American Reacts to Why German Trucking is the Best?
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
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Germany (357,588 km²) has less area than Montana (380,838 km²) but 238 inhabitants per km² instead of 2.8 inhabitants per km².
As a German, I have to admit that the roads of our esteemed neighbor, the Netherlands, are all in all much better than ours. I live on the border and you can feel it in your undercarriage when you cross the invisible border...
You can’t compare it.the Motorway System in Germany is way bigger and more complex than in Netherlands.
@@Steven91637 Nevertheless, the Dutch today have the quality we once had. A long time ago. Our economy and gross national product is also much larger than that of the Netherlands, so Germany should actually have no problem maintaining its road network at a high level.
@@riker1701D ☝️ I agree and I wonder what the german government is doing with all that tax money from the other tax payers?
Corruption is a issue in Germany too.
Many people dont know it.
Cause the Media isnt showing it to the audience in Germany.
@@riker1701D At the same time I'd wager a fair bet that the German stretches of road see way more frequent use, thus needing more maintenance overall. At least as a neighbor from the Nordics who has worked driving cargo vans through Germany and the rest of Europe for many 1000s of kms and also driven privately on German highways multiple times per year, there is always maintenance on long stretches no matter where you go. And it's just the nature of a high maintenance system that is used as the central hub for not just Germans, but also the rest of Europe as a whole. German road network is the heart that keeps every part of Europe linked - a country like the Netherlands is far less frequented by mass commute, goods transport, and general travel. So if both nations spend the same % of gdp on their road network, I'd expect the Dutch roads to be better by default just cus it demands less resources to upkeep.
That's probably true, often ;-)) In the region where I live, many kilometers of BAB were expanded and renewed, especially the A3, which of course cannot happen everywhere and at the same time simply because of the costs. Germany is the absolute main transit country in Europe and the wear and tear is enormous! It is not possible to constantly replace all the roads in need of repair, which always takes a very long time!
I spent many years trucking in Europe, and fell in love with Germany ,truck stops are v good ,loading and unloading is excellent and efficient, polite are generally fair , great food and beer , beautiful country and scenery ,the best
The road surface used on the Autobahn is freeze resistant, and used to consist of hard concrete blocks. Nowadays, road surface is replaced by an asphalt top layer. The only downside on this is spray during rain. In The Netherlands, we have "zoab": "zeer open asfaltbeton" which is a fancy name for an asphalt type having much space for water to seep through. When it rains in NL, there is hardly any spray. It is not freeze resistant though.
In Germany we actually have a variety of road surfaces on the Autobahn. When it comes to cost for surfacing, asphalt wins. When they built that part for durability die to high truck traffic, concrete is preferred. Sometimes they build a hybrid, where only the right lane is paved in concrete, as trucks mostly use the rightmost lane (or are supposed to) while for cost efficiency the rest of the lanes is paved in asphalt.
Near reside tial areas, for example when an Autobahn just goes across the city, lately you will find open pored asphalt as well. Here it sometimes is also called "Flüsterasphalt" (Whisper asphalt would be the direct translation) that reduced tire noise due to the open surface and can greatly improve drainage in cases of heavy rain. Downside, it does not last as long as regular asphalt and it may be some more noisy within the vehicle.
@@alexanderkupke920 That "Flüsterasphalt" is in fact called "OPA" :) which means "Offenporiger Asphalt" .. It is neat to drive on, the big Problem is the durability. With that much traffic you have to redo the complete top layer within ~10 years.
We have that in germany too. Called "Offenporiger Asphalt (OPA)" ... But, the Netherlands "only" have around 2300km of highway.. We have over 13000km of Autobahn in germany... And others stated it as well: germany is a main transit country. Most traffic will pass through germany.. so our roads experience a much higher level of stress...
@@vophatechnicus I think I wrote that in english actually. And in fact, that is the same as the name in dutch when you translate it. It is just that most people only know it as "Flüsterasphalt".
Yeah, it is definitely only an option considered when you need either the noise reduction or the improed drainage (which in really bad rain is so much more enjoyable to drive on, not only due to the reduced amount of water that may cause hydroplaning, but depending on light conditions also the greatly reduced amount of glare.)
But I think we should not expect to see that type of asphalt widely used on for example the A3 between Cologne and Frankfurt etc. I think that one among others absolutely qualifies for concrete.
In Germany, France, Italy, and Spain trucks over 7.5 tonnes are not allowed in roads on a Sunday or on public holidays. Some of these countries make exceptions for trucks carrying perishable dairy products. In Germany, no vehicle towing a trailer is allowed on roads on these days.
This is a complicated subject. Being a trucker in Germany is sure better than being a trucker in many other countries, especially in the easter countries like Poland, Romania, Russia ect.
