Inspired by an incident this morning, fuck I love European trucks brakes
Posted by Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 89 comments
Posted by Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 89 comments
edsavage404@reddit
Meanwhile in the US, companies are still speccing their trucks with drum brakes
Dead_Namer@reddit
and I have had had people on here argue drums are better.
You know how Europe solved idiots still speccing drums? They made them an expensive option. You could still get them for exclusively off road stuff like oil fields but 100% of on road trucks runs discs, as do trailers which form part of the EBS system. ABS works 10 times a second, EBS 1000 times a second.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Why would drums be more suitable than discs off road? Is it a dirt resistance thing?
Jacktheforkie@reddit
And they go 80+mph (120kmh)
Free-University-6497@reddit
Insane honestly
Snappypants9@reddit
That’s impressive - make me wonder what it would do to various loads I haul….
Spczippo@reddit
Yeah thats what I want to see, toss some shit in the back that was loaded by a stoned out minimum wage warehouse worker and see what happens.
Snappypants9@reddit
I am all for these Euro trucks and their stopping power - but I think some of the loads might keep going…
Frosttidey@reddit
That's why we have to strap everything down. And I do mean EVERYTHING!
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Can you post on Reddit directly? I can’t view that because UK
Frosttidey@reddit
This sub doesn't allow direct images, but it's basically sand / gravel piles that are strapped.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
I see, there’s always the option of making a post in your profile and linking that here
LanceWasHere@reddit
That was unexpected, and made me lol
DazednConfuzed62@reddit
That load of beer just kept on goin
Fawx93@reddit
Driver is responsible for the load. Strap it down or pay the fine
Jacktheforkie@reddit
We have straps and other stuff for that,
FaceWithAName@reddit
Not if you slap them and say this bad boy ain't going anywhere
laddergoatperp@reddit
[ Removed by Reddit ]
thrashmetaloctopus@reddit
Better fucked load then dead family I’d say
InjuringThunder@reddit
Oh, the loads almost certainly fucked following this, depending on what they've got aboard, but nobody died, and that's really the hallmark of a good day for me.
Snappypants9@reddit
This would be hilariously dangerous on a cascadia that has the auto brake dialed all the way up 😅
Turbooggyboy@reddit
Why would the load be affected? If you strap it down according to regulations (in the EU at least) it’ll stay secure. If you don’t, well….
Drak3l@reddit
As a refrigerated driver in the US.. Our "load securement" is some plastic wrap around the pallet and maybe a single load bar out by the doors, to help prevent things from falling out. It's commonly accepted practice for both dry van and refrigerated.
My entire load would be in the truck with me, after a stop like this. Google Gemini suggests there's 3.5 million dry vans and about 1 million refrigerated trailers in the US. Most of those trailers are early 2000s.
Flatbed is good to go, though.
Parasite76@reddit
My job involves mini pallets that are impossible to secure each one. A brake like that would destroy everything in the trailer.
mail_inspector@reddit
Some things can't really be secured that well.
My experience is with the cage rollers used in food, where the frame will bend if you strap them too hard. It's not like they will go flying in an emergency brake like this but the ones towards the front are likely going to get squished.
Not to mention you might have to follow some kind of unload order so sometimes you have to make compromises and hope for the best.
klek505@reddit
It reacts the same, you just notice the smell of a rubber more.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Just because you can slow down that fast doesn’t mean you will do so regularly, sometimes you witness something ahead that is requiring such braking, a collision won’t do the load any good either, though with proper load security a hard stop won’t cause too many problems, especially if you have the tallest pallets at the front
Captain_Wag@reddit
55mph is highway speeds in EU? It's like driving through California, but probably not as terrible.
KalTheo@reddit
So now that your 45,000lb load is crushed against the bulkhead, how are Mercedes engineers solving that?
Ornery_Ads@reddit
Well...the people that you didn't hit are...alive?
I'd rather destroy $100k of product than a $100k that has living people in it.
You know what's even better than either option?
Pay attention to the road and not rely on a computer going, "Oh shit. Dumbo behind the wheel isn't going to stop."
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
I do know alot of American drivers complain about the auto break system.
