John Drummond got featured in an “a day on the job” feature at CNN.com
The article is at
Cool. I wonder if CNN will also do a TV news spot for it.
It’s strange. I go to CNN.com for a quick news fix and at the bottom of the page I immediately see the word “unicycle”. Strange how that word manages to catch my attention.
john_childs
John_childs wrote:
> John Drummond got featured in an “a day on the job” feature at CNN.com
> http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/dayonthejob/12/06/drummond/index.html
which leads to a drunken question (sort of):
(i.e. my wife asked it when I mentioned the 18 wheeler incident on the way
home from my work Christmas party, but she was sober, that’s what
comes of being 7 1/2 months pregnant)
Just how big is an 18 wheeler?
How many groups of axles?
I imagine a group of 2 wheels and a group of 4 wheels on the cab, leaving
12 wheels. One axle on the front with 4 wheels, and a group of 2 axles on
the back with 4 wheels each?
I know it’s irrelevant, it’s just that the idea of an 18-wheeler showing
up on the doorstep gripped our imagination.
–
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
Recumbent bikes page: http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/ “Make
it idiot-proof and someone will build a better idiot.”
18 wheelers usually are 40-75 feet long with tractor and trailer. You have
two “steer” tires (the front tires) on one axle, and one or two “drive”
axles with four tires each. Most trucks have two drive axles, making 10
wheels for the tractor. The trailer will have one or two (or a dozen for
really heavy stuff) axles with four tires each, usually two axles. It all
depends on how much weight is being hauled.
So, the 18-wheeler, with 18 actual wheels, will have 5 axles, with two
wheels on the first axle, and four on the second through fifth axles.
People still say “18-wheeler” in reference to a tractor-trailer with
fewer or more than 5 axles and 18 wheels. Tri-axle trailers are popular
in Canada for hauling freight, and they are allowed to have a higher
gross weight.
Tractors will be anywhere from 15 to 24 feet long for the common ones,
with some dedicated drivers putting huge “condo” sleepers on their
trucks with stretched frames and ending up with a tractor over 30 feet
long or so (I’m just guessing at the really long ones). Trailers are
commonly 28, 48, 53, and in the southern United States, 57 feet long.
28-foot trailers are often pulled in combinations of two and three
trailers, and I’ve seen double 48 and 53-foot trailers going down the
road. The Australians, crazy as always, will pull four 48-footers at a
high rate of speed across the desert.
Danny Colyer wrote:
> John_childs wrote:
> > John Drummond got featured in an “a day on the job” feature at CNN.com
> > http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/dayonthejob/12/06/drummond/index.html
>
> which leads to a drunken question (sort of):
> (i.e. my wife asked it when I mentioned the 18 wheeler incident on the
> way home from my work Christmas party, but she was sober, that’s
> what comes of being 7 1/2 months pregnant)
>
> Just how big is an 18 wheeler?
>
> How many groups of axles?
>
> I imagine a group of 2 wheels and a group of 4 wheels on the cab,
> leaving 12 wheels. One axle on the front with 4 wheels, and a group of 2
> axles on the back with 4 wheels each?
>
> I know it’s irrelevant, it’s just that the idea of an 18-wheeler showing
> up on the doorstep gripped our imagination.
>
> –
> Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
> Recumbent bikes page: http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/
> “Make it idiot-proof and someone will build a better idiot.”
John wrote:
> 18 wheelers usually are 40-75 feet long with tractor and trailer…
Thanks John. That’s rather a lot of information to read with a hangover, I
think I’ll read it again tomorrow.
I love the image of one of those pulling up outside John’s house to
deliver unicycles. And I can just imagine what my wife (not to mention my
neighbours) would say if a bloody great big lorry full of unicycles pulled
up on our doorstep!
–
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
Recumbent bikes page: http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/ “Make
it idiot-proof and someone will build a better idiot.”
> I love the image of one of those pulling up outside John’s house to
> deliver unicycles. And I can just imagine what my wife (not to mention
> my neighbours) would say if a bloody great big lorry full of unicycles
> pulled up on our doorstep!
If you knew how steep their driveway is, and how the hill basically points
down at the house, you would really understand why they moved to their
warehouse!
Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com
“Our time is a most precious commodity, but it’s how we spend it that
makes us rich.” - John Foss
… snip . . .
> trailers going down the road. The Australians, crazy as always, will
> pull four 48-footers at a high rate of speed across the desert.
>
Yeah, and you should see how long the trains are!
nic
I can only imagine. Is it one of those situations where you bring a book
if you know you’ll be crossing railroad tracks, just in case you have to
stop and wait for a train?
Nicholas Price wrote:
> … snip . . .
> > trailers going down the road. The Australians, crazy as always, will
> > pull four 48-footers at a high rate of speed across the desert.
> >
>
> Yeah, and you should see how long the trains are!
>
> nic
I think the usual term in Australia for a tractor and a string of
trailers is “road train”. As traffic won’t be very dense in the
Australian outback, I think the concept makes more sense than
constructing an additional rail road.
Klaas Bil
On Mon, 17 Dec 2001 13:49:47 +0800 (WST), Nicholas Price
<pricen01@tartarus.uwa.edu.au> wrote:
>
>… snip . . .
>> trailers going down the road. The Australians, crazy as always, will
>> pull four 48-footers at a high rate of speed across the desert.
>>
>
>Yeah, and you should see how long the trains are!
>
>nic
>
–
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