Still its not exactly a "nice job" most of the time. Its always stress from keeping inside time frames, traffic jams, work regulations and whatever else. Often they have to spend time on overcrowded truck stops, sometimes entire weekends because trucks are not allowed to drive on sundays. I spend a good part of my life on the A2, and I often felt sorry for them.
Btw, german trucks ore mostly not so pimped up because the majority of trucks is not owned by the drivers, they are owned by logistic companies who employ drivers. Some hardcore trucker fans still spend own money on fancy extras for the truck they drive, if the company allowes that. But most trucks drive around as they come from the factory.
In Germany, a distinction must be made between service areas, which are located on the autobahn and are used by cars and trucks, and pure truck stops, which are located near a autobahn exit and are used by trucks.
Service areas on the autobahn are more expensive, the coffee is usually bad, and the portions of food are usually tiny.
Truck stops (Autohof) offer good coffee and good food at a reasonable price, the showers are excellent and always clean, and the parking spaces for trucks are huge.
Plus the fuel in truck-stops is way cheaper!
5:25 Yeah correct. We usually just talk about "the autobahn" or a specific one, which usually just consists of it's number. like A1 or A7.
On the number you can even recognize in which broad direction a particular autobahn runs.
Even endings are are built in west-east direction. odd endings go from south to north. ;)
10:45 This is actually in Austria ("Rastplatz Münster Nord" near Jenbach in Tyrol) operated by the ASFINAG itself. This is the smallest kind of highway stop (just a parking lot with restroooms, outside tables and benches and maybe cold and hot drink vending machines. The next bigger category is "Raststätte" (usually fuel station, restaurant and bigger parking lot). See @dn3087's comment for more information.
Actually, the Mercedes truck that you have in the USA is Freightliner - part of the Daimler group. And it is having similar interior design as the EU Mercedes. Also, recently was launched in the USA the Mercedes bus / coach by the name of Tourrider.
While yes, Freightliner and Western Star do some share parts from Mercedes-Benz, but they don't count as their exterior is obviously different then Mercedes trucks due to US regulations.
Technically, the Tourrider is the only Mercedes-Benz branded commercial vehicle in the US market as of yet.
@@automation7295 Freightliner Econic SD, which is an rebadged Mercedes, exsit also
@@Charmin0021 Oh yeah, I forgot that some states use Freightliner Econic garbage trucks in some cities.
Here in the UK, the roads and truck stops are terrible. The country doesn't really appreciate lorry drivers.
There are:
1. Rasthof/Raststätte = Rest Stops = exactly at the highway/Autobahn
--> mostly one (sometimes 2) major building with rest and service areas + gas station
2. Autohof = *Truck Stop* = never exactly at the highway, but near the highway and also signposted from it.
--> often more buildings and restaurants + shops + gas station (but even here there is only one major building)
--> The US has mostly bigger Truck Stops (i already were at some in California by myself)
3. Parkplatz = parking spot = only parking area which is also exactly at highway + mostly with toilets + benches for resting
Hi IWrocker, you actually have Mercedes Trucks on US roads, Freightliner and Western Star as American truck companies belong to Mercedes Trucks.
The colouring of the german trucks, or most of them is kept so simple because they are owned by big companys an they hire a driver. And companys don't let them "tune" the trucks for the clean looks and the showing effect of the company, simple colour - company sticker - every truck the same, no bull bars, no extra lights. When you see "tuned" vehicles its mostly owned by little companys around up to 20 trucks or self employed drivers, which own the truck.
Yes, as a German, I have to say that most of the roads are in good state - but that also means that there is constantly a lot of (re-)construction going on! Nevertheless, when I come across potholes in Germany, it is usually a community owned road, not a state or federally owned one.
And when driving in other (European) countries, I soon realize that their streets are often
- narrower
- riddled with more potholes
- paved with rougher asphalt
However, i would venture that the roads in the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Switzerland and most of Austria and probably France (here my experience is limited but has not always been good) but certainly the Czech Republic (and perhaps Poland but there I have no real experience) are basically on par with German roads. Most other European countries have also pretty good roads but for some reason or another are not able to stay quite on par with Germany. From what I hear, that would be similar to the USA.
Proposal for a video on German roads, have a look at any fairly recent video from "Dashcam Drivers Germany" (DDG). The guy speaks clearly enough for Google to be able to translate his comments ok. What he shows are, of course, the worst (in German terms) MISTAKES in driving. Just go for the most recent video at the time you do that - always fun!
For a look at truckstops (also in German) have a look at: czcams.com/video/kJHlHlOHLD0/video.htmlsi=M3w8j8kWN21H0yQq - and there is a part 2
Yepp, you are correct, the whole highway system is the Autobahn.
