Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[walm]

XFDreamer said:

I went to the post office yesterday and sent a Christmas card to my family in the USA. It cost about £1.50.

How does that £1.50 get divided up between the Royal Mail here, the airline that transports it across the Atlantic and the US Postal Service?

I can understand that the airline can bill the Royal Mail for carrying the card but how does the US postal service get their bit?

Or is there just an understanding between companies which says we'll deliver yours if you deliver ours?

IIRC USPS bill RMG for delivering your card.
RMG bill USPS for delivering any US mail over here.
Might well cancel out but not necessarily.

It's the same for phone calls. They have something called an interconnect fees as well as termination fees so depending on how your call is routed different providers take a slice.

[steveo3002]

walm said:

IIRC USPS bill RMG for delivering your card.
RMG bill USPS for delivering any US mail over here.
Might well cancel out but not necessarily.

It's the same for phone calls. They have something called an interconnect fees as well as termination fees so depending on how your call is routed different providers take a slice.

how does it work with china , you can often buy the item with postage for less that the price of uk postage, so cant see china stumping up much ££

[walm]

steveo3002 said:

how does it work with china , you can often buy the item with postage for less that the price of uk postage, so cant see china stumping up much ££

I believe the fee they charge each other (B2B) paying for literally millions of deliveries is lower than what they might charge at retail to consumers buying just one.

[thismonkeyhere]

On the theme of artics - can any (UK) tractor unit haul any trailer?

[XFDreamer]

In theory yes, a trailer is just a trailer.

However there are quite a few variables. The most important is the position of the king pin. If it's set too far back then the front of the trailer will hit the back of the tractor units cab or if it's too far forward then length limits and axle weights exceeded.

I'm fairly sure that all modern European trailers could be hitched up to any European tractor unit as we all use the same system. American trailers have a slightly different system (I think) as the electrical connectors and air lines are different in number and coupling but anything could be adapted.

Then there are length and weight limits and axle configurations. Euro trailers are typically 45 feet and tri axles and American are 53 feet and tandem axles.

The more you think about it the more complicated it gets.

Edited by XFDreamer on Thursday 10th December 15:29

[RobinOakapple]

I want to know why people, including many on PH, are prepared to spend so much money on watches. I glance at the Watches forum occasionally, for amusement and hopefully enlightenment, and each time I come away baffled.

[SpeckledJim]

RobinOakapple said:

I want to know why people, including many on PH, are prepared to spend so much money on watches. I glance at the Watches forum occasionally, for amusement and hopefully enlightenment, and each time I come away baffled.

Because it's the only acceptable jewellery for a straight bloke. And comparing wangs in the office is frowned-upon, so watches have to do instead.

[Funkycoldribena]

RobinOakapple said:

I want to know why people, including many on PH, are prepared to spend so much money on watches. I glance at the Watches forum occasionally, for amusement and hopefully enlightenment, and each time I come away baffled.

Same goes for generic brown brogues on the shoe forum.

[grumbledoak]

RobinOakapple said:

I want to know why people, including many on PH, are prepared to spend so much money on watches. I glance at the Watches forum occasionally, for amusement and hopefully enlightenment, and each time I come away baffled.

Do you really only ever spend money on food, clothes, and the roof over your head?

[RobinOakapple]

grumbledoak said:

RobinOakapple said:

I want to know why people, including many on PH, are prepared to spend so much money on watches. I glance at the Watches forum occasionally, for amusement and hopefully enlightenment, and each time I come away baffled.

Do you really only ever spend money on food, clothes, and the roof over your head?

No.

But pretty much everything I do buy has some kind of actual use, unless it's inexpensive, even then I con't think of anything offhand that has as little use as a watch (apart from the jewellery aspect mentioned earlier).

[walm]

RobinOakapple said:

But pretty much everything I do buy has some kind of actual use, unless it's inexpensive, even then I con't think of anything offhand that has as little use as a watch (apart from the jewellery aspect mentioned earlier).

We're on a forum where people spend tens of thousands on unnecessary luxury items (cars... anything more than a the cheapest car possible to get you from A to B is by definition a luxury) and you are surprised they also blow money on one of the few other obvious willy-waving accoutrements?

