Backing up a Heavy Load

Colby Williams posted

To haul heavy loads such as big transformers, a big trailer is used to spread the load across many axles and tires so that road weight limits are not exceeded. This is the first video  I have seen of one being backed up. Near the end of the video you can see that the driver has to significantly turn his wheel to make the adjustments necessary to keep the load straight.

Colby's comment "So you think you can back up a big rig. Drivers going on 2 miles now." The rig is 320 feet long and weighs over 1,000,000 pounds.

It sounds like someone took a wrong turn and nobody caught it for a while.

But most of the steering is being done by guys walking along side the trailer with joystick remote controlers.

Here is an example of a unit receiving the remote signals and controlling the hydraulics that steer the trailer. The driver is keeping just the front dolly in line. But that dolly is short and 15-foot wide, so evidently it is still a little tricky.

One comment worth noting is the response to the observation "I bet this job pays well.":

Oh yes it does. That trailer is worth 3 million and after about 3 or 4 loads the trailer is paid off.

It is worth noting that just one truck-tractor is pushing the trailer. Normally multiple trucks are used to pull and push loads of this size. I presume this one had multiple trucks, but they took the extra tractors off because the backup move was over flat land and the other tractors would just complicate things.

Evidently sometimes you can get a permit to block the road only at night.