[Cultural Note: The term 'Van' in this article refers to any vehicle with a box shaped cargo carrier, mainly the six to ten wheeled trucks]
In England the total land area is much smaller, nowhere is more than an overnight stop
away, and as such there isn't as great a need for a vehicle able to haul large loads
over long distances.
English roads are also much smaller, not able to support the weight of large loads
over any decent length of time, and with road maintenance not quite what it used
to be, local councils don't want to have to waste valuable resources repairing
that which isn't broken.
As such, while local trucks are physically the same size as their American
counterparts, they have different chassis's which are built to carry less
weight. These chassis are easily identifiable by the fact that they carry a smaller amount of wheels than their heavy lifting cousins. The less wheels generally gives the vehicles less surface area through which to distribute their weight and thus means that they cannot support the same weight as other vehicles.
For the short hauls that exist around the United Kingdom, this isn't really regarded as too much of a problem, and it's usually the armour and weapons that are sacrificed rather than the cargo capacity. An acceptable trade-off for most non-security firms as the country side isn't usually terrorised as much by cycle gangs or marauders as some others, and help is never too far away (although as any experienced driver will tell you, any help that isn't already present is too far away).
Security firms and those that have to protect their cargo whatever the risks will never be seen with the lighter chassis vehicles as their mounts.
While the lighter chassis has many disadvantages, it basically has no real advantages. The chassis itself isn't really lighter (although according to drivers who regularly drive both types of vehicle, it seems lighter, but experts reckon that's just the slightly different handling effects from having less sets of wheels to keep the vehicle stable), and in most cases is no cheaper to build. So the question would be, why have them?
In most cases, the firms that operate the lighter chassis vans and trucks are smaller firms that generally operate from safer areas - around towns, or short hauls up the safe motorways - companies that don't really need the larger carry capacity. Also, the fact that these vehicles are generally lighter overall (when things like missing tyres are taken into account) usually means that they are cheaper to build. They don't carry the same amount of armour and weapons, sacrificing that for cargo, and it all adds up in the end.
But the most common reason is probably the oldest and has just stuck around by habit. This is the fact that most English roads were built with the advent of the horse drawn carriage and over the years have generally been overhauled, not rebuilt as cars and trucks have made their way to the country, and as such, the roads were never able to support much weight without requiring constant maintenance, and so instead of rebuilding roads to allow them to support a vehicles weight, the vehicles themselves were kept at a lower weight and the roads were just repaired as and when needed.
Nowadays most roads are capable of supporting even the heaviest of the rigs, but there are still many country roads and bridges which have weight limits, and if you have to reverse your big rig back a few miles to get to a place where you can turn round, you can get bet that there is going to be trouble from someone...
The typical American big rig is the eighteen wheeler. Ten wheels for the cab,
and another eight for the trailer.
By contrast, the typical English rig is the fourteen or sixteen wheeler, with
twelve wheelers being less common, but still around. While the lighter chassis does inevitable mean that the rig can't pull as much, don't be fooled into thinking that the rig is suddenly going to be a push over. It is still a rig and thus deserves respect.
The most common type of tractor is the cab-over.
Typical chassis layouts are as follows:
For the tractor, the most common chassis layout is the six wheeled version, which
pits a single wheel at either side of the front, and one pair each side of the
rear. Sometimes the rear pair is split into two single wheels, side by side.
The eight wheeled version has one pair and a single wheel at the rear of the
vehicle on each side, with (usually) the pair being the rear most set of wheels.
For the trailer, either 4, 6 or 8 wheels are used, in pair or single wheel
configurations.
For the six wheeled trailer, there is another very common wheel layout which
puts three wheels side by side on the each side of the trailer. Called the inline version, this is an attempt to maximise the load that the vehicle may carry. The trailer still has a lighter chassis, but the wheels are spaced out in an attempt to increase the available surface area that the vehicles weight may be distributed on. As result, this version can actually carry more weight than the other six wheeled configuration.
