Heavy road vehicles - Mechanical coupling between prime movers and semitrailers - Interchangeability requirements Dedicated vehicle combinations
Standards Australia
Specifies the requirements for the location of fifth wheels and kingpins on vehicles used in dedicated combinations operating normally on both sealed and unsealed roads.
RECONFIRMATION NOTICE
Technical Committee ME-053 has reviewed the content of this publication and in
accordance with Standards Australia procedures for reconfirmation, it has been
determined that the publication is still valid and does not require change.
Reconfirmed documents cannot be amended, but may be formally revised and a new
edition published.
Certain documents referenced in the publication may have been amended since the
original date of publication. Users are advised to ensure that they are using the latest
versions of such documents as appropriate, unless advised otherwise in this
Reconfirmation Notice.
Approved for reconfirmation in accordance with Standards Australia procedures for
reconfirmation on 8 January 2016.
The following are represented on Technical Committee ME-053:
Australian Industry Group
Australian Road Research Board
Australian Trucking Association
AUSTROADS
Commercial Vehicle Industry Association of Australia
Department of Defence (Australian Government)
Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (Australian Government)
Institute of Road Transport Engineers
Municipal Works Operations Association
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator
New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association
New Zealand Truck and Trailer Manufacturers Federation
Road Transport Forum New Zealand
Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia
Truck Industry Council
This Standard specifies requirements for the location of fifth wheels and kingpins on vehicles used in dedicated combinations operating normally on both sealed and unsealed roads. These requirements are applicable to prime movers, semitrailers, and multi-trailer combinations.
The individual vehicles which make up a dedicated combination are only intended to be used within that dedicated combination or within a family of identical dedicated combinations. Therefore, many of the interchangeability requirements are expressed in relative terms, rather than absolute terms.
For example, the height of the fifth wheel on the prime mover would be required to be within a certain tolerance of the height of fifth wheels on other prime movers within the same family. If semitrailers in a multi-trailer combination are to be interchanged the heights of the fifth wheels on the prime mover and on the leading semitrailer would also be required to be within a certain tolerance of each other. What the actual height is does not matter, it is the relative heights which determine interchangeability.
By contrast, the absolute requirements for non-dedicated combinations require the height of all fifth wheels to lie within a certain dimensioned range.
This Standard gives guidelines on interchangeability for coupling of the prime mover and semitrailers to provide compatibility and adequate clearance. However, this will not guarantee that any particular vehicle combination will satisfy legal requirements such as load distribution or overall length. Other aspects such as dynamic stability are not addressed.
NOTES:
1 Specific dimensional recommendations are given where applicable in this Standard to minimize interchangeability problems between conventional prime movers and semitrailers of a dedicated combinations. Such wider interchangeability is recommended wherever possible and may be of vital importance in an emergency.
2 This Standard makes provision for coupling of any semitrailer of a multi-trailer combination to the prime mover.
| Document Type | Standard |
| Status | Current |
| Publisher | Standards Australia |
| ProductNote | Reconfirmed 15/04/2016 This standard has been reconfirmed in Australia in 2016 and remains current in New Zealand. Reconfirmation Notice 15/04/2016 |
| Committee | ME-053 |
| Supersedes |
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