96" wide trailers?

102". Lots of shippers won't load a 96". In a world with lots of freight, no biggie. In the world we now have, it can mean sitting vs working

 

Definite no for me. Same thing with 48' vs 53'. You'll find loads shippers won't load a 48'. If I wasn't limited by weight, i'd have a 53'.

Versatlity puts money in your pocket.

 

Years ago I used to do power only delivering fruit from a port, in refrigerated containers that were 96 inches wide outside and 40 feet long
And about 72 inches tall inside .

it paid good , but I never even bothered with backhauls , some loads would fit if they pinwheeled the pallets , the pallets are 48x40 and wouldn’t fit side by side in the trailer , so you had to spin every other pallet so you had one pallet 40 wide beside the 48 wide one .

most places wouldn’t bother with it .
I only found one shipper that was willing to do it .

These outbound loads paid $1.25 a mile when the average load paid 80 cents , so I’d just come back empty and grab another load of fruit . I made just as much $$ as the guys that dicked around for hours on each end with a backhaul .

 

I would never go less than 102" with a van/reefer but with a flathead I run both and have never, not a single time ever had an issue with my 96" flatbed.

 

My attitude when I loaded trucks was once it was placed on your deck where you requested, it was no longer my problem. I could've cared less what size the trailer was.

 

Never hand anyone measure my trailer for width.

 

Used to ship out lots of dry van freight. If you showed up with a refer or something smaller than 102" I would send you on your way. Most companies need to have at least 100-101" inside or cannot fit skids in side by side. We had problems with people showing up with trailers too small and they would be mad since the broker did not pass down the information. If you have contract freight then it may work if not chances are you will get denied every 1/3 load or so.

 

Good thing skids can hang off the side of flatbed trailers. I’ve hauled many 102” loads on a 96” trailer.