You have 3 extra feet of trailer space to cram freight on with pups verses a 53foot trailer, also unless you have a tandem truck you can't have as much weight with one less axle.This question has STILL remained unanswered and i wonder why?
IF, you are doing niteliner and only go to one hub and come directly back to your terminal, why do you need two pups as opposed to a single van?
You have 3 extra feet of trailer space to cram freight on with pups verses a 53foot trailer, also unless you have a tandem truck you can't have as much weight with one less axle.
Max, the answer to your question is, prestige, a set of wagons is much more impressive to the public.That's true----about 300 cubic feet more, but i find both of the trailers are not always packed all the way to the back.
Even IF both trailer were usually packed full to the back door, is the added time---up to 2 hrs extra in some cases to hook at beginning of trip, breakdown and rebuild at hub and then breakdown and back into doors upon returning home worth the extra 300 cubes?
In addition 57' trailers which are allowed in most states west of the mississippi have about 100 cubic feet MORE than the time-wasting doubles combo (admittedly, triples blow the 57' and all other combos out of the water with 2800 more cubic feet, but the question was about doubles, not triples)
The single axle weight argument, i feel, is nil because we rarely and usually don't reach the weight limits in LTL.
Thank you, but sorry question STILL unanswered.
I have often wondered this myself but from a safety standpoint and a dock door standpoint. You have 3x the opportunity to drop one or all of the combo on the highway, you have a much higher chance of bodily injury hooking and unhooking them, no telling how many thousands of hours of loss time due to injury these have caused, they take up twice the amount of dock doors, a doubles combo weighs roughly 7000 more lbs than a van, triple the amount of tags and registration. I realize the many pros they have as well but the cons cannot be disputed.That's true----about 300 cubic feet more, but i find both of the trailers are not always packed all the way to the back.
Even IF both trailer were usually packed full to the back door, is the added time---up to 2 hrs extra in some cases to hook at beginning of trip, breakdown and rebuild at hub and then breakdown and back into doors upon returning home worth the extra 300 cubes?
In addition 57' trailers which are allowed in most states west of the mississippi have about 100 cubic feet MORE than the time-wasting doubles combo (admittedly, triples blow the 57' and all other combos out of the water with 2800 more cubic feet, but the question was about doubles, not triples)
The single axle weight argument, i feel, is nil because we rarely and usually don't reach the weight limits in LTL.
Thank you, but sorry question STILL unanswered.
This is something I never understood, the last couple of years, PIE did away with all our long trailers, we pulled nothing but 28' pups.I have often wondered this myself but from a safety standpoint and a dock door standpoint. You have 3x the opportunity to drop one or all of the combo on the highway, you have a much higher chance of bodily injury hooking and unhooking them, no telling how many thousands of hours of loss time due to injury these have caused, they take up twice the amount of dock doors, a doubles combo weighs roughly 7000 more lbs than a van, triple the amount of tags and registration. I realize the many pros they have as well but the cons cannot be disputed.
It’s obviously profitable and worth it due to the current landscape out here but it does make one wonder.
Got to maintain a steady trailer pool….Let me take a stab at it.
Back when pups were first being utilized trailer length was a max of 48', a lot of 45's and the 56' was a considerable difference. Over the years these companies have amassed vast amounts of 28' trailers and single axle tractors which they are set up to use .
It allows, with good planning from the hubs, {I know that sounds foolish}, different final destinations to be line-hauled on a single unit. The gross weight factor of the trailers, if loaded properly, {here I go again, thinkin' "properly"} allows a single axle to haul more weight LEGALLY, think, 4 axles at 20,000 and 1 at 12,000, versus 2 groups at 34,000 and 1 at 12,000. More room for error.
The main reason we haul an M\T is for trailer balance at each center.
I hear heavy breathing and sighs every time I say “there are no empties”Got to maintain a steady trailer pool….
In theory, this is correct. But in most states, 80,000-lbs. max for all three axles (53') or all five axles (2 x 28') is the legal maximum weight. Therefore, if the steer axle is 12,000-lbs., the other four axles on a set of pups can only total 68,000-lbs. (17,000-lbs. average per axle).Let me take a stab at it.
Back when pups were first being utilized trailer length was a max of 48', a lot of 45's and the 56' was a considerable difference. Over the years these companies have amassed vast amounts of 28' trailers and single axle tractors which they are set up to use .
It allows, with good planning from the hubs, {I know that sounds foolish}, different final destinations to be line-hauled on a single unit. The gross weight factor of the trailers, if loaded properly, {here I go again, thinkin' "properly"} allows a single axle to haul more weight LEGALLY, think, 4 axles at 20,000 and 1 at 12,000, versus 2 groups at 34,000 and 1 at 12,000. More room for error.
The main reason we haul an M\T is for trailer balance at each center.
In a normal situation you are correct Razorblade. But the original poster clearly stated that he only went to one hub and directly back to his hub nightly.You guys are missing the point. It was about service and load average. It was never about extra feet or getting more freight to a particular terminal. It was about service to smaller end of line terminals and service from those smaller terminals to the breakbulks. Instead of running a partial load to Altoona and a partial to Dubois, hook a pup for each together. Drop the Altoona pup, pickup a breakbulk pup. Do the same at Dubois and return to the break.
This question has STILL remained unanswered and i wonder why?
IF, you are doing niteliner and only go to one hub and come directly back to your terminal, why do you need two pups as opposed to a single van?
Trailer balance is the only reason...In a normal situation you are correct Razorblade. But the original poster clearly stated that he only went to one hub and directly back to his hub nightly.
It's the same balance whether you pull one or two trailers as long as you take the same back.Trailer balance is the only reason...
Not too sure about that Crumudg.Trailer balance is the only reason...
That assumes the planner knows what is available at initial dispatch. In the hours it takes to get where you are going a lot can, {and will} change.It's the same balance whether you pull one or two trailers as long as you take the same back.
I remember a company that wouldnt accept that for an answer... especially on the weekends.I hear heavy breathing and sighs every time I say “there are no empties”
This is something I never understood, the last couple of years, PIE did away with all our long trailers, we pulled nothing but 28' pups.
One can only wonder!And look what happened to PIE. Was it because of you or the pups?