Age of trailer???

Mostly union places gripe & whine about older trailers. I posted earlier about a friend of mine that bought an old dry van for around $1500.00 at a farm auction. He cleaned the mildew and dirt off and put used tired on it, now runs all over the country. Trailer looks real good after he cleaned it and did some touchup paint with some good paint and a paint brush to cover some old scratches and trim and ICC bumper. The trailer is a 53x102 the farmer used for storage.
He takes good care of it; keeps the rims painted so there's no rust or anything to bring attention to the trailer.

 

Same here. I bought a 2000 Great Dane. Paid 3k for it because it has a roll up door. I get along just fine. I do lose out on a load once in a while because of the door, but when I factor in what I paid for it I will put up with it.

 

Do you find you would lose more loads for the a: door (swing vs roll) b: suspension (air vs spring) or c: size (53 vs less than 53).

 

Probably the door. Maybe 1 or 2 in 10. Never been asked if air ride. As far as 48 vs 53 I don't know. Although a 48 could help alot in california with loads that don't need the space and the 40ft kingpin to rear axle rule would'nt apply. The roll up door does add some weight on the back. I was going to upgrade to a 53ft plate trailer but I think I'll keep mine for now. Hope that helps.

 

Now if you go open deck, age is irrelevant. I have a 10yr old flat that I bought and no one has ever asked me about it at all.

 

Anything over ten years old gets turned around , at most mills.

 

Or sometimes it's loaded two pallets at a time and if those two pallets take up the whole width of the trailer it won't fit through the door.