For the tractor, each set of two wheels that are not present gives the cab a 5%
reduction to the maximum load that it may carry (before any modifiers for the
chassis are given). There is no reduction in the cost unless the rear wheels
are mounted in one pair either side, in which case the tractor price is reduced
in price by $500, also before any other modifiers.
With the trailer, each set of two wheels missing means that the power plants
maximum load is reduced by 10,000 lbs for the purposes of maximum load carried only (and thus not applying to top speeds), with no trailer of less than eight wheels
being able to support any weights of greater of 40,000lbs, which usually means that rigs don't have Super truck plants, unless they need the speed.
Trailers with differing wheel layouts cost the same as normal trailers.
The exception to this is the six wheeled inline chassis which has the wheels in three
single sets, side by side. This version just gets the reduction of 10,000 lbs to
the vehicles maximum load but has no penalty on the actual weight that the trailer is able to support. This is due to the greater weight dispersal that
this chassis offers. However it costs more than the usual chassis - +$1,000 to
the trailer costs.
Obviously, with differing wheel layouts comes differing amounts of wheel guards
that need to be purchased, with the variant six wheeled trailer as many as six
wheelguards need to be bought for the trailer alone!
For all these vehicles, ten wheeled variants are the exception rather than the
rule over here. Instead, nearly all these vehicles use the lighter six wheeled chassis,
with only one pair of wheels on each side at the back, and this pair is again nearly always mounted as a pair, and not side by side.
Eight wheeled vehicles are gaining popularity, but aren't that common. However a
sight that is being seen more and more is the heavier twelve wheeled chassis, which
gives another two wheels at the front next to the first two. This particular
frame is strengthened to allow the vehicle to carry more weight, but
performance does suffer due to the layout of the wheels and the power needed to
drive them. Commercial vehicles like buses don't use twelve wheels, but some
industrial companies do. An illustration of a twelve wheeled vehicle is on the Green-covered CWC2, page 81.
With regard to buses, English ones hardly ever have more than one way on or off. Passenger entry/exit is second to the amount of passengers that the vehicle can carry,
although most windows are easy to open in emergencies should the situation
arise. Indeed, it would appear that English bus companies don't regard passenger comfort to the same degree as the Americans, as the typical 40' Brighton bus in 1999 can carry a
maximum of 47 passengers sitting and upto 21 standing, and during weekends and in
rush hours, these buses are full!
Only London double deckers usually have 2 ways of getting onto and off the bus.
It should be noted that while local buses and double deckers nearly always have the six wheeled chassis, coaches (especially those of National Express Coach Company (the UK's leading coach company for across the country travel)) don't. They go against typical bus policy and pit passenger comfort and security over capacity.
Each vehicle which has only a six wheeled chassis has it's maximum load reduced
by ten percent (before chassis modifiers), and has its chassis frame cost
reduced by $500.
Eight wheeled vehicles suffer a reduction of 5% to their maximum load, but the
chassis frame costs remain the same.
Twelve wheeled vehicles gain a +5% to their maximum load (before chassis mods),
but their chassis frame cost is increased by $1000. In addition, their maximum
speed suffers a 10% reduction. Only Ten Wheeled oversized vehicles may mount 12
wheels, buses and RVs may not. All front tyres on a 12 wheeled vehicle must be of the same type.
If the referee allows it, buses can accommodate passengers at the rate of 1 per
space, just like cars, however these vehicles are considered cramped and will
only have the one entrance/exit in them.
Unless stated, all vehicles give 200 lbs per crew member.
Barny's is a small haulage firm that operates from around the Brighton and Hove Area, England, dealing mainly with the transport of goods in relatively safe areas. The vehicles they use can be considered fairly representative of their class.
