Well Boss……

Posted on June 22, 2012 by truckbloguk

“You said find safe parking, so I made the boat and was chained down, but you’ll never believe what happened…..”

There you are happy you made the boat and happy that your truck is safely lashed down, so you go for a douche and a pie. Surely this one can’t be blamed on the drivers?? Our Pilot friend Mr Shortis came across this in the Maritime Bullentin, while eating his Cornflakes at 20,000 feet. This is what the article says;

“Ferry Nils Holgersson struck the portside of a ferry Urd in Luebeck-Travemuende, Germany, at around 1815 LT May 03. Urd was berthed at Berth 3 of the Scandinavian Quay, vessel suffered 2×3 meters hole under waterline, with resulting water ingress. Crew started to pump out water with vessel’s pumps, rescue boats, firefighting boats, tugs and other service boats of the port rushed to assist. Urd also suffered serious damages in upper decks area, some trucks were damaged, one destroyed. Port traffic was affected for some time. Urd arrived from Liepaja with trucks and cars on board, offloading started later in the evening, but some 50 trucks in the lower deck couldn’t be accessed because of the damages. With water ingress in breached hull, Urd bow-tilted, and later in the evening bow rested on the bottom. Nils Holgersson arrived from Trelleborg with 63 passengers on board, vessel suffered bow damages, and was berthed at berth 6. nobody was injured in the collision. The cause of the incident still unknown. Photos from local media. Passenger ro-ro vessel Urd IMO 7826855, GRT 13144, built 1981, flag Denmark, manager SCANDLINES DEUTSCHLAND. Passenger ro-ro vessel Nils Holgersson IMO 9217230, GRT 36468, built 2001, flag Germany, manager TT-Line.”

Looks like it was a good job they had finished the loading, otherwise it may have been a little worse. Is there any where you can now park up and safely leave your truck?….Doesn’t look like it!

Tatra Trucks and The Beast in The Bushes

Posted on January 17, 2012 by truckbloguk

These aren’t spy photos they are all legit! The photographer, Michael “Fingers” Bond, ok’d it with the Tatra staff first. I can’t really tell you a great deal about them, other than they had all been at Tatra’s factory / test track in Koprivnice, Czech Republic and also they all look like right old dog’s even though some are relatively new. Koprivnice, Czech Republic I hear you say, if you type it in to Google maps, to the East of the small town you will see the Tatra factory and the test track heading off into the forest.

The truck above looks to be a 6×6 troop carrier. The Tatra website says it could be a T 810-1R0R26 13 177 6×6.1R, so now you know. It comes with a Renault engine and clearly a Renault cab.

The 2 trucks above are both T 815-790R99 38 300 8×8.1R or if you like they are 8×8 military cargo trucks. The plain green one is a Universal Container Carrier. Where as the one with the digital camouflage is part of a potential order for the Polish army. This model happens to be the T 815-790R99 38 300 8×8.1R or in simple terms it’s an 8×8 High Mobility Heavy Duty Universal Cargo/Troop Carrier………….No I have no idea what i’m talking about either, although going through the Tatra website is strangely enjoyable and well worth a visit. The cab on the 2 above is apparently the new cab, although I don’t know quite how new, where as the old Beast in the Bushes below is the old cab.

If your going to try and break down the walls of Eastern Europe with your army then having this old thing as your back up was probably a good idea. This truck was parked at the test track and seemed to have been there for quite a while. Hence, the beast in the bushes title (not some smutty Essex related ref – GW!) To start your revolution, the truck has a dozer blade fitted to the front (or is it a snow plough?). Note the handy tow hitch on the blade. I guess that’s so you can pull who ever you have just pushed into the ditch, out again when they have handed over their lunch money. For the rest of the spec i’ll hand you over to Fingers Bond, seeing as he is the man who know’s his Tatra’s since his pre-Christmas visit;

“Full air suspension all round. Multi way diff’s on all axles. Total weight of 52 tons, plus a small payload. Full bullet proof cab with 5 inch thick window’s and windscreen. Full air cleaning system in case of a chemical attack on the crew. The whole country busting truck is powered by a massive Mercedes Benz V16 Twin Turbo engine connected to a fully automatic gear box and torque converter. The whole engine and gearbox is housed in one removable piece, so it can be lifted out / changed by a crane fitted to the body of the truck which has it’s own power source.”

