Feeders getting rid of pups for 40 footers???

brown67

Well-Known Member
Around Denver they are trying to do away with as many 28 foot trailers and moving to 40 footers. We can pull double 40's here, so instead of pulling triples we are pulling double 40's. Is this company wide and what is the reasoning?
 
40'? It's 53' or nothing here. One reason is it cost x amount of dollars to put a box on the rails. Might as well make it a big box.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
They better rebuild our yard. In the winter, you can't put a 53' on the eastern most door. Unless they want to pay for a snow blower instead of plow. And coordinate the garbage people to put the garbage bins back where they belong, not just where you plop it.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
Around Denver they are trying to do away with as many 28 foot trailers and moving to 40 footers. We can pull double 40's here, so instead of pulling triples we are pulling double 40's. Is this company wide and what is the reasoning?
On the thruway they can do it, but up here on 81-no way. Can't do double 40's. Against the law, I believe. I am sure Nanc will correct me if I am wrong, so I don't feel the need to look it up.
 

raceanoncr

Well-Known Member
Can't be. MOST states don't allow more than 2 28 footers. Ours is one.

Some states that DO allow only allow on turnpikes or interstates. Have to be put together at break down area before cities and individually taken into hub or center.

Denver, and others MAY be heading in that direction but for them to continue to drive into neighboring states, those that don't allow such combos, they're gonna have to continue to keep 28s.

Another thing, most in-state centers barely have room for a 28, let alone a 40 or 53. If you've been around your state and had to place a center load in a door, chances are you're aware that UPS acquires or buys the cheapest place they can find, with no consideration as to how a trailer is gonna get in there straight.

Yrs ago, we had a center that had their unload door in between another building, someone elses building. 45' between buildings and 40' of trailer to put in door and jack up. Try it. A hole was ground into "pavement" where back left duals would slide around while jack-knifing trailer around. But the building was CHEAP.
 

Covemastah

Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
THE EMPIRE is now buying used containers and painting them white,,,all 53 footers.. usually 600 to 602 series , This is so they can double stack them on the rails..much cheaper..Major problem is closing these Trailer doors. The door rods are made out of cheap metal and over time has bent the rods so bad you need a mechanic up on a ladder to pound them shut !! i have seen it twice so far !!
good luck if no one around in small building and you get one !! That load will sit!
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
THE EMPIRE is now buying used containers and painting them white,,,all 53 footers.. usually 600 to 602 series , This is so they can double stack them on the rails..much cheaper..Major problem is closing these Trailer doors. The door rods are made out of cheap metal and over time has bent the rods so bad you need a mechanic up on a ladder to pound them shut !! i have seen it twice so far !!
good luck if no one around in small building and you get one !! That load will sit!

OMG Cove, MOST of those have problems closing.
 
Another thing, most in-state centers barely have room for a 28, let alone a 40 or 53. If you've been around your state and had to place a center load in a door, chances are you're aware that UPS acquires or buys the cheapest place they can find, with no consideration as to how a trailer is gonna get in there straight.

.

I'm at the largest building we have and its bad. Designed when 53' was the exception. Now the norm. Can't imagine the smaller buildings trying to deal with this.

THE EMPIRE is now buying used containers and painting them white,,,all 53 footers.. usually 600 to 602 series , This is so they can double stack them on the rails..much cheaper..Major problem is closing these Trailer doors. The door rods are made out of cheap metal and over time has bent the rods so bad you need a mechanic up on a ladder to pound them shut !! i have seen it twice so far !!
good luck if no one around in small building and you get one !! That load will sit!

They're all Chinese hand-me-downs. Bought because they're cheap with little regard to functionality.
 

hypocrisy

Banned
I'm at the largest building we have and its bad. Designed when 53' was the exception. Now the norm. Can't imagine the smaller buildings trying to deal with this.



They're all Chinese hand-me-downs. Bought because they're cheap with little regard to functionality.


