Watch These Scania Trucks Transform Into a Giant Working Clock

It’s like synchronized swimming, but with big rigs. 

byAaron Brown|
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Let's say you're a truck manufacturer with 14 perfectly good trucks lying around to shoot a promotional video with. What entertaining way to use them, really, than to take those trucks and create an enormous working clock—and have it actually tell time for an entire day? 

That's exactly what Swedish truck maker Scania, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, did earlier this month. Using a massive airfield and no fewer than 90 separate drivers, Scania took those dozen-and-two trucks and created a fully-functioning timepiece. The clock ran for 24 hours straight on September 20, with all 14 trucks masterfully fulfilling their duties. 

As you might imagine, pulling off such a stunt required split-second coordination—and clockwork precision. In order to create the working clock, Scania divided up the rigs into several different groups. Five trucks operated as the second hand, with every truck maintaining a different speed in order to stay synchronized with the others. The trucks driving closest to the center had to hold steady at a mere 8 miles per hour; those farthest out, on the other hand, had to hold steady at 33 mph. Two other groups played the parts of hour and minute hand, respectively. 

Scania, of course, captured the entire event on video; you can see the finished video below, along with a behind-the-scenes look at how the truck maker pulled the whole thing off. And if you have an extra monitor lying around that you want to use as a very elaborate clock the company has dedicated a web page to a bird's-eye view of the trucks in action that constantly provides the current time.  

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