It's definitely primarily because of the space on the streets. I would not want to try to maneuver a American Semi through Europe.
The same is true in the USA.
- 14 hour days, maximum
- high tolerance of pulled over "resting" trucks
- conventional truck designs with builtin bedrooms
- state-run and private truck stops along most highwayshttps://www.gov.uk/drivers-hours/eu-rules
The tachograph [0] is - I believe - not used (not mandated by Law) in the US, though it is being introduced recently.
I wonder why owner-operator truck drivers are more common in USA than Europe? Is it an externality of our lack of worker protections and safety net?
The modal share for rail is also relatively high.
A lot of it is bulk commodities of course.
Transport by car or truck accounts for 20% of US carbon emissions, while freight rail is just 0.5%, and the freight rail is moving 28% of all cargo "ton-miles".
America’s freight infrastructure is the envy of many country. It isn’t modern,fast, or even that well maintained, but it is extensive. Passenger rail is a completely different story in the US.
It's probably more due to the fact that many of the roads in the USA were built a lot more recently, and were built to make it convenient to use larger tractor-trailers (and not so much for other road users). In Europe, truck operators had to fit into the existing road system.
If you are a long haul trucker you spend 95 percent of your time on these roads. You want high speed stability that a longer wheel base provides and don’t care too much about tight menuevering, because you probably don’t have too much tight area navigating to do. You will drop at a large warehouse on the outskirts of a city that was built for trucks like the one you are driving and be back on the road to the next warehouse.