ABF | Abf Tri Axle Trailers

Yes sir Mr. Breeze you are correct on that, 45' ragtops, we also had 48' and 27' ragtop pups also Ted don't know if you ever saw those. then went to 28' pups none were ragtops.

I think most of the long ragtops were purchased specifically for the Nike's, they were being built in Charlotte.
I never saw the short ragtops, cuz at that time, us southern boys had not learned to pull pups.
 
Yes sir Mr. Breeze you are correct on that, 45' ragtops, we also had 48' and 27' ragtop pups also Ted don't know if you ever saw those. then went to 28' pups none were ragtops.
Didn't know there was a 27' and 28' pup series,thought they were all 28' saw a few 48' ragtops. There was a specialty 45' one that used to come out of Michigan that was so short it had a removable header at the back doors so the forklifts could get in . I guess there was a shipper up there in Detroit or somewhere that had really low overhead clearance so CFCC modified a regular ragtop to be able to feet in there and load with overhead cranes. Lotsa long ugly steel. Load with an overhead crane then we strip with a fork at the break! Great fun, had to be creative sometimes.
 
One. Sat, 5 of us were enroute from Hazlehurst Ga. to Charl with the empty containers, when a Rock Hill S,C.
city cop, stopped and impounded our units at a Pure Oil truck stop.We handed him our permits, stating we could run these oversized loads "14' high" 24/7, any weather.
We were told he was very familiar with the permits, but was doing what his boss required of him.
I being the instigator, said "you know this is government freight?"
I was informed he had 2 security guards enroute to guard the trucks till Mon, before they could be moved.
I called dispatch, gave him the details, he sent us 2 cabs to come home(about 25 mi.)
Before we reached Charl, he had 5 drivers on call to go get the units.
In less than 3 hrs, they were back in Charl.
We recieved mileage from Hazlehurst to Rock Hill, an 8 hr guarantee each for our cab ride, the 5 others got a
8 hr guarantee for their 25 mi trip.
I was told the city of Rock Hill picked up the entire tab.
For months after that incident, when a policeman saw one of our trucks, he looked the other direction.
 
One. Sat, 5 of us were enroute from Hazlehurst Ga. to Charl with the empty containers, when a Rock Hill S,C.
city cop, stopped and impounded our units at a Pure Oil truck stop.We handed him our permits, stating we could run these oversized loads "14' high" 24/7, any weather.
We were told he was very familiar with the permits, but was doing what his boss required of him.
I being the instigator, said "you know this is government freight?"
I was informed he had 2 security guards enroute to guard the trucks till Mon, before they could be moved.
I called dispatch, gave him the details, he sent us 2 cabs to come home(about 25 mi.)
Before we reached Charl, he had 5 drivers on call to go get the units.
In less than 3 hrs, they were back in Charl.
We recieved mileage from Hazlehurst to Rock Hill, an 8 hr guarantee each for our cab ride, the 5 others got a
8 hr guarantee for their 25 mi trip.
I was told the city of Rock Hill picked up the entire tab.
For months after that incident, when a policeman saw one of our trucks, he looked the other direction.
Carolina had lots of pup ragtops
 
I ran out west most of my time here when I was with yellow back in the early 2000’s. The triple axles were rail trailers for the most part acrossed I-80 and I-40 corridors anyway. They looked to be all brand new at the time.
 
I was browsing through some old truck pictures and ran across a three axle van trailer with ABF markings. I remember seeing a few of those in Michigan years ago. Can't find much info on them . Any of you guys able to fill me in about them ? Thanks.
Years ago we use to get them in FtWorth and we would hang on to them until somebody wanted them back. They were mainly 45 Trailmobles. We did get some rag tops but I think they were only 13 ft tall.
 
Right but there was a 27' series and a 28' ? I thought they were all 28'. 47xxxx if I recall regular pups were 27xxxx
Yep 27's and 28's pups but only 27's were rag's but not all of them also had 43's 45's 48's and 53's . The 43's 45's and some 48's could be rag's but not all and the 53's were not ever rag's and don't forget the "reefer's" I can't recall any of the Red Arrow or GI trl's were rags
 
Kind of reminds me of CFCC and the drop belly pups. Don't know if any of those crossed over to ABF side after merger . Crouse Cartage Co. (CCC) in Michigan used some for awhile. They looked like old drop belly UPS pups. There was a section of floor from just aft of the landing gear to just forward of the axle that would lift up on air powered rollers then slide forward. There would in essence be a pit that we broke stuff off skids and loose freight and put it in the belly. The floor section would then slide back in place and then load like a normal pup. Great idea on paper I guess but sucked when you were the one in the pit.