[berlintaxi]

Issi said:

Is the Jeremy Kyle show unique to the UK in Europe?

I have seen a similar series of tales all be it in a different format on German TV.

[TheLordJohn]

,

XFDreamer said:

In theory yes, a trailer is just a trailer.

However there are quite a few variables. The most important is the position of the king pin. If it's set too far back then the front of the trailer will hit the back of the tractor units cab or if it's too far forward then length limits and axle weights exceeded.

I'm fairly sure that all modern European trailers could be hitched up to any European tractor unit as we all use the same system. American trailers have a slightly different system (I think) as the electrical connectors and air lines are different in number and coupling but anything could be adapted.

Then there are length and weight limits and axle configurations. Euro trailers are typically 45 feet and tri axles and American are 53 feet and tandem axles.

The more you think about it the more complicated it gets.

Edited by XFDreamer on Thursday 10th December 15:29

Sort of right, mainly right I suppose. But the fifth wheel on the tractor unit (the thing that couples up to the pin on the trailer) is generally adjustable.
They sit on a pair of sliders which can be adjusted.

[Rostfritt]

thismonkeyhere said:

On the theme of artics - can any (UK) tractor unit haul any trailer?

I have noticed something odd about tractors towing different trailers. In most European countries, the trailer has its own registration plate and presumably insurance and testing schedule. The UK (not sure about Ireland) does not. So while it is common on the continent to see for example a Polish tractor unit towing a French trailer, if the trailer is British this can't really happen. Presumably a British tractor could tow a foreign registered trailer using either a duplicate plate like it was a British trailer or the plate already there. What about the other way around? I have seen a shoddy looking copy where a Romanian reg was printed as a white UK plate with 'RO' written in marker pen, but what would actually be legal?

[berlintaxi]

TheLordJohn said:

,

XFDreamer said:

In theory yes, a trailer is just a trailer.

However there are quite a few variables. The most important is the position of the king pin. If it's set too far back then the front of the trailer will hit the back of the tractor units cab or if it's too far forward then length limits and axle weights exceeded.

I'm fairly sure that all modern European trailers could be hitched up to any European tractor unit as we all use the same system. American trailers have a slightly different system (I think) as the electrical connectors and air lines are different in number and coupling but anything could be adapted.

Then there are length and weight limits and axle configurations. Euro trailers are typically 45 feet and tri axles and American are 53 feet and tandem axles.

The more you think about it the more complicated it gets.

Edited by XFDreamer on Thursday 10th December 15:29

Sort of right, mainly right I suppose. But the fifth wheel on the tractor unit (the thing that couples up to the pin on the trailer) is generally adjustable.
They sit on a pair of sliders which can be adjusted.

Not all of them, plenty of companies using fixed fifth wheels.

[TheLordJohn]

berlintaxi said:

Not all of them, plenty of companies using fixed fifth wheels.

They do, yes.
That's why I said 'generally'!

[berlintaxi]

[berlintaxi]

[Swanny87]

I think this thread is turning into a "Things about lorries you always wanted to know the answer to". ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R5tUc1S3cc).

[Alex@POD]

Rostfritt said:

I have noticed something odd about tractors towing different trailers. In most European countries, the trailer has its own registration plate and presumably insurance and testing schedule. The UK (not sure about Ireland) does not. So while it is common on the continent to see for example a Polish tractor unit towing a French trailer, if the trailer is British this can't really happen. Presumably a British tractor could tow a foreign registered trailer using either a duplicate plate like it was a British trailer or the plate already there. What about the other way around? I have seen a shoddy looking copy where a Romanian reg was printed as a white UK plate with 'RO' written in marker pen, but what would actually be legal?

IIRC any trailer over a certain weight has to have its own registration in Europe. When a UK driver picks up a foreign trailer, he attaches in own plate to the back of it (usually dangling on a couple of chains).

I don't think it happens the other way around. The reason it happens in the first place is some freight companies will drop the trailer at a port in EU and a UK driver will pick it up over here, deliver, reload, and take it back to the port. With this traffic I don't think there is any "need" for it to happen the other way.