Top Gear on trucking

The boys from Top Gear get a bit of a taste of the real world of truckies when the take what they call the “Lorry Challenge”. Once you get over the fact they keep on calling them lorries it is quite funny.

Probably more seriously, their attitude to the whole thing is an accurate reflection of most people’s way of looking at our industry. They neither know nor care about trucks and trucking but come a cropper when they realise the whole thing is a lot more complicated than they thought.

They also get a taste of reality when out on a simulated road with cars overtaking and slowing in front of them. They can’t get the trucks in gear and two of them definitely have synchro boxes, how would they have gone with an 18 speed Roadranger?

The pathetic and unnecessary mentions of murdering prostitutes, however, has the effect of lowering the tone of the whole show and leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

The speed trial gets to 90 mph equating to ‘hurtling’ around a track at 145 kph. They should try that out on the Hume Highway one night.

This final section shows the final result at the end of the show.

In the end the show was entertaining but would make anyone close to the trucking industry a little uncomfortable with images of trailers hitting cars, racing at 145 kph and driving into brick walls etc.