Talk to an Australian Trucker

[Dougie]

Hey USA Truckers,

I am new to this forum my name is Dougie and I live in Australia.

I have had over 25 years experience driving just about anything here all over the country and my father did the same all his life.

By reading a few posts and threads about here, it is quite clear to me that the system you guys work with is very different.

If anyone has any questions about Truck'in down under, fire away.

[Mr_Dude]

I have 1.

Those giant road trains....How efficient are they?

Usually, trucks in the USA hauling a standard 53 Foot dry van get about 5.5 Miles per Gallon.

[Etosha]

Welcome Dougie!
Do you have any pics of road trains?
Whats the axle loading there?

[Dougie]

Originally Posted by Mr_Dude

I have 1.

Those giant road trains....How efficient are they?

Usually, trucks in the USA hauling a standard 53 Foot dry van get about 5.5 Miles per Gallon.

Hey Mr Dude!

A road train pulling three trailers averages about 1 KM Per Litre.
I think thats about 2.8 miles per gallon.

If you can convert down to be more accurate theres your answer.

[Ronnocomot]

Originally Posted by Etosha

Welcome Dougie!
Do you have any pics of road trains?
Whats the axle loading there?

Go to Google and search images, road train

[Dougie]

Originally Posted by Etosha

Welcome Dougie!
Do you have any pics of road trains?
Whats the axle loading there?

Yes I have pictures of road trains, however they are all in a photo album

The axle loading here...

Well, all trailers are tri-axle with bogie or tri-axle dolly's
Bogie axle dolly's with trailer is legally allowed up to 36 ton

(Remember our ton here in metric is 1000 kgs)

A tri-axle dolly with a tri-axle trailer is legally allowed up to 40 ton

So a road train with three trailers is legally allowed at 120 ton.
1 truck, one trailer is legal at 42 1/2 ton


... ok ...

I have been to a conversion website and converted all my weights into your weight types.


Well, all trailers are tri-axle with bogie or tri-axle dolly's
Bogie axle dolly's with trailer is legally allowed up to 36 ton
39.6 Your Ton

A tri-axle dolly with a tri-axle trailer is legally allowed up to 40 ton
44 Your Ton

A road train with three trailers is legally allowed at 120 ton. 132 Your Ton
1 truck, one trailer is legal at 42 1/2 ton. 46.8 Your Ton

There yo go!

[Dougie]

Ok

I have some questions!

I am rebuilding a 352 Peterbilt 1963 Model.

I was wondering if there are many over there left around, it can be very hard to get parts over here as there were so few brought over.

Also, I was wondering about your legal driving hours.
What hours can you legally do? do you have speed limiting in the trucks?

Whats are some rough figures concerning the wages you guys get over there? Do you make a good living?

[MedicineMan]

I actually tried to emigrate to Australia a few years back. Apparently they don't consider truck drivers as skilled labor though as I couldn't meet the requirments for a skilled labor visa.
Anyways

There is a fair amount of the old little window needle nose petes around. I know a few guys still running them daily in WI.

They keep messing with our hours (HOS=hours of service) the most recent change makes it so we can drive 11 hours before needing to take a 10 hour break(used to be 8 hours) the 10 hour break can be split into two seperate breaks by doing a 2hr and 8 hr break. you can do 70 hours in 6 days but if you take 34 hours off in a row you get to reset that weekly hour clock.

Pay varies greatly. You basic local jobs pay little, especially if they are your 9 to 5 variety. The jobs that work nights and weekends pay more. Your over the road jobs pay pretty well but we get riped off at the truck stops so badly that it is very expensive to live on the road if you are not smart about it so in the end you probably don't make much more than a local driver if you don't pack your own food. OTR rates run all over the place from 34 cents per mile to 50 cpm but there is always a catch. the more miles a co runs the less they pay per mile, then there is safety bonuses/ drop and hook pay etc that mudy up the pay pool. So in the end unless you have a good niche market you pretty much end up in the $40k to $45k a year range. I just quit my job of 7 years pulling mobile medical scanners and I did very well there. I would have done $70k this year if I had stuck with it but that is pretty much tops in the industry from what I have found

[Etosha]

Originally Posted by Ronnocomot

Go to Google and search images, road train

Did that already thanks Ronnocomot. Thought that Dougie might have some better ones!

[Etosha]

Thanks for the info Dougie!

Yup, MedicineMan, seems that degrees are what the Australians are after. I have met plenty of Oz truckers in my wanderings through the world!