road train

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road train (plural road trains)

1. (US, Australia, Canada) A transport concept consisting of a conventional prime mover truck pulling two or more trailers.
   • 2007, Adrianna Morganelli, Trucks: Pickups to Big Rigs, page 17:

     Road trains are big rigs made of tractors that pull more than one trailer. […] They are driven in remote areas of Canada, the United States, and Australia. Australia is home to the largest road trains in the world. […] It is common for Australian road trains to have up to six trailers attached to a single tractor, with each trailer holding up to 140 tons (127 tonnes) of freight.

   • 2007, Dick Eussen, Australia′s Savannah Way: Cairns to Broome, page 13:

     Livestock road trains tend to travel in convoys and its^[sic] best to pull over for a rest and watch them pass.

   • 2010, Alan Rushton, Phil Croucher, Peter Baker, The Handbook of Logistics & Distribution Management, page 398:

     Where there are two semi-trailers and one motive unit this is called a double bottomed articulated vehicle or road train. Especially in Australia, road trains may consist of more than two trailers. In the UK, serious consideration is being given to their use on motorways.

• B-double (Australia) (A Prime mover Towing a "bridge" - "B" trailer and a turntable/5th wheel connected second trailer. (There are no "A" (drawbar) connected Dolly Converter in the train).
• Double Roadtrain (A-double, Prime mover towing 2 semi Trailers, with one(1) "A"-(Drawbar) Dolly Converter).
• Triple Roadtrain (A-triple, Prime mover towing 3 semi Trailers, with two (2) "A"-(Drawbar) Dolly Converters).
• B-Triple (3 trailers, 2x "B" (bridge) trailers towing a third "5th Wheel" connected semitrailer.
• BAB Quad Roadtrain - 4 trailers with "B", "A" and "B" connections (ie. Tractor/Prime-mover pulling 2x B-Doubles interconnected by an "A"- (drawbar), "dolly converter").
• ABB Quad Roadtrain - 4 trailers ie. a Semitrailer towing an "A" (dolly converter with drawbar)-connected "B-Triple".
• Other configurations B2A or BAA Quad, 2BA or BBA Quad (B-connections LoadShare on rear wheelsets with the following semitrailer, A-connected trailers do not LoadShare, ie. use a "non load bearing" drawbar to the dolly).
• Quad Roadtrain - Super Quad, 60m overall length 4 "Dog"Trailers, often with a more stable (3x) hybrid A-type drawbar interconnections (mostly seen in Northern WA).