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Old 10-19-2013, 09:38 PM
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RandyT0001 RandyT0001 is offline
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Thread resurrection!

So what type of trucks do gypsy truckers drive?
Semis? I seriously doubt that since it requires more maintenance than simple van trucks on 6 or 10 wheels. Semis imply a larger amount of material to be traded than the few modules seem to support.

I think the biggest truck encountered would be diesel powered deuce and half sized military trucks (or equivalent). They carry a decent load, have big tires, are likely to be copied by KFS, the Texans, etc. as a military vehicle so parts are available. Smaller trucks might be copies or variants of the Ford 250 in size (or GMC, Dodge, etc.).

How many people on average per vehicle? Three or four per vehicle seems reasonable to me. That would cover a driver, gunner, and mechanic per truck plus a spouse or child.

I think they would choose diesel over alcohol because diesel has more power per gallon as a fuel than alcohol. Diesel provides more miles per gallon than alcohol and is less likely to be consummed. Bio-diesel can be made from various plant oils without using a heat source whereas alcohol depends on a fuel for distillation.

Of course I have always wondered about the roads the gypsy truckers travel. They have to be more than dirt roads. At the very least they would have to be gravel roads. But who maintains these roads? The first roadways in the US were built by private companies, state and local county governments that charged a toll for their use. Since there is no large government entity like that who maintains the roads between the KFS and the Texans? Then there is the question of crossing the larger rivers of the Mississippi valley. Mostly ferries I suspect, maybe a few bridges on the smaller ones. The old bridges if not maintained (and who will have time to do so for the first forty years after "that day") will have abutments and piers scoured by the rivers as they flow and flood causing their collapse. The first significant bridge built to cross the lower Mississippi River below the Ohio was the Frisco railroad bridge in Memphis in 1892.
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