If goods are voluminous rather than heavy, a combination like this is the preferred choice to transport them. The legal maximum load length of a truck towing a trailer in the EU is 15.65 m (51’4”). Simply said, that’s the sum of the truck bed length and the trailer bed length.
Usually, the load length of a standard semi-trailer is around 13.60 m. So, you can win just over 2.00 m (6’7”) by opting for a truck and trailer instead of a tractor and semi-trailer.
You also win cargo volume by lowering the bed, a Low Deck, in other words. Low profile truck tires are an important part of the package. The drive axle has dual wheels, whereas the steering and liftable tag axle is single-wheeled.
The DAF is powered by a 12.9 liter DAF-PACCAR MX-13 engine, in this case the 480 DIN-hp version. Shifting gears by a ZF TraXon automated manual transmission.
Here’s where the 2008 Van Eck mid-axle trailer is hooked up to the DAF. The Elcar company built the curtain side bodies for both the truck and the trailer.
The trailer’s tridem with low profile super singles. The first axle is liftable.
At the back, a Moffett truck trailer mounted forklift. The total cargo volume of the combination is 115 cubic meters (4,061 cu ft); for a standard curtain side semi-trailer that’s about 90 cubic meters (3,178 cu ft).
The G. de Jong fleet includes four of these DAFs. Their work area is the Benelux and Germany, which means the rig’s legal maximum GVM ranges from 40 metric tons (Germany) to 44 metric tons (Belgium and Luxembourg) and 50 metric tons when it stays in its homeland.
Over a period of seven months, the fuel consumption was 26.32 l/100 km combined (8.94 MPG US), with 24.57 l/100 km combined (9.57 MPG US) as the best month result during that time frame. Excellent numbers, given the vehicle’s size and weight.
Your Mileage May Vary.
Those are phenomenal fuel mileage numbers. I didn’t know they could be quite that high already. Probably the lower speed limits in the EU help that, as trucks here roll along at 65-70 mph or more, in some states.
I remember a time when a big American car would deliver that kind of fuel mileage.
Of course when electric trucks come along, that effective empg number will be more 25-30.
Here is some interesting info on big truck MPG in the US.
https://www.geotab.com/truck-mpg-benchmark/
It is interesting how it varies state to state. Of course there are too many factors, but it would be interesting to know the truck speed limits, as well as the actual average speeds of the trucks in the state to see how that correlates.
Here is the trucker version of a hyper miler. https://www.overdriveonline.com/topping-10-mpg-former-trucker-of-the-year-blends-driving-strategy-equipment/
That’s an interesting graphic, especially when I see that British Columbia has thew worst fuel consumption!
Canada in general is poor, with the best province worse than the worst US state, though I’m guessing if AK was represented it would be the worst in the US. I have to wonder what all the factors that lead to that are. Its not like Montana doesn’t have a lot of cold, snow and mountain passes but they are near the top in the US.
British Columbia is, ahem, rather hilly. As for the rest of the second largest country in the world, the brutal winters will consume more fuel.
It’s not like Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota don’t have brutal winters. There are gates on the interstates in those states to close them off and they do use them when the snow is just too bad.
Yes, interesting, but I wouldn’t read to much into the smaller degrees of differences between states.
Oregon’s mileage is a bit better than CA, where trucks run at least 5 mph faster. And I know in Texas trucks run quite fast.
Which is why it would be nice to see the average speeds of trucks in the given state, which the device they are using to collect the data should capture. Of course the speed limits for the states are available, but there are a lot of factors that impact the average speed.
SD, very interesting, it says that it’s the average fuel consumption of Class 7 and 8. Aren’t Class 7 vehicles gasoline powered, in many cases?
No, while it has been a couple of years since Ford has put the gas engine back in the Class 6/7 trucks the diesels are still more popular and many of them leave the factory with the gaseous fuel prep package. In other words set up for conversion to CNG or propane by a 3rd party.
https://www.trucks.com/2016/12/23/ford-work-truck-gas-engine/
We have one Ford F-650 on CNG. So far it has given excellent service and there is no DPF. We have a filling plant at our distribution centre.
We will have everything on CNG by attrition.
Doesn’t the piggy back lift truck count as part of the total length?
It’s considered as an indivisible load that happens to stick out. Up to 120 cm no problem, up to 150 cm there are some extra regulations, but also no problem in this case.
I remember a time when a big American car would deliver that kind of fuel mileage.
So true. We had cars that would do 10-12 MPG highway and not bat an eye. Even box trucks like a U-Haul or a Class A motorhome often get around 10 MPG at best. When you consider a truck carrying 40 metric tons gets better economy, that blows your mind.
Damn that EU bureaucracy!
That truck won’t survive five minutes in California without some lower panel getting ripped off.it might not even survive a speed bump lol
Here’s a Euro big rig to cope with those typical Californian road conditions.
