Advantages of the 10'1" axle spread on a flatbed
 

Can someone give examples of when the long spread would be beneficial on a flat? I understand now it's a useful thing to have on a step like mine because the truck is too far ahead and you cannot center the load properly because of the drop. But on a flat you can easily put the load in the middle of the trailer which can sometimes be impossible on a stepdeck. In Ontario Canada a 72" axle spread is as good as 10'1" (gives you same weight rating, close to 40,000 lbs). The same goes for Western Canada. I'm thinking, for trips between Ontario, Canada to - let's say - Texas, and then from there to Western Canada, would it matter if the trailer has a fixed 72" tandem, or a 10'1" tandem with a front axle slider? The slider adds 250 lbs to the weight of the trailer and costs almost 3 grand. The only disadvantage of having a fixed 72" spread that I see is that it will be hard to sell such a trailer in ON, where almost all flats are 10'1".

There are some loads where it is hard to get the load centered on the trailer, so with a 10 foot spread you just load a bit to the rear and you know you should be good.

Don't order another trailer with some goofy axle spread, since it will be hard to sell and you will likely not be happy with it, why not just buy a fixed 10 foot spread and forget about western canada, many companies from ontario don't bother going there.


That is some good info on the 72 inch spread, we run a bunch of trucks with 72 inch spread on the drive axles, i guess thats why, so we can haul more weight, notice all the beer trucks in ontario run 72 inch spreads as well?

I'll have to check the book, but I'm pretty sure the 72" spread doesn't give you any more weight in western Canada.

In Western Canada, that's pretty much the maximum spacing you can have between tandem axles and still haul 17,000 KG or 37,400 LBS. So, whether you have 72" or 60" it's the same. But the 72" spread does offer a considerable weight advantage in Ontario, and probably in Quebec as well.

i hate going there too but shippers from texas are falling over themselves to find drivers that are willing and capable (truck wheelbase, trailer axles!) to go to alberta. here's a load i just looked up on our board:

legal load: 39,000 lbs,
must tarp
miles: 2,200
gross revenue: $7,250
trailer required: 48 flat

I believe you get 73 percent of that rate which brings it down to $2.40 per mile IF you had no empty miles to pickup the load. Then figure a 1000-1500 mile deadhead out of Alberta and whats left......$1.40-$1.65 per mile!!!

I've been trying to explain this to Tracer for a while....but he see's the gross amount and does these cross-country trips. I just hope they work out for him. As I've said before, I have been able to make the same amount of money running in a 300 mile radius as I did going 2,500 miles. But he also has ther Canada thing going, so I'm not sure how it will work for him.

If he didn't have the damn trailer payment, I could have gotten him a gig from Chicago to Ontario running tanks making about what he is now ;)

Well, either you do it wrong or I'm a bad student ;) But I know this - I don't care about what each trip pays to the truck. I calculated how much I need per month and then figured the GROSS per mile number I need. This is the number posted on the board when I book the load. That what I go by and I know this: in order to get ahead I need 10,000 miles at $2.31/mile, or 8,000 miles at $2.89/mi, or 6,000 miles at $3.85/mi. The less miles I make per month and week, the higher the rate the load should pay. It's just not realistic to assume you can consistently find loads paying $3.85/mi gross. I shoot for 3 bucks per mile, and that sends me across the country. You do what you gotta do. I would love to do 1,000 miles a week (one run to Chicago, IL and back) but in order to achieve all my objectives at that 4,000 miles a month I'd have to get loads ALL THE TIME that pay $7.22/mi gross.

You get to try out lots of different tire brands, as long as you do alot of tight turning.;)

Tracer, your numbers are flawed some where. Initially you want to gross $23,000 per month running 10,000 miles and at the end you want to gross $28,000 running 4,000 miles. Your fuel costs on 4,000 miles would be 60% lower so your revenue should be proportionately lower.

.

Yeah, it doesn't look right. I did that spreadsheet where you combine all your expenses and bills and right now for 10,000 miles it's around $2.30/mi gross. I took $23,000 and divided by 8000 miles to see how much I need per mile to get the same revenue when my mileage is smaller. I forgot about the fuel.

Tracer, Remember "LESS MILES, MORE MONEY"

That's cheap freight!
Given the current cost of fuel and poor paying freight coming from Western Canada (which turns into a 1,500 mile deadhead) you require substantially more money to go there OR you have to source alternative freight.

That's for an extendable RGN. With my 48 ft step it's "MORE MILES, MORE MONEY" :)

I think I asked those before but not sure if I got the answer. What are you figuring your CPM at?

$1.08 without home bills (basic maintenance, insurance, plates, permits, equipment lease etc.). I know I need $3,300 plus cost of fuel per week TOTAL. Just saw a good run for a flat: $1,400 on 300 miles; 5,000 lbs! If I do 3 of these per week, that'd be $4,200 on 1200 miles. Fuel (appr.) - $750. $3,300 (required per week minimum) + $750 fuel = $4,050. So, 3 trips like that a week would work. That's how I evaluate loads now.

OK so you said earlier that you need 10,000 miles a month at $2.31 = $23,100/month.
CPM is $1.08 x 10,000 miles = $10,800
$23,100 - $10,800 = $12,300 per month pre tax profit for the business (not including driver pay)?
$147,600 annualized? This is what you need to achieve your goals?

