LATEST MOAN FROM YOU AND ME - 2021

Not sure they understand the word lorry in America, artic is, I think a semi, but dont know how that name came about.

 

How different would it be if all the 1,000's and 1'000s of HGV drivers employed on/working indirectly for HS2 were doing something useful instead?

 

Yeah but what about Semi, .as they call them in America.

 

Apparently it refers to the fact that the trailer only has wheels at the one end.

 

I've been looking it up, and its a bit odd really, the tractor unit is a semi and so is the trailer, you would have thought that both together would be a "whole one", but apparently its still a semi.

 

I think in the States they regard the semi as just being the actual truck, unit or tractor, basically it just means the cab only. I think they tend to just call it, tractor unit or Rigg, in the States.

 

Semi (pronounced sem-i not sem-e) is short for semi-articulated which refers to the cab and trailer as you can't have one piece that is articulated. Being married to an American for 53 years and having lived there for 20 years in four States, I think I know what they are. A rig is generally both parts.

 

....And on the Isle of Man it would be called a wagon.

 

In the UK it's a tractor unit and trailer but other international descriptions are recognised by the average 'trucker'

 

Following on from that @Victoria. I think you'd agree they are much longer than our vehicles too, averaging about 80ft.

 

80ft is a doddle on American/Australian highways but try manoeuvres on British roads with mini roundabouts and deliveries to old Victorian mills that were designed to accept a horse and cart..
I've hauled extended 60' long trailers 14' wide here which required a police escort.
It's all relavent to whichever area you happen to be in.
Costs will always dictate the maximum practical load that can reasonably be carried in a given environment.

 

My daughter has just applied for an HGV licence to learn to drive semi's/rigs. According to her a semi is just the trailer.