The trailer, this legendary model with its heyday glory, has been nearly extinct in China in just 20 years. On the other hand, in Europe, the United States, Australia, and Thailand, trailers are still active on the front line of freight. Why did they become extinct in China?
The operation is complicated, only the old driver can control it
I would have a short trip with the car when I had time. In my impression, the operation of a full trailer is more difficult than a semi-trailer.
Because the front axle of the trailer is steered, the tracking performance when forwarding is not as good as that of a semi-trailer, and reversing is a test of technology. It is impossible to reverse the vehicle without certain experience.
At that time, the engine horsepower of a full trailer was not particularly large. The main vehicle was generally a 4X2 or 6X2 truck, and the trailer was a 2-axle or 3-axle trailer. Whenever I go to the northwest, I feel a little worried, because I am particularly afraid of going uphill and downhill under full load. I either can't go up or down.
Later when the semi-trailer was popular, my uncle took the initiative to change the semi-trailer. He felt that the semi-trailer was much easier to drive.
▎ Driving stability, disadvantages that are difficult to bypass
The trailer and the main vehicle are connected by a towing hook, and the two can move up, down, left, and right in four dimensions. Therefore, the trailer is easy to swing when driving at high speeds, especially when the loading is uneven and rainy and snowy. This hidden danger is more obvious.
In addition, under the technical background at that time, the braking coordination of the main trailer was not particularly good, and the front and rear brakes were often out of sync. If you encounter corners, bumps, or slippery sections, poor brake operation can easily lead to accidents.
The weakness of unstable driving directly led to subsequent policy changes, which had a fatal blow to it.
▎For policy reasons, announcing the end of the trailer era
On October 28, 2003, my country officially promulgated the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, in which Article 67 stipulates: pedestrians, non-motorized vehicles, tractors, wheeled special machinery vehicles, articulated passenger vehicles, full trailers Vehicles and other motor vehicles with a designed maximum speed of less than 70 kilometers per hour shall not enter the expressway. The maximum speed indicated on the expressway speed limit sign shall not exceed 120 kilometers per hour.
Since then, full-trailers are no longer allowed to enter the expressway, which is a fatal blow to semi-trailers that focus on long-distance and large-capacity, and will only be able to mess around on short-distance national roads.
▎The reason of capacity, overwhelming the last straw of the camel
In fact, even if you can't get on the high speed, the full trailer can still be mixed with the advantages of passability and flexibility. However, on the way, a Cheng Yaojin-a semi-trailer was shot.
In terms of horsepower, the horsepower of the tractor is greater than that of a bicycle; in terms of capacity, semi-trailers have caught up and surpassed full trailers. In addition, the maneuverability and safety of semi-trailers are better than those of full-trailers. They are also a model strongly advocated by the country. Semi-trailers have suddenly become a perfect substitute for full-trailers.
Trailers are booming abroad, why are they unknown in China?
First of all, our country has a vast territory. There are various terrains from south to north from east to west. The terrain adaptability of a full trailer is not stronger than that of a semi-trailer.
Secondly, full trailers have a slight advantage in terms of loading volume, but they are about the same as semi-trailers in terms of load-bearing capacity. Moreover, my country will not allow models with greater capacity to appear. In the future, the popularization of low-floor semi-trailers can also compensate Weakness in capacity.
Finally, the country advocates center-mounted axle models. In terms of flexibility and efficiency, center-mounted axle seems to be a better choice.
