1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
LONGER TRUCKS: THE SWEDISH SOLUTION
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The truck that has the backing of the European Shippers Council is actually a typical Swedish combination comprising the following:
IA three-axle rigid prl me mover (normally a 6x2);
• A two-axle converter 'dolly'( basically an 'A-Frame' coupling with a fifth wheel on top); • A conventional 13.6m long semi-trailer.
Scania's Anders LundstrOm says: "I prefer to call these combinations, which are permitted in Sweden and Finland, '7.82 + 13.6' rather than '25.25" in order to underline the modularity of it all. It is not a general 25.25 length that is permitted but only combinations of these European (directive 96/53) load unit lengths."
The idea for the 7.82 + 13.6 combination originally came from Volvo, LundstrOm reports. "They support it and I guess they're trying to convince their RVI friends. Scania supports it too, but we'll probably not be very active in promoting. It should really be industry, shippers and hauliers that take the lead," he insists.
Under Swedish law the above rig can run at up to 60 tonnes and as it has eight-axles, road wear is minimal. Moreover, the ability to run the prime mover as a separate delivery vehicle (unlike a normal artic) makes it attractive, while its conventional semi-trailer can he pulled by a standard tractor thereby further increasing fleet flexibility and compatibility.
While Scania backs the concept's wider use it says it should be with extra safety equipment including EBS and stability programmes.
We have to show it is compatible with other road users from the safety perspective?