53' van vs. twin 28 pups for linehaul:

Here in the midwest Dayton and Holland use long boxes for transfers too. It might hafta do with the destination of the freight loaded? Like @ Estes St. Louis they would take a set to Indy. One box would be for Indy and the other one for Cincinnati or something. I’ve always heard there’s like road tax rules associated with wiggle wagons but I’m not too up to speed on that. @Bob Dobalina knows what’s up with LTL stuff hopefully he’ll come in.

 

I work for Dayton Freight and all I know is that it seems to be more of a regional carrier deal to use long boxes instead of pups. Dayton, Holland, NEMF, Ward, A. Duie Pyle, New Penn, and Pitt-Ohio all exclusively use 48' and 53' trailers for linehaul. NEMF used to have pups, but I haven't seen any in years.

I'm not exactly sure what the rationale is, but it seems like nationwide carriers benefit from using pups, but regionals are more efficient just using vans. I can say that our breakbulk terminals typically have at least one full trailer going to even the smaller terminals, so maybe pups would slow the process down.

Even big national carriers like Estes will also use vans for linehaul when it makes sense to do so (probably with higher-volume regional moves, I'm guessing). Maybe because it's a lot quicker to roll in the gate and back directly into a door than wait for a set to be broken down and two trailers to be backed in, which would be an advantage for next-day freight to get on the street ASAP. On the other hand, vans probably wouldn't work for long-haul operations because the freight would have to be handled too many times, thereby increasing claims and slowing down that type of operation.

We will also kind of simulate the use of pups by building "head loads" in the nose of a trailer if we have a lot of freight going to another terminal, but not enough to justify sending it direct. Then it goes to the breakbulk where they'll take off the other freight off the tail and then fill it back up with freight going to the terminal the head load was built for. That allows for an easy process that reduces freight handling, yet doesn't involve breaking and hooking sets over and over, which is an advantage for short moves.

Disclaimer: don't quote me on any of this, I'm really just making assumptions based on my observations and from talking with our drivers who have pulled pups at other carriers. I don't really know all that much about LTL, but I appreciate it, @motocross25 !

 

Eastern Freightways driver here, NEMF is the sister company and I run linehaul for them and pull their trailers all the time.

You're asking why NEMF doesn't use pups?

Have you seen the condition of their 53" trailers lately? Can you imagine then having to deal with doubles?!?

It's amazing how much cut-and-weld and re-use of questionable parts they do out at HQ in Elizabeth, NJ with their South American and old @zz former Eastern Bloc mechanics... those dudes were literally trained in the Soviet Union...

 

Averitt in the South also only uses vans.

 

You explained it just how it' supposed to work.

 

Recieved two small replacement engines from the block once in europe. They called me to the shop to witness the small present someone left on the block as they shipped it. Otherwise I would not have believed it.

I do not haul pups, double little wagons (Big, little etc no offense please, it's all the same with the one bucket list exception of a half million pound 4 trailer road train vs a v8 cat on a 18 manual...)

I DO however remember very well CF (Consolidated Freightways, Preston I believe, Yellow probably and a couple of other Baltimore based trucking companies that did nothing but doubles it seemed like. Roadway comes to mind, they almost hired me...

Most of the really big outfits that did doubles like CF went out of business with some public exposure and mess some years back. Others like ABS here in Little Rock and other locations just kept doing what they were doing, especially Fed Ex, UPS etc.

I would rather have a 53 foot than a box too small to take a whole load. Or have to shift a dolly and deal with two little trailers to do a full load. Remember that I had grown a intense hatred of 20 foot seacan containers because when they got heavy enough rolling that mack over underneath and killing not only myself but several lanes worth of I-83 rush traffic near york PA becomes a real possibility.

Im just happy I don't deal with them. That is one endorsement I made sure never to put on my license. Now when you get into rocky mountain doubles, A and B trains and other ways to haul freighting that is a converstation I will not have much of a part of anyway thankfully.

If given a choice between a full box or two little ones to make a full, give me the full. If something in it has to go to more than one place, that's all well and good, we are going that way.

 

Your post confuses me. Doubles are nostly for moving freight via linehaul, not for running around the city. No one is sending one load(bill) in two pups.

As far as driving with pups, besides backing up a set(which most companies have rules against) driving with pups is easier in my opinion than a van. You can make a sharper turn, much better maneuverability. I never worry about what the rear pup is doing. It goes wherever the tractor goes. Literally not even on my mind.

As far as hooking them up and breaking them down, it' not that hard once you get the hang of it. Including spotting the dolly, I can get a set hooked in 5 minutes. Seeing as how I make $150 a week on drop and hooks alone, I don't complain. It does suck in the rain though

I got all of my endorsements so I have the widest range of options when it comes to employment. You never know what the future will bring. Besides, just because you have an endorseent doesn't mean you HAVE to take a job hauling doubles, or tanker, or whatever.

 

I pulled tandem trains for number of years. Beer lead and meat pup. 137,000 gross every night. Freight changed to where 53' multi axle was compatible with the freight.