Truck and Trailer 3D Puzzle

This Truck and Trailer 3D Puzzle is recommended for children of 7 years and older.

Build Size :365x100x110mm (Length X With X Height)

Pieces : 97

No Glue is Required for assembly

The Basics

All the pieces of the puzzles slot into each other so the puzzle can be rebuilt as many times as you wish without glue. However, if you would like to display it on a shelf or in a cabinet we would recommend a bit of wood glue to keep it secure over a long period of time. The puzzles are made from wood so they can be painted with normal acrylic paint or spray paint.

The puzzles do not come with instructions. The reason behind this is because it is a puzzle… and the fun part is trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together as you would with a normal picture puzzle; so hours of fun can be had with the entire family joining in. But please do not fear as help is only an email away. Contact Xplore Designs via an email and we will gladly send you instructions to help you and assist in any way we can.

Some Interesting Information

Trucks

The tractors, or powered trucks, typically have two or three axles; those built for hauling heavy-duty commercial-construction machinery may have as many as four or five axles, some often being lift axles.

The most common tractor-cab layout has a forward engine, one steering axle, and two drive axles. The fifth-wheel trailer coupling on most tractor trucks is movable fore and aft, to allow adjustment in the weight distribution over its rear axle(s).

Ubiquitous in Europe, but less common in North America since the 1990s, is the cabover configuration, where the driver sits next to, or over the engine. With changes in the US to the maximum length of the combined vehicle, the cabover was mostly phased out of North American over-the-road or long-haul service by 2007. Cabovers were notorious for being difficult to service, as the cab could not be lifted on its hinges to a full 90-degree forward tilt, and this severely limited access to the front part of the engine.

Trucks average between 4 and 8 miles per US gallon (1.7 and 3.4 km/L), with fuel economy standards requiring more than 7 miles per US gallon (3.0 km/L) efficiency by 2014.

Trailers

The cargo trailer usually has a tandem axle pair at the rear, each of which has dual wheels, or eight wheels on the trailer, four per axle^. The combination of eight tires on the trailer and ten tires on the tractor is what led to the moniker eighteen wheeler, although this term is considered by some truckers to be a misnomer. Many trailers are equipped with movable tandem axles to allow adjusting the weight distribution.

The United States also allows two-axle tractors to pull two single-axle 28.5 ft (8.7 m) semi-trailers, known officially as STAA doubles, and colloquially as doubles, a set, or a set of joints, on all highways that are part of the national network.

To connect the second of a set of doubles to the first trailer, and to support the front half of the second trailer, a converter gear, also known as a con-gear or dolly is used. This apparatus has one or two axles, a fifth-wheel coupling for the rear trailer, and a tongue with a ring-hitch coupling for the forward trailer. Individual states may further allow longer vehicles, known as "longer combination vehicles" (or LCVs), and may allow them to operate on roads other than those that are part of the national network.

LCV types include:

• Triples: Three 28.5 ft (8.7 m) trailers; maximum weight up to 129,000 lb (59,000 kg).
• Turnpike Doubles: Two 48 ft (14.6 m) trailers; maximum weight up to 147,000 lb (67,000 kg)
• Rocky Mountain Doubles: One 40-to-53 ft (12.2-to-16.2 m) trailer (though usually no more than 48 ft or 14.6 m) and one 28.5 ft (8.7 m) trailer (known as a "pup"); maximum weight up to 129,000 lb (59,000 kg)
• In Canada, a Turnpike Double is two 53 ft (16.2 m) trailers, and a Rocky Mountain Double is a 50 ft (15.2 m) trailer with a 24 ft (7.3 m) "pup".

Future LCV's under consideration and study for the U.S. MAP-21 transportation bill are container doubles. These combinations are under study for potential recommendation in November 2014:

• 40 ft (12 m) trailer Turnpike Doubles, 148,000 lb (67,000 kg) GVWR
• 40 and 20 ft (12 and 6.1 m) trailer Rocky Mountain Doubles, 134,000 lb (61,000 kg) GVWR
• Double 20 ft (6.1 m) trailer Doubles, 120,000 lb (54,000 kg) GVWR

Regulations on LCVs vary widely from one state or province to another. None allows more than three trailers without a special permit. Reasons for limiting the legal trailer configurations include both safety concerns and the impracticality of designing and constructing roads that can accommodate the larger wheelbase of these vehicles and the larger minimum turning radii associated with them.

Most states restrict operation of larger tandem trailer setups such as triple units, turnpike doubles and Rocky-Mountain doubles. In general, these configurations are restricted to turnpikes. Except for these units, tandem setups are not restricted to certain roads any more than a single setup. They are also not restricted by weather conditions or "difficulty of operation". The Canadian province of Ontario, however, does have weather-related operating restrictions for larger tandem trailer setups.

In the United States, 80,000 lb (36,000 kg) is the maximum allowable legal gross vehicle weight without a permit.

The axle-weight breakdown is:

• 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) maximum on a single axle
• 34,000 lb (15,422 kg) maximum on the tandem axles

Over-length and overweight permits are issued by each individual state whose roads will be traveled. The permits are usually issued in advance, for a specific period of time, over a specific route, with a specific load. Most over-length loads require one or more escort vehicles. An escort is an accompanying automobile and its driver, who communicates with the driver of the payload vehicle regarding the position of the load in relation to the road and shoulder, and about other situational considerations.

A trailer's dimensions can vary greatly, depending on the amount and type of cargo it is designed to haul. In the United States, they are normally limited to 8.5 feet (2.6 m) in width. ^{( Wikipedia )}