Single-Axle Winter Performance...

The type tire will make all the diff. have tyre chains in box if you need them?

 

I started driving in the early 80's in single axle tractors working for a foam rubber fabricator (no weight). On snow, they can be problematic in some situations but if you can have 10k cargo weight on top of the single axle drive, this should be adequate to get you around. As was mentioned, tires make a big difference, and on single-axle drives this is more-so. With bad tires that don't grip well and bob-tailing, wet roads can be difficult to traverse, let alone snowy roads, but the same can be said for tandems. The longer the wheelbase, the better. Hopefully you'll have a sleeper and they didn't try to shorten it as much as possible.

I could generally get around just as good on snow-pack with a single axle as the guys with tandems who were running empty.

 

Single screw as we called back in the day ride a little rough and can be squirrely. Jack knife easier than a 3 axle.

 

We started out only running 40 miles out and back,we had single axles with very light [ 10,000 pound ] loads As we started running all of New England,we went to twin screws because of the heavy snows.Power dividers are a good tool. I thought the single axles were squirrely in the snow.

 

you might look into buying some short chains,they are about 12 inches long and they go thru the hole in the rim around the tire and hook on to each end. good for getting you moving when you are stuck. do not drive with them only a few feet to get you unstuck. make sure you choose the hole that does not have the valve stem in in it. lots of luck

 

in a nut shell, they suck in the deep stuff. tires, tires, tires, weight, weight distribution..

on the other hand it's all about experience, after 20 years of driving a single axle the oh crap moments are few but sometimes not far between.

if i have a low cube load i will have the warehouse guys place 3k worth of extra freight in the nose, it really helps on the return trip.

 

Never had a problem with a single axle daycab in NY/PA/New England, except when trying to get under a snowed-in trailer in an angled dock. Tires, tires tires... and carry chains. If you had a locking axle it would be great, but very few single axles are spec'd with one.