WESTERN EXPRESS LEASE OPERATORS READ THIS.

That's the way it should go.

 

i can't say that i remember the capacity. i can recall that they are equipped with smaller tanks, to allow more freight, i thinks i once read that some shippers require x amount of freight per trailer load, and to meet that requirement, Prime specs out with less capacity tanks? (someone else can chime in on this)

my company trucks, we have 150 per side, but we run day cabs and maybe all of 15,000 lbs is about all we haul nightly.

a former job i had, day cabs as well, from MA to VA, we had 150 gals each side too. fuel up at each end of the run. (i think that run was "about" 540 miles one way?)

current job, we can go no more than 2 days before a refill, but we get onsite fueling every night, as one driver goes about 40 miles close the the Canadian border, and he has to fuel up in that area, then back at our home warehouse. so it's cheaper for the company to fuel up all trucks nightly, rather than just that one truck, each night.

i should mention too from what i had read regarding the fuel tank size on Prime trucks, at "one time" a lease operator could opt for larger tanks, if he paid for them out of pocket. i do not know if that is still allowed by Prime, maybe when someone buys a used Prime truck is when this can be done for cheaper than say taking it someplace else to have it done?

again, someone that can remember all the reason regarding smaller tanks and replacing them on Prime trucks, can chime in.

 

Well it does seem logical. Most of the OTR sleepers in our fleet (Freightliners) have 100 gallon tanks on each side but the single bunk regional sleepers(Freightliners and KWs) have 75 gallon tanks,as do our daycabs. Mind you,except the daycabs all of our trucks have APUs so that something to take into consideration as well. We do have some Volvos and new International LTs coming into the fleet but I have yet to see their capacities as well.

 

i just did a quick google search on the weight of one gallon of ultra low sulfur diesel. it is variable due to the seasons. but "on average" 7 lbs per gallon.

take a 150 gallon tank, that would be "about" ......1,050 pounds PER side= 2100 total

100 gallons would be.......700 per side....1400 total

75 gallons would be..525 per side...1,050...total

i think "the average weight" of an APU is 450 lbs..???

so yeah, even before the APU's, Prime had smaller tanks, to allow more freight for the customers who required it.

 

That sounds about right. On average our APUs usually weigh around 350 to 415 pounds at the most,depending on the model (we mostly use Thermo King Evolution models).

 

Im surprised Western is still in business, seems like they have a lawsuit every year lol

 

For them..it's just the cost of doing business...lol

 

Yep , kinda like an infomercial product that they know is fraudulent in some way
But put it out there anyway knowing they're probably going to get sued for several million.
But will still clear 10× that.

 

I don’t know if I buy the pull more freight rationale.

My company truck has 150 per side. 2018 Cascadia full condo sleeper. I can carry 46k lbs of freight. I pull a reefer. Most reefer contracts (that I’m aware of) only require 46k.

I would be more inclined to think it has to do with lightening the truck up for fuel mileage.

That might be wrong, but that’s more plausible to me, especially since they govern the trucks so slow, put skirts and tails on their trailers, etc...

One thing I’m certain of is these large fleets chase every penny they can on fuel. If they can pick up half a tenth on mileage, that adds up to quite a savings for the entire fleet.

 

no, to have the smaller tanks, allows for more freight. yes, in a way, it makes for a lighter truck, this is why more freight can be loaded at some of thier accounts. it's not so much a palletized load, but a cubed trailer load.

as i had mentioned, this was mentioned a few times on some website (much like) this one.

if i can find some explanation to the smaller tanks on Prime trucks, i will post it. but for me, when i ran the road as well (all general freight), any day cab or sleeper i had, had the large capacity tanks.