No matter how you slice it, there just aren’t enough drivers to move all the freight (and autonomous just isn’t ready). In the US, the industry is chasing higher payloads to bridge the gap, but in Australia, they’re taking a different approach: massive, multi-trailer hybrid road trains.
Working with Australian mining firm MLG to help decarbonize their heavy haul operations while reducing exposure to volatile fuel costs, the trailer experts at Mick Murray Welding have launched 50/50 joint venture to develop and deploy a proprietary hybrid road train (“HRT”) that pairs a series of powered trailers with conventional diesel or battery electric semi trucks to enable safer, cleaner, and heavier hauling.
Mick Murray-built HRT trailers pack three heavy-duty electric drive axles and a 200 kWh buffer battery into the trailer’s heavy-duty frame rails. The batteries get charged by shore power or through the running diesel when running empty on their way to the mine and take advantage of the massively heavy mining loads and regenerative braking to keep SOC high on their way back from the mine.
The entire system is engineered specifically for MLG’s dense payloads, extreme duty cycles, and punishing off-road demands of Australia’s remote mining landcape.