It sounds perfect for Saturday night seafront cruising in Southend-on-Sea, it’d soon show those crappy boy racers in their Vauxhall Nova’s and Citroen Saxo’s who’s boss! Let’s go!!………..don’t mention the beast in the bushe’s in Southend or they’ll all want a go.

Have you got any thing to add about the beast’s from the East? Leave a comment or email me, ben@truckblog.co.uk

Ozzie Mini Artic Specialist – Julian Baker

Posted on November 6, 2011 by truckbloguk

My new Ozzie pal Julian left all this info in a comment on the blog, but I feel that it’s just to good and to much not to give it’s own post on the blog. I think Julian may be a regular from all the way over there in BBQ land. These are Julians own words and photo’s of his mini UD Artic. By the way don’t be fooled into thinking that big old Roadtrains are the only ones to transit the great dusty expanses of Australia;

Mini Artics, or semi-trailers as we say in Australia, as a general rule are limited by the GCM (GTW, GCW) of the prime-mover (tractor). Of course there are exceptions to every rule and there may be factors that prevent the GCM being achieved. Examples of limiting factors could be an inadequate hitch/tow bar/turntable capacity, insufficient trailer axle load capacity, insufficient trailer braking capacity or just that the trailer has an insufficient ATM (aggregate trailer mass).

I guess the first thing to consider when setting up a mini semi-trailer is whether the GVM of the prime-mover will be exceeded when the combination is loaded. That is, will the combined axle loads at the ground exceed the GVM of the prime mover. The second consideration is do the trailer axles have enough load carrying/braking capacity to cater for the remainder of the combinations weight. These principals are of course the same for any type of combination, from a motor bike towing a trailer to a road train, but the mini prime-mover generally runs much closer to max. GCM than some other combinations. For example most single steer tandem drive prime-movers have GCM ratings of 70 + tonnes in Australia, but if only operating with a single trailer can only have a combined allowable weight of around 45 tonnes. The limiting factor is the local road rules. Where as with a single trailer it is very easy to load a mini semitrailer to its GCM with a fairly light trailer.

I will set out a scenario based on my vehicle:

GVM: 10400 KGS
GCM: 20000 KGS

steer axle capacity: 3700 kgs
drive axle capacity: 7500 kgs
(but steer + drive can’t exceed 10400kgs)

ATM: 20000kgs

Prime-mover tare weight: 4000kgs
Trailer tare weight: 6200kgs

So, vertical load trailer exerted on the turntable can’t be greater than 6400kgs (10400 – 4000) so the prime-mover is not overloaded. My turntable, trailer axles and trailer ATM cannot be exceeded by loading the combination to its GCM, therefore my payload is 9800kgs (20000 – 4000 – 6200). The replacement of my prime-mover is imminent and the new vehicle will have a GCM of 22000kgs. The same trailer will be used, the new truck carries more fuel and has some additional equipment so tare weight will increase to approx. 4500kgs though its GVM remains at 10400kgs. Once again the turntable, trailer axles and ATM don’t hinder the load capacity in any way. So, this time the vertical load on the turntable can’t exceed 5900kgs (10400 – 4500) and overall payload is 11300kgs (22000 – 4500 – 6200).

As you can see from the two scenarios above, care must be taken when positioning the load on the trailer as to not throw too much weight forward onto the prime-mover.

So now you know!! Hopefully Julian will keep us updated with stories, info and any thing else the Australian trucking industry can chuck at us. We all love Roadtrains, but once again anything the biggun’s can do, the little Tonka toys will be following right behind. So not only are mini artics regularly crossing Europe in all directions, but also Australia. Brilliant. I have photos of Julians new truck, they will be coming soon. Also a another good write up on the troubles of speccing a mini tractor unit in Oz.

Activ Cars Spezialtransporte, Achim, Bremen

Posted on July 25, 2011 by truckbloguk

Right here we go again. Those who know me will know that i am not one to give up on some thing I want. Now for a good while I have been trying to get more photo’s and info about this lot as they don’t have a website. I did email them once and i did get a good reply with a couple of yard photo’s, but as you have guessed I want to get more of both! Activ Cars operate out of Achim, Bremen, Germany. They have a good looking fleet of Mercedes, mainly Atego’s. Perhaps my new friends at Mercedes Benz UK can even get in on the detective trail, surely there are some German colleagues you can contact?? Activ travel all over the continent and even regularly come to the UK. The main stay of there work seems to be for Airbus, delivering parts to manufacturing plants, such as Frankfurt, Toulouse and Broughton near Chester.

