hauling doubles and triples

it depends on who you work for. i worked for a company that if we pulled "pups" (28' doubles) we got a whopping 1.5¢ extra per mile, and a total of $15.00 to set them up, and break them down ($7.50 for a set-up, and $7.50 to breakdown). needless to say, i tried my very best to avoid pulling them. yes, everything is either "doubled" or "tripled", and the agravation just isn't worth it. you need to always make sure the heaviest trailer is the lead, then the tail trailer needs to be the lightest. you need NOT to make sudden steering wheel movements, and you need NOT to always be looking in your mirror to check on the tail trailer and how its tracking. if you did, then you would be constantly over correcting your steering.

to me, i say pulling doubles or triples ain't worth it. oh yeah, you can get hurt easier too as you have to push or pull the "dolly" or "boggie" into place. sometimes you need your tractor for this, sometimes you get the joy and pleasure of using your muscles for this.

 

Only thing is you go and work for an LTL co., and odds are good that you will end up hauling 'em.

 

After 2 weeks of company training, I pulled doubles for six years.

Didn't get paid anymore for it, but it was either that or reefer.
Got paid $12.50 to break/ $70 to load/unload both trailers.

Doubles are a nuisance after a while, but they kept me active - I had forearms like Popeye from cranking down landing gear.

Learn to back the con-gear with the tractor. They're (the con-gear) not to hard to push around manually if you have to, as long as it's not an uphill, gravel slope. If it's on a smooth paved lot, you can push it with one hand.

One more set of brakes. 4 more tires of grip. I always thought they handled better than semis in high winds, but that's debatable.

Don't turn to tight or the trailers will touch. Be careful where you park because you can't back up very far (some guys can, but it's rare).

Should of just found a good semi-trailer carrier, but we eventually got some 53-footers in the fleet, so life changed a little.

Seemed to get lighter, but cubed-out loads. Lots of foam and bottles and plastic. Very rarely had to worry about weight. But maybe that was just the accounts we had.

 

just a "quick point", some "boggies" or "dollies" have 2 axles (8 tires). these are of course much heavier. the "boggies" or "dollies" (which ever your company calls them) i used to have to set-up were the single axle type (4 tires). some were "counter balanced" by a "spare tire" mounted under them, some had a landing gear which had a tiny wheel...........

 

Excellent point Pro1driver - I drove the standard set, 2 pups and a dolly.

There are 2-axle bogies that I seriously doubt you could handle with 'one hand'. We had some on our heavy-haul flatbed side in a 40-20 configuration(?).

And yes, some dollies have cranks and a little steel wheel, these in my opinion were much harder to handle and push manually than the type balanced with the spare tire. You could literally lift the tongue with one finger.

Also, on a safety note, if a dolly should run away from you, I believe some of them have a dump valve that will set the brakes, however when you do this, the dolly stops suddenly, the tongue flies up, catches you under the chin, and you're on workman's comp with a new set of teeth. I never saw it happen, but always heard about it. If I ever thought a dolly was going to get away from me, I laid out a bunch of wedges or rocks to keep it from going to haywire before I even tried to move it, or I moved it with the tractor.

 

I ran trips for 6 months waiting for my good job. It was a cheap LTL company out of Las Vegas NV. I would sometimes get the loop. I'd start at 10pm from Las Vegas go to Beatty drop and pick up an empty then to Tonopah do the same then on to Reno. I'd go sleep in the casino hotel then start at 10 pm again but this time to Salt Lake City. I'd have two drops on the way then into a motel in Salt Lake. Then start at 10pm again for Las Vegas with a drop in Ely NV. I'd start on sunday night get back wednesday morning then back out that night and back saturday morning. I got paid 27½¢ a mile ( I told you it was cheap) and that was in 1990. It looks good on a re'sume but other than that I would never do it again unless it was drop the entire set and let the yard worker break the set up. Moving the con gears can be dangerous. But In bad weather like snow I did have more axles to brake. If your pay is not the top, I'd skip trips and stay with just a semi. But some companies run doubles so it all boils down to pay and benefits. When I was out there making almost nothing UPS was making $21 an hour, and the union companies where at 43¢ a mile. I then got the call to go haul gasoline at ARCO and made more money in two days than making the loop twice. So look at the pay and benefits, if it's not high do something else and save your back.