robinson reckons that's kid's stuff. His home-brewed 72-tonne roadtrain could lower emissions, solve the driver shortage and reduce the number of trucks on the road. CM has driven it at the Brewery Transport Advisory Committee fuel trials—and we're impressed.
by Brian Weatheriey
Three years ago Stan Robinson was driving through Nevada behind a truck pulling two 45ft semi-trailers. "I followed it around a traffic island and was very impressed by the way the trailers followed the tractor," he recalls. So impressed, in fact, that Robinson was inspired to build his own roadtrain demonstrator, which Commercial Motor evaluated during the recent BTAC fuel trials at the MIRA proving grounds near Nuneaton.
The 72-tonne-plus outfit is based on a conventional 41-tonne GCW 6x2 tractor pulling a 13.5m triaxle Tautliner with a second trailer behind the first sitting on a two-axle converter dolly. A conventional drawbar A-frame connects the second trailer to the back of the first.
Robinson reckons roadtrains would be ideally suited to inter-depot night trunking on UK motorways when restricted to operators with depots within five miles of the motorway.
The 32m outfit is clearly not roadlegal; so far Robinson has only been able to drive it in his depot and at MIRA. But he is determined to show as many people as possible what such a rig could do: "To the DOT I'm probably just seen as another greedy haulier" he says. "But we've got to be looking at this through what it could offer—not least as we can't get enough drivers for two trucks!"
The lower emissions/per tonne carried and higher productivity of bigger rigs are well known (see panel). Robinson's job is to convince decision makers in the DOT that his roadtrain is not only technically viable; it's also socially acceptable.
He has already demonstrated it to his local MP who then spoke to the DOT. The response was that roadtrains are illegal in the UK and there is no plan to change the law. But as congestion builds up and the industry comes under increasing pressure to cut emissions, night-time motorway roadtrains could well have a part to play.