# Australian Road Trains **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043 "2007-07-25T02:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/1 "2007-07-25T02:45:52Z")
Hi Everybody! I’ve always thought that the Australian Road Trains are really amazing! All those trailers behind one semi. Any other Dopers interested in Road Trains? Do any other nations use Road Trains? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/2 "2007-07-25T02:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=kitemaker\_chuck] Do any other nations use Road Trains? [/QUOTE] [Here you go](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_train): [QUOTE=Wikipedia] A road train is a trucking concept used in remote areas of Australia, **the United States** , and \*\*Western Canada \*\*to move bulky loads efficiently. The term “road train” is most often used in Australia. In the U.S. and Canada the terms “triples”, “Turnpike doubles” and “Rocky Mountain doubles” are commonly used for longer combination vehicles (LCVs). The space in the name is usually omitted. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/3 "2007-07-25T03:25:10Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] [Here you go](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_train): [/QUOTE] Hi Askance!! I still think that Australia’s Road Trains are the neatest!!! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/4 "2007-07-25T03:37:06Z")
They’re banned in most areas of the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/5 "2007-07-25T03:55:51Z")
… as they are in built-up areas of Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/6 "2007-07-25T05:17:08Z")
Yep, except for B-doubles, I think. I remember living in Charleville in south-west Queensland as a kid and seeing semis with 5 dogs rolling through town! Amazing! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/7 "2007-07-25T05:31:53Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] They’re banned in most areas of the USA. [/QUOTE] Under the nomenclature “gravel train” they are used extensively in parts of Michigan where the numerous glacial moraines provide an apparently unending source of aggregate and gravel. (A long time ago, Michigan also allowed “double bottom tankers,” but they were built with a high center of gravity and a series of nasty accidents got them banned around 1980 or a bit earlier.) Most of the two-trailer rigs (general cargo and package, not bulk cargo like gravel) that I have seen follow the turnpikes across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, but have to disengage and get hauled separately across Iowa which prohibits them. I am not sure where else they are used in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/8 "2007-07-25T12:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=Dottygumdrop] Yep, except for B-doubles, I think. [/QUOTE] B Doubles are also effectively banned in most built up areas. You _will_ see them in the cities, but they are only allowed on designated routes. You can’t drive one down George Street, Sydney. As for road trains, a push to extend the boundary of operation east of Dubbo was recently knocked on the head by the state government (and rightly so, i think). ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/9 "2007-07-25T12:29:10Z")
Apparently, there’s a place in the Northern Territory where veteran road train drivers get their laughs at the newbies’ expense. There’s an un-signposted fork in the highway somewhere, which catches out the new drivers. You do _not_ want to take a wrong turn in a road train, because you can’t reverse one. Taking the wrong arm of the fork means a long, long time uncoupling, shunting, and recoupling the trailers one by one. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-road-trains/413043/10 "2007-07-25T23:23:29Z")
I wandered around Alice Springs in search of Road Trains and managed to find a couple. There was a cool picture of some record setting road train with something like 6 trailers. There were also cool pictures of road trains from what must have been the 50’s. Out in bumfuck Nevada on the 80 you can see 3 trailer Fed Ex trucks all the time.