Bigger is better, and there is nowhere that is truer than in the world of trucks. Trucks perform a lot of dirty work by moving massive payloads around the world. The standard 18-wheeler is a big truck for the highways, but these monsters dwarf them by comparison. The biggest trucks ever made were made out of necessity because there was work to be done.
1962 ZIL-E-167 6×6
The former Soviet Union developed this odd-looking truck out of necessity. Its purpose is to reach far northern towns in any condition that ordinary vehicles wouldn’t be able to access. It has six wheels and two 3.5-liter V8 engines, and it is capable of carrying up to five tons. Weighing in at 15 tons, the ZIL is 30-feet long, nine-feet wide, and nine-feet tall. It looks like a building rolling down the street on knobby tires.
LeTourneau Land Train
The LeTourneau land train was made for the U.S. Army to get around Alaska and later had uses in the logging industry for the same purpose. The prototype was delivered to the Army but never produced, so the company shopped it around to private businesses. It was a tractor that pulled cars, just like a train. It had four turbine engines putting out 1,170 hp each that all spun turbines to power the engines in the 54 motors in each of the train’s wheels and 12 cars.
Self-Propelled Modular Transporter
The Self Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT), was designed for moving really big and really heavy things like bridges, oil platforms, or houses. It has a maximum capacity of 15,000 tons and can move anything as long as there is enough space. Individually, they look like beefy skateboards with 360-degree turning wheels. When they are coupled together, one person can control them all with a remote control.
Belaz 75710
The Belaz 75710 has a payload capacity of 496 tons, making it the biggest mining truck in the world and one of the biggest trucks ever made. The heavy dump truck is made by the Belaz company of Belarus and it debuted in 2013. It was ordered by a Russian mining company and has made an impact on the rest of the world. It is over 20-meters long, eight-meters high, almost 10-meters wide, and its empty weight is 360 tons. It has eight tires and two 16-cylinder turbocharged diesel engines that put out 2,300 horsepower. The sheer size of the engines requires a team of mechanics to perform even the most routine maintenance.
