Lorry Transport Software Free Download
Ann Iacobucci
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction, with a cabin that is independent of the payload portion of the vehicle. Smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".[1]
Truck is used in American English, and is common in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, while lorry is the equivalent in British English, and is the usual term in countries like Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and India.[original research?]
"Lorry" has a more uncertain origin, but probably has its roots in the rail transport industry, where the word is known to have been used in 1838 to refer to a type of truck (a goods wagon as in British usage, not a bogie as in the American), specifically a large flat wagon. It might derive from the verb lurry (to carry or drag along, or to lug) which was in use as early as 1664, but that association is not definitive.[13] The expanded meaning of lorry, "self-propelled vehicle for carrying goods", has been in usage since 1911.[14][15]
In the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, and Hong Kong lorry is used instead of truck, but only for the medium and heavy types, while truck is used almost exclusively to refer to pickups.
Dump trucks ("tippers" in the UK) transport loose material such as sand, gravel, or dirt for construction. A typical dump truck has an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and lifts at the front, allowing the material in the bed to be unloaded ("dumped") on the ground behind the truck.[63][64]
Refrigerator trucks have insulated panels as walls and a roof and floor, used for transporting fresh and frozen cargo such as ice cream, food, vegetables, and prescription drugs. They are mostly equipped with double-wing rear doors, but a side door is sometimes fitted.
Tank trucks ("tankers" in the UK) are designed to carry liquids or gases. They usually have a cylindrical tank lying horizontally on the chassis. Many variants exist due to the wide variety of liquids and gases that can be transported.[66]
Over a quarter of global transport CO2 emissions are from road freight,[101] in 2021 over 1700 million tonnes from medium and heavy trucks,[102] so many countries are further restricting truck CO2 emissions to help limit climate change.[103] Many environmental organizations favor laws and incentives to encourage the switch from road to rail, especially in Europe.[104] Several countries have pledged that 30% of sales of trucks and buses will be zero emission by 2030.[105]
Primary liability insurance coverage protects the truck from damage or injuries to other people as a result of a truck accident. This truck insurance coverage is mandated by U.S. state and federal agencies, and proof of coverage is required to be sent to them. Interstate trucks in the U.S. are required to have a minimum of $75,000 in liability insurance. This includes motor carriers operating vehicles with a gross weight rating in excess of 10,000 lb (4.5 t) (which transport non-hazardous materials). All motor carriers operating vehicles transporting materials classified as hazardous, and which have a gross weight rating in excess of 10,000 lb (4.5 t) must have a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability insurance. All motor carriers operating vehicles such as hopper-type cargo vehicles or tankers with a capacity in excess of 3,500 US gal (13,000 L) must have a minimum of $5,000,000 in liability insurance. Pricing is dependent on region, driving records, and history of the trucking operation.
Motor truck cargo insurance protects the transporter for his responsibility in the event of damaged or lost freight. The policy is purchased with a maximum load limit per vehicle. Cargo insurance coverage limits can range from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. Pricing for this insurance is mainly dependent on the type of cargo being hauled.
Four groups of eight lorry drivers, transporting goods on wheeled cages, as packed goods, on pallets, or as bulk cargo, were studied during a complete working day. The drivers working with bulk cargo served as a reference group. Manual materials handling and the working postures were studied by observation. The heart rate (HR) was continuously recorded and related to observed tasks. The relationship between HR and oxygen uptake during a simulation of loading and unloading and the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) were measured in a laboratory for every driver. The lorry drivers worked long hours, only the group transporting wheeled cages worked less than 11 h d-1 on average. Driving made up almost half of the total working time in all groups. In general, the highest HR was found during loading and unloading. Loading and unloading of wheeled cages was done for 2 h d-1, at 50% of VO2max. The drivers transporting packed goods and pallets loaded and unloaded for around 100 min d-1, at 48% and 35% of VO2max respectively. When the drivers of these two groups lifted, their trunks were flexed for more than 60% of the time. The most important difference between the reference group and the other groups was that the drivers of the former rarely pushed or pulled anything. It is suggested that the required pushing and pulling forces were largely responsible for the high physical workload during loading and unloading.
The story starts in Germany in the 1950s. After it lost its quasi-monopoly, the German state railway company was in serious trouble. The rise of cars but especially lorries chipped away at the once healthy profit margins of the Bundesbahn. This was bad news for the German budget and so Konrad Adenauer, the German chancellor, told his transport minister, Hans Seebohm, to solve the problem. In the package that Mr Seebohm proposed, a key element was to reduce the maximum length of lorries from 20 metres to 14, a drastic reduction in loading capacity that was intended to restore the competitiveness of the German railways and improve road safety at the same time.
While making up just three per cent of vehicles, trucks are responsible for 25 per cent of EU road transport emissions and every year around 500 million barrels of oil are needed to fuel European lorries, at a cost of around EUR 60 billion. According to the European Environment Agency, the total health cost associated with air pollution from trucks is estimated to be around EUR 45 billion with infrastructure, with congestion and noise costs adding another EUR 130 billion in external costs. At last but not least, 4,200 people (15 per cent of total road deaths) died in lorry crashes in 2011.
In 2010, FKA Aachen, a well-respected German engineering institute, published a comprehensive study on what would be possible if lorry length limits were to be relaxed. The study, which builds on previous research for the European Commission but also on concept studies by lorry makers, comes to the unequivocal conclusion that around 80cm of extra design space for the cab would enable great improvements in fuel efficiency, safety and comfort.
Giving a truck a rounded, streamlined nose would make it more aerodynamic and reduce fuel consumption by three to five per cent for a long-haul vehicle. But the extra space would also enable better cooling and create space for new components (for example, waste heat recovery) that would further lower fuel consumption by up to ten per cent. Given the lack of progress in lorry fuel efficiency over the last 20 years, this would be a very significant and welcome improvement.
But the rounded nose also opens the door for much-needed safety improvements. We often hear excuses for the poor safety performance of lorries, but the sad fact is that they remain twice as deadly as cars per kilometre driven. In that respect, redesigning lorry cabs to make them safer is a golden opportunity. The extra cab space could be used to remove blind spots, include a crumple zone and avoid pedestrians and cyclists being knocked underneath the wheels in a collision by giving the front a streamlined, deflective design. Combined, these changes could save the lives of several hundred people every year.
The European Parliament voted the Commission proposal through on 15 April with a huge majority, but EU governments are less enthusiastic. They seem to be taking the line of the lorry makers that the design flexibility should not be granted any time soon and that when it is granted there should not be a link to safety improvements. Negotiations between the Brussels institutions are likely to start after the summer and may drag on until early 2015 depending on how quickly an agreement is reached.
The lorry dimensions saga holds two important lessons. On the one hand it is an exciting prospect and a great example of the synergies that can exist between the interests of business, the environment and society as a whole. Fixing the dimensions law and redesigning lorry cabs is a step in the right direction and one that will hopefully kick start a virtuous cycle of innovation and progress in the sector.
1. This advisory sets out practical guidance for employers and workers on new and existing legal requirements and recommended practices for the industry to enhance safety of workers on lorry transportation.
Employers of dual role drivers (defined as a person required or authorised by the employer of that person to drive a lorry with workers in the rear deck, where driving such a lorry is not the primary work that the person is required to perform) must:
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