Tractor-trailers
A semi-trailer truck, more commonly called a semi truck (often shortened to just "semi"), is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. It is variously known as a transport (truck) in Canada; semi or single in Australia and New Zealand; semi, tractor-trailer, big rig, or eighteen-wheeler in the United States; and articulated lorry, abbreviated artic, in Great Britain and Ireland.
A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a fifth wheel hitch, with much of its weight borne by the tractor. The result is that both tractor and semi-trailer will have a distinctly different design than a rigid truck and trailer.
In North America, the combination vehicles made up of a powered truck and one or more semitrailers are known as "semis", "semitrailers", "tractor-trailers", "big rigs", "semi trucks", "eighteen-wheelers", or "semi-tractor trailers".
The tractor unit typically has two or three axles; those built for hauling heavy-duty commercial-construction machinery may have as many as five, some often being lift axles.
The most common tractor-cab layout has a forward engine, one steering axle, and two drive axles. The fifth-wheel trailer coupling on most tractor trucks is movable fore and aft, to allow adjustment in the weight distribution over its rear axle(s).
Ubiquitous in Europe, but less common in North America since the 1990s, is the cabover engine configuration, where the driver sits next to, or over the engine. With changes in the US to the maximum length of the combined vehicle, the cabover was largely phased out of North American over-the-road (long-haul) service by 2007. Cabovers were difficult to service, as the cab could not be lifted on its hinges to a full 90-degree forward tilt, severely limiting access to the front part of the engine.
As of 2016[update], a truck can cost $100,000, while the diesel cost can be $70,000 per year. Trucks average from 4 to 8 miles per US gallon (59 to 29 L/100 km), with fuel economy standards requiring better than 7 miles per US gallon (34 L/100 km) efficiency by 2014. Power requirements in standard conditions are 170 hp at 55 mph (89 km/h) or 280 hp at 70 mph (113 km/h), and somewhat different power usage in other conditions.
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