Is 30,000lbs in the trailer a heavy load?

I don't think my 400 HP is any match for your guys trucks....

 

Yes. Between 425 and 475 seems to be the price/performance sweet spot. Toward the lower end if you tend to run light, the higher end if you tend to run heavy.

Leave the 500-600hp stuff to the specialty trucks. Logs, coal, etc.

400 and under is what most of the big fleets are dialed back to, and that definitely will be frustrating (unless you pull furniture, have a dedicated run on the plains, or the like)

 

I tend to pull around 130k lbs through the mountains, so I'm actually underpowered. hehe

 

I had exactly the same truck as you partner pulled load through the rockies over serra nevada etc etc no problems all trucks are going to do it tough up a mountain even those with 600 + hp they may climb alot quicker but they'll burn it all up in the straight where that hp is not needed i wouldn't personally have a truck with more than 500 hp. But hey if your an owner op and want splash out on a big power plant well thats your business what you use and spend hey.

 

Really?

First I've heard of that cause I've definatly ain't seen it!

 

I use to pull a reefer and had a 500 DD and a 10 speed with some 3.36 rears. I never had to drop it into low to make it up any hills. FYI reefers are usually running anywhere from 76-80K normally atleast where I use to work they did. That also makes no sense that van freight is lighter, dont you think a shipper or reciever would have that truck packed to the gross? That was always my experience was I was loaded to either my gross or to as much as they could fit in the trailer which was almost always just under my gross....

 

The most common occasion for me was hauling high-nutrient hay from Montana to horse farms in KY and VA. (I used to call it "fancy hay for fancy horses" lol) Getting to some of them meant going throuh hilly areas with sharp enough turns that speed couldn't be kept up, and every hill had to be "won" with hp, not momentum. There were several where dropping to low range was necessary. I was amazed to discover they were state numbered highways, not just podunk back roads.

I remember it well because I used the absurdity of the situation to try to get my fleet boss to turn the truck up. ('05 Intl 9400 w/Cummins ISX)

 

By cube out freight I was thinking dry goods, furniture, etc. Wal-Mart & Target type stuff. Flat screen TVs. Paper towels. etc.

Reefers are definitely a different story. I should have been clearer. Sorry.

 

Went to go pick up my trailer and had trouble switching to 5th to 6th because of how far it is on my trans. Reached about 65 with it empty. Lets hope 30k should hit AT LEAST 55 or 60.

 

Time is money, however FUEL is more money. A lot of large companies turn down their trucks power to save on fuel.