To Hell With 60' Trailers! 

57ft!

Have pulled some 57-ft over the last 2 years

Eric wolf they have been using 60 foot trailers in Florida for years to haul citrus... this is nothing new bud!

Cyberat Rodent Mississippi only pull 53 footers that's all I see down here which states besides Mississippi allow 57 footers ?

I know, scary, isn't it? Dave

Kenneth Mixson I pull turn pike double 53' A trains behind a full sleeper peterbuilt in western canada. we are aloud 41m 134' max length. max gross weight og 63,500 same as super B. we run them right into winnipeg, regina, saskatoon, edmonton and calgary making right and left hand turns on city streets. I wouldn't suggest trying it in most areas of Toronto or Montreal. but in reality the rear trailer only tracks the width of the trailer wider than the lead trailer. all and all you only really need to take a half a lane more than you would with a 53' trailer ( a full lane extra is better if posible ) to make the same turn.

Dave, Thanks for the info. I have never pulled them myself but I have seen them in action.

Alonzo Branson I'm a Yard Shifter for UPS and our yard was designed for 40ft trailers. I can't park 2 53' trailers side by side or they will be very hard to pull from the docks with other trailers parked next to them

Scary ,isn't it. Dave

I'm sorry to hear that these 57 footers are catching on. I thought the 53's were too long when they came out. As you know though, this industry is full of greedy shippers who continue to want more and more freight for less and less money with the drivers taking all the risk. Chemical and Food Grade tankers however continue to be a more realistic length and are quite nice to maneuver. Maybe want to think about trying that in the future. I did, quite enjoyed it and the money was good.

Yeah, me too! Manhattan in rush hour! Dave

Thank you! Dave

Thanks Johnny! I don't know if I'm " the man" . but I do know stupid when I hear it! Drive safe! Dave

Amen to that...maybe ALL the bureaus and task forces should heed Johnny's advise.

they already pull like shit

That is my point. Just going to get worse.

i did drive over the road for 6 weeks, i have a local job but i know what its like to pull a trailer through Oregon and other mountinous areas. i dont have much to compare it to because i never drove a high powered truck, but i can tell you the trucks that would pass me were the KW900's the ones you could tell were old school. i was stuck with a dumbed down T680 with a shitty automatic. now i drive a cascadia 10 speed and that thing struggles up grades too. 10th gear is way too tall and frankly the truck is probably more geared for fuel economy. im driving local backroads out in the country. frankly less tall gearing and an engine that wasnt governed down so much maybe something that would rev a little higher before shutting down would be nice. these engines are kind of gutless compared the to old cat and detroits from years past. but everything these days is all emissions. regen, DEF systems suck the power right out of these things. kind of like early emissions controlled cars from the 70's. 350 V8 putting out a pathetic 170 hp even though we know what that engine CAN put out. 300 hp easily.

Another really good question! Thanks Scott! Dave

I agree, newer *fleet* trucks definitely struggle with even moderate loads these days, but I don't believe its because they can't do it. It's because, in my view, some people have gotten it wrong by deciding that fuel economy, while a good thing, trumps a truck's ability to pull a load. Our trucks are Penske leases, with the DD13 motors. Personally, having always driven Cummins for many years before driving these Detroits, I have become a fan of them, they're a good solid motor. However, Penske has chosen to dial them down to about 350 hp. Here's the interesting (and frustrating) part: I looked at the Detroit website. Did you know the DD13, according to the people that built it, is rated for up to 505 hp??? And yet so many companies are choking them down.

Thank you! Dave

Thank you, and you're right, road safety does mean nothing to these people! Al they think about is money. Dave

I can guarantee the push to grow the trailers is done by an overweight bean counter sitting outside the assistant-assistant-to-the-CEO's office looking for ways to squeeze water out of a rock. I've already seen videos of truckers that no longer deliver to Walmart because they arrived four hours early and stood in the check-in line past the delivery deadline and because they were "late" they didn't get full pay.Pretty soon you're going to see autopilot trucks with 40 foot trailers zoom by your 100 foot monstrosity with nobody at the wheel - they get to save on driver pay and they get more bang for the buck with regards to fuel economy. Plus, no sleep time, fewer refueling stops, fastlane through toll booths, maybe no weigh station checkins - regulatory bodies can remotely check a vehicle's statistics via remote connection along highway-side wifi hotspots with sensors in the road itself - Executives are about to see dollar signs. It doesn't have to be a crazy expensive driving AI either. drop GPS markers along the highway every 3-5 miles and the company rig will know exactly where it is to within the nearest inch and a half. Let's say they create designated automatic trucking lanes, guess what? The trucker as we know it today no longer has a job.

Thank you John! Dave

Geezuz, whose sales team was that? It's stupid moves like that that are bringing this industry to its knees! They've just adversely affected your pay! Dave

Appreciate it Darek! Dave

ElectricalNovice19 they’ll never say no.

This is why we need Unions.

Thanks Brian! Dave

Didn't know that! Dave

Yup, seen those!

Yes, it truly is! Dave

Thanks Tyler! Dave

Huh, hadn't thought of it from that angle! Thank you for being able to see the silver lining in an otherwise stupid move on the part of our provincial gov't. Can you tell me, is there a bright side to them selling off our provincially owned hydro company? Dave

It's called a sleeper. I thought you had them up north.

I can tell you the bright side. If it is like here in Illinois you get to pay almost 2.5 times as much as you did before the company came in. Then a few months after that increase they warn there might be a hike in prices because they are going to do some sytems upgrades that they claimed were done soon as they took over and used as an excuse for the first round of price spikes.

Wow, that's a lot of length for an automobile to try to get by in a rain storm or on a snowy night, with the spray coming off the tires. Properly loaded and configured, a rig like that isn't tough to manage for a skilled truck driver, but it's the driving public I worry about. Dave

Huh..?

@bill2526, sounds like you need a much better job.

I run a super b like that 8 axle

You think that's a long truck to pass you should see states that allow three 28-32ft trailers hooked, I see it a lot in Oklahoma (I'm in Texas) they allow either three 28ft triples or two 40-48ft doubles, Texas only allows for doubles 28ft a piece but I could imagine pulling 100 ft of trailer

I thought they should have held to 48ft.

Now Loblaw is running triple 53's!

Jayen4 53' trailers work fine, even 57' trailers are common in the southwestern US.

Is that so...?? . The point that I was making,is that you don't need to continually go for longer and longer trailers ! Our 'little' 45 footers,with 2 decks, offer 90' of deck space.....and all in a shorter (but taller) trailer...... If the U.S. got it's low bridges sorted out,you too could use the double deck system.....would have to raise your gross weights tho'.... ;-)

Got a laugh out of me there! Dave

A long time ago I pulled B-trains up here in Canada and found them much nicer to pull and maneuver than a 53. Dave

Thanks Lisa! Dave

Can you imagine?

Good god. California? Dave

I've seen them in L.A. Dave

vistalite 1972 Dirksen got bought by Gardner out of Chino. I drove for them for a year local out of the Tolleson, AZ terminal. I would occasionally use Dirksen trailers

P. Brabenec MOAR=Mother of all reefers? lol😉