pulling flatbed aero or classic? affect on mpg

It depends alot on the shape of the freight and if you tarp it on how aerodynamic the freight itself is. Tarping can help alot on some stuff, especially when you get the odd load that has the tall part to the read and shorter stuff to the front. As for the tractor itself the only part that will really help with wind drag back to the trailer would be the roof. Obviously a flat top is gonna let more air by to hit the freight but only if the freight is that tall anyway. Most flatbed trucks I've seen with companies that care about fuel mileage are aero nosed mid roof or full roofed trucks with mid roof being the more popular. I'm not an owner operator though and haven't read anything about the real world MPG differences between those options. Might want to ask on the O/O section of the site for a bit more feedback.

 

You are not planing on running empty R YOU?.... your step or flat is going to have a load on it I hope so you will need the hight of the cab to keep the wind from bucking the load
and Pulling your tarp all over. but you also must consider picking up loads on the east coast they have short clearance docks @ a lot of Steel Mills out there.so you may need a lower cab than a condo cab .

 

How many more times will you be asking this question?

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...510-flatbed-mpg-classic-aero-does-matter.html

 

Flat top Pete - go for it.

 

Contrary to what the steeringwheel holders and the doorslammers may say, you WILL be known by your truck. Every flatbedder/specialized/heavy hauler sets his truck up differently.

 

I've got a little truck and consistently get 1-1.5 MPG better than the big strapers on our fleet. That's about a 20-25% smaller fuel bill.

Don't expect the same MPG numbers that van or refer guys get.

 

If the place doesn't have doors taller then 14' do you really wanna load there anyway?

Depends on the freight, you'll get better fuel mileage with 45k lbs of skidded coils then 10k lbs of Pipe

I'd rather have a condo myself (I currently have a midroof)

plus is California really that important to you?