4 ms·

What I find surprising is how the majority of semis in Netherlands appear to be very new and presumably in good condition. In Texas, by contrast, few appear to

by blunte 5y ago

What I find surprising is how the majority of semis in Netherlands appear to be very new and presumably in good condition. In Texas, by contrast, few appear to be new and well maintained, while many look quite heavily used. The trailers are even worse. Considering how expensive those things are, who is affording the new trucks in NL? Is it because they are company owned instead of individual (owner-operator)? Where do the worn out NL semis go?

Closi 5y ago
As well as the other responses, it is very common to lease your fleet in Europe, particularly for 3PL's who will lease the fleet over the duration of their contracts. Most transport is done by 3PL's who will lease the trucks and hire the drivers.
sumtechguy 5y ago
You will find that wildly varies in the US too. For example Walmart has very nice trucks. But some random LTL probably has used equipment that is decades old. It comes down to the fact that most of this has a very thin margin. Large private company fleets tend to be newer. Small general delivery tend to be older.
- intpx 5y ago
  and all of the owner/operators who specifically want pre year 2000 rigs so they don't have to have an ELD.
orangepurple 5y ago
> Where do the worn out NL semis go? African countries
leto_ii 5y ago
> Where do the worn out NL semis go? Eastern Europe, if I had to guess. I can't say specifically about semis, but in my home country of Romania I've seen quite a lot of Dutch clunker vans/small trucks roaming the streets (you can tell they're Dutch because they still have some of the original branding decals of the companies that used to own them).
- vanderZwan 5y ago
  When I was travelling through Ghana I saw tons of cargo vans with Dutch and German decals, advertising plumbers, bakeries, delivery services, etc. It was a bit odd to see them in the middle of West-Africa. I'm actually kind of curious if anyone ever made a documentary or something about the trip those vans and trucks make, feels like a hidden economy.
- nicbou 5y ago
  Same with German vehicles. When they fail inspection (usually because of emissions), they are sold to other countries. Central Asia is full of trucks with German lettering. It's always interesting to see.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    The US has a similar dynamic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_Unit...
    - imadethis 5y ago
      I work for a private ambulance company in the US that shifts ambulances between states based off of emissions requirements. Crews working in California for example will always get the shiny new ambulances, while those in Kentucky get ambos with 200k miles (slight exaggeration) to replace the ones that have been driven into the ground.
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    If they are just sold on and continue to be used when they fail emissions testing, what is the point of emissions testing at all? The vehicles will just end up in countries that don't care, and emissions will rapidly get worse as they will get minimal maintenance and probably lower quality fuel.
    - leto_ii 5y ago
      Something similar happens to "recycling" as well, take for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjsL61qi3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjsL61qi3g
duxup 5y ago
It depends on the carrier in the US. Lots of carries take good care of their equipment. You can also be a carrier and just be one guy and a truck … so there is a lot of variety.
post_break 5y ago
Older trucks dont have the same emissions requirements and are sought after big time in the US.
yourusername 5y ago
>Where do the worn out NL semis go? Eastern Europe. You need to have a Euro 5 or Euro 6 diesel engine to be allowed in many Western European cities as a commercial truck. So old trucks aren't viable.
Element_ 5y ago
Some jurisdictions have limits on how old trucks can be, or increased inspection frequency based on the age of the vehicle. Some businesses/terminals have restrictions on the age of equipment too, for instance the port of Vancouver is about to ban trucks older than 10 years. I believe regulations in TX are very lax compared to other parts of the world.
Kon-Peki 5y ago
> In Texas, by contrast, few appear to be new and well maintained, while many look quite heavily used. That is pretty interesting. A few weeks ago, there was a thread here on HN talking about the Port of Long Beach backlog and a comment mentioning the scarcity of trucks with the clean idle certification. At about the same time, I took a road trip along the Interstate - Illinois, Indiana, Ohio - and paid attention to the trucks. Somewhere around 90% of them had the "California Clean Idle" sticker on them - and none of them had California plates. Even on trucks with Ontario plates (you see a lot of Canadian trucks in the upper midwest). My best explanation is that the long-haul routes crisscrossing North America have all the newest, cleanest, most modern vehicles and once they reach a certain age they are sold into the places where they don't drive long distances anymore.

