One gets up very early in the morning, to make sure that one will reach his/her destination shortly before midday, a trip of a good 800 km, then this happens. If one is very close behind a special transport, one can observe it, or its escort vehicles, with a bit of luck at 70 - 80 kmh. Overtaking of course, is not an option.

Particularly shrewd drivers or those having local knowledge, use one of the numerous double-slipways which have a stretch of road running parallel to the motorway. This is dangerous, because in the end, and at all costs, one would like to slip in ahead of the leading escort vehicle. Especially gifted drivers also attempt this manoeuvre using the entrances and exits to motorway service areas, which are of course, full of overnight truck-drivers: This is even more dangerous.

You have exactly three chances, to get back to your normal travelling speed:
1. The accursed obstacle sticks to the prescribed breaks.
2. You reach a three-lane stretch of motorway and the convoy lets you pass.
3. The convoy has a (partially) different destination than you do.

Mercedes and MAN are still holding onto the expression 'Schwertransport' (heavy load), whereby, it is enough if the load is light but particularly bulky. Thereby, it could either be too wide for one motorway lane, or so long, that in a curve, the second lane must also be used. Either one is enough to cause other road users headaches, because also in the latter case, overtaking is not permitted, even on straight stretches of road.

Try to be patient, it may well be for a good cause, e.g., in the above pictures, where individual components of wind-turbines are being transported. In order that a wind-turbine can be able to generate electricity effectively, very big propeller-blades have to be attached at a considerable height. Another example of a bulky-, but certainly not a particularly heavy load.

They nearly succeded, in freeing us from these nightly obstacles. The Zeppelin was revived, an enormous cargo-carrier was planned. The hangar was already built, but unfortunately the company went into bankruptcy. That would have been quite something, to simply load the components where they are produced and perhaps even deliver them ready for assembly. Nowadays, the Zeppelin is being used to give people who need a break from the rat-race, a few hours of South-Sea romanticism in Brandenburg. Under suitable wind conditions, the Zeppelin is the calmest aircraft of them all.

This however, was not to be. Have a look at the videos below, the amount of meticulous preparation and implementation that is necessary, so that afterwards the account for the reparation of damages caused is kept within limits. How several axles are simultaneously steered, independent from the tractor vehicle and how the cargo can even be lifted during the transportation, and be shifted.

By the way, these extremely long vehicles are only a problem in Germany and other high-population countries in Europe. In other countries, e.g., Australia (see picture), heavy trucks and/or trailers with up to 50 wheels (in this case it's only 26), are almost the order of the day. In the last two videos overtaking is even permitted. Those who have the USA in mind when thinking about extremely long vehicles, should however, be aware that they are only permitted in certain federal states. 07/15