Legal CDL trailer no IFTA/IRP!

Skip the tandem dual trailer if you are staying at 26k. Overkill and will cost you too much in payload. 17.5" singles would be best. Not going to do you much good anyway since the SRW drive axle will be what gets you in trouble. You want everything as light as possible otherwise you'll be out there wasting your time and would have a hard time staying loaded. A DRW truck would be a better idea though. You might seriously want to look at an Enterprise lease on a dually like that YouTuber "Tow Piglet" does and keep your SRW for hauling your boat or camper. That would keep the tax accounting a lot easier anyway. I think he said he gets a new one when they hit 60k miles and maintenance and repair are part of the deal. You'd have to buy a trailer. He runs no CDL also.

 

@Xray4
Oh one more thing. You mentioned something about a 100gal aux fuel cell. Really an extra 30-40 gals is all you need. Just enough to fuel up once a day. If you already own the 100gal cell, no big deal. Just don't fill it more that 30 gals. No need to lug an extra 700lbs of fuel around if you don't have too, cutting into your payload. Save every lb you can..

For what it's worth, I made due with only the stock 35gal tank on my Ram @36,000lb gross, & it was fine. Fueled up when I stopped for the night, then again around lunch the next day. There was the odd load that was just a huge sail, & I'd have to fuel an extra time, but that was rare. It's a little annoying, but never once did I run out of fuel..

 

Well you will have the advantage of not paying IFTA, so running the cheapest fuel you can get your hands on will help you operating cost stay lower..

If I buy all my fuel cheaper in FL, then run around in GA on that FL fuel, I'll owe GA the "road tax" for all the miles I traveled there. vs the gallons I should have purchased in GA, according to my average MPG. so it won't really save me much. I worded that kind of funny but that's a brief rundown on IFTA in case you care. Lol

Anyway yeah, just something to consider. 48 gals is pretty good, even with a wind dragging tall load, you still probably be ok fueling up evening, & noon maximum.

When you look for an aux fuel cell, just check the empty weight of say a 40 gal vs a 100 gal. If it's only 20-30lbs difference, buy the bigger one if you want. Just don't fill it all the way full, unless you know you are pre booked on a light weight load going like 500miles or more. That way you'll burn off that extra fuel weight, & be lighter again while seeking out the next load..

I still do that now. I can carry 28300lb on full tanks, (2-100gal tanks) or 29,000lb at half tanks. I'll stop & fuel more often if it means getting a good paying load that's a few lbs heavier..

You may already know this,? 1 US gal diesel =7 lb roughly..

 

You’d still have to fill up twice a day even with a 48 gallon tank. That would only give a comfortable range of around 400 miles assuming 10 mpg. Maybe a little better under certain circumstances. I ran over the road with a 36 gallon tank and made it work. The advantage of having a big slip tank is you can buy fuel in cheaper fuel states and often could save you from having to buy any in expensive ones like CA or PA. Running under 26k without IFTA that can save you some money.

 

Note to self. Since your not going to have IFTA/IRP, New Mexico is gonna make you buy a permit to run in their state since you aren’t paying them any taxes.