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Aluminum 5th Wheel Plate?


bmzero

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You'll just have to get a new trailer that's made for that!

 

Oh yeah, that's going to happen at some point, but there are a lot of other projects in line before that makes it to the top of the list.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

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T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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Shouldn't be an issue. All the wear parts are either steel (jaws), or plastic (facing). Built for weight savings, but imagine th Bling with a full polish.

I have been wrong before, I'll probably be wrong again. 

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They save like 100lbs over a standard plate. Some companies, particularly ones that do the same load over and over again pull all kinds of stunts to save a little weight and add a little more cargo to each load. Tank outfits are famous for this stuff.

 

Companies that haul gasoline tankers, loads of gasoline from tank farm to gas station would use something like this. We deliver new Heil petroleum tankers to them and one of the specs is to put "dummy" landing gears on them that will only hold the weight of an empty tank and have no gears to extend or retract them, you manually pull some pins, drop the pads and put the pins in. Saves about another 300 lbs. Aluminum frames, super singles, day cabs or smallest sleeper available. Pull out all the stops and you can save upwards of 2000 or more lbs per truck, which translates into 300 more gallons of gasoline per trip in a tanker that normally holds 7500 gallons. Every 20th trip is "free". Fleet of 100 units delivering every day it finally adds up.

Jeff Beyer temporarily retired from Trailer Transit
2000 Freightliner Argosy Cabover
2008 Work and Play 34FK
Homebase NW Indiana, no longer full time

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They save like 100lbs over a standard plate. Some companies, particularly ones that do the same load over and over again pull all kinds of stunts to save a little weight and add a little more cargo to each load. Tank outfits are famous for this stuff.

 

Companies that haul gasoline tankers, loads of gasoline from tank farm to gas station would use something like this. We deliver new Heil petroleum tankers to them and one of the specs is to put "dummy" landing gears on them that will only hold the weight of an empty tank and have no gears to extend or retract them, you manually pull some pins, drop the pads and put the pins in. Saves about another 300 lbs. Aluminum frames, super singles, day cabs or smallest sleeper available. Pull out all the stops and you can save upwards of 2000 or more lbs per truck, which translates into 300 more gallons of gasoline per trip in a tanker that normally holds 7500 gallons. Every 20th trip is "free". Fleet of 100 units delivering every day it finally adds up.

 

That's pretty impressive. The logistics industry constantly amazes me at how they measure and analyze almost every aspect of their business. It's impressive that companies can still turn a profit in such a cut throat market. I have a friend that builds some integral pieces to McLeod's software. I get to hear about their advancements pretty often. Cool stuff.

"Willy Mammoth" - Volvo 730, Sold

Heartland Cyclone 4000 Toy Hauler
T-Minus 26 years and counting to being a full timer.

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They save like 100lbs over a standard plate. Some companies, particularly ones that do the same load over and over again pull all kinds of stunts to save a little weight and add a little more cargo to each load. Tank outfits are famous for this stuff.

 

Companies that haul gasoline tankers, loads of gasoline from tank farm to gas station would use something like this. We deliver new Heil petroleum tankers to them and one of the specs is to put "dummy" landing gears on them that will only hold the weight of an empty tank and have no gears to extend or retract them, you manually pull some pins, drop the pads and put the pins in. Saves about another 300 lbs. Aluminum frames, super singles, day cabs or smallest sleeper available. Pull out all the stops and you can save upwards of 2000 or more lbs per truck, which translates into 300 more gallons of gasoline per trip in a tanker that normally holds 7500 gallons. Every 20th trip is "free". Fleet of 100 units delivering every day it finally adds up.

 

So is this to allow more of a load or to make up for the driver's ever increasing weight? ;)

John

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The "tare " weight does include the significant posterior of some of the drivers out here. But that problem is being addressed by a skinnier demographic:

 

http://www.dailynews.com/business/20160425/americas-trucking-industry-faces-a-shortage-meet-the-immigrants-helping-fill-the-gap

Jeff Beyer temporarily retired from Trailer Transit
2000 Freightliner Argosy Cabover
2008 Work and Play 34FK
Homebase NW Indiana, no longer full time

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I'm surprised some companies don't fill the tires with helium!!

Hmmmm..... Rather than spend all that money on the aluminum hitch, let 5# of air out of each tires, times 18, comes to a substantial weight loss. :P

 

True story....Years ago, I told the girl running the scale house at a grain elevator, that I saw someone letting air out of tires out back, to cheat the company. She believed me. She was blonde.

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