To distinguish the sections it has a special numbering system.
All Autobahns start with an A, followed by one to three digits.
The cross-country highways have only one digit and those who go north to south have uneven Numbers (like A7), whilst even Numbers go west to east (like A2).
Two digits are for certain Areas (State Highways) and three digits are local City Highways (Stadtautobahn)
Its the standard though. Even in Croatia we use "A" markings for highways.
The problem for the truckers is to get a place to park. Everything is full because you have to take a rest after 9 hours. And this is not allways easy.
The Autobahn is the same as "motorway", "freeway", "expressway" etc. NOT any highway! It is a multi lane road with directions separated with median, built according to certain standards such as curves, max gradient% etc., with grade separated interchanges (no crossing traffic), normally with a hard shoulder. It has different names in different languages, but similar standards throughout Europe (autostrada, autovia, autoroute, autopista etc.)
I live in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and I can tell you that there are a lot of construction sites on the German highway that block everything and therefore cause a lot of traffic jams. There are more and more sections with speed limits. It's not like it was back then.
Hey the truck from the thumbnail is from my driving school! I actually made my driving licens on that truck.
We should make more space for Truckers to sleep save at night
In my area you find some crappy roads but those are local roads. 1. Level is Autobahn a country thing. 2. is Bundesstraßen max 100km/h usually also a country thing 3. Level is Landstraße a state thing. They are working on renewing the roads and bridges for few years now. But they are late. Finding a place in the night to sleep and limit the hours behind the stirring wheel is a pain in the ass too.
Autobahn just means motorway/freeway. You are indeed correct...
9:22
ruck stops or adequate parking for that matter is in short supply over here in Germany, sometimes when it is past 5;30 pm you'll drive by a "Rastplatz" along the Autobahn and find that truckers stand 4 or more truck lengths on the shoulder because there's no more room for them in the designated area.
If your lucky the last in line has his Hazards on
The reason we have so many km of roads…there are so many tiny narrow roads between towns that are seldom used…side roads…or connecting tiny towns
You are correct, it’s all the autobahn!
In general, German autobahn is in good condition and it's mostly nice tyo drive.
There are a few downsides though, first, as spoiled as I'm as living in the Netherlands, is the surface where water stays on top on produces a lot of spray.
Driving a car in heavy rain in the dark can sometimes be scary, as the spray from trucks reduces visibility almost to zero, best is to stay at a good distance behind a truck in these cases.
In the Netherlands a special type of top surface in the form of porous asphalt, called ZOAB is used, water seeps in and runs of to the sides inside this structure, almost no spray. It also reduces road noise by a considerable amount as the air displacement of the tyres is partially absorbed in this structure.
But the Netherlands is one of the very few countries using this top layer, as it needs more regular renewal and isn't very frost resistant.
With the refurbishment of roads we come to the other complaint about the German autobahn, road works lead to many congestions as they shut off or narrow lanes on very lengthy sections and they seem to take forever. This is due to the fact the Germans generally don't do road works at night, they only work during daytime. I'm not sure but it has something to do with safety concerns for the workers and it also may be a thing the unions and companies doing the work have agreed on. If I'm wrong on this and things have changed correct me.
In the Netherlands small work on the highways is usually done at night, and the road will be fully open the next morning again, for larger road works they create narrower lanes with barriers and markings like in Germany, but because work continues 24 hour on weekdays and often weekends too the duration of the works is much shorter than in Germany.
My uncle Alan drove all around the continent, from England. He always brought my brother and I, presents from all around Europe. Usually football (soccer) related.
As German that lives in the Netherlands and works with Trucks quite regularly I can say that the Infrastructure overall in the Netherlands is better then in Germany. In average the trucks here are also more personalized. In terms of trade and logistics nobody beats the Netherlands.
Ian, since you are so fascinated with trucks, you should look for trucking in South America. Some roads are certainly enough to give you an heart attack just by looking at them.
The world's largest truck stop is arguably in La Jonquera, Catalonia, next to the French border. Although it's a collection of several truck stops/services put together.
With the largest brothel in spain since prostitution in france is illegal now... ;-)
@@Hartmut-oo5ts
Yup ✌️
I don't think so. I've been to Iowa 80 several times and for sure it is the largest single truck stop in the world. A collection of several truck stops close by each other does not make it the largest one.
@@tomh9807 Ok, I translate: "Me am ´murrican!!1! me no clue of wurld outta me hood, me nu´ nuffin, butta me murrican! me murricans ever furst!!1! nut pussible spania haz biggo truckostoppo! ´murrca ulwayz numbaaa uno!!1! GUNG HO YO!"
