School project: Trailers?

It all depends on what type of the business you're looking at. Companies go for the best savings and what works for them. I hauled gasoline which took alot of work to make a trailer to our standards. But again we bought in bulk and which trailer worked the best. We would keep our trailers for 10yrs and our trucks for 5. The worse deal we ever made was by lease. We tried it with a couple of trucks and after 5yrs we had to put so much money back into the truck and trailer it just wasn't worth it.

Beall was a good trailer for us and we've used them for years. But you've got to know that when we buy a trailer it's just a bare set-up then we send the unit to another company to install all the special equipment that gasoline tankers need.

We would have a say in what worked for us the best. The buyer for the company would come on a few runs to see just how things turned out. Plus we had a program that if you had a better idea and the company picked it up you would get a gold coin. It's nice when a company listens to the drivers.

My biggest complaint is having a trailer and the ABS not working with the power unit. We were lucky that our trailers stayed hook to the same truck so we knew the whole brake system worked like it should. But there's many drivers out on the road that pick up trailers and the ABS does not work like it should.

 

As a dry van company driver, I have no real say in my trailers. With that in mind, if I'm picking up an empty trailer at a consignee, I will drive around and find the nicest looking empty trailer that our company has there. Some times I get lucky with a really nice one, some times I'm stuck with one that's kinda old. Some times the only trailer that's empty is 5 years old, has marker lights you can't see from your mirrors and the landing gear crank is messed up. That's life, though.

Also some times the best looking trailer has something wrong with it that you don't know until you're doing a walk around to check everything out.

I wish I knew what brand of trailer I'm connected to now. It's (nearly) brand new. Has the side skirts and everything. Now my opinion of the side skirts..they're alright. I think it cut down on being tossed around on the road the other day while driving through a cross wind. I worry though that it's too close to the ground and if you have to roll over a curb to back into a dock that it may get damaged.

 

We usually get used trailers that are a couple of years old.We found the mail hauler trailers work best for us since they have the E rail set up every few feet and from top to bottom.It gives us more options and a more secure load.

 

The only drivers that really have a say of what brand of trailer they are going to pull are the owner operators who buy their own trailers. Company drivers are usually not given an option, just a number of the next trailer. If they get lucky, they get a decent one.

 

Like I said not in all aspects of the business. There's a ton of different variations of trucking besides just OTR.

 

But i dont know of any drivers that had their boss ask them what trailer they wanted. If your one of them, your #### lucky.

 

My company actually has a program that if you can improve a safety item on the truck you get money. There's been many times that the buyer of equipment for the company goes out in the field to talk to the drivers about which works best and which doesn't work so good. And yes I was very lucky to work for a major oil company that cared about the drivers.

 

Hi, just going to add a little in put to your list here. The problem with trailers and brand is they is not much to a trailer it is not like a truck. Your have many different kinds of trailer for many different kinds of trucking so I will try to keep it simple.

If you are pulling a flatbed you have a floor, rails, lighting system with wiring, fifthwheel pin, axles, braking system w/or w/o air, air system, tires, wheels, dolly legs and crank. That is the basic's now you can add as much as you want. Headache racks etc. this is the start to most trailers you see driving down the road. To have a box trailer you add walls and a roof, to have a refrigerator trailer you add a cooling system and so on. (this is not so for specialty ie., tanks, hoppers etc..

Brands there are not many and you already have most of that list if you need more you can google it and get a more complete list.

What is important is how the trailer does the job. This is a different department and most drivers will agrue what is the best in there day to day buisness. To me I dont care about the brand I want a trailer with all the parts working and working together. First the wieght of the trailer is a big item for most buyers the less the trailer weights the more you can haul. This is important when you are working on a contract and the paper plants wants to put 20 rolls of paper on the truck because they fit and the weight is more the you can carry. (I hope this is enought on weight factor) The floor of the trailer is just as important because it has to be able to support the weight you want to carry and take some abuse of the forklift drivers the same can apply to the walls of a trailer. The list goes on and on and I hope this give you a little information.

Brands are like cars it really is cost and built and trade in value. I really like the doors on a the Great Dane I never really had much of a problem with them. So for me it is totally how the parts work together.

I can not help with the side panels I have never pulled a trailer with side panels.

Trailer providers are just like car saleman and that want to sell as many as they can to one company so they will adjust the piece up and down based on how many you the company will buy at one time.

How this helps, good luck.
Lenda