Now, I have done an appeal before for your spots as you go about your daily drives, and we did get a couple of spots, one at Killingholme Dock and another up the M6, possibly heading for Broughton. I am going to try my luck by emailing the email address I have and hope the staff at Activ Cars don’t ignore my email. Now this is where you lot come in, while i’ll do the emailing, I need you lot to keep your eyes peeled and send me any photos you manage to get of Activ Cars mini artics on the road. Ideally one of you will find an Activ truck parked up and you can ask the driver to email me, ben@truckblog.co.uk or via the Truckblog Facebook Page. In fact who ever send’s in the best NEW photo of one of these trucks, will win a www.truckblog.co.uk sticker. In my previous searches I even put a thread on trucknetuk.com and did get some response, but i have renewed this Mini German Artic thread in the hope it too might get some new feedback.

Just look at the backdoors, they have a lovely gap at the bottom for a nice new Navy Blue truckblog sticker! The detective work starts now, so best bi-nock-u-lars on and get detecting my loyal spotters. Hopefully now we have a load of new European friends reading the blog we may be able to spread the hunt further and wider than before and we may even get some results. Just imagine if an employee of Activ Cars got to hear about the search, they might email me direct!! Remember my email address is ben@truckblog.co.uk

Nuclear Powered Foden

Posted on June 14, 2011 by truckbloguk

Our good friend the Roving Reporter had his feet on the ground for a few days and even got home to Dorset. While rooting around various yards he came across this lovely old Foden 6×4. Now i can’t say i know my Foden’s very well, but this seems like a good one and also seems to be in remarkable good condition, considering it’s kept outside. It almost needs rescuing and being given a good shine up and be taken back to it’s former glory.

Now i put this onto my flickr page and it led inevitably onto some come backs from you lot. Firstly the sign writing on the door says “Tridan Niwclear”, which seems to be Welsh to me. Then Normant300 on flickr showed me a photo belonging to merf292002, of a very similar Foden working at a Nuclear power station in Angelsey, which was Wales last time i looked. If you can tell me any more about these Nuclear Foden’s please leave a comment below or email me, ben@truckblog.co.uk. As yet i cant put the picture directly on the blog, so click HERE to see a Foden of this vintage in action back in it’s hay day,

Roving Reporter Finds……..

Posted on May 21, 2011 by truckbloguk

…..Not entirely sure what he has found to be honest!! Along with other’s he found this lurking in a yard in the deep south (Poole-ish). Now having had a good poke about he seems to think its a Magirus Deutz of army vintage. The evidence for this as i understand it is that the monstrous engine is a V12 Maggie Deutz, hold on let me check the text so i get it right, you know what the pilot is like! He said; “Maggie deutz i reckon” and “V12!”. So based on this i will happily go with it being a Maggie D until you tell me otherwise. The only thing that makes me think it could be something else, is that its right hand drive. Please email, ben@truckblog.co.uk or leave a comment below if you have any thing to add that may solve the mystery…..

Who’s Truck Is This???

Posted on May 6, 2011 by truckbloguk

Right readers i need your help as i cant read the web address on the side of this truck. The excellent roving reporter sent me this photo. Taken on the A46 near Bath this afternoon, obviously he wasn’t driving when he took it!! Amazingly he managed to take the pic with a gap in the oncoming traffic and got a totally clear picture. The little MAN looks fairly new, its in good condition, clean and has the new grill. Can you work out the web address? do you recognise the logo?? Do you drive this truck??? If you know anything, please please email me; ben@truckblog.co.uk . I want to find out who owns and runs said truck…. with your help of course.

Roving Reporter’s Personal Best

Posted on March 31, 2011 by truckbloguk

Our good friend the Roving Reporter has beaten his personal best. After another recent trip to the in laws in middle Italy, he managed to venture out for a few hours to do some top spotting. Based at Fontana Liri between Rome and Naples, our Pilot friend venture’s out and about to pass the time perving over Italian metal of all kinds. There are more than enough old V8 Scania’s to go round, as well as all the others, Volvo, DAF and of course Iveco. As well as some foreigners such as this cracking F16 wagon and drag. What a great find and not a bad picture either!!