Ok, dude: First of all: I 80 has multiple buildings and franchises, too.
It has 900 parking lots on 220 acres and about 5000 visitors daily.
NOW: La Jonquera from Euromercat to the outlets is over 3 Miles long and roughly half a mile wide. It can be easily spotted from orbit. It has over 5000 parking lots on over 600 acres and about 30.000 daily visitors on a yearly average.
HTH.
@@tomh9807 @tomh9807 Ok, I translate: "Me am ´murrican!!1! me no clue of wurld outta me hood, me nu´ nuffin, butta me murrican! me murricans ever furst!!1! nut pussible spania haz biggo truckostoppo! ´murrca ulwayz numbaaa uno!!1! GUNG HO YO!"
Ok, dude: First of all: I 80 has multiple buildings and franchises, too.
It has 900 parking lots on 220 acres and about 5000 visitors daily.
NOW: La Jonquera from Euromercat to the outlets is over 3 Miles long and roughly half a mile wide. It can be easily spotted from orbit. It has over 5000 parking lots on over 600 acres and about 30.000 daily visitors on average.
HTH.
Although German, with a certain automotive background, I must also point out that RENAULT is also a major truck producer in Europe.
MAN invented the diesel engine (by Rudolph Diesel). Scania belongs to VAG (VW Group). I agree Renault is also the main non-german player. Since several decades they had been merging with Volvo on a 50%/50% partnership, although Renault is taking the upper hand todue its higher economic resources, as it has also engulfed other manufactuerers as Tatra from Czechia.
The German road network is not the best. It is nicknamed "Baustelle Deutschland" (Construction site Germany). Upgrades and repairs take ages compared to my home country The Netherlands. A typical 3 week road change here would take 6 months in Germany, mainly because of their awkward rule system around roads and who owns them. Even Germans acknowledge that.
The road surface is bad in places, a lot of bridges need replacement. On and off ramps are notoriously short and sharp, where many (German) drivers having problems getting on the Autobahn. Often you need to use part of the hard shoulder.
Their RastStätten (Service area's) are generally fine for cars, but completely overcrowded with trucks in the evening. Because of driving limits a lot of truck drivers find themselves on the hard shoulders.
Well , if we look to the USA ( the richest Country in the World ... ) 45.000 Bridges need an replacement and 1 of 5 miles of Roads are in a poor condition source American Society of Civil Engineers / 2021 , its not that bad in Germany , its 4000 Bridges of 130.000 Bridges . And who pays for a new Bridge if there is another Country on the other Side ? , they are not cheap ...
@Sander: Yes, some of the "Costruction sites" are SO bad, it´s almost legendary: A1 Leverkusen Bridge Replacement, A45 Full closure Rahmede Bridge, A3/A4 Cologne... you have to see (suffer!) it to believe it...
as a German I can state that I basically agree with all of this. NL road infrastructure is better. One has to keep in mind though that Germany is much bigger and has a lower population density which makes it easier for NL to finance a well-working road infrastructure. Also in Germany, it highly depends on where you are. Around the NL border roads are rather poor, but south, close to Munich, roads are similar to what they are in NL. But every single point you mention is correct and you overall describe very well what problems Germany has regarding its road infrastructure.
Yes, we have many truck stops here in the UK, some large and some smaller ones, the biggest is located in Ashford Kent England with parking for 650 HGVs. It is considered to be the largest truck stop in Europe. A truck stop not far from me in Colsterworth, Lincolnshire has parking for over 200 HGVs.
Ashford Kent! "Farage´s Garage"! Yes, very recommendable!
I believe There are some nice truck stops on the east coast of Australia, but head west across the Nullarbor a lot of the Roadhouses/truck stops are at least 40 year-old structures. The truck stop areas are mostly gravel, the Roadhouses usually have concrete pads by the pumps but everything else is old worn asphalt and gravel. It's also a two lane highway (one lane each way and no divider), pretty much from Perth to the east coast.
Whenever we are on the highway to the Netherlands and we drive across the border it is as if the volume button is turned down, it goes from WROAAAR to vrrrrr.
and this is the truth.
As a German, I can say that.
Your channel is GREAT, I'm glad I subscribed to you.
keep it up.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🚚🚛🚒😊
You're correct in assuming that Autobahn is simply our german word for a Highway system. Tho i've come to realize that many "autobahn tourists" seem to come to the south of germany (specifically the south of Munich) to get the pedal to the metal.
