3 ms·
I think we need to look at it as a throughput question. How do we transport X tonnage from pt A to pt B? What’s more efficient? One truck with more axles or t
by mc32 3y ago
I think we need to look at it as a throughput question. How do we transport X tonnage from pt A to pt B? What’s more efficient? One truck with more axles or two separate trucks, with fewer, for example; taking into consideration roadwear, tire wear, bridge capacity, etc.
- smolder 3y agoFewer vessels for fewer total trips is the more efficient option as a rule. See: cargo trains and gigantic container ships. Australia has some super long cargo trucks they allow called road-trains, I think, which are justifiable if you can fit them onto roads. The thing that needs to be balanced in the case of # of axles is the cost of outfitting each truck with additional axles and associated suspension/braking hardware versus the savings in tire costs due to reduced wear on the larger number of tires.
- smolder 3y agoI wanted to add that there are a bunch of factors at play in this optimization problem that might not be obvious. For example, there are diminishing returns in reduced wear from distributing load over more tires at some point. More tires & rolling parts also tend to increase rolling resistance, even ignoring extra weight that tends to come with a more complex design. Another potential advantage of having more axles is to reduce the frontal area of the vehicle by arranging tires in the direction of travel instead of putting them side by side on the same axle. Frontal area is a big component of the drag on a vehicle, along with speed and drag coefficient.
- dontlaugh 3y agoProbably a train. Doesn’t even need to carry its own electricity source.