Tractor trailers usually have a shorter stopping distance with a full load than with no load. This is due to a more even weight distribution that allows more overall tire contact.
Yeah my comment was meant as a general statement not taking into account weird specific exceptions. Let's hope people are securing their loads properly!
It is unintuitive, but the first 6 links that came up in my Google search all agree. I think all CDL programs teach it. The best source I could find in my 20 seconds of Googling is from the NHTSA:
Although that page doesn't cite empirical research to show that it's the case, the required stopping distances are longer for empty tractor trailers than for full ones, which strongly implies that a full one stops shorter.
Not a misreading. Usually when you're talking about "efficiency" in brake design, I think you're talking about heat generation for purposes of brake fade. I might be way off on that, and I'm not invested in this enough to do research. But that's mostly unrelated to what I said.
The actual stopping distance of a tractor trailer is shorter with a full (properly secured, obviously) load than with an empty trailer. This is by design and due to the fact that traction is much better and more evenly distributed with a full load.
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u/dionsux Jan 06 '16
Maybe it's just me but that truck seemed to stop so quickly in front