According to statistics from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), Poland is the country with the largest number of registered trucks, i.e. almost 1.2 million units. Germany is in second place - it has the second largest fleet in Europe with 1,010,742 trucks, and in third place is Italy with 946,393 vehicles. The newest trucks in age are found in Austria, where the average age is 6.4 years, while Greece has the oldest transport fleet, with the average age of vehicles being over 21 years. When it comes to light commercial vehicles, the fleet in use in Europe exceeds 28 million units, the majority of which: 6 million - are registered in France. (average age is 11.6 years). Spain is second, with an average age (one of the oldest in Europe) of 13 years, closely followed by Italy (12.6 years). Diesel vans dominate. Except Greece. According to the ACEA report, around 90% of light commercial vehicles across the EU are diesel-powered, while currently only 0.3% are electric.
Cool numbers! Thank You!
MAN is also german and in Denmark the speed limiter is set at 85 km/t because you get fined above 10% over the speedlimit
If you ask truckers its a pain in the ass. Mainly the paperworks and the pressure of being in time.
The truck at 3:23 is no Actros, but an Arocs. It's a variant of the Actros aimed at offroad/construction use.
That's funny. The traffic sign at minute 1:00. I live in Frankfurt-Seckbach. Seckbach is a district of Frankfurt am Main. 😂
Hi Ian, i just googled Iowa 80 (learn sth new everyday!), quite impressive! In Germany we have something similar, at least in daily visitors (which is easy, since traffic is a lot more dense over here): "Autohof Geiselwind".
It is "only" half the aerea (~100 acres to Iowas 220), but since Germany is a "little bit" smaller than the US, it is not bad after all. They even made a reality TV show about it. ;-)
As others have pointed out, there´s a distinction between "Autohof" and "Raststätte" - the latter has direct access to the Autobahn, while Autohöfe are accessible via normal exits, and are sometimes a mile or two away from the autobahn, which is easily compensated by much lower fuel prices.
Also Raststätten are an invention from the early days of motor travel, so most of them (at least the older ones) are quite small, while "Autohof" is a more recent developement, and some of them are quite big. Iowa 80 wikipedia page states that average US truck stops are 75 acres - that is also the average Autohof-size over here.
Is german trucking the best? Hm, wouldn´t bet on that one.
But it was fun once - i was trucking in my early twenties all over europe in the early 90ies, and what i remember fondly is the sheer power of my beloved MAN 19.362 semi-trailer truck (google this legendary machine!). You weren´t just king in countries like italy, spain, or yugoslavia, you were GOD.
MAN back then was number 1 far ahead of all others, Merc included. And especially french (Renault), italian (Iveco) or spanish (Pegaso) or east european makes. Most of them only had naturally aspirated engines, while my MAN had not only Turbochargers, but also Intercoolers! It was so powerful in comparison to all else, that i remember once on the yugoslavian "Autoput" (Yugo word for highway) between Zagreb and Ljubljana i was more on the oncoming lane overtaking than on my side!!
Those were the times. But today everything is monitored by GPS, a lot of pressure, and a lot of paperwork. I would not work in the business any more...
But now, last but not least, a little bit of fun (only 1:20 minutes):
czcams.com/video/WHxOBEXH008/video.html
🚛🚛🚛🚛🚛🚛
And keep those vids coming, i always love to drop by and learn sth new!
What I've seen on the interwebbs about the US is that regular maintenance of anything seems to look like a waste of time and money.
Check out "just rolled in". And that are just cars that are lethal weapons that can go of at any time.
The worst problem with trucking in Germany is the amount of truck stops / parking... There are always too much trucks parked on the roadside or the entry-/exitways of truck stops because of missing parking spaces. Truckers have to park their truck after 9 hours of driving, because they can get heavy fines when they keep on driving after these 9 hours.
Along the autobahn you can find more or less two faclities to stop and rest. A "Raststätte" (lit. rest site) is usually a big parking area with a gas station, a restaurant and sometimes even a hotel and a church (Autobahnkirche). The smaller version is called "Rastplatz" (lit. rest place) and mostly consists of a little parking area, some benches and tables for picnic and (but not always) a sanitary facility.
there are truckstops on the autobahn with their own exits. We call them "Rastplatz" (a place to rest). You can stay there for free, but fuel and goods in the shop are very expensive. We also have have stops next to the autobahn, called "Autohof". They are usually next to a regular exit and are created especially for truckdrivers.
The driving limit is 9 hours per day but can be extended to10 hours twice a week. The working day is 15 hours twice a week NOT 13
Main reason for the extra lights and front-grill thing is security reason. the Lights may blind other drivers for example as they can be too bright. The Bluu Fang may cause massive injuries when a truck may hit a car or person.
you need to see "saschas LKW Fahrnünftig" videos :D
so true...
SEAT is a Spanish brand founded as a subsidiary of FIAT in the 1950s. Since the 80s is a brand of VAG.
The Agro-Truck at 3.10 is no Mercedes-Benz Actros, is a Arocs.
