Flatbed Trailer or Dropframe Trailer???

chev

Nightcrawler
Does anyone ever see 40' drop frames in use? I have seen one with the new logo numbered as a pick up box and a couple painted tan and used on property but thats it. I remember when they were all over the place. I am noticing less and less 28' foot drop frames too. But like Chev said, they are all being fazed out.
Nope, I think they are mostly out of service. Kind of dinosaurs now. We used to get them all the time too. I don't think I have seen one that was not painted yellow in 2-3 years now. :wink2:
When is the last time you saw a 26' drop frame? We have one painted yellow for storage, but I have not seen one of them in service in a very long time.
I hate to drop this on your guys, but here it is. Each and every type of trailer sucks.
Aww. I love em as long as I only have to pull em and not unload em.:happy-very:
 

JimJimmyJames

Big Time Feeder Driver
When is the last time you saw a 26' drop frame? We have one painted yellow for storage, but I have not seen one of them in service in a very long time.

I didn't even know that there were 26' pups. But come to think of it I did see an old drop frame at the airport that might be a 26'. Painted gray but with no shield or lettering on it, if I recall.

I like when I see something unusual or old being used. Appeals to the gearhead/history geek in me.
 
Another point; Does anyone ever teach the unloaders to put the boxes straight on the rollers, instead of crooked. When unloaded straight, the next box will butt right up to the box ahead making it unlikely to fall off the rollers. I would always put rolls and small pkgs on top of the bigger boxes and let them ride down to the end, this way you don't have to clean up a pile of pkgs when you're done.

That would make a good thread, Preload/Reload Tips, maybe one exists already.

You can only keep the boxes squared up if all the rollers are in decent shape. If a roller is missing, a box that's squared up will tip down into the gap and jam. By giving the box a diagonal angle, it has a "nose" that clears the gap where there's a missing roller.

A drop frame with all new rollers was a sight to see. That was the only time I heard rollers sing.

I hated that the width between the braces beneath the rollers was the perfect size for Office Depot cases of paper. The damn loaders would always brick out beneath the flaps with a pallet of computer paper.
 
I unload, and we don't have an extendo belt head.. I have to set up rollers and stands... I much prefer the drop frame trailers, and especially like the ones where the roller stops right where the trailer floor drops.. You don't have this big board up the middle.. It just gets in the way when unloading the nose..

I have learned how to pull only the middle of the flatbeds a lot of the time and make room for the rollers.. Then you just set the boxes off onto the roller as you work back..

I can typically do a dropframe in about 20 minutes and a flatbed in 25-30..

We are a small center and normally have 150-175 percent.. The most I have ever seen was 250% during peak last year...
 

1000RR

Well-Known Member
What center are you at? Our preload only sees about 400%. 700% during peak. I work local sort and we send out about 250-300%.
 

tieguy

Banned
I didn't even know that there were 26' pups. But come to think of it I did see an old drop frame at the airport that might be a 26'. Painted gray but with no shield or lettering on it, if I recall.

I like when I see something unusual or old being used. Appeals to the gearhead/history geek in me.

L's and H's . five digit trailer numbers starting with a 0. I think they were tunnel boxes used to move through tunnels with height or width restrictions.
 

raceanoncr

Well-Known Member
I didn't even know that there were 26' pups. But come to think of it I did see an old drop frame at the airport that might be a 26'. Painted gray but with no shield or lettering on it, if I recall.

I like when I see something unusual or old being used. Appeals to the gearhead/history geek in me.

L's and H's . five digit trailer numbers starting with a 0. I think they were tunnel boxes used to move through tunnels with height or width restrictions.


More nostalgia. The older 26s started with #3. Even had some rib side 26s.

Until length laws were standerdized, we pulled 24' here quite often too. Most were already junk when I came here but still pulled sets or combo 26 and 24, sometimes with a 100% 24 on the back and maybe a 25% 24' or 26' on the front due to many 24s didn't have pintle hook on the back.

Also, we had to carry a spare crank handle. These were all drop frames with crank legs. Trouble is, handles kept walking away or they were simply taken off because many had to be backed into slim centers doors or inside and they stuck out too far.

26s were used everywhere later because there was no such thing as 28' until law was changed from 96" to 102".
 
Top