Truck Ideas

[LDB]

I'd be afraid it wouldn't stand up to the loading and unloading. Most dock people aren't going to take care of it the way you would.

Leo
truck 767

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[Djcoak]

I'm just not sure I could stand being stuffed in a sleeper for weeks on end that most 22' trucks have. Maybe I am too picky but I need room!!!! haha Seriously though, dock workers will beat up anything no matter what it is if you let them. I am hearing though that the 16' cargo capacity won't get as many loads anyway so I guess I am back to square one LOL

 

[Djcoak]

>DJ, I brought up the idea with the ppl at Express-1, and
>they have no probs. I doubt anyone would as anyway you look
>at it, it would be a money maker.
>If you're looking for a truck, check out www.truckpaper.com
>There are tons of trucks there, and you could find something
>dirt cheap in any name. Good luck, and let me know what you
>decide.
>
>T-Hawk

I just talked Express-1 and they do not contract pups

 

[LDB]

I have hauled anything from 1 skid to 22' worth of stuff so the larger the box the more potential you have. I've probably only had about 2 or 3 loads that wouldn't have fit in 16' but don't see much advantage in going smaller unless it's down to Sprinter size. I very likely will go to a Sprinter next time since I won't have college kids to pay for and will be able to manage on less income. Just my .02, worth a penny after inflation and taxes.

Leo
truck 767

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[Djcoak]

Yeah my uncle drives a 22' for tristate and almost 95% of the time only has one or two skids on it. I am torn as I see both sides. More potential but at least in his case, most of the time it's wasted space.

 

[Djcoak]

The kind of cool thing is you could use it as temp controlled freight

 

[rode2rouen]

I have no doubt about the drivetrain durability, it's the RV type construction of the body that would concern me. I can see the forklift guys trashing it MUCH quicker than a freight spec box.
Sorry I wasn't clear in my original reply.

Rex

 

[Djcoak]

>I have no doubt about the drivetrain durability, it's the RV
>type construction of the body that would concern me. I can
>see the forklift guys trashing it MUCH quicker than a
>freight spec box.
>Sorry I wasn't clear in my original reply.
>
>Rex

Hey no problem Rex!!!! I am going to go look and drive one next weekend. I am sure one might want to put up some plywood on the sides to help protect it but I'll let ya know what I find out!!!

 

[Djcoak]

If they made this in a fith wheel now THAT would have alot of possibilies!

 

[Djcoak]

http://www.rvtruck.com/rv_truck_005.htm now THIS is cool!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

DJ...that is fine! I was just telling my wife about my idea for a hotshot hooked up to a pup when I scrolled down to your last post. Can a hotshot be fixed to carry a regular fifth wheel? That would be a seriously awesome idea since there are no length violations, and you'd live like trucking royalty :7

 

[Crazynuff]

The toter homes are cool but you eliminate one of your major benefits of getting around in city traffic . Another plus of having a single axle tractor with a pup is lower cost and better trade in value when replacing the unit . I figured if an expediting company went to using a lot of small tractors with pups and the carrier owned the trailers it would make load swapping a lot easier and regular customers might appreciate a drop and hook system where the trailer could be loaded and ready to go when the contractor arrived .

 

[Djcoak]

Now this is an idea I had but not sure how one would do it. Take a class 7 cruck and afix a slide out rv unit like the ones that go in the back end od a pick up and use it as a fifth wheel and a pup.

You may ask why I don't just go with a after market sleeper? Well I guess I haven't seen many that impress me a whole lot yet. The Bentz is nice but for some reason the RV type units or stock sleepers seem to look more professional inside and use space better. Besides many times they have the shower and all that stuff already done in one unit. Maybe I just have not seen the right setups though.

 

[Djcoak]

http://www.fivertrailer.com/product/renegade/inventory/k1002.html See I almost wonder why something like this wouldn't work? You could modify the inside of the trialer to give you dock height and have storage under the floor AND live like a KING! Looks like the trailer could easily handle the weight and you could almost do double dech freight if the load was light enough. You could fit as much freight almost as a 53' truck in a smaller package! Besides how cool would it be to roll into a truck stop and slide out the sides! How of course it's not as compact as the regular trucks but it's nice to know when I didn't need it for a truck I could retire it as an RV and you could always drop the trailer somewhere when you went on vacation. Now of course some of these are pretty extreme but it's the concept I am looking at.

