# Is a concrete truck the heaviest vehicle on the road? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270 "2004-05-21T00:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/1 "2004-05-21T00:49:10Z")
I have heard a fully loaded concrete truck (about 7 yards?) is the heaviest vehicle on the road. The reason I ask is, on the way home I saw a concrete truck overturned on the side of the road. They had several large tow trucks on the site trying to get the truck upright and out of the ditch. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/2 "2004-05-21T01:10:00Z")
No. A full oaded 18 wheeler is far heavier (80,000 Lbs or so). A concrete truck my be the heaviest for it size, but not the heaviest overall. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/3 "2004-05-21T01:10:27Z")
Concrete trucks have to follow the same laws as anyone else. Check the licence. It will tell you the legal weight allowed . ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/4 "2004-05-21T01:16:00Z")
Either the driver was an idiot or he was just following the directions of someone telling him how to back into a pouring site. Things get pretty close to the edge because the laborers don’t want to move loose concrete any further than they have to. There is a pretty good chance he doesn’t work there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/5 "2004-05-21T01:32:12Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > Concrete trucks have to follow the same laws as anyone else. Check the licence. It will tell you the legal weight allowed . This does not answer the question at all… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/6 "2004-05-21T01:40:28Z")
Well, if you could get it on a road, the Crawler, (basically a bunch of caterpillar tracks under a flat surface) which transports the Space Shuttle from the VAB to the launch pad weighs 2700 tons (unladen). If you’re talking about road-legal, there are several different types of heavy semi-articulated trucks, like those used to transport concrete bridge pylons and such, which weigh in over 100,000 lbs. unladen. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/7 "2004-05-21T02:53:24Z")
[This one weighs in at 430,000lbs.](http://www.diamondheavyhaul.com/Dual%20Lane%20Trailer.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/8 "2004-05-21T02:54:30Z")
(loaded) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/9 "2004-05-21T03:15:54Z")
Most states’ legal loads are limited by the FHWA bridge formula, see [this reference](http://hotmix.ce.washington.edu/wsdot_web/Modules/04_design_parameters/bridge_formula.htm) . Michigan happens to have a grandfather clause and allows legal loads for an 11 axle truck of 77 tons. In addition there is a legal 86 ton vehicle configuration. In addition, permits for overloads have no limit other than the capacities of the bridges on the routes- I have seen permit vehicles over 500 tons. ---
**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/10 "2004-05-21T04:41:23Z")
The idea is that heavy equipment tears up the roads. Spreading weight over lots of tires helps. When I was driving, the heaviest load I ever had was 93,000; some 13,000 over legal. I was hauling rice from the fields. There’s no scale in a rice field and the first load has an unknown percentage of water. A real trucker would scoff at my puny loads. There’s some big haulding going on out there. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/11 "2004-05-21T06:07:26Z")
Quote Furt This does not answer the question at all… Then you must not understand the question.And you’ve never had the weigh boys stop you. First concrete weighs about 1 ton a yard. Actually slightly less. A 7 yard truck will hold about 8.5 yards but some will spill going up hills ,stop signs etc. A 7 yard truck is a small one now-a-days. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/12 "2004-05-21T07:14:30Z")
[Road trains are heavy](http://www.aig.asn.au/News_2003/concentrate_transport.htm) A [typical road train](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=43494) with a combined weight of 1,072.3 tonnes (2.364 million lb). OK not heaviest but topical. Yesterday a [road rolled over](http://www.cleve.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=308178&y=2004&m=5). 22 tonnes of bannanas had to be put-down. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/13 "2004-05-21T11:16:01Z")
Great info everyone, thanks. Maybe I should have said, heaviest vehicle with less that 18 wheels. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/14 "2004-05-21T13:12:21Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > A [typical road train](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=43494) with a combined weight of 1,072.3 tonnes (2.364 million lb). You know that’s not really a “typical” road train right? ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/15 "2004-05-21T13:40:29Z")
On road construction gangs sometimes the concrete is mixed on site.They use dump style concrete haulers. They generally have oversize tires .That lessens the psi on the road surface. I don’t know how much they are able to haul but there probably isn’t a load limit on them.Hell they probably aren’t even licenced. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-concrete-truck-the-heaviest-vehicle-on-the-road/246270/16 "2004-05-21T15:00:41Z")
First , to **Berkut** ’s link: :eek: here is some bridge beams being transported for the new Mississippi River bridge in LaCrosse: [http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d5/mriver/images/nextsection.jpg](http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d5/mriver/images/nextsection.jpg) [http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d5/mriver/images/backup.jpg](http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d5/mriver/images/backup.jpg) Project website: [http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d5/mriver/index.htm](http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d5/mriver/index.htm) Brian