Buying a new dryvan trailer pulling general freight. Need input.

Tire inflation systems are a no brainer. Been pulling trailers for 20 years that have them with zero issues out of them and have lost count of the times they kept me rolling until I could get a puncture leak fixed at my convenience.

I would also say put a tire carrier under the trailer and always have a spare tire in it. These two things will save you hundreds of dollars a year in unnecessary tire purchases where some dumb ### at a T/A or Loves says your tire cant be repaired that you need a new one. BS... Have them mount your spare and patch the puncture when you get home.

 

Trailers have a huge range in price. All depends on what you want to use it for. If you have a bunch of trailers, and a bunch of guys pulling them, then probably not a great idea to spend 62k on a dry van. Also have to be realistic on how many years of service you want out of your wagon. If it is only going to be pulled by you, and is a primary source of your income, then it’s a good idea to spend some extra money. I personally have had good luck with Great Dane spread axle heavier built trailers. They are 15-20 year trailers when spec’d right. But regardless of brand if it’s just going to be your trailer be sure to build it the way you want because it’s always difficult to add stuff to a trailer once you put it in service. Also the newer style inflation systems and air ride systems are 2nd to none for ride quality and longevity.

 

Got a question here that might help the OP. As said above I bought a 2015 GD dry van last year. It has an air release for the rear tandem but I get real jealous in busy docks of these guys who have a tandem release from the cab. Is this something I can add cheaply/simply?

I know I should've gotten it before I put the trailer on the road but if it's less than $500 or so I could splurge for that next time it's down for a PM.

How do they work, anyway? Just an air valve from the cab or an electronic switch triggering the air valve already at the back?

 

Ride quality is nowhere close to the same. No sir.

Negative.
It's the other way around.

Air Ride has always been lighter, the only thing closer now is "composite" springs....WTH would you even want that anyways.

Yeah that's as great option, did that one on my last trailer!
Hendrickson smart lift..

 

I don't agree. I have a few customers who asked for quotes and one of them went so far to keep saying this in the negotiation meeting, they wanted exclusive air ride and I said I can not guarantee this and explained to them why I don't think it is needed. So I asked if I can haul for them two loads of their product for free to show them, they took me up on the offer. They monitor the products with sensors that show how rough the ride gets and after they saw the results, they dropped the issue altogether. We now service them with a mix of air ride and spring trailers - what ever the drivers have access to.

 

I got a confidential price list from a leasing company for there used trailers.

Utility.

EEEEEEEK.

Getting a couple slightly used Hyundai's me thinks.

 

You're jumping to a conclusion with some unknown and variables like which Shock G level they used for QC.. certainly nothing on the level of a costly NVH study.

** Passing a shock test, not tripping the maximum allowable limit is not an indicator of ride Quality ....it's maximum acceptable ride severity limits.


Yes you can use spring trailers to haul fragile commodities at an INCREASED risk potential. That increased risk falls upon you with a higher potential cargo claim payout.

Cargo shock mitigation can include ;

Routing(roadway gradients, surface conditions and propensity for high-traffic interaction resulting in abrupt stops)

Load weight minimums(maintaining higher loading # with spring suspension reduces risk)

Load packing ,packaging and securement and location improvement.(center of trailer is one example)

Air Ride tractor selection

Air ride trailer selection
(Even more nitpicky , tire selection)
--------------


Again, judging the suspensions riding "similar" based on cargo shock rejection limits is not a measure of quality.

I don't think i need to point out that most anyone in the industry is going to select air ride as a ride quality improvement even though it carries increased cost.

It's a cost vs value issue. If you don't mind spring suspensions harsher ride and none of your customers need it for the QC limits of their products , it may be better value to you.
Business wise on a large scale that can be significant savings across a fleet.

Example would be JB hunts drop trailers for home Depot accounts. They used to use almost exclusively spring ride trailers, lots of wabash units. Customer simply didn't need air ride exclusively.

Now... Try that with a fine China shipper or any other highly fragile commodity(eggs) and you'd just be increasing your cargo claim payout risk.

Back on subject, if you're striving for maximum Ride quality of tractor or trailer ,there's only one option, Air Ride.

Yes your can get away with spring for most Freight but it's definitely not the same ride.

 

You’d have had a fight over some of the pneumatics we pulled. NO ONE willingly chose spring ride.

 

If you have the air release already on your trailer then answer is yes. You can put a switch in to activate your dump valve, it is simple and costs less the $50 in parts. Can be installed in less then a hour of shop time. So rough estimate of $150 to set your dump valve from cab.
Also keep your manual dump on side so this way you can operate outside or inside cab. Overall fairly simple job since you already have the suspension set-up.