Not to mention that the Company seems to have forgotten how to order a twin screw tractor. Keep loading those LC's heavy Cach! A few more overweight tickets should solve the problem. I urge everyone to contract their local Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer and notify them of the problem. It's easy to go over 20,000lbs on the front axle on a single screw. Overweight axles affect breaking and tear up the roads more (wasting your tax dollars).

Another reason why we suffer for having an accountant for a a CEO.
 

Old International

Now driving a Sterling
Nothing but DBL 28's down here. We have had a lot of new 53's show up, but they are being used to pickup big accounts, and runs between hubs. You could get a 53' into my center, but it would take them all day to unload it- all we have is rollers, no power unloaders to reach into the trl.
 

Southwestern

Well-Known Member
UPS placed a large order for 53' trailers. Something like 6,800 -- but my memory may be flawed. The reason being is that they're rail cars that can be double-stacked, thus giving UPS a cost advantage over FedEx Ground, which routes everything by ground. We're starting to see more-and-more of these shiny, new, made-in-China trailers. Now all we need is equipment that can handle the loading/unloading of the 53'...
 

bluehdmc

Well-Known Member
UPS placed a large order for 53' trailers. Something like 6,800 -- but my memory may be flawed. The reason being is that they're rail cars that can be double-stacked, thus giving UPS a cost advantage over FedEx Ground, which routes everything by ground. We're starting to see more-and-more of these shiny, new, made-in-China trailers. Now all we need is equipment that can handle the loading/unloading of the 53'...

Fedex does ship by rail, went to a Norfolk Southern yard one Friday nite was suprised to see a few Fedex ground trailers. Maybe they just do this on weekends like we send certain loads over the rails on weekends.
The Meadowlands can be all kinds of fun with 53's since it seems the yard, (like most) was only designed for 40's.
For 450 cu ft more space than a 48' if it's loaded 100%. Ends up taking an extra 10 min or so to put one on a door. IE says it will work though ;-)

Rumor has it they want to use the 53's for sleeper teams, tamdem tractors so there shouldn't be any weight issues. Less problems with dolly breakdowns. Just about every trucking co uses 53's
 

outta hours

Well-Known Member
THE EMPIRE is now buying used containers and painting them white,,,all 53 footers.. usually 600 to 602 series , This is so they can double stack them on the rails..much cheaper..Major problem is closing these Trailer doors. The door rods are made out of cheap metal and over time has bent the rods so bad you need a mechanic up on a ladder to pound them shut !! i have seen it twice so far !!
good luck if no one around in small building and you get one !! That load will sit!

They must have gotten a really good deal. We have a ton of the 53" 602/603 trailers here too. The back doors are very flimsy. The problem closing them will probably result in more injuries as guys struggle to get them closed or open. We have had several drivers over weight at the scales with them. We have been told twin screw tractors were on the way to alleviate that problem.

As far as the yards being to small, I think that goes into the we don't care file. I saw several accidents this past peak involving the 53's on the yard. We can only pull doubles in my state , and the word is they are trying to eliminate paying the extra $.
 

Southwestern

Well-Known Member
Fedex does ship by rail, went to a Norfolk Southern yard one Friday nite was suprised to see a few Fedex ground trailers. Maybe they just do this on weekends like we send certain loads over the rails on weekends.

True, FedEx Ground just started experimenting with rails, but one has to think they'll stick with surface transportation into the near future as they like to sell their faster transit times vs. UPS (although it's becoming increasingly less true ... I've heard from several FedEx Ground employees that during peak, FedEx held movement of some trailers until they were full, vs. UPS which shipped 53' trailers that held a handful of packages).
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
Nothing but DBL 28's down here. We have had a lot of new 53's show up, but they are being used to pickup big accounts, and runs between hubs. You could get a 53' into my center, but it would take them all day to unload it- all we have is rollers, no power unloaders to reach into the trl.
We unload 53's all the time without power unloaders. All we have are rollers.
 
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