Does anyone have (or can find) the overall dimensions of a standard car carrier vehicle, and the associated turning cirlce of the vehicle?
(I’m not sure if there are different vehicles by car make, this one will be transporting BMW cars to a proposed showroom.)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
When reviewing road construction plans, I generally used a turning radius of about 50’ for a fire truck. A car carrier should be about the same.
Thanks. I’m currently designing the parking layout for the new showroom. I have preliminarily added a bus turning circle with external radius of 10M.
Do you think it then should then have a 15m (approx 50’) radius? I guess that would be safer, albeit meaning I have to redraw this damn road layout (again).
What about the actual dimensions of the vehicle?
Never mind, Finally found the very thing. (On page 3, PDF)
Cheers.
Aro, unless the car showroom is going to be in New South Wales, it would be unwise to place absolute reliance on the document to which you have linked. Vehicles are designed for the road on which they drive more than the goods they will carry. If, as I suspect, the showroom is to be in Northern Ireland then there will probably be a UK or (more likely) EU standard, which may not be the same as the NSW standard. It is likely to be smaller; due to the superior national elbow-room, the Australians can afford to be more generous in their road design and layout than we cramped Europeans.
I suspect that what you want is the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1986, as amended.
Thanks, UDS, for the concern. I did notice it was an Australian PDF file.
The document you mentioned doesn’t list specifically a car carrier length, only that an articulated bus or bus with trailer is 18.75M max. length.
In fact, I just called them (as I am typing) and they told me the max. length for a car transporter is the same as above. Sorted at last.
You know, you’d think BMW would be able to tell me these kind of things, wouldn’t you? Clients, who’d have them. 
Here’s a novel idea.
Why don’t you pick up the telephone and call the transport company and ask them :
Here in the states I can name at least three different types of car carriers. The type varies by car make (BMWs get shipped in a different type of truck than Toyotas.)
What transport company are you talking about? Who makes them? Where are they based? Got a number for their UK office?
If I had a number to call don’t you think I would have done that? I already asked Roads Service, BMW (my client) and several other car dealerships. I looked at loads of web sites but none listed the informatnion I requested. I even tried on-line AutoCAD block libraries looking for pre-drawn turning circles. Then I asked here.
But thanks for the novel advice.
Actually, Aro, the max. length for a vehicle is not the same as the turning circle it requires.
UDS, I’m aware of that, but I needed both pieces of information for the layout drawing I was working on.
Drawings all done and dusted, and I’m off home now. Been one of those days 
Thanks for the help.