Flatbed transport:
12 wheeled cab-over, x-hvy chassis, medium truck plant, 12 PR tyres, driver and gunner, 2 MGs (f - linked), VMG (uni turret). Cab armour: F35, B25, L30, R30, T30, U20, 8 ten pt wheelguards. 15' flatbed carrier. Base cargo capacity: 6,720 lbs, 20 spaces. Carrier armour: U20. Top speed: 110mph; 12,180 lbs, $55,050
Van:
6 wheeled cab-over, hvy chassis, small truck plant, 6 PR tyres, driver and gunner, 2 MGs (l, r), RL (f), fire extinguisher, windjammer. Cab armour: F35, B20, L25, R25, T20, U20, 4 five point wheelguards, 5 pts windjammer armour. 15' van carrier. RL with extra magazine (turret smart linked to f), SS (b). Cargo capacity: 2,115 lbs, 26 spaces. Carrier armour: F0, B25, L25, R25, T25, U5. Top speed: 107.5mph, 12,735 lbs, $40,940
Brighton and Hove Metro is the only commercial bus company in the Brighton region of the UK. Due to the dropped weapon ban in Brighton, they trade defensiveness for offensive, and while a single bus may be no match for a well armed duelling vehicle, you never see a single bus at any one time and all are willing to help a work mate if they find themselves in trouble.
These buses are typical of the English policy of maximum carrying space without regard to too much passenger comfort.
[For information about Brighton and Hove and the Metro, please see the Guide to Brighton, England.]
Typical bus:
40' 6 wheeled bus, x-hvy chassis, small truck plant (PC,SC), 6 solid tyres, driver and gunner, 35 passengers (@1 space and 200 lbs each), 6 space luggage rack, 2 RRs (f - linked), 2 RRs (b - linked), 2 RRs (uni turret bt, smart linked to f and b), 4 FGs (fl, fr, bl, br), fire extinguisher. Armour: F40, B39, FL,FR25, FT,FU20, BL,BR25, BT25, BU20, 6points CA around the driver and gunner, 4 ten pt hub guards, 4 ten point wheelguards. Top speed: 100 mph, 22,67 lbs, $63,780
Typical Minibus:
6 wheeled minibus, x-hvy, small truck plant, 6 PR tyres, driver and gunner, 10 passengers (@1 space and 200 lbs each), 4 space luggage rack, 2 RRs (f - linked), 1 RR (b), 1 RR (uni turret, smartlinked to f and b), fire extinguisher. Armour: F40, B35, L25, R25, T23, U15, 6 points CA around driver and gunner, 4 ten pt wheelguards. Top speed: 105mph, 12,956 lbs, $36,220
Once a thriving security firm, it's reputation was put on the line more than once when it lost valuable prisoners and cargo due to neglect and bad management rather than actual outside interference. However once it sorted itself out, it turned it's attention to transport instead, and has started to make a name for itself as a reputable company who delivers on time. As a result, it needs some steady vehicles, and the following are just a few examples of what the company uses and offers for sale.
Group Four Short Hauler:
Standard 6 wheeled cab-over, x-hvy chassis, large truck plant, 6 PR tyres, driver, VMG (f), 2 HRs (f - link). Armour: F31, B25, L30, R30, T20, U20, 4 ten point wheel guards. Top speed: 167.5mph, 10,794 lbs, $55,142
Group Four International Express:
Sleeper 8 wheeled cab-over, x-hvy chassis, large truck plant, 8 solid tyres, driver and gunner, 2 RL w/extra magazine (in two sponson turrets, l,r smartlinked), 2 TL (l,r), 2 LGL's (both side mounted TL to RLs, all rockets guided), LDR, extra driver controls, radar detector, HD brakes, FE, 2 safety seats, windjammer. Armour: F:46, B30, L40, R40, T25, U20, 6 ten point wheelguards, 10 points windjammer armour, 10 points FP CA around driver and gunner. Top speed: 162.5mph, 13,675 lbs, $97,362
Group Four Eurobox Trailer:
40' 6 wheeled inline van trailer, 6 solid tyres, quick release kingpin, 65 spaces cargo, 3 MD (b, bl, br, all lined), HDSS (b), BC and extra magazine (in uni turret - bl), 2 VMGs (in two sponson turrets - bl, br smartlinked). Armour: F30, B60, FL,FR,BL,BR50, FU,BU30, FT40, BT50, 6 ten point wheelguards. 14,825 lbs, $51,950
