why do trucks jack knife ?

simplified answer to this is car drivers - let me explain

"a jack knife" as it is commonly called is the end result of an accident not the cause

this occurs when the unit of an articulated vehicle turns back on the trailer it is coupled to - to such a degree that it hits its own trailer - this means that it is that far round on its self that if the unit tries to drive forward the trailer will move backwards
have a look in your kids toybox and get a toy wagon and try this it will make more sense
now when this happens the truck cannot get out of this under its own power as no matter how much steering is applied it is effectivly past the point of no return and a recovery truck will need to drag the unit sideways to free it
right clear as mud - back to my first point car drivers cause jack knifes - how you ask - simple really - the quickest way to cause a jack knife is to brake too hard on a slippery surface and then swerve - youre getting it now arent you !
most interviews with drivers after one of these incidents site a car as the initial cause of the accident
and why do they cause so much disruption - it is simple again wagons are big and block the whole road and it takes a while for the recovery trucks to get to them to sort it out
when a car skids in the snow a couple of strong lads can usually push it out to get it going again - wagons are kind of big and heavy enough said !!
generally wagons are better in the snow as being heavier they exert a bigger ground pressure per area of tyre size and they cut through the snow where cars compact it
handy hint if you have wide wheels on your car and it is bad in the snow - go to the local scrap yard and find the narrow wheels off the base model of your particular car and that should help and should be reasonably cheap
 bye for now and drive safe

The future of the haulage industry






Wagons use a lot of diesel because they need a lot of power to move heavy loads.


To move them more efficiently they would need more power but that would use more fuel – a problem that.


If you run a unit on its own without its trailer it is very fuel efficient but when it has a loaded trailer on it has to work harder – less fuel efficient.


What if the loaded trailer helped out a bit?


This was the start of my idea.


The roof of a trailer is 45ft by 8ft – what if you covered this with solar panels?


A little bit of research tells me that a 3 inch square panel will put out 1.5volts at 1.2milli amps.


So 12 panels will make up a square foot – 18volts at 1.2milli amps.


45 x 8 = 360sq ft so = 6480volts at 1.2milli amps.


With a bit of wiring in parallel and all that this could be a lower voltage and a lot higher amperage.


Now the clever bit. Run this into a bank of batteries in a cradle under the trailer and this will keep them charged up.


Now to the trailer axles, change these for drive axles and hook up electric motors to them – these need to be about 20 horse power motors possibly more.


Now you need a control system to run it all – this is quite simple really as most wagons run by computers these days.


Basically you need two feeds from the wagon one to say it is accelerating and one to say it is slowing down.


Now when it is accelerating the trailer motors kick in and help out a bit – this will improve acceleration and improve economy.


When it is slowing down the motors switch to generators and put power back into the battery bank – the added resistance of this will help with braking force and cut down on brake wear.


I reckon with a bit of trial and error you could cut the fuel bill by about 25%

driving in the rain

lets face it it rains a lot - so in theory we should all be used to it by now

but when it comes to driving in it a lot of you out there havent got a clue

number one headlights - put them on

i know you can see where you are going buts thats not why you should put them on - its so other people can see you

fog lights - no,no,no

yes you think so people can see you - no in rain they blind the people behind you and worse people confuse them with brake lights and that causes other problems

you dont have to slow right down in the rain but you dont have to drive like idiot either

just drive with more awareness of others and give yourself more room for manouvre and dont follow each other so close - it takes a lot longer to stop in the wet - not to mention a much greater chance of getting into a skid - i doubt many of you have played on a skidpan and learned how to control it properly - so dont use the busy roads to practice on

look ahead - sounds easy i know but be aware of standing water if you see it slow down before you get to it and dont brake as you go through it as it has the same result as if you drive through it too quick - aquaplanning - total lost of control and usually going off in the wrong direction

mud flaps - if you get chance get some on your car - very few cars seem to have them on nowadays if you all put them on it would go a long way to reducing the amount of spray and we could all see better - less accidents

another one check your wipers tommorrow and if they need changed go and get them changed - its better to see it before you run in to it

drive safe and stay lucky!!!

been to london

LONDON

its a while since i have been into London proper and i wasn't looking forward to it

i was right its still bad

the style of driving is like no where else i know

i guess i am too much of a country bumpkin for the aggression and sheer cheek of the way they drive down there but i refuse to lower my standards down to theirs so i don't enjoy driving there at all

changes since i was last there are lots more road works and even more pointless street furniture

there seems to be a lot of very large bollards on each corner at junctions to stop wagons from cutting over the corners with their trailers

great idea that - totally agree with the idea but they have made the problem worse because they did not look into why the trailers were cutting the corners in the first place the roads/junctions are too small for today's traffic so putting bollards up has actually made it worse so slowing the traffic flow even more as wagons struggle to negotiate them

another thing was the suicidal motorbikes and cyclists that totally ignore all traffic signal and lane signs - i would have thought that being the most vulnerable of roadusers they would be more carefull

i saw a few of those mopeds with the map holder on the front - you know the ones
the ones trainee taxi drivers run around on to learn all the roads (i have seen it on tv)and that way they can do 'the knowledge' and gain their black cab licence

now that gave me a thought - they should do something like that for new wagon drivers as too many of them seem to rely on the sat nav for directions nowadays and blindly follow them with all the disasters that creates

i am old school on this idea and still have loads of maps and can quite happily find my way from one end of the country to the other without a map and only need street maps for the last bit

i know this all comes with years of practice of course but i think that a basic knowledge should be gained before you are let loose so to speak

have fun and drive safe nick...