What's a 1,000 lbs weight reduction worth to you?

A 1,000 pound savings could be beneficial in some cases, not so in others.
I would question what would have to sacrificed to gain the extra weight advantage.
An example would be a lighter metal used in the frame construction. Over time, that could cause major problems. A lighter- made drive shaft / u-joints, would be less dependable.Fewer cross-members in a trailer make for a lower rated floor capacity.
Also driver safety decreases as a cab is made lighter. Less material to absorb energy in case of a wreck.
Lighter trucks are needed in some instances, however, to gain something, you usually lose something. Give up to get is sometimes not a good idea.

 

I only haul birds. I put a cat in the trailer... It keeps the birds flying around.

 

ALL depends on cost and loss of strength etc.
For a few hundred $$, I would be tempted if no loss anywhere else. But after nearly 20yrs of doing this, I can probably count on one hand the number of benefits, that don't come at the cost of something else.
IE: Single drive tires and wheels? Save weight, but are more expensive and if you blow a tire you are dead in the water.

Martin

 

as long as we are required to have more and more emissions equipment, weight savings will have to come from someplace. My tractor as originally spec'd was over 19,000 with DPF. They swtiched to alum. wheels, battery box, plastic bumpers, as much as possible to get my weight down.

 

You get the most bang for the buck switching to super singles, especially when spec'ing a new truck or doing the switch when tire replacement is needed anyway, as you generally only pay for the new wheels as the tire purchase was already planned. Switching other components to aluminum like fifth wheels etc are far more expensive per pound and have other draw backs as well. As far as eliminating components, every component on a truck is needed, either for operation or safety. Really the only thing that "could" be eliminated in most trucks would be the rear drive axle in favor of a tag axle. This would eliminate a few hundred pounds and the tractor would be a 6x2 instead of a 6x4 configuration. As usual there are downsides. Traction in snow and mud is the first, and resale value is the second.

 

Some carriers will only have (1) fuel tank in lieu of a twin tank setup. 150 gallons of fuel times 7lbs. per gallon is 1050 lbs. A 6mpg truck will travel 900 miles on that fuel, so in reality, it is just as easy to fuel up at the end of the day while taking your 10 hours.

Super singles are another way of being cost effective and weight conscious. Most old schoolers are wary of them, because they like the option to limp on the remaining tire in the event of a failure. But tire pressure monitoring and auto inflation systems help avoid those issues.

Critical components such as 5th wheels and frame structure accessories are a bad idea. I would never use aluminum in those cases.

APU's, although efficient, will add weight and a lot of guys will avoid using them to get more payload.

A double sleeper is more weight, but there's a toss up between being able to live comfortably. I would still opt for one.

 

We hauled alot of Beer for Coors out of Memphis and Denver and also alot of Ice Cream for Baskin Robbins to the West Coast. Also there was a run for Mcdonalds DC from W chicago to TN and then load Coors and back to W Chicago. We were always hauling 46K in teh wagon and sometimes were around 47K.

 

The argument that made air ride extra attractive is ANYTHING you do to reduce the 'unsprung' weight [the weight of the components supporting the weight on the springs] allows more payload.

Air springs weigh less than leaf spring packs, etc. lighter brake and wheel end components, etc.

Expect air op disc brakes to get popular here like the are in europe.

Less unsprung weight is here, aluminum wheels, hub pilot wheel & drum assemblies are all items that reduced wheel end weight.