How common are Air-Ride Trailers?

Air ride is very common, but so is spring.

The ride quality is MUCH better with air ride, I haul a lot of eggs, and with spring ride there is usually some damage to deal with.

 

It's all we have and all I will buy.

 

Most ,if not all Reefer companies have them. In general,like Mndriver said there is less damage to the load. Dry van companies on the other hand is a hit or miss deal. From what I've seen as the dry van comapnies replace their older trailers they are getting air ride trailers. Air ride trailers do make for a easier ride and there is less damage to certain types of products like electronics and appliances.

 

I have learned if you don't have the load scaled correctly and axled out with the trailer just being under the drives for weight. IE Drives at 33900, trailer at 33500.

We have some spring dry boxes and they rode just as nice as an air-ride when it was finally scaled correctly.

 

I suppose they save a little up front and a little in maintenance but spring rides bounce can be noticed in the tractor on poor roads. Plus they're harder on trailer tires. Yet another advantage of getting the experience to move to a better carrier with better equipment and away from the spring rides of the Knights, Swifts, etc.

 

Spring ride trailers are heavier than air-ride. I've also seen some loads posted that specify 'air ride', which means that I don't call on those since my trailer is spring ride. Ditto on what MN says about the ride being affected by balancing the load properly. I get the whiplash too when my trailer has more weight than the drives. Mostly I deal with it, since it's a 3 step process at best to get the tandem pins moving on my trailer.

 

Spring rides never fail to inflate!

Mikeeee