by blunte 5y ago

Closi 5y ago

As well as the other responses, it is very common to lease your fleet in Europe, particularly for 3PL's who will lease the fleet over the duration of their contracts. Most transport is done by 3PL's who will lease the trucks and hire the drivers.

sumtechguy 5y ago

You will find that wildly varies in the US too. For example Walmart has very nice trucks. But some random LTL probably has used equipment that is decades old. It comes down to the fact that most of this has a very thin margin. Large private company fleets tend to be newer. Small general delivery tend to be older.

intpx 5y ago
and all of the owner/operators who specifically want pre year 2000 rigs so they don't have to have an ELD.

orangepurple 5y ago

> Where do the worn out NL semis go? African countries

leto_ii 5y ago

> Where do the worn out NL semis go? Eastern Europe, if I had to guess. I can't say specifically about semis, but in my home country of Romania I've seen quite a lot of Dutch clunker vans/small trucks roaming the streets (you can tell they're Dutch because they still have some of the original branding decals of the companies that used to own them).

vanderZwan 5y ago
When I was travelling through Ghana I saw tons of cargo vans with Dutch and German decals, advertising plumbers, bakeries, delivery services, etc. It was a bit odd to see them in the middle of West-Africa. I'm actually kind of curious if anyone ever made a documentary or something about the trip those vans and trucks make, feels like a hidden economy.
nicbou 5y ago
Same with German vehicles. When they fail inspection (usually because of emissions), they are sold to other countries. Central Asia is full of trucks with German lettering. It's always interesting to see.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  The US has a similar dynamic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_Unit...
  - imadethis 5y ago
    I work for a private ambulance company in the US that shifts ambulances between states based off of emissions requirements. Crews working in California for example will always get the shiny new ambulances, while those in Kentucky get ambos with 200k miles (slight exaggeration) to replace the ones that have been driven into the ground.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  If they are just sold on and continue to be used when they fail emissions testing, what is the point of emissions testing at all? The vehicles will just end up in countries that don't care, and emissions will rapidly get worse as they will get minimal maintenance and probably lower quality fuel.
  - leto_ii 5y ago
    Something similar happens to "recycling" as well, take for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjsL61qi3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjsL61qi3g

duxup 5y ago

It depends on the carrier in the US. Lots of carries take good care of their equipment. You can also be a carrier and just be one guy and a truck … so there is a lot of variety.

post_break 5y ago

Older trucks dont have the same emissions requirements and are sought after big time in the US.

yourusername 5y ago

>Where do the worn out NL semis go? Eastern Europe. You need to have a Euro 5 or Euro 6 diesel engine to be allowed in many Western European cities as a commercial truck. So old trucks aren't viable.

Element_ 5y ago

Some jurisdictions have limits on how old trucks can be, or increased inspection frequency based on the age of the vehicle. Some businesses/terminals have restrictions on the age of equipment too, for instance the port of Vancouver is about to ban trucks older than 10 years. I believe regulations in TX are very lax compared to other parts of the world.

Kon-Peki 5y ago

> In Texas, by contrast, few appear to be new and well maintained, while many look quite heavily used. That is pretty interesting. A few weeks ago, there was a thread here on HN talking about the Port of Long Beach backlog and a comment mentioning the scarcity of trucks with the clean idle certification. At about the same time, I took a road trip along the Interstate - Illinois, Indiana, Ohio - and paid attention to the trucks. Somewhere around 90% of them had the "California Clean Idle" sticker on them - and none of them had California plates. Even on trucks with Ontario plates (you see a lot of Canadian trucks in the upper midwest). My best explanation is that the long-haul routes crisscrossing North America have all the newest, cleanest, most modern vehicles and once they reach a certain age they are sold into the places where they don't drive long distances anymore.