Adventioneering

As your vehicle mounted expeditions increase in size and complexity, so will they in the number of participating vehicles. While even a few vehicles can get along on long-distance trips, especially if they have radios, a formalized operating procedure helps in nearly every situation and particularly those where the operators are unfamiliar with one another.

In a convoy, there are at least three operators with special duties; the convoy leader, the pacesetter, and the tail officer. These personnel should be identified before the column sets out.

The ideal convoy consists of vehicles which all have working radios, so that the vehicles may be placed in any order by the leader. The largest, heaviest vehicle (inevitably a Mercedes Unimog 1300) will be placed first as the pacesetter. The column leader will ride either in this vehicle, or the vehicle directly behind, to facilitate giving navigation commands to the column.

The pacesetter should follow instructions regarding speed from the column leader; the leader should instruct a maximum speed, and the vehicle should try to maintain that (when possible). To maintain the schedule of the column as a whole the leader may raise or lower the pacesetter’s maximum speed, as practical.

The tail vehicle should be equipped with tools and emergency medical supplies. This prevents a vehicle from having to turn around and go back to assist a stranded vehicle, since the tail vehicle can always move forward. The tail vehicle is also responsible for identifying straggling or disabled vehicles (which may or may not have working radios) and notifying the column leader.

The best radio technology for a working convoy is amateur radio, normally 2 meter as this is going to be the common denominator amongst mobile installs. The convoy should start out with a given simplex guard frequency, and as required the column leader can order frequency changes. FRS and even CB are insufficient for convoy operations because if vehicles become separated and lost, the radios will have insufficient range to relocate the convoy, as I have personally experienced.

There are many factors that could disrupt the ideal convoy order. If the pace-setting vehicle is an over-sized load, common sense and law of the land may dictate that a safety vehicle lead the convoy. If not all vehicles have radios, then it is essential that the lead and tail vehicles have radios (therefore, a minimum of 2 radios are required for a n+2 column). With this setup, if a vehicle becomes disabled or disorientated, the tail can always radio the lead.

If the convoy is longer than 10 or 15 vehicles, the convoy leader may wish to break the convoy down into individual march units which have separate leaders. If possible, split the vehicle assets up as much as possible between the march units; for example, if there are two vehicles carrying supplies, place one each in a march unit.

The middle vehicles should be staggered in such a way to cause the minimum amount of injury and loss during a pile-up. For example, avoid placing a large heavy vehicle with a trailer that may have trouble stopping behind a Unimog with 10 people in the back.

At highway speeds, vehicles should maintain at least a 300ft spacing (about 4 seconds). Inevitably on open roads non-convoy traffic will mingle with the convoy traffic; this should be tolerated rather than cause a reaction in the column. If the civilian traffic is too slow it will simply be passed and fall behind the column.

Unless there are other operational concerns, convoys will typically operate at between 55 and 60mph on the highway. This may be because of the maximum speed of larger, heavier vehicles in the column, or simply for fuel-economy reasons. Since the convoy must arrive together as a group anyways, the urge to be in a hurry or to drive especially quickly should be set aside.

Columns should always drive in the right-most, through-travel lane of travel, and vehicles should only venture into left lanes to pass slower civilian traffic.

If a vehicle encounters mechanical problems, the affected vehicle and the tail vehicle should pull to the side of the road. The rest of the convoy should continue and the leader should direct them to the nearest safe parking (a lot, exit ramp, etc) where they may await the straggler vehicles.

When approaching a toll booth, when practical the convoy should all use the same lane (ideally the rightmost toll lane). This is another reason to have the heavier vehicles towards the front of the column, as it will be easier for lighter, nimbler vehicles to catch up after the column is broken up by the toll gate.

It’s up to the convoy leader to have an understanding of the un-refuelled range of the vehicles and to schedule fuel stops as required.

If the drivers in the convoy are unfamiliar with each other (such as in a club or regional gathering), it is advisable to mark the windows of vehicles with reflective tape in a distinctive shape (suggestion: V, T, or ADV). This will allow drivers to identify which vehicles are actually part of the column during operations, even at night.

This article is part of the Vehicle Dependent Expedition section.