Hey, I was exactly on that first truck stop you found about a fortnight ago. This is between Rosenheim and the Austrian border. The truck stops have different sizes. Sometimes you have smaller ones but more often, and sometimes you have bigger ones. All truck stops ara also stops for normal cars and some of them have just a house where you can pee, while others have a restaurant (which are most of the time very expensive) and a playing ground for kids, but they are not built to entertain truckdrivers. They mostly stay in or near their trucks.
I'm driving a 40t fuel truck local from 7am to around 4pm and get paid ~30k/a. To get 40 to 50k you have to find a very good company and/or stay out overnight. Then you'll have to find a spot to park your truck, which can be quite tricky, cause there are just not enough parking spaces. That has been an issue for at least 20 years now and nothing seems to be done to fix it. Also, more and more bridges get closed for heavy traffic, because they cheaped out on infrastructure for decades. Drivers getting more aggressive over time and driving skills seem to decrease. I get cut off multiple times per day for no reason, even by driving school. So, trucking in Germany is the best? I doubt it!
Anyway, enjoying your content and love your attitude! Keep it going.
oh wow I didn’t know wages are as low as 30k for truck drivers 😮
@@stocothedude I should have added it's net wage. Without family and kids it's manageable.
When I was driving for e.g. DHL (sub-contractor) a few years ago, I'd have to work 10 to 12 hours a day for 20k/a and get f***ed by dispatchers, customers, boss and sometimes police.
@@gun1558 thank you for clarification 😊
In Germany we have different kind of rest stops. The 'Raststätte' is the smaller version and is located at the Autobahn with a own on and off ramp.
The 'Autohof' is much bigger and designed for the overnight stay. It usually isn't located directly at the Autobahn. You have to take the regular Autobahn exit and maybe drive one or two minutes to get their with usually more space to park and places to eat like a McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and sometimes things like casino and so on.
In Denmark we loooove bullbars and lightbridges.... When I was driving my Volvo had 18 ekstra headlights lol....but I did go to Sweden and Norway a lot and it is really dark up there... hehe...
MAN is also a German company, part of VW group.
@IWrocker actually there are lots of Mercedes trucks in America: Freightliner is owned by Mercedes since 1981
For Truck Stops in Germany look up the Word Autohof.
Written on one of the first Trucks was: Dachbegrünung, which translates to a company that does rooftop greeneries, meaning plants on a roof, mostly a flat roof, making it a garden...and the soil with plants keeps the water from rain away from the roof below. ^^
Smarter every day.
German trucks are plane and boring and their roads are very busy. The right lane on the autobahn is like a train of trucks as if they are pulling each other. On the subject of truck stops / rest places, we do have them everywhere in Europe and they are very densely distributed. The quality varies throughout countries and regions, but in general I find them very convenient and practical. Sometimes there are big fuel stations with restaurants and gift shops, sometimes just a nice quiet area with toilets and a playing ground for kids. I prefer to stop on the big ones with fuel and food during the day for obvious reasons. But at night I prefer the quiet ones for sleeping
2:30 you have Freightliner, owned by mercedes benz, and using the same engine etc as our trucks in germany. But it is said that the Actros models here in europe are on another level regarding comfort and quality compared to Freightliner trucks.
About the individualisation with lights, i could imagine that there are enough rules who forbid the extra lights.
About trucking, i really like the colani concept trucks ... Aerodynamic trucks looks quite cool, but you dont get then on the road because of security isssues. (and probadly the extra cost for this design)
Well, in Germany it's not as nice as a truck driver. In the U.S., drivers have showers in their cabins. In Germany, you have to resort to overcrowded public baths. If you have the opportunity to access a crowded parking lot.
I think the Job Truck dtiver can get very complicated when your Dispatcher accepts Transports with unrealistic time windows for the customers. So a lot of drivers risk their driving licemce for theirr employers. Some companies hire Eastern European companies for work contracts in order to reduce wages. that's a shame. The profession has been made so unattractive because people are trying to squeeze people out to save every cent. I actually only know Geiselwind as the best-known rest area. Back then, as a farmer, he built his rest stop with the construction of the motorway and now has a great rest stop where concerts, festivals and car truck meetings are held. In addition to the usual fast food chains, the rest stop also has its own hotel, restaurants, butcher shop and more...
The roads and highways in East Germany are better than in the West. This is because the road network was renewed there in the 1990s and 2000s. In the west, the road network is getting old. The result is closures of Autobahn bridges.
The Autobahn doesn't have a speed limit, wrong! The speed limit for trucks and vehicles with trailers is 80 km/h.
In Germany there is a driving ban for trucks on Sundays. Truck stops and parking lots are then overcrowded. Often the trucks are already parked in the entrances. Truck drivers have to spend a long time looking for a place to park.
