Road train
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- This article is about road trains that carry freight. For trackless trains that carry passengers see trackless train, for other trains see train (disambiguation).
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A road train is a truck design used in remote areas of Australia to move bulky loads efficiently.
A road train consists of a relatively conventional truck chassis, cab and engine unit, but instead of pulling a single trailer the road train pulls a succession of them, typically three but sometimes a dozen or more, providing massive carrying capacity.
Road trains are unwieldy, and pulling and manoeuvering them safely is only possible because of the lack of traffic on Australia's outback roads, and the terrain's flatness. The multiple trailers are detached and connected individually to multiple trucks when the road train gets close to populated areas.
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Road trains are used for transporting all manner of materials, with livestock transport the most common. The cost-effective transport they have made possible has played a significant part in the economic development of these remote areas.
Overtaking a road train can be quite difficult (and on Australia's many dirt roads often impossible). Patience, assistance from the driver, and large amounts of clear road are required. Many road train drivers assist by blinking their right-hand turn indicators a couple of times to indicate that the road ahead is clear. It is common for passing motorists to flash both turn indicators to say "thanks" after a successful passing manoeuvre.
In 1999 the town of Merredin, Western Australia made it into the Guinness Book of Records, with a successful attempt on the record for the worlds longest road train. The record was created when 45 trailers weighing 603 tonnes and measuring 610 metres were pulled by a Kenworth truck for 8 km.
In 2003, the record was surpassed near Mungindi, New South Wales, by a road train consisting of 87 trailers and a single prime mover (measuring 1235 metres in length).de:Road Train es:Tren de carretera