2009 Freightliner

Freightliner Argosy at Alexandra Blossom Festival Truck Parade. All shot with 50d, 17-40mm & iso100

1 1/80 @f11 22mm

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That's a good series on it.

#2 is my favorite. Great job on the whole series.

My only complaint would be the blown out sky in #1.

Thank you for the comments

Wow... We don't have any of those here in the states... Do all the front wheels steer???

I'm sure there is some kind of NZ law or regulations that makes trucks like those exist.

Mark H

P51Mstg wrote in post #11192725
Wow... We don't have any of those here in the states... Do all the front wheels steer???

I'm sure there is some kind of NZ law or regulations that makes trucks like those exist.

Mark H

In New Zealand most of their trucks are of that cab-over style... I was just there in August on the South Island, and as a Truck Driver here in the states, It was cool to see the different trucks they had.. Unfortunately, i was driving most the time i saw these trucks and my girlfriend wasn't quick enough with the camera..

*edit* Actually i believe that is probably a drop axle up front... for hauling heavier weight..

BTW great pictures.... I need to go back to New Zealand! You are living in a very beautiful country... I am very jealous!

Brandon

Yeah, for us, the "slab cabs" went out in the early 80s or so, conventionals rode better and were easier to maintain, etc as well as changes in overall length laws (I think??)

What I was wondering about were the twin front axles, We see that here, but its rare. Also, there seems to be a lot of these in that they are heavy straight trucks instead of tractor trailers and then you see some of these pulling a trailer too... Different system there.......


Mark H

Nice pics!
I used to drive cabover truks years ago, sitting on top of the motor; more vibrations ,noise,heat ,small sleeper,dangerous for driver in crashes, but with short wheelbase they can make tight turns ,better visibility and can pass under lower clearence bridges .

Hi, Yes here in NZ we have many cab over trucks with a trailer unit behind, as opposted to a tractor unit and semi trailer combo. The main reason is this set up gives better flexibility. We have a mixture of work in tight confines, and narrow country roads ( can take the trailer off ) ie farms and orchard loading areas for the rural operators. As well as more long haul ( interstate ) type work on the open roads. The articulated units can't access many of these confined areas. As for the tandom steer, both axiles steer, allowing a greater weight to be carried. Unlike in the US. in NZ the more axiles the greater the load, due to a much better weight distribution on the highways, and therfore less damage to the surface. Axiles are permanently down, no lazy axile . Hope this makes sense.

Hi & thanks for the comments. We do use 4 axle twin steer truck/4 axle trailer combinations a lot here. We also use bonneted 4 axle twin steer tractor units a lot too, as well as the more common 3 axle tractors like you guys use. Bonneted trucks are mainly Mack, Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star. 3 axle tractors usually used for heavy haulage and towing what we call B-trains as in the photo below. B trains are normally 5 axle but sometimes only 4.

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Very nice

Very nice set of shots!

Up here new trucks and trailer can no longer be built with traditional lift axles, now they must be built to SPIF standard which stands for Safe, Productive, Infrastructure-Friendly. Self steering axles so weight transfer to the road remains the same on corners.

Older trailers with traditional lift axles are being hit with lower weights limits. I do some hauling locally with a 5 axle belt trailer. If running one with lift axles you can only gross 61,500 KG (135,584 lbs) yet if you have a trailer that is SPIF compliant then you can haul 63,500 KG (139,993 lbs) While it doesn't seem like a huge difference you must remember getting paid by weight will add up.

Nice series.