I forgot to add the image:
I wouldnt mind a turn in that Paul.
The two Tesla Semi prototypes have been running all over California, Nevada, and other parts of the country, and its lip spoiler looks just about as low as this Dutch truck.
“If goods are voluminous rather than heavy”… in the US that’s called being “cubed out”, filling the space before hitting the GVWR.
That is amazing fuel mileage, I was getting 35L/100km out of DaFs last year on the Pahuiatua run which is mostly flat running and empty return two trips per shift the northern trips we had mileage dropped considerably but I had to be in low box on a lot of the climbs DAFs are a little underpowered for our topography even at only 44 tonnes.
Max length here is 25 metres and weight dictates fuel use.
The outfit I do milk for has some new model DAFs with 530hp engines but they still seem to be pulling four axle tank trailers @ 44 tonnes our topography isnt suited to great fuel consumption whether you drive a car or a truck, even in my car I can see 25L/100kms pulling up some of the steeper climbs it does yet 5L/100 is easily achievable on flat roads
530 DIN-hp is the most powerful version of PACCAR’s 12.9 liter MX-13, the company’s biggest own engine. Also offered in Kenworths and Peterbilts, of course, although I don’t know their maximum-maximum power output.
Anything bigger is a Cummins, not offered in Europe (in a DAF).
Love child of a Mack Bulldog & an Anteater..
Impressive as the mpg figures are, Europe’s maximum speed limit is between just 50 and 55mph for trucks. As in cars, consumption rises out of proportion to the speed increase at higher speeds, so it would be curious to know how it would be if even 60mph was allowed.
Which gives rise to a question: do trucks speed in the EU? To my observation, they simply don’t here any more because of cameras and log books, fines, points, etc. As Bryce can probably confirm, in the “old days” (perhaps 20 years) driving on the main Sydney-Melbourne highway at night meant choosing your high speed truck and clinging to its tail for safety as sometimes 100mph was done (and to put it frankly, the road was f*king terrifying like that!) Is enforcement as thorough there too now?
A second question, unrelated, why is the trailer tyre so wide? Can’t recall ever seeing a truck tyre of such massive size before.
It’s a Super Single, a single tire intended to replace a set of duals. They do have lower rolling resistance than a set of conventional duals and are supposed to have a lower overall cost of operation.
There are almost too many factors that influence the mileage of a big rig, top speed is just one of them.
Rigs that stay in the neighborhood, so to speak, like the one in the article, have to cope with a constant process of accelerating and decelarating. Stop and go almost all day long. There’s no such thing here as rolling down the freeway at a constant speed (regardless the top speed) for hours at a stretch.
Not to mention the completely different weight limits across the globe. As mentioned in the article: 50 tons where I’m sitting, 40 tons about 35 km further to the east.
Apart from all of this, DAF has a long lasting reputation for good fuel efficiency. A reputation that goes back decades.
Convoying at high speed was banned years ago in OZ half a dozen semis running nose to tail can be a disaster if the front one strikes trouble great for fuel economy and power on grades but dangerous.
I’m surprised how long the basic cab structure has lasted; early versions of this cab were originally built over 30 years ago. At one time there was a Seddon Atkinson version too.
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3740/13332503325_df2fac919a_b.jpg
That’s right, the whole cab structure dates back to the 1987 DAF 95. DAF, Pegaso and Seddon Atkinson used it for their top models.
The cab was lengthened somewhat years ago thanks to new regulations, which allowed longer cabs. You can see clearly where that happened when looking at the picture below.
The cab is still praised for its excellent comfort, ergonomics and space, naturally its interior changed drastically throughout the years.
Yes those DAFs are quiet and comfortable to drive, I’m looking forward to being back in some on the milk this year so much less tiring to drive than the Kenworths I finished last season in. There was also the Foden Alpha version of the DAF along with previous models.
It’s about time Bryce you get some time in an XF fullsizer instead of the CF mid-sizer.
Not much difference really and they cant be used on milk too tall to fit under unloading/loading gantrys even the CFs get all the aero kit stripped off to fit. They run the same 510 hp engines here. Fonterra the dairy giant we contract to run FM Volvos and their sites fit those low cab trucks so our stuff has to match in height
Yes, the DAF CF and the Volvo FM are exactly in the same segment. Size, weight and power.
What do these rigs typically carry? The first examples of European super cube trucks I saw carried empty aluminum cans to breweries. As you might expect, even with a cab top sleeper these were only about half of maximum weight when fully loaded and ran empty back to the can factory.
I looked up an article about the G. de Jong hauling company. Their super cube trucks typically haul steel, glass, paper, pallets and IBC-containers (see below).
When driving to Germany, the cargo weighs around 25 metric tons, given Germany’s legal maximum GVM of 40 metric tons and the rigs’ curb weight.
This truck is to powerful,but fuel consumption they post i find its not exactly on the ground.but i like this truck.