The long-truck or gigaliner is in the testing phase and is the subject of much discussion. Per definition, it is a truck-trailer extended to a length of 25,25 meters. This occurs, when a 'Dolly' is integrated into the trailer and then hitched up to a normal truck. Two containers would fit onto the semi-trailer and one on the tractor vehicle, indeed they couldn't by far, exploit their full loading capacity.

Under European legislation, these giants are permitted up to 60 tons, in Germany it's only 44 tons. Mercedes is even speaking of a gross weight rating of only 40 tons. The semi-trailer can have either two or three axles. As you can easily see in the above pictures, with this amount of axles, a much higher tonnage would be possible. If one takes the actual axle-load as the yardstick for road- and bridge-strain, then the long-truck is more favourable than the customary semitrailer.

From the aspect of safety, at the moment the legal requirements for such a vehicle are much higher. E.g., more assistants are demanded, e.g., also the rear-view camera is mandatory. Through the larger number of tyres and the same payload, the braking distance should actually even be a little shorter. Generally speaking, a lot of car drivers would be surprised at the capabilities of the modern truck as far as braking is concerned. It is however, still better not to drive between two of them in convoy.

However, those who believe the manufacturers and the vehicle-pool operators, are assuming a savings of 2 to 3 trucks through the use of the long-vehicles. Indeed, no-one knows for certain, how the total goods traffic volume will develop. In the case of marine transport, at the moment (2015), one assumes that it will double itself up to 2020. It's a great pity, the way that the railways, as a possible alternative, are developing. Here is one example, where you can read about a railways project regarding the field of transporting and the associate difficulties.

In the meantime, from an ecological standpoint, trucks are being praised as being almost comparable with the railways. This is only little comfort to the average car driver, who has to battle his/her way through the enormous increase in goods traffic. What do you think, will the long-vehicles bring about a little relief, or will they cause even more congestion on the motorway-service areas? At least there are a large number of four-lane motorway expansions in the planning. This can easily lead to motorways having a width of 40 metres. Whether that's the solution?

Indeed, one thing is certain: In the case of Point-to-Point delivery, e.g., in the automobile industry, which should also of course, be carried out in the Just-In-Time mode, the new vehicles do seem to offer real advantages. These advantages are particularly emphasised for the delivery of lighter but at the same time voluminous components. This is where the heavy railways have hardly any chance. There are some car factories, who require not only that the deliveries take place in a certain time-corridor, but also require a certain placing and order. Will the truck in future, park right next the production line?

The final assessment: Very difficult indeed, because it must be cleared, whether or not the railways can even keep up with the demands made by certain industrial branches as far as flexibility and logistics are concerned. In addition, an expensive rail-connection is also necessary. If only one of the transport partners has such a rail-siding, then the cargo must be reloaded onto a truck or trucks anyway. On the other hand, history teaches us, that at the moment, price-reductions can assert themselves very quickly. Factories which are to be newly built, can save themselves to expense of establishing a rail connection, even if the railway lines lie in close proximity. Whatever the case may be, inappropriate polemics against the long-vehicles are not going to be much help at all. 07/15