I don't know what the difference is between euro and American systems, but I've veryyy rarely had mine go off without warrant
Captain_Wag@reddit
The US version will wait til you're driving along an icy road at 3am and then it will fully lock your brakes when it sees a ghost in the road. That's the main difference.
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
Atleast here in Aus, we load quite well. It's been awhile since I've done general freight, but I've never had a problem with freight being crushed.
The only time I think I've heard of a problem arise, is when you stop hard enough that it's either the freight getting damaged or the truck and whatever it hits
Mrsizzle96@reddit
What kind of brakes do US trucks have?
Whenever i see dashcam footage from an American or Canadian truck they seem to take soooo long to slow down in an emergency.
Captain_Wag@reddit
For the most part it's only drums on steers. Drives and trailer get discs typically.
Creative_Shame3856@reddit
Whatever the person who specced the truck wants them to have. Before I quit trucking my last truck was entirely disc brakes, tractor and trailer, but plenty of fleets still run drums.
bobsanidiot@reddit
89kph is about 55mph just so you know.
ooglieguy0211@reddit
Now reproduce that video in wet or icy conditions and tell me how well it does then.
SeriousDude@reddit
Still better than 18 wheeler in perfect conditions.
polarjunkie@reddit
Did anyone tell them that 4 seconds is not a split second and 80kmh or 49 mph isn't 4 seconds is what you'd expect on dry pavement from any modern truck brakes.
Smoke-A-Beer@reddit
To be honest I’d eat my load of steel through the cab if the auto braking system did this. I’d love to say that every load was perfectly loaded and could be secured in this scenario but I know it’s not true.
Bredda_Gravalicious@reddit
I drove a Pete 579 and an aluminum MAC spread axle trailer with disc brakes all around... I didn't want to know how a coil would react to full braking
icaaryal@reddit
Are we just gonna ignore the video being sped up as evidenced by the insanely rapid flashing indicator lights?
Decorus_Somes@reddit
That just means the battery is low
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Rapid flashing can indicate that you’ve got a bulb out too
dogdogj@reddit
yea, 25 years ago
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Yeah, new vehicles still have that
dogdogj@reddit
Fair enough, I'll take your word for it. I haven't personally seen a fast-flash in years, the last time I did see it was on a car old enough to have a mechanical flasher relay.
Mcgill1cutty@reddit
See it a lot when people change out incandescent bulbs for LED’s. LED has lower resistance and the car sees that as a bulb being out, so it flashes rapidly.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
I had it happen on a 2020 vehicle
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
Afaik that's normal. It's some stupid safety feature
I've seen it happen on other videos with Mercs doing it
dogdogj@reddit
Most newer cars in Europe have this, and it's actually really useful. Normal brake lights don't communicate the rate of braking, which in low visibility can be a lifesaver.
icaaryal@reddit
In other sped up videos with Mercedes stopping? I would love to see the evidence to support the idea that rapidly blinking hazard lights that go back to a normal speed once the truck has stopped is a safety feature.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
I’ve driven a Mercedes Actros, they do stop pretty damn fast if you step on the brake pedal I had a car pull out of a short slip lane in front of me when I was going 56mph on a lesson, that lorry stopped like my car
thprk@reddit
I think it's a EU regulation. It requires cars slowing down faster than 7m/s² or trucks slowing faster than 4m/s² to rapidly blink their hazard lights 4 times per second (or in some vehicles they blink the brake lights).
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
I'll see if I can find them, but nonetheless it's pretty standard
And as I wrote in another comment, I've had my truck stop about that quickly before. It's fucking scary
CaesarsArmpits@reddit
My fucking Renault Scenic does this, it's an EU car thing when emergency braking.
InjuringThunder@reddit
Genuinely, Mercs do that in an emergency stop. Been unfortunate enough to experience it, and when you stamp on the brakes the hazards flash really quickly. I think the idea is to inform motorist behind you that you're performing an emergency braking manoeuvre.
klek505@reddit
The other day I posted something on here and the guy laughed at me because of how governed our trucks are here, dismissing you guys drive in unsecured metal boxes. With all due respect, we're at least twenty years ahead of you when it comes to security, safety, reliability and quality of interior as well as exterior. No North American comes even close to any European Volvo, let alone big dawgs such as Scania.
