世界上最长的卡车

道路之王

There is some dispute about where the name of the Pilbara region in Western Australia comes from. Some people believe it comes from the Aboriginal word “bilybara”, which means “dry”. Others say that it is derived from the name of a local species of fish. Wherever its name comes from, the region features spectacularly beautiful nature and some of the oldest natural landscapes in the world. Endless deserts, rocky gorges and remote settlements. But there is another side to the region as well. It is at the heart of the Australian mining industry, which requires the transportation of large quantities of crude oil, salt, natural gas and iron ore.

To connect the region to the rest of this expansive country, the drivers of road trains have to cover vast distances. Road trains are huge trucks which are used in Australia to transport goods overland to remote regions. Nowhere in the world has more road trains or longer road trains than Australia. Hundreds of these vehicles are operated by the logistics company Linfox. Not only do they transport the mined natural resources, they also supply the region with vital goods such as food products or fuel.

罗布·哈里森是一名公路火车司机。他干这项工作已经20年了，对这一领域了如指掌。从广阔沙漠景观的红沙到清澈的海水，他看到了这个地区提供的一切。他对卡车运输很有热情。

Rob’s day starts early. “I get up at 4:30 and do some exercise.” If you sit at the wheel for hours at a time concentrating hard, you need something to balance it out. “I like going swimming with friends” – but his favourite activity is stand-up paddle boarding. “I paddle through the water like a maniac on the board.” After training it’s time for work, at the wheel of a road train worth over a million dollars.

重要的交付

Today, he’s heading to Marble Bar, around 200 km inland. The diesel in Rob’s tanks is the elixir of life for the mine there. “Without our supply trips, the generators would give up the ghost, the canteens would have no food, the machines wouldn’t be able to run.”

Marble Bar is one of the hottest places in the world, with temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees. It is an inhospitable environment and a real challenge for people and machines. “If the temperatures reach 35 degrees, we get sandstorms. They look fantastic from a distance, but if you have to drive through one you’ll notice straight away that the sand settles on everything,” explains Rob. And the ever-present iron ore dust around the mines compounds the situation.

在脏兮兮的道路上行驶了数百公里，有时甚至是没有铺面的道路上，一切都被尘土覆盖。“仅仅确保产品到达需要的地方是不够的。我还必须确保产品在完好无损的情况下安全交付。”为了确保这一点，罗布在卸货前检查了油箱并清洁了卡车上的连接点。然后是时候回到路上了，穿过广阔的皮尔巴拉景观。

It is a region of extremes: in the rainy season, the rain is as intense as the hot, dry conditions are for the rest of the year. Between November and May in particular, sudden and heavy rainfall quickly turns the dusty roads into muddy tracks. This also presents a challenge for the heavy road trains. “You soon find that you’ve got 300 kilograms of mud stuck to the undercarriage of the truck,” says Rob.

清洁与安全齐头并进

无论是沙尘还是湿泥，都会影响运输车的可靠性。高安全标准和干净的卡车对林福克斯来说至关重要。由于普通的卡车清洗系统不适合50多米长的公路列车，Linfox委托Kärcher开发了一种专门针对超大车辆的清洗系统。

The two companies worked in close collaboration to create a unique, state-of-the-art wash system. Thanks to the four-stage cleaning process, the giant vehicles only have to pass through the system once to get clean.

第一级用冷水冷却公路列车。这将在后续阶段保护表面。接下来，卡车驶过一个特殊的系统来清洁底盘系统。同时，通过多个旋转高压喷嘴清洁车轮和车辆侧面。在第三阶段，如果需要手动清除特别顽固的污垢，则可以使用在两个水平面上有四个使用点的固定式压力垫圈。在第四个也是最后一个阶段，卡车通过带有高压喷嘴的拱门。这会冲洗掉所有残留的污垢。当它出现时，这辆巨大的汽车看起来和新的一样好。

“清洗系统让我们的生活更轻松。在我们的行业里，时间总是一个重要的因素。“能在15分钟内清洗我50米长的卡车真是太神奇了。”在新的清洗系统开发之前，车辆是用高压清洗机和大量的润滑脂清洗的。清洗一辆卡车花了5个小时，这是一段宝贵的时间，可以在其他地方更好地利用。“现在我可以不用做任何事就直接开车过去了。我一直往前开，洗车系统会做其他事情。”

清洁结束后，是时候再次上路，回到皮尔巴拉的广阔天地。“尽管环境恶劣，酷热难耐，但这对我来说是个神奇的地方。”罗布很快就忘记了看到这片独特的风景时的孤独、孤独、辛苦和漫长的日子。“你只要花点时间四处看看就行了。”

5皮尔巴拉事实

• 皮尔巴拉是构成西澳大利亚州的九个地区之一。
• 67000人生活在面积超过500000平方公里的地区。
• 气候特点是高温、低降雨量和低湿度。
• The Pilbara has the world's largest iron ore deposits.
• 除了采矿业和石油业，旅游业对该地区也很重要。