Super truck - should we hope this isn't road legal?

It does have CCTV (shown in the film) but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be anywhere near this thing:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8387111.stm

I drafted something very very similar to this up the Holloway Road late one night. It was unladen and was the most exhilarating ride I have ever had off the track

yes if it means fewer trucks and a ban on the big ones in cities - satellite depots forced in by time restrictions and congestion charge, with all deliveries carried out by van or at night

I say yes as long as they are use appropriately, maybe with an extra test required and other regulations like restricted road usage.

I drafted something very very similar to this up the Holloway Road late one night. It was unladen and was the most exhilarating ride I have ever had off the track

I expect you were drafting once of these, the double arctics are not about yet.

It's an interesting proposition.

I've been on roads where that are a lot of these in Canada. At speeds, if they pass you closer than about a metre and a half the slipstream can be difficult to handle. A couple of times I was blown onto the shoulder. I think I was lucky to be riding a fully loaded touring bike at the time and wouldn't want to be near them on something lightweight.

I would be cautious about supporting their presence on British roads, which are typically narrower, even on dual carriageways. On the otherhand, as a potentially new fleet, there would be the option to install a full range of safety measures and licencing requirements. From a cyclists perspective I think it would be difficult to support their presence without a broad range of consultation and commitment.

Pfft, they're not trucks. The road trains in Aus would be a worrying thing over here:

Was extremely worried at first, just as bad as a bendy bus.
Then I see the rear wheels actually rotate to give a true turning circle rather than some f'd up cutting in and all of a sudden half the bus is on the curb kinda thing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/8388420.stm

nevermind...

Nothing can be as bad as bendy buses, hate those things as a cyclist, driver, and pedestrian.

Remember kids... Don't pass it on the inside. OK?

Of course not!

Bunnyhop 720 spin straight over the top is the correct way to overtake these things.

We don't really want to support even more haulage by road, do we? The more cargo that can be put back on the railways, the better.

agree with Oliver, road has become default means of carrying freight around the country when there's a substantial rail infrastructure which should be where a lot of it is going

Quite. We should be making trucks smaller, not larger.

reminds me of the gigantic trucks they got in the states. Was there driving in june, pissing down with rain, about 30m meters sight. We did about 90mph which felt like driving straight towards death. Then 30 meters worth of lorry took us over. On the inside.

Really don't want them over here

I don't really see the problem so long as they're used in a manner that befits the roads.

Which means not bringing them into city centres or down small country lanes.

However, if you had a distribution centre right next to one motorway junction near Dover, and another near Birmingham, and these road trains only operated on the motorway between the two... then I'm perfectly fine with it.

I don't really see the problem so long as they're used in a manner that befits the roads.

Which means not bringing them into city centres or down small country lanes.

However, if you had a distribution centre right next to one motorway junction near Dover, and another near Birmingham, and these road trains only operated on the motorway between the two... then I'm perfectly fine with it.

good point. There shouldn't be too much of a problem on a 3 lane motorway

I don't really see the problem so long as they're used in a manner that befits the roads.

Which means not bringing them into city centres or down small country lanes.

However, if you had a distribution centre right next to one motorway junction near Dover, and another near Birmingham, and these road trains only operated on the motorway between the two... then I'm perfectly fine with it.

I'm not, as it's clearly an attempt by the haulage industry at saving costs and becoming more profitable. I don't want that to happen. I want more freight, and especially long-distance freight, to be taken off the roads and streets. Freight consolidation is of course a very good thing, but it shouldn't just be a case of loading from larger lorries onto smaller lorries.

now that is scary - yeh there are cameras to show down the sides, but they're small and there not where a lorry driver looks frequently.. its bad enough when a lwb van or bus over-takes and then drops back too soon, but with an even greater likelihood of this happening. also, in an ideal situation they'd stick to the motorway, but in reality if they're allowed companies with inner-city depos - supermarkets etc are gonna maximise on the efficiency of these...

We don't really want to support even more haulage by road, do we? The more cargo that can be put back on the railways, the better.

It's a nice idea but unfortunately so much of our railways are already running above capacity there is limited scope for this.

of course we also have these wonderful things called rivers and canals. their only problem is that the max speed is way lower than is economical for supporting long-distance logistics. but for transporting stuff around london or birmingham, canals may be useful in the long run.

Was extremely worried at first, just as bad as a bendy bus.

don't see how 'bad' the bendy bus is thought, it work perfectly fine in other cities around the UK.

We don't really want to support even more haulage by road, do we? The more cargo that can be put back on the railways, the better.

Well how does the goods get from the rail terminal to the consumer?

Would it mean less lorries in urban areas? Or less lorries going from manufacturers factories to central distribution depots?

don't see how 'bad' the bendy bus is thought, it work perfectly fine in other cities around the UK.

Which other cities have bendy buses? I know reditch did but then stopped using them but can't remember why.

i don't think these would be much of a problem on motorways. but inner london? no thanks.