I don't know if these are the same trailers but several trailers had the under trailer compartment removed at Little Rock & converted to standard trailers. I think they were built by Wabash & had not been used a lot when ABF acquired Carolina. We were told Carolina had them built for a certain customer's freight. ABF did not use the under trailer storage & that just added to the weight. Apparently the good condition of the trailers justified the spending on modifications. As I remember there were several hundred of these trailers.
 
I don't know if these are the same trailers but several trailers had the under trailer compartment removed at Little Rock & converted to standard trailers. I think they were built by Wabash & had not been used a lot when ABF acquired Carolina. We were told Carolina had them built for a certain customer's freight. ABF did not use the under trailer storage & that just added to the weight. Apparently the good condition of the trailers justified the spending on modifications. As I remember there were several hundred of these trailers.

You are correct DMC can't remember when we got those and who's freight it was for since I wasn't in P&D
 
You are correct DMC can't remember when we got those and who's freight it was for since I wasn't in P&D
We used them on knape & vogt loads and sauder wood working out of archbold ohio, not sure where k&v originated. Both were floor loaded long loose box freight when they hit the breakbulk dock. Heavy and high bill count. Sauder is that junk particle board uassemble furniture and k&v was sliding drawer hardware. 35+ bills per trailer. Didn't have to worry about finding a towmotor when the boss man handed you one of those loads! I personally didn't see them till early 90's. We were told it was to increase bill count/load factor for schedules going south and west out of Chicago but east of Rockies that was not rail served. They had started using the red white and blue 28' and 48' domestic containers for the stuff going to GI trucking in WA, OR, CA.
 
XN0I3sK.jpg

These boxes were to compete with UPS.
They were rolled under trailer, attached to frame like rolling a landing gear, about a 30 min job.
They ran a schedule from Charl to Atl lasted about a year.
several fell off, a couple were knocked off on RR crossings. RPX (Ryder Package Express)
 
XN0I3sK.jpg

These boxes were to compete with UPS.
They were rolled under trailer, attached to frame like rolling a landing gear, about a 30 min job.
They ran a schedule from Charl to Atl lasted about a year.
several fell off, a couple were knocked off on RR crossings. RPX (Ryder Package Express)
Learn something new everyday! Never came across that setup. Thanks for posting. I really do love the history of this industry. Did you see my post about Wolf Wagons?
 
Learn something new everyday! Never came across that setup. Thanks for posting. I really do love the history of this industry. Did you see my post about Wolf Wagons?

Yes I did, similar to an experimental thing from the 60s, where the driver sat under the nose of the trailer.
The union shot it down, thank goodness.
 
I got to make 2 trips from Charl to Jax on one of these.
I wore my Carolina buddies out with this 72mph 903.
They were air ride, a driver from Atl blew a left drive tire, when all the air moved to the
left side to level the unit, pressure dropped below 60 and brakes locked.
He ran in the median and wrecked, they were pulled from service and never seen again.
 
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I got to make 2 trips from Charl to Jax on one of these.
I wore my Carolina buddies out with this 72mph 903.
They were air ride, a driver from Atl blew a left drive tire, when all the air moved to the
left side to level the unit, pressure dropped below 60 and brakes locked.
He ran in the median and wrecked, they were pulled from service and never seen again.

ABF tried one with 8V 71 Detroit Power. The manufacturer claimed the design & axle placement would allow it to gross about the same as a twin screw. ABF tried different trailers & some with sliding tandems but could never get it to pass bridge laws in some states. I forget what the tractor weighed but it was less than a twin screw.
Strick built one called the cab under but IBT told companies that were under the NMFA not to expect a Teamster to drive it.
 
ABF tried one with 8V 71 Detroit Power. The manufacturer claimed the design & axle placement would allow it to gross about the same as a twin screw. ABF tried different trailers & some with sliding tandems but could never get it to pass bridge laws in some states. I forget what the tractor weighed but it was less than a twin screw.
Strick built one called the cab under but IBT told companies that were under the NMFA not to expect a Teamster to drive it.

Think we had 4 in Charl for a couple months, one was detroit powered, never drove it, only saw pictures of the Strick thing you mentioned.
We called these Paymasters Moon Buggies, you drew a crowd anytime you stopped.
 
I don't know about other contract's but carhaul still has that in there about NO under cab units

It is still in both the NMFA and the ABF NMFA.......Article 16, sec. 6 (h).....

This was back when 70% of drivers were Union, and the Teamsters leadership had the courage to stand up to companies’ insatiable appetite for profit at the expense of driver safety and....common sense....

.......Ahhh........What happened?
 
It is still in both the NMFA and the ABF NMFA.......Article 16, sec. 6 (h).....

This was back when 70% of drivers were Union, and the Teamsters leadership had the courage to stand up to companies’ insatiable appetite for profit at the expense of driver safety and....common sense....

.......Ahhh........What happened?
The drivers sold out for a free hamburger
 
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