Eastern Railroad Discussion > Truck tractor tare weights

I know this is a railroad site, but this has to do with intermodal net and tare weight capacity.When you see a container, international or domestic, the tare weight is stencililed on the rear of the box. Chassis, almost all of them, are stenciled 3600# tare. I can find truck trailers, dry and regrigerated, on another source. My question is what is the tare weight of the typical 3 axle tractor? I know it has to vary, but what is the range from short distance tractors with smaller cabs to the large ones with sleeper quarters? I've been guessing about nine tons (18.000 pounds) for the long distance tractors i see. I've never seen the tare weight of the tractor shown where an adjacent driver can see it.

when i drove over the road,the sleeper truck i had was about 18,000 to 19,500. the day-cab i drive now doing local runs is in the 15,000 to 16,500 range.

Normal day cabs average around 16,000 lbs give or take.  Road tractors with sleeper and dual fuel tanks can weigh around 20,000 lbs.  My 2013 Mack with a 500 hp motor and dual 125 gallon tanks weighs right at 20,000 with full fuel tanks.  Dan

I used to book trucks for shipping forest products. If we could get 32,000 pounds for tractor and trailer (i.e. they could haul 80,000 total), we were pretty happy.

Tom Y

Rule of thumb we tell our cusotmers.......

Sleepr cab and a 53' steel container - Capacity is around 42,800 lbs.

Sleeper cab and 40' standard container - Capacity is 44,000 lbs.

They can both handle more weight.  A day cab tractor will increase the capacity by 1,500 lbs.  But you have to stay within the legal limits for the roads you will be traveling.

A 53 foot JB Hunt chassis is 6,400 pounds.  And that's the lightest I know of.

My 2015 Pete 587 is 19,500 with full fluids. This includes the APU on it. I can pull a load up to 45,500 max for the most part and still remain legal on all axles weight wise. That will usually put me gross weight at abt 78-79500 total lbs. Ben

Posted from Android

ns2557 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My 2015 Pete 587 is 19,500 with full fluids. This
> includes the APU on it. I can pull a load up to
> 45,500 max for the most part and still remain
> legal on all axles weight wise. That will usually
> put me gross weight at abt 78-79500 total lbs.
> Ben
>
> Posted from Android

Thanks Ben.

What kind of trailer are you pulling with that 45,500 pound load?

CR England says they can get 43,500 in one of their reefer 53s.  They use special spec'd day cabs for the highway movement.

 

53' reefer. I have had 45750 in it and was still legal on all axles. But I tell shprs when they ask only 45500 It is all in axle weight where if you can scale it out. 5th wheel,king pin to center of rear axle means alot also. Most state's allow 41 ft but a few are 40 Ben

Posted from Android

Greyhounds Wrote:
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> CR England says they can get 43,500 in one of
> their reefer 53s.  They use special spec'd day
> cabs for the highway movement.
>
>  

I should have written that CR England says they can get 43,500 in one of their intermodal container reefer 53s.  A container - chassis combination will weigh more than a standard highway trailer.

Greyhounds, yes you are right; my mistake.

This thread is headed somewhere, and I appreciate all the input of the gentlemen that have contributed. It is this. The liberals, under the Obama Administration, have managed to keep truck sizes where they are. This could change with the new Republican administration. The shipping companies always want more capacity in terms of weight and length over current regulations. It is Capitalism at it's best, with no regard for the drivers of these  bigger trucks or the citizens that share the road. Since this thread has generated several responses from truck drivers ( and maybe a shipper or two) how do you feel about the larger trucks that might happen? Driving a long haul truck in the 1960's when railroads were struggling seemed to be a sort of romantic job; big trucks, fast speeds, convoys, etc and the freedom of the experience. But, at least here in the East, it has to be a real stressful job dealing with all the congestion, roadwoek, condition of the highways, and the general shabby habits of most drivers in 4 wheelers.

So please chime in those who have to drive these big rigs. Are bigger trucks worth it? Do you want to drive them? Would not you rather just have a regular shift job and drive a max 53' to an intermodal ramp? Thank you. jl  

Unless the gross weight changes (which talk is 90,000) the only ones to benefit are the automotive industry. They want 60 ft trailers, which would be restricted to interstate (usually turnpikes) or dedicated routes.

My 07 Pete 379exhood with headache rack and everything I needed for flatbed weighed in at around 20,000-21,000. Obviously the newer trucks with emissions systems weight in around 1500 more.

Posted from Android

Michigan has had 120,000 lbs as their weight limit for years. Of course Michigan highways have a less than stellar reputation condition wise too.  The Ohio Turnpike has allowed (under permit) double 48' trailers & triple 28's for as long as I can remember.   (the attached link gives paramaters for the double 48 program) http://www.ohioturnpike.org/docs/default-source/truckers/permits/2016-10-20-provisions---long-doubles-signature.pdf?sfvrsn=2

My feeling is that the "platooning"  technology will advance rapidly enough that it will supplant efforts for LCV's because it allow for more trailers to be under the control of one driver (addressing the driver shortage issue) and (in theory at least) not require the training that handling LCV's would. 

http://www.truckinginfo.com/article/story/2016/04