The signs on the edges of Sparwood, B.C., entice tourists to visit the “World’s Largest Truck.”
But the truck in question actually isn’t the largest in the world.
The smaller sign in front of the neon-green giant in Sparwood states that the dump truck is the largest tandem-axle truck on the planet.
The Titan 33-19 “Titan” — with its box in the dumping position — is 56 feet (17 metres) high, that’s nearly “the height of five elephants stacked on top of each other, or six grizzly bears standing on each other’s shoulders,” according to the sign in front of the dump truck.
“We’ve had people say ‘This isn’t the world’s largest truck anymore’ so we do have to correct them,” said a representative from the Sparwood Chamber of Commerce (SCC) in a statement. “It’s not often that it’s brought up, but it’s always a great conversation.”
Matthew MacEachen, an Edmonton musician, has seen the truck himself, but he wasn’t aware that it wasn’t actually the largest in the world.
“I did not know that, that’s disappointing,” MacEachen said in an interview with the Calgary Journal. “The sign is definitely misleading.”
The actual biggest truck
The world’s largest truck is the BelAZ 75710, with a payload capacity of 496 tonnes, while the Titan 33-19 has a capacity of 350 tonnes.
The BelAZ 75710 — known as the earth-moving monster — is an ultra-heavy dump truck manufactured by a Belarusian company and used primarily in open-pit mines in Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Chile.
Sparwood’s Titan was built in 1973 to improve efficiency in open-pit mining operations and was officially retired in 1991.
In 1993, it was put on display as a tourist attraction, and for 25 years, it was classified as the world’s largest truck.
In 1998, just five years after the display was installed, the Caterpillar 797 debuted and took the title of the world’s largest truck, making the sign inaccurate for almost 30 years now.
“When the signs were done, this was the world’s largest truck, however it is still the world’s largest tandem axle truck,” said a representative from SCC.
So, does Sparwood have the biggest truck?
When the Calgary Journal asked if Sparwood’s signs advertising the “World’s Largest Truck” should be changed, the town’s chamber of commerce said it’s on the fence about it.
“It still draws people to come, and then we can explain the difference. They get to see the truck and the comparison of the truck’s size, and that yes, they are bigger than this as well,” said an SCC representative.
So, technically, Sparwood doesn’t have the world’s largest truck — but it does have the world’s largest tandem axle truck, and it’s still pretty big!