Over half of the truck drivers are Southeast Europeans. These undercut German drivers in terms of wages.
Nearly no specific truck stops, mostly they are fill ups, toilets and restaurants not deviding trucks from regular cars. Even when named truck stop which i know one especially with truck service shop and washing facility for huge trucks, all are also open to regular cars. All of them have parking space for over night resting for trucks.
Just last week, I was doing 80km/h on the autobahn, and I was getting overtaken by massive trucks.😂
There are basically 3 types of stops on the autobahn:
"Rastplatz" - basically a parking lot, some benches and *maybe* a (probably less than well maintained) public toilet
"Rasthof" - a parking lot with a gas station, a shop, payed toilets and often a fast food joint (McD, Burger King, Subway, etc or no-name ones)
"Autohof" - trucker-centric stop, usually a bit off the road, with many amenities (incl. showers, restaurants, sometimes even casinos)
In terms of size, Germany is the same size as the US state of Montana
My dad has been working as a truck driver in Germany and he is satisfied
if you can buy it, a trucker has transported it
From my very limited experience of German roads, what's missing is that there is so many smaller roads and cities older than the USA where it is impossible to use large trucks. So Mercedes have a lot of different sizes of trucks.Have had a few nice little ones in the 8 to 10 tons range.
6:00 Thast because they are allways under construction sites if one part is done the move to the next and then to the next one so if you travle thru germany u gonna see many construction sites on the autobahn but it depens where u are and where u want to travle.
Some sections of the highway were built during the Cold War so that they could be used for take-off and landing runways for fighter jets in the event of war.
Hi Ian, on the map you see lines with blue rectangled white numbers. these are the autobahn. the numbers are odd north to south and even west to east.
Yes it’s called Rastplatz. Yes we have parking for trucks and for motor cars separately.
But there is not a lot space, they are very expensive and rubbish.
In Germany you have "Raststätte" and Rastplatz, the first has a restaurant, and mostly a gas station as wel.. they offer showers, toilets, the also have shops with all kinds of food, like hot and cold things to eat, as well as fluids for your truck or car, like washerfluid, motor oils, coolant, and brakefluids, as well as towing cables, safety equipment, and the like, where a Rastplatz is merely a parkingspace along the Autobahn, sometimes fitted out with picnic tables to enjoy your meal outside the truck or car..
Basically this exists throughout Europe, only different names in other countries..
You don't have the regular Mercedes trucks, but they still dominate your market as the owners of Freightliner. However they struggle here in Australia with Mercedes 7th in sales and Freightliner 13th, the smaller Japanese trucks dominate Australian sales with Isuzu 1st, Hino 2nd and Fuso 3rd (another Mercedes brand) then the bigger trucks Volvo, Kenworth, Iveco, Mercedes etc. Sorry got carried away with the stats 🤣🤣.
Highways in the Netherlands are in much better condition, saying this as a german living near the dutch border
to annoy you .... the truck @3:25 is not an ACTROS but an AROCS....! ;)
In the 90's, Mercedes came up with the idea of giving the trucks "fantasy" names (Actros, Accelo, Atron, Atego, Axor, Antos and Arocs) to differentiate between types. It was well received and better understood than "NK" "SK" and "LK", especially because they were available in several sizes. Funnily enough, the "NK" is actually not a separate type but just the "newer SK" .Whean Mercedes, During the modernization, switched from sheet metal to plastic cladding on the radiator grille, fenders and wheel arches to distinguish the 70 models from those in the 80s opticly
German truck drivers are usually very considerate and will not hog you off the road as long as you behave accordingly. It’s the foreign truck drivers…..remember it’s Europe and trucks come from all over…….who sometimes display less than safe driving. When I use the autobahn sometimes I poke myself between the trucks for protection😂………they hate it through if you are not keeping the maximum speed limit for truck to have them driving consistently.
lot of rules to follow here in Germany
The autobahn doesn’t have a speed limit in general. Certain sections that make up about 30% are limited
As far as I know German autobahns are little hell for german truck drivers. Never ending roadworks, every rest place overfilled with trucks.
Ford is also selling trucks in Germany. Take a look at the F-Max 😅
Yes built by Ford trucks Turkey, there are quite a few European countries that have them now, I have seen them from Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and we even have a few here in the UK.
Autobahn on a map: It is either A and a number like A 81 or A 5, or you will see BAB, which is Bundesautobahn (same thing as just the A). Federal Autobahn, where strangely here AB means Autobahn and in short with the A 81 the A means Autobahn.
So, it is either a capital A followed by a number up to three digits and BAB and number...