Maybe I don't understand the whole situation and I'm not here to judge anyone's lifestyle choices but how much time do you spend in casinos and at the shoe models? :)

Seems to me that for a annualized net pretax profit of say....$50,000/50 weeks = $1,000/week

Revenue:
600 loaded miles x $3/mile = $1,800

Expenses:
1200 mile round trip x $1.08 = $1,296

$1800 - $1,296 = $504 profit per trip x 2 trips per week = $1,000 per week profit.
I'm no expert on IL rates, but can you not get $3/loaded mile from Chicago to ON, then DH back to Chicago and reload?
Can you not live on $50,000 a year? Stop with the VIP rooms already sheesh!

LTL.

Say you have 48' of deck covered and are scaling at 12,000 + 30,000 + 30,000 = 72,000 and you have 5' of available deck space. With a 121" spread you can plunk another 8,000 on the back.

becasue you can scale more. Not true you say? Consider this;

Let's say you tare at 30,000. You can't net 50,000 legally. Theoretically you can but you will never get 12 + 34 + 34 = 80K....not in real life....the shipper will never shift your load around 5 times after you go away and scale and come back to have him move it.

I know you can slide your 5th wheel and play around on the scale (if you can find one) but it's alot easier (and faster, and cheaper) to overload the back of the trailer and get 11 + 33 + 36 = 80K

I'm not up to date on my western Canada rules (no point of going there IMO) but they give you credit for a tridem right? Seems to me if they will recognize a 121" spread with a 3rd lift axle in the middle that's as close as you can get to the jack of all trades trailer. Your tare goes up but you can't have it all.

And that's what I've been saying all along...

yeah I know someone did...just couldn't remember who. This thread went dead in a hurry didn't it?

Thanks, that's a good comment. I guess a 10'1" tandem CAN be useful. Speaking of Western Canada, I have an old PDF on my laptop: tandems up to 1.85 M (72") spacing get 17,000 KG, tridems 3 M to 3.7 M get 24,000 KG. If I were to add a third axle to my stepdeck ahead of the front axle, creating a 121" tridem (3.07 M), that baby could haul 52,800 LBS. But the Wilson dealer tells me the axle would add approximately 2,000 lbs to the empty weight. My maximum payload with the current 61" tandem is: 49,000 lbs.

Someone said it here before. "You can't tare light if you want to haul heavy"....or something like that. Besides, 47,000 is still respectable. I'd be more concerned with the cost of adding the axle than the 2000 lbs.

Have you every hauled big weight with that trailer? I wonder how well the little brakes stop you?

Put a third axle under it and go trucking. 47 in the states and 65 plus in Canada. If you want to get fancy make it a lift and you'll save some tire wear when you don't need a tridem.

I was thinking about this while cruising west on I-80 in Nevada today. The way I see it, keeping my stepdeck and just adding a third axle offers many advantages and a few disadvantages. I'm comparing the new 121" tridem to the existing spec (61" fixed tandem, 40.9' wheelbase).

Advantages

1. Increase the load on the end of the trailer way above the current 34,000 lbs both for US and Canada
2. Shorten the wheelbase by 2.5 ft to 38.2' which will make it easier to: pull the step on the highway, back up, go around corners in a city
3. Decrease stopping distance (more brakes!)
4. Strengthen the entire trailer ( more LBS in 4' of length)
5. Increase capacity for overweight loads with a permit
6. Improve the looks (subjective, but that's how I feel)
7. Increase the resale value (trailer dealers don't like my 61" spread, it's unusual for Ontario, Canada)
8. Increase my pay at Landstar by 1% off the gross which can make me $200 from $20,000 gross in a month

Disadvantages

1. Increase the weight by 1,700 LBS
2. Decrease maximum legal payload by from 49,000 LBS to 47,300 LBS
3. Increase rolling resistance (but this can be dealt with by creating a cheap manual lift axle in the middle of the tridem)
4. Increase maintenance costs (tires)

So, there's 8 advantages and 4 disadvantages.... Anyone wants to add anything?

I don't know why you guys are so afraid of Western Canada... Yeah, I complained myself I know but they do have decent loads going to US. You still have to deadhead, but I've seen quite a few loads at almost 3 bucks per mile from Calgary to Willston, ND. You deadhead to St.Paul or Chicago and get a good load to Ontario. The lane I'm thinking of setting up for myself is this: Toronto, ON - Houston TX - Calgary AB - ND - Chicago IL - Toronto ON.

Here's a typical load I see on our board from Texas to Alberta. Tell me that's not a good load.

Origin: Texas
Destination: Alberta
Freight: metal products
Weight: 43,600 LBS
Miles: 2211
Revenue: $7,050

Loads from ON to Texas pay close to 5 grand.

Well my company just sent me from Alberta to Dallas, TX with lumber. I promise you the rate they're paying me is probably 50% higher than they're getting. There's a reason for that!

IF you put a third axle under it, don't go messing with the fixed axles you have now. Have the third axle placed in front and have it liftable. Keeping your suspension as close to original as possible will save you repair costs. And scrubbed tires. Just lift the axle for cornering and for backing, keep it on the ground when you are loaded.

my opinion.