I also thought about trying to build a freight handling system in whatever truck I decide much like we have on our aircraft. At the rear of the trailer would be omni directional roller letting you move the frieght to whereever you wanted. When you got it to where you wanted it, it could then be roller forward to the front of the trailer on more rollers. You could then move it and secure it whereever you wanted easily. Now the downside would be that you would need to set the pallets on something flat such as a 3/4" piece of plywood so that the rollers would not catch on the bottom of the pallet. http://www.ball-transfer.com/bed.htm

The advantage would be that the forklift operator would not even need to get real close to the trck as the freight would always be ready for him at the back of the truck. Also you could easily distribute your freight as needs warrented. We use this on our planes and it works awesome and loading and unloading is incredibly fast. You could even make the rollers removable if you did need a flat floor for whatever reason.

Just ideas......

 

[Crazynuff]

Trash transfer trailers and mulch trailers have live floors . It adds to the weight but sure would help unload as you suggested and be a big help shifting loads to scale axles out

 

[Djcoak]

>Trash transfer trailers and mulch trailers have live floors
>. It adds to the weight but sure would help unload as you
>suggested and be a big help shifting loads to scale axles
>out

I imagine this is true but using ones from aircraft would be much lighter. We pull out 15 foot sections on rollers and they weight next to nothing but handle a ton of weight, well over 10,000 lbs oer section of roller!

 

[Djcoak]

>>Trash transfer trailers and mulch trailers have live floors
>>. It adds to the weight but sure would help unload as you
>>suggested and be a big help shifting loads to scale axles
>>out
>
>I imagine this is true but using ones from aircraft would be
>much lighter. We pull out 15 foot sections on rollers and
>they weight next to nothing but handle a ton of weight, well
>over 10,000 lbs oer section of roller! The cool thing would be you attach them to a "false" floor so when you don't need the they hinge up and out of the way!

 

[LDB]

Cool looking but totally impractical. You couldn't extend the slide outs in any truckstop. You're lucky to not get hit with a standard width truck by some bozo who can't back up. You've got 6 axles to pay tolls on. You've got serious fuel costs because with the unit plus trailer it isn't going to get any kind of mpg. You've got a fortune tied up in equipment. You could probably buy at least two and maybe three Express Cruisers like I have with what one of those costs. It would be nice to have a rolling hotel suite but not real world practical. If you're dead set on something like that I'd look into an Express Cruiser with about a 120" sleeper built out to your specs and a C unit box. Do a search for White Tiger and see their truck. It's probably closer to what you are wanting and still somewhat practical. Good luck.

Leo
truck 767

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[Djcoak]

Thanx LDB. Yeah it's always nice to dream but I would park in truck stops as least amounts as possible if I could get a rig with a shower just for that reason. I realize that THIS particular truck wouldn't work but like I said it's the concept I am looking at not the truck. They do make a much smaller version with less axles and no slide outs and although I could afford to get three trucks I can only drive one at a time =). Seriously though Like most I am looking to use this as a travelling opportunity and I don't think I can do that in a really small truck. I have seen the white tiger truck and you're right it is a nice one!!! I don;t know how high the pallets usually are but IF you can double stack them I could care twice as much as a normal expeditor truck without the extra length! OR if you did it right you might carry really tall stuff if the need arose. The options are endless!!!!! But you maybe right in that it would never work. Besides I have seen things that goes on in truck stops and it just scares me!

 

[LDB]

I've had a few loads that stacked. Most aren't enough pieces to stack and I'd rather have it all on the floor when possible. My next truck will have about 2-4" wider box with at least 2" wider door opening and perhaps the same in added height. I may go to a unit similar to the white tiger though to have full bath facilities in it. By the time I get to that point will have kids out of college and a C unit will provide plenty of revenue to meet my needs.

Leo
truck 767

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.