Module-4

Classification of Commercial
Vehicles, Tyre and Road
Contact Area
 CLASSIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL
VEHICLES
• A comprehensive system of classifying
commercial traffic is primarily based on vehicle
types and axle configuration.

• For most purposes, whether or not very

important the classification can be simplified
by defining only the number of axles and
whether the vehicle has rigid chassis or it is
articulated.
• Mostly public-service vehicles are
classified as commercial vehicles.
• Two axle commercial vehicles ranging
from light delivery vans to trucks capable
of being loaded to a gross weight of
about 16 Tons.
• Method of classifying axle types is
shown in the figure.
AXLE LOADING OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

• Most countries specify the maximum

total weight, the maximum axle load,
and the maximum dimensions of
commercial vehicles permitted on their
roads.
• Manufacturers of vehicles look forward
to promote their products in other
countries so they follow the same
standards.
• The gross weight upon any wheel of a
vehicle shall not exceed the following:

• A Solid Rubber or Cushion Tire, 8000 lbs.

• Pneumatic tire 9000 lbs.
• The gross weight upon any single axle, or
tandem axle, shall not exceed the following:

• When the wheels attached to the axle are

equipped with solid rubber or cushion tyres, 16000
pounds.
• When the wheels attached to the axle are
equipped with pneumatic tyres, 20000 pounds.
• When the wheels are attached to a tandem axle,
and are equipped with pneumatic tyres, 36000
pounds for vehicles traveling on any street or
highway, within the city limits, including the
highways of the "interstate" system.
• When the wheels are attached to a tandem axle, and
are equipped with pneumatic tyres, 40000 pounds for
vehicles traveling on any state-maintained secondary
state highways within the city.
• An axle shall be defined as a total load on all wheels
whose centers are included within two parallel
transverse vertical planes not more than forty inches
apart.
• A tandem axle shall be defined as the total load on all
wheels of two or more consecutive axles, the center of
which may be included between parallel vertical
planes spaced more than forty inches and not more
than ninety-six inches apart, extending across the full
width of the vehicle.
– The gross weight upon any one wheel of a steel-tired
vehicle shall not exceed five hundred pounds per inch of
cross-sectional width of tire.
– Axle scales and the method of weighing vehicles that is
commonly referred to as a "split weighing" or "fore and
aft draft weighing," for obtaining a vehicle's axle weights
and gross weight, shall be authorized as an acceptable and
accurate method of weighing for law enforcement
purposes and statistical data gathering
 CONTACT AREA
(TYRE AND ROAD)

• The shape of the contact area between tyre

and the road is approximately circular when
the load is small relative to the maximum
recommended load for the tyre, but it gets
elongated as the wheel load is increased at a
constant inflation pressure.
• In calculating pavement stresses resulting from
the passage of traffic, it is normally assumed that
the load carried by the wheel is uniformly
distributed over a circular area.
• The radius of the loading is calculated from the
wheel load and the tyre pressure.
• The relationship between contact area and the
wheel load obtained in this way is shown for the
tyre and the loading conditions.
• The curves for the actual contact area and the
computed area are similar for the lowest two wheel
loads used when the contact envelope is
approximately circular, but they diverge considerably
for the higher wheel loads.
• Measurements of actual pressure acting between the
tyre and the road shows that, where the load ratio
(actual wheel load: recommended maximum wheel
load) for the tyre is small, the distribution of pressure
across the tyre area is parabolic.
• Most heavily loaded wheels are fitted with dual tyres,
so spaced that at the correct tyre pressure the
deformed parts of the tyres in contact with the road
do not touch each other.