Typically unladen…..how much does an Articulated Lorry weigh?
An articulated lorry, in the UK, has a maximum gross weight (mgw) of 44 tons, unless it is involved in specialist heavy haulage operations, in which case these can be upto 150 tons mgw. However, to run at 44 tons then the artic must consist of 6 axles, made up of 3 axles on the trailer and 3 on the tractor unit. 5 axle artics have a max gross weight of 40 tons and 4 axle artics are 32 tons ( I think ! ). Now, unladen weight depends upon the trailer and depends whether the lorry is running / plated at 44 or 40 or 32 tons mgw. A typical 44 ton lorry, pulling a curtainsider, will weigh around 15 and a half tons unladen, this consists of around 9 tons for the tractor unit and around 6 and a half tons for the trailer. Thus, they can carry around 28 tons, on average. My truck weighs around 15 and a half tons empty ( dependant upon how much diesel is in the tanks ), and when loaded with 28.20 tons of whatever, this brings the mgw to pretty much 44 tons. Articulated means that there is a pivot