I have to say that for some reason i have a soft spot for an old Turbostar. I know its an Iveco, but they were from a time before i could drive, there fore they are pre my dislike of the Italians favourite. This old girl below, is still earnng a crust and i think with a bit of a shine up she’d look pretty good. I think we’ll have to add the Turbostar to the classic fleet, but only one of em mind! Did they do a V8 version of the Turbostar? Can some one let me know, ben@truckblog.co.uk or comment below.

As you can always expect in Italy you will always find a load of old Scania’s. From 2 and 3 series right through to new R serie’s they just love them. Still very popular are the 3 series Streamliner’s. Got to get one!

If you get through to my Flickr Photostream you’ll see plenty more of The Roving Reporters pictures from this trip. I will do another post with some more of his quality pics. I’ll leave you with the Pilot’s own words;
“The trucks on the dual carriageway were taken on the SS16 between Bari and Foggia. The single road stuff is on the SS372 that cuts through the mountains and is a link from the southern Adriatic side of Italy to the western coast to link up with the Roma Naples autoroute. Pics taken to the west of Benevento. Need to dedicate a few days to some more photography trips. Need a bike as a chase vehicle as overtaking them and planning a quick pitstop and getting a shot was fun. Need a lot of patience to hang about in a layby. Missed loads of good opportunities that I won’t repeat again for instance I overtook 3 old 142s/143s steaming up a hill and reckoned at least one of them would take my route off the autostrada. fat chance! Some drivers must’ve wondered what a tired looking pilot in a ropey old Merc Estate was blasting past them then taking pics but most flashed and waved. The scoop has got to be the Bubble’ F16 parked up no doubt heading for Bari/Brindisi for his ferry back to Zorba land.”

New Old Transport (Thats Us!) – 1st on The Fleet is…..

Posted on February 11, 2011 by truckbloguk

The Roving Reporter has been at it again, not with Mrs Roving Reporter, but with the classic Italian trucks. Another wander about and he has stumbled across a couple of cracking V8’s. The best of which is this lovely Scania 142 that’s still earning a Ciabatta crust each day. Wouldn’t it be lovely to go to work each day in such a classic European truck i thought.
Now this got us talking and we’ve decided if i win the lottery or with the Roving Reporters Pilot wage we are going to start up a Classic International Haulage company, only running classic european trucks at good rates. The 1st of the fleet is this 142.
Now this is where all other perverts can join in. We have decided that if you had a fleet of classics running through France, Italy and Spain (where emissions haven’t caught up, obviously) i bet you’d never be short of drivers willing to work for you. The yard would have a big sign up saying “No Health and Safety here”, No hi-viz required, just good old common sense and a “can do” attitude. Proper old tilts with spare wheels, tilt boards and a bag of sweat, none of those modern easy life Euroliner types. Fancy adding your thoughts to our little company??? Leave a comment below or suggest the next truck for the fleet (think pre-emissions, pre-speed limiters, pre-computerisation!). More of our classic fleet to come, you know you want to sign up and work for us!!

The Latest in Italian Truck Fashion

Posted on February 6, 2011 by truckbloguk

Our good friend the Roving Reporter has been hard at it again, sitting in the sun with a Peroni, truck spotting in the truck heaven that is Fontana Liri. Where?? i hear you cry, Fontana Liri, its a small village between Rome and Napoli. Fontana Liri is the birth place of Mrs Roving Reporter, hence the reason for sitting at a cafe with a beer.
Whilst sitting enjoying the Italian home brew, this amazing piece of Italian fashion appeared across the square, delivering groceries.

With all the flair of your typical Italian this little tilt has all the Italian style you could need. The rear doors with all the stickers and warnings of its transcontinental big brother.

Stainless steel tool box, water tank and tap and also a pair of straight through side pipes, which actually sounded surprisingly good!

Horse power stickers, air horns and an uprated front axle for all those stacked up veggies!

Stainless steel grill and enough guff on the dash to get a GV9!

Even after all that it is still a cracker! Only in Italy would so much love care and attention be lavished on an Iveco!

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