The trailer is powered by a Cat C12 Engine mounted east-west above the king pin of the A trailer. The diesel engine pumps hydraulic oil back to a hydraulic motor turning a Meritor Rear Half SPRC1927 planetary differential.

The powered trailer with its new hi-flow hydraulic circuit engineered by Parker Hannifin combined with the an embedded controller developed by Darren Jensen of Tractronics Pty Ltd http://www.tracktronics.com.au exclusively for the Hydrapede project, uses king pin load and wheel speed sensing to deliver smooth drive assistance to the prime mover. The system was designed from the start with mine safety and minimum driver intervention as the key features.

To the driver once the system is armed its application is completly automatic and feels in essence like cruise control, it is stopped by brake application or automatically when top speed is reached. The system will be run as a prototype to gather longevity data and permit Job Safety Analysis (JSA).

Plans are underway to upgrade the hydualics down stream from the pumps to give high speed assistance up to 80 kph in the mark 2 version.