Rasthof= rest court
That is where you could find a hotel, a restaurant or a McDonald's/Burger King, a playground, a gas station, resting area and lots of parking space.
Then there are just gas stations, but you can get a coffee and some overprized food such as a hotdog, or better a Wiener/Frankfurter or something simple like that-a sandwich.
Then there are signs a big white P in a blue rectangle, which is just a parking/resting area with some trash cans and possible a restroom, which is always gross, but free of charge.
Sometimes you can see the sign for Autobahnkapelle, which is a tiny church like thing, to pray. A chapel.
That's it, I guess, on the stops.
Not shown in that video: a truck trying to overtake another truck because he's driving 81kmh instead of 79kmh and clogging the second (and sometimes only extra) lane on the Autobahn for what feels like half an eternity until the speed differential that make a glob of molasses tap their feet in impatience finally let's them pass ... unless of course the other truck decides to accelerate.
3:20 this big boy is called agrotruck
2:20 From what I know, Freightliner and Western Star trucks from the US are Mercedes owned and use Mercedes parts. Detroit Diesel, their engine manufacturer is also owned by Mercedes.
You should look at the ''Raststätte Dammer Berge''
Truck drivers in Germany are still often very overworked, stressed and often even paid below minimum wage by some tricks used by the trucking companies. Those are often Eastern European drivers hired by German companies though, as Germans don't want to work under these conditions, so maybe truckers of German nationality are often better off, but I really pity those drivers from Romania and Bulgaria who are hired by German truck companies. While there are strict regulations on working hours and so on, these are often dodged in practice, and it is common for police to find drivers exceeding their hours. Some are even really sleep deprived, which is obviously very dangerous. All in all, I wouldn't want to be a trucker here (I don't know if it's different in other parts of the world, so I don't know how this compares).
Dude in the video says "rural areas".... shows middle of Berlin in Winter :D
merican truck stop like that iowa 80 is like a scrapyard turned museum that happens to be a petrol station.
That video sequenc at 4:30 is actually from the nürburgring patrol station lol.
The maximum weight in Germany for trucks is 40 tons, not 50. 50 tons is the limit in the Netherlands.
A good reference for an American is to remember, Germany is about the size of Montana.
Yes, the whole highway system is called Autobahn.
We don't have truck stops (at least not that i know of). We have Autobahnrastplätze (autobahn resting areas). The size of these vary a lot. from parking lots for only 20 vehicles (no toilettes) to fully fledged 120 lots + 80 lots for trucks, (separated traffic for passenger cars and trucks, gas stations, restaurants, and even hotels) and every imaginable size in between
as for bull bars, you will not find them on german trucks because they have been banned for padestrian safety reasons...and as for elaborate designs, this is not all that commen do to that most trucks are owned by the large transport companies,and multiple drivers use the same truck, so they tend to keep the truck fleet looking more uniform...as were in the usa more trucks are privatly owned with 1 driver wich allows for more personal design touches.
as for german roads...they are not what they used to be and in a major state of decay and littered with road construction sites...neighboring countries like the netherlands have a much better road system as we germans do.
and honestly i´d rather be a trucker in america then in europe...trucking is not all open road freedom on the autobahn...you should see some of the tight inner city and country roads truckers need to manoeuvre on to get to there destination over here...pure h*ll!
and you have not heard much about truck stops because the classic truck stop like in america generally does not exsist in germany except maybe a hand full.
all in all german trucking is definatly not the best...and because of the long hours, restrictions, tight scheduling, and poor pay not a job that people like doing anymore like it used to be! germany actually has been facing a major shortage in truck drivers the past few years!
oh and german cops just love nothing more then getting on truckers nerves by controlling the living sh*t out of them and wasting hours of there time when they very well know about the tight time schedules truckers have to endure!
3:01 herrlich ein mitdenkender Autofahrer 😏
The normal trucks can only weigh 40t. Anything above that requires special permission.
Restplaces are called Rasthof, Rasthaus or Autohof. These are normally on both sides and you can find them roundabout all 40 to 60 kilometers (25 to 35 miles).
Actually the Autohof is slightly different. While a Rastplatz (just parking and possibly some restrooms) or a Rasthof (which may also have a gas station and some restaurant or the like, called Raststätte) are directly on the Autobahn and except for a restricted service road can only be entered or left from and to the Autobahn, and yes, usually you have them in pairs for both directions, the Autohof is per definition off the Autobahn. So you leave the Autobahn at an exit (which usually come in pairs, one for each direction) and have to go a usually very short distance off the Autobahn to get to kind of one commercial area with parking, a gas station, sometimes a truck wash and a truck repair shop, restaurants and other shops for mostly leisure purposes. The restaurants are usually nothing fancy though, mostly fast food chains.