differences between US and Sweden

long ago in the 70's we had length restrictions. Once they were lifted you see almost no cab over engine design trucks like you are used to seeing.

Yes our gearboxes are unsyncronized although we are seeing more and more automatic transmissions every day.

Most our tractors are three axle and most our trailers have two axles but you do see almost any number of axles for specialized transportation. with 5 axles we can gross 40 ton (us) it breaks down as 12,000 pounds on steer axle. 34000 pounds on each set of tandem axles. If your trailer has a spread of 10 feet between the ales you can put 40000 pound on them but still not gross more than 80,000 pounds.

front brakes on tractors were mandated on any tractor built after January 1, 1982 although most trucks were being built with them in the late 70's

Most the company owned trucks will have 10 speed transmissions here although as mentioned automatics are becoming very common. I expect we will see almost all automatics in the next 5 years in company owned trucks. Most of the owner operator trucks will have more gears, either 13, 15 or 18.

 

Good morning and welcome to the board I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada, and things are pretty much the same here in Canada as in the USA when it comes to trucking.

You are not paid at night and are usually paid by the mile, anywhere from 30 cents per mile to 46 cents per mile.

We have completely unsynchronized transmissions here as well and some automatics are coming. A lot of the trucks here are either super 10 speeds or 13 speeds. Volvos are very popular here as are Freightliners, Kenworths and Peterbuilts.

You can usually drive 105 km/hr in most trucks, with or without a trailer. A lot of trucks are becoming governed now (which means you cannot go any faster than they set the governor). Most here are set to 105 km/hr. Most owner operators have no governors and can go whatever the speed limit is posted.

On a lot of large roads, the truck speed is often 10 km/h less than the speed for cars.

Gas here in Canada is now $1.09/litre, though it was up to $1.13 just awhile ago. Diesel has recently become even more expensive than gasoline, by two to four cents per litre.

Average miles per gallon here in a lot of trucks is around 5. It really depends on the truck, the terrain, the load, etc.

So glad to see you here and your English is excellent. Welcome aboard

 

have you ever seen on of these Walle?



Our speed limits are all over due to the varying areas. Around a city it will be 55mph, most the interstates between towns are 65mph. When you get out west in the open areas it will be 70 or 75 mph. There is roads in west TX with no speed limits at all.

fuel mileage run 5 to 7 mpg.

We don't have scenias. You would actually be very hard pressed to ind any cab over trucks anymore. The excepton to that would be some car haulers and boat haulers who use a cabover with a short bed on the truck itself, mabey 30 feet long and then another trailer behind them.

Our tax bracket isn't as high as yours. Sweden is pretty netorious for it's taxes. Our vary depending on where you live because there is a federal income ta and then there is also a state income tax and the state one will vary from state to state. When I lived IN Wisconsin it was about 10% but here in Texas there is no state income tax and they just have a higher sales tax. In Wisconsin I was paying proabably a total of 25% to income taxes but I would get some back at the end of the year. Our income tax is "Progresive" depending on income so at the end of the year you do your yearly tax forms and depending on your income level you find out if you paid enough taxes or too much and then you get some back. It would be a good system if it wasn't so complicated and so biased to the highest income levels

 

Hello Walle W. I have had and am having an experience right now with a truck similar to what you all drive in Sweden. This one is a Daewoo Novus made by Tata. I would post a link to it but I don't think that I am allowed to so you can look it up on the internet. They will be coming your way in a few years. Right now they are only marketed at the asian market, mainly South Korea where they are made. You have to use the clutch in it. The rear most axle is a tag axle. Single axle drive cab over and the bed if you want to call it that is very small and located directly behind the drivers seat. It is a strange looking beast and I do get funny looks from other drivers here in the States although it is here just for testing purposes. If you find a picture of it, it will be the gray/silver one with the purple and blue graphics on the side. It is just about the opposite of all the other trucks in the states.

 

I believe it was the FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) #121 passed in 1975 that required all trucks to have front axle brakes.

FWIW Volvo tried to sell it's 14 speed syncronized box in the late 90's but it didn't sell very well. Also Scania sold trucks briefly in the US that had syncronized boxes. I think most of those were vocational market trucks (construction, etc) with the minority being OTR sleeper rigs. The small dimensions of the european sleepers didn't help.

It's not unusual to catch a glimpse of a Scania truck near where I live as they have gained a bit of a foothold in the Mexican market.