Road Trains 60m long.

I don't see any problems with this. 1 extra trailer at the rear. If a company has a fleet of road trains thats 1 less prime mover for every 4 or 5 road trains they own. Thats 1 less road train on the road. Thats 1 extra second you will be on the wrong side of the road when over taking it.

One extra trailer is only a normal bus length increase. Round them up just as easy.

Longer is ok, larger may take more road though.

If there doing 95 I won't be passing them I am not in that much of a hurry. Most likely have to pull over and let them pass. Thats OK with me as someone has to work and pay tax.

Cannington ore trucks must be close to that. You find them between Cloncurry and McKinley

Have seen them with 12 small trailers/bins

Alan

These "new" rigs are known as Super Quads, and Mitchell Corp were using them (illegally) on the Woodie-Woodie run in 2004.

The new approvals make Super Quads fully legal in W.A. and they are limited to 90kmh, not 95kmh.
They are only 6.5M longer than a current triple roadtrain, there will be no noticeable difference between these rigs and a standard triple roadtrain, apart from the fact there are four trailers instead of three.

ABC Stateline tried to make a big hoo-haa about Mitchell Corp being outrageous criminals, by registering their rigs in QLD and avoiding excessive W.A. stamp duty, and by running rigs that were not "garaged in the state" and by running rigs that were 6.5M too long.

Nothing was ever done about Mitchell Corps "illegal" rigs, mining means too much to W.A.
The infringements by Mitchell Corp were relatively minor - just being a little too long, and the "garaging" issue.

What was the illegal activities, was the QLD transport inspectors who registered Mitchells trucks and trailers without inspecting them.
The rigs were all new anyway, so the inspection fraud was not a major fraud.
However, it does remain open to question as to whether Mitchell Corp or one of its employees or owners was guilty of bribery.

The length issue is regarded as non-event, the Mitchell trucks were registered legally in QLD, stamp duty was paid - anyone can avoid excessive stamp duty by purchasing in another state (I've done it myself) - and the "garaging" issue is also a minor issue.
When it comes to "garaging", how often are interstate transport trucks regularly "garaged"??

Roadtrains are a fact of life in the Outback, the important thing is having good roads that make it safe to pass them.

Main Roads WA and other interested parties are closely observing the 3 mth Super-Quad trial and will report back with their findings as to any problems encountered. It's highly unlikely any major problems will arise and these rigs will become part of the regular road scene.

Cheers, Ron.

MinRes gets nod for Super Quads

First Super Quad trial

2004 ABC news story on Mitchell Corp "fraud".

Probably won't make much of a difference to most of us, Peter. Anything over 19M, travelling at 90 clicks or more needs a degree of attention if one wishes to overtake it. And an asthmatic 4wd towing a 2 tonne plus 'van isn't an ideal highway unit for such a venture. No doubt these 60M units will be restricted to mainly mine roads in the Pilbara?

The omission of dollys makes for a very stable unit........the trailers follow the prime mover like a snake, and there's none, or at least very, very little "flick" that is prevalent with triples, that have 2 dollys in their configuration. Just a mild jerk on the steering wheel will see the 3rd trailer on a triple flick out either side, for up to half a metre.

Ron mentioned Mitchell's. I heard that they were bought out by Toll, so with that backing they might insulated a little from requirements that would see us mere mortals up before the Beak.

There'll be plenty more of these "trials" over the years ahead, in an attempt to reduce overheads. Toll has the go to run B-Triples on the Hume, albeit at only 90 clicks. That'll scare the watsits out of some Mum 'n Dad Sunday drivers, I'll wager! :-)

Bob

Here is a pic of a Mitchell Quad that I took at Woodie Woodie Mine in 2002.
They were running these on public roads from the Mine to Pt. Hedland.

How about this for a rig?

Not a big issue on the Great Northern Hwy - plenty of long straight stretches to pass. A few extra metres won't make a difference. It is the "overwidths" that can be difficult. I got stuck behind a house in 4 sections (4 trucks) while I was heading up to Newman the other day. That took a bit of effort to pass.

I remember seeing a video on community TV .. several years ago ..... it featured the "new Tri-drive Kenworth" towing a double B double with what looked like full length A trailers .... that is a prime mover an A trailer, B trailer then a dolly with another A trailer and a B trailer..... they where using it to haul fuel into the remote mine sites in WA out of Perth.

Cant remember any more details ..... but this sort of thing seems to have been happening for a while.

cheers