3. You want to overtake an oversized vehicle. Look at the following video

‘Yeah…NAH’ 60” TVC
https://youtu.be/o2fFlWF5ECA

 

 

 

4. Using your knowledge of stopping distances, create a Yeah - Nah video about oversize load trucks and stopping distances.

 

 

How many Oversize Load Pilots to employ on these trips?

Primary Middle 

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

 

1. You are to investigate the following table

 

Day time pilot and escort requirements for Class 1 load carrying vehicles - updated October 2020
NSW Government

Equal to or less than metres Width	Equal to or less than metres Length
	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	>35
3.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
3.6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
3.7	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
3.8	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
3.9	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.5	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.7	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.8	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
4.9	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
5.0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
5.1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
5.2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
5.3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
5.4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
5.5	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3
>5.5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

 

2. Read the following as a class by reading one paragraph per student.

 

"Sharing the Australian highways with very big loads is part of the adventure of travel. Current Australian and New Zealand practice is to provide standard traffic lane widths of 3.5m.

Regular travellers on Australia’s highways will see a vast array of vehicles and machinery being transported across the country, but few understand the role that pilot vehicles play in escorting these vehicles. It’s a harsh reality but ignoring these pilots and their large & oversize vehicles can have dire consequences.

(Source: Forrest Logistics)

These “pilot vehicles” travel our highways with a large yellow sign on the roof, accompanied by yellow, rotating beacons to warn motorists of the approach of an oversize load. Most oversize moves occur during daylight hours, between sunrise and sundown. Only extremely large oversize movements may happen at night to avoid disturbing heavier day time traffic. These moves are well lit and are accompanied by a convoy of support vehicles, including police escorts.

The truck driver and escorts [pilots] communicate on UHF Radio, channel forty. These vehicles can be travelling very slowly from sixty kilometres an hour to one hundred kilometres an hour, depending on size and weight, and state laws of course.

Anything wider than two and a half metres is oversize, and the truck carrying this load will be flashing you with bright yellow, rotating beacons and displaying a banner across the front. If you are approaching the rear of such vehicle, you may see a bright yellow beacon, and warning sign advising the load is wider than normal.

If the load is being escorted by one pilot, it’s wider than three and a half metres. If the load is preceded by more than two pilots and a Police Traffic Escort, the load is huge and you will have to pull over in a safe place off the road.

(Source: Qld Police)

 

The first pilot vehicle you see may also have alternating flashing drive lights known as “wig-wags”. This indicates the load is more than four and a half metres wide.

Then there’s the rear pilot. It’s this driver’s job to warn vehicles approaching from the rear of the presence of something big sharing the highway ahead.

Sharing our roads is the key. A good tip if you are a regular traveller of our highways is the use of a UHF radio. It could save your life, or at the very least, your caravan or motorhome. A few stone chips are the least of your worries if you fail to give way to oversize vehicles.

A two-way radio allows you to scan or monitor channel 40 and communicate with the large or oversize vehicles. It’s recommended drivers use channel 40 as the “call channel”, and move to other channels for a chat.

(Source: Oricom)

There will be strategic information which you can use to your advantage to make your travels safer. Most of the time the radio language is purely and simply information about road and traffic conditions. There is a very short window of chat opportunity when passing in opposite directions.

Some examples of terminology are, “Southbound oversize is 4.5 metres. You may need to back off and make some room.”

Another example, “Copy in the caravan? We have six metres. Please find a safe place to pull over.”

In some states, particularly in Western Australia, oversize vehicles can travel in convoy. So the call from the Pilot may be, “Copy southbound? We have two at four and a half metres.”

In most circumstances the pilot or truck driver will instruct you how to safely negotiate the wide load from either direction with safe negotiation as the priority.

It is in the motorist’s best interest to communicate with the pilot and truck driver. It’s a simple matter of calling up on channel 40. They will do everything in their power to keep everyone in the vicinity of the load as safe as possible. Your co-operation will make their job much easier. If they don’t see any indication you’re waiting to overtake, you may stay behind the convoy for more kilometres than you had planned." (Source: CIL Insurance)

 

3. You are to re-read this article with a partner but this time write down:

a. Facts and Figures

b. Questions you might have

c. Statements that you find interesting

4. Answer the following questions together as a pair...

a. You see a flashing light - wig-wags - on the pilot's vehicle. How wide is the load? Give reasons.

b. How long and wide will a load take to have 2 pilots? Write this information mathematically.

 

 

5. Look at the following image

(Source: CIL Insurance)

 

These country traffic lanes, in the image, are only 3.0m wide [Current Australian and New Zealand practice is to provide standard traffic lane widths of 3.5m but not in the country when the traffic lanes are between 3.0m - 3.5m]. Estimate the width of the truck's load. Share with a partner and discuss any differences and how you came to your conclusions.

6. Using the above table - how many pilot vehicles does this truck have escorting it?

7. Write a story about being an Oversize Load Pilot on this trip with this oversize load, on this country road, and an impatient driver wanting to overtake the truck.

Work out a solution for the car with caravan to overtake this truck with little or minimum concern for all parties involved.

 

 

Find it with GPS! (developed by Try Engineering.org)

Primary Middle Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Cooperative Learning Activity

 

Teacher

Students work in teams to understand the technology behind GPS, explore current applications, and brainstorm new applications for global use of GPS. They use both a simple GPS handheld device and online resources to understand the functioning and potential of this engineering technology.

 

Local Copy: Full Lesson Plan [PDF]