Aluminum rims vs. steel

I can see maybe the trucks being leased but trailers also?

 

I have no idea. I don’t run them either but being that I haul bulk I’m around a lot of guys that do and the majority are happy with them. The guy where I park runs them on all of his trailers because they’re a little lighter and he gets better wear out of them than duals on his triples. I think they have their place and can benefit some, but I can’t stand the way they look and I can already load nearly 30 ton legal so I’m not looking to cut weight.

 

I’ve seen them on a couple of there trailers that have picked up from us a few times over the years. Not many. But that may change because BFS has now turned there company fleet over to JB Hunt to run the logistics. Just like Michelin did with M.S. Carriers 25 years or so ago.

 

1 flat that wrecks the rim and you can kiss the savings goodbye.

 

Dont mistake my response as being anything more than the information asked for, ie fmpg savings and generally how they did, enough people have warned about the drawbacks, no one gave the real world information op actually asked for

 

You folks must blow a lot of tires. I’ve been running wide base tires since 2013 and haven’t blown one yet, could happen but when or if it does it’ll be because of a road hazard. I keep a close eye on my tires, just as I did with duals, check pressures regularly and I’ve never ran any tire all the way down to minimum legal depths.
The reasons I run them,
750 lbs. weight savings between truck and trailer
Easier maintenance, only one valve stem per position
Cost savings when comparing a premium wide base to a premium dual,
Good mileage and wear over the 8 years that I’ve ran them.

The last time I blew a tire was almost 20 years ago when I was a company driver for a fleet that ran caps on the trailer, threw a cap. Not saying it won’t happen to me, if or when it does I’ll deal with it.

 

I never saw one tenth of an increase in fuel economy when I first put them on my trailer in 13, but all the reasons I listed are the reasons I started using them and continue to do so. I run them on truck and trailer now, beginning in 15.

 

Does he haul bulk products where the weight savings means extra paying freight every load? Or is he trying to get light enough to get an extra pallet on? If he will see revenue from extra payload every single load and can also combine that with rising fuel costs then his ROI will be shorter. And without knowing the rolling resistance of his current tires and what wide singles he would by its hard to guess what his fuel savings would be.