?Single-Axels?

Well, obviously you can't put as much weight in the trailer, so if your only going to be hauling light loads, then a single axle is the way to go. I used to be on a dedicated account for a corrugated paper box company, and they used single axle trucks. For an outfit like that, there was no need for two drive axles, none of their loads were over 10,000 pounds. And yeah, they really suck in the snow, especially if you are climbing a slick hill.

 

Consider them to be a regular truck with out the training wheels in the back, hook a set of joints to a single axle and see what kind of load you can haul

 

If you are working local, particularly if you are pulling pups, the single axle day cab has certain advantages. It has a lot shorter turning radius than a twin screw. It saves the owner a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, not only in purchase, but in ongoing expense.

Those extra tires are costly over the life of a tractor. Also the weight factor is there as far as fuel mileage is concerned.

You see a lot of single screws pulling doubles and triples on line haul. They don't need the extra weight capacity, due to the configuration of the trailers, and the loads they haul.

 

Yeah corrugated , foam , furniture , they run single axles . I delivered corrugated for a company that had the contract to supply boxes to U-Haul centers along the whole East Coast . I had a nice single axle International Sleeper . It had a locking differential so it wasn't too bad if things got a little slick .

 

it makes the tractor lighter, and actually increases the payload you can haul. that is if your pulling 2 or 3 pups anyways, max weight on a single axle is 20K. as you know, not all states have an 80K max.

and yes, we're the first ones you see hanging iron when the weather gets bad.

 

If you have a single axle and are losing traction trying to take off in the winter grab a higher gear.

 

You have to be careful with the weight distribution too . We used to put up to 4 2,000 lbs.skids of paper on a load . Putting any of them in the front of the trailer would put the drives over . They had to be put on the back half of the trailer .

 

Single axels can be good for another reason. At Greenville Tech(where I went to learn how to drive truck), They have 3 single axel KW's. These trucks are used for the DMV test. They are hooked to a 48' trailer. They are relatively easy to drive(9 speed over).