I can put both my legs thru the window, but I know when I hit that break, I will stop.
possibly_lost45@reddit
Disc brakes. New Volvos have them also and they work very well
PrivatePilot9@reddit
Lots of different models can have them but that depends 100% on Fleet managers speccing them.
Dangerous_Ingenuity1@reddit
"highway speeds to a complete stop in a split second"
Really? That was a few seconds minimum. Also, what's "highway speed" and also, was the trailer empty? Typical fluff piece.
icaaryal@reddit
Trucks stop faster when loaded. Empty trailers skip when under full brake power leaving you with multiple periods of time where 8 of your tires aren’t helping stop at all.
PrivatePilot9@reddit
It doesn’t stop faster. You have more braking ability due to increased coefficient of friction between the tires and the ground, yes. But physics doesn’t change, your braking distance is going to be longer if you have 40,000 pounds in the box then not.
Dead_Namer@reddit
It was 40 tones, 88k in US and the speed would have been the limit.
Euro trucks stop quicker the heavier they are because the limiting factor is not the brakes, it's the grip.
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
From what the comments said
Highway speeds 90kmh, which is pretty standard. Here we run 90-100kmh
And yeah loaded to afaik 40tonne/88K lbs
This morning I had mine go off, and that's with 92K lbs and it stopped around that quick.
Fucking good way to test that your tires are good, that's for certain. Scares the hell out of you too
olenamerikkalainen@reddit
I drive in Finland now and run 80kph here. In the states I would go anywhere between 110-130 depending on what the company had the governors set at.
KnifeKnut@reddit
Gee, if only we had not discarded the video format THAT WOULD HAVE PROPERLY DEPICTED THIS!
endangeredphysics@reddit
I'll be impressed when my front radar reliably works in heavy rain.
BaselineUnknown@reddit
Now do it with a smooth bore milk truck.
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
Run fuel tankers, had this happen to me this morning
Not fun, definitely made me need a change of underwear, but the trucks generally quite good at keeping it straight. Although by god I felt the thump at the end lol
olenamerikkalainen@reddit
Fuel doesn't slosh like a milk truck will. If you slam on the brakes of a milk truck it will jump forward after coming to a complete stop.
TheTphs@reddit
Milk starts churning if there are baffles
W1D0WM4K3R@reddit
Well, lads... i brought your load of butter.
Dunno how you'll scoop it out but good luck!
MrNationwide@reddit
Never heard Ben Shapiro’s sister referred to as smooth bored
TouchMyBoomstick@reddit
The moomoo’s in the back would really hate it if I could stop that fast.
Fortnite_cheater@reddit
British Mr beast driving like a lunatic
HowlingWolven@reddit
Do Actroses get jumpy at bridges too?
deadpat03@reddit
Mercedes " watch what our truck can do in perfect conditions detecting a car already stopped 500 meters away."
Disclaimer * Mercedes will not disclose what fully loaded means and may not have been the maximum hualing capacity.
UselessBanana1@reddit
I can assure you it will stop that fast when fully loaded, If not even faster. 99% of trucks have EBS which will detect how heavy the truck is and increase the brake pressure
Look at the Volvo log truck in https://youtu.be/v2rGS9v_wB8?is=CBualEcZ_11i6ilr. Thats 60 tons (so ~130k lbs i believe?)
Neverlast0@reddit
Now do that with the heaviest vehicle ever
Tsars_Ball_Scrubber@reddit (OP)
A car with your mother in it?
Sorry had to
Neverlast0@reddit
It's okay. Your mother can be in it too.
Tobias---Funke@reddit
But puts the headlights 3 menus deep on a touchscreen instead of a physical switch.
Turbulent-Badger9894@reddit
I wont judge the tech, but the design makes me sick.
InjuringThunder@reddit
It may just be the ugliest truck I've ever seen.
Turbulent-Badger9894@reddit
The ugliest so far, because mercedes and volvo proved that they can make it look worse with the new models
Mr__Rager__69@reddit
Some of the new cascadias have the a sensor in the front bumper with the Mercedes logo will also slam on the breaks for you when the collision alert starts going off
GenX_Leo@reddit
Mine as well take that load strait to a restacking facility...