how much horsepower do I need to haul shipyard containers

Hi rank, when I started,(late '70's) the 290 Cummins was THE standard engine. Schneider had a million of those in their cabover Transtars. The first Mack R model I drove had a 300+, although, a "shiny 290"( Cummins 300) would walk away from me. 350 BC was the motor of choice for the road trucks, then came the 400 Cat, which would dust a 400 BC anyday, then it seemed the 425 Cat was the motor for a long time. I knew a guy years ago that had a V-12 Detroit, called it " The Buzzin' Dozen", and I think he was pushin' 450 hp, but it rarely stayed together long enough to measure it.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4073664]Hi rank, when I started,(late '70's) the 290 Cummins was THE standard engine. Schneider had a million of those in their cabover Transtars. The first Mack R model I drove had a 300+, although, a "shiny 290"( Cummins 300) would walk away from me. 350 BC was the motor of choice for the road trucks, then came the 400 Cat, which would dust a 400 BC anyday, then it seemed the 425 Cat was the motor for a long time. I knew a guy years ago that had a V-12 Detroit, called it " The Buzzin' Dozen", and I think he was pushin' 450 hp, but it rarely stayed together long enough to measure it. [/QUOTE]
Yeah it's kin of funny how anything less than 450hp is a dog now? Back in the '80's it seemed to me like 6 of every 10 trucks was one of those 350 HP Macks and the other 4 were cabovers LOL.

 

Get the biggest engine you can afford, and then drive it like you`re riding on eggshells while hauling explosives. Last 2 trucks I`ve pulled cans with had 425 B Cats, and they did a good job. Now I have a Cummins Red Top 525. Awesome power and fuel mileage. I don`t know how I made it up and down the road with those slow old motors, but I did. lol. Just bought a chassis last week which hopefully saves me time and money. Summer weather and heavy loads take a toll on port chassis bias tires, and you have lots of time in the repairs, no matter who is paying for it.
What you will need for the ports most of all is the "Patience of Job".My best advice to you- find a local carrier and stay away from ALL of the carriers operating in more than 1 port.

 

You need boat loads of horsepower to haul containers.

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/difference-between-torque-and-horsepower.htm



http://www.edmunds.com/car-technology/the-twist-on-torque.html

 

Here's my opinion for what it's worth.

A stock C13 with 430hp 1550lbs is plenty to pull containers. Hp means nothing when it comes to pulling it just sounds cool. Hp wins races but torque makes it to the top. With a 13 speed an right gears you wouldn't complain to much. I would recommend a 3.70 gear to help compensate for the lower numbers. Also a c13 can be tuned comfortably to a 470 1650 which would pretty much put it with a 60 series Detroit but that's not saying a whole lot. I ran a c13 10 speed with 3.90s hauling gas for a few years locally. If you didn't know better you would of never guessed it was a c13, but running down the highway at 70 she was screaming. Company put over 750k on it an it still roaming around here somewhere.

 

I haul containers in GA and all of my trucks are in tip-top shape. And I think torque (cat or cummins) is the main thing needed. And the money..... It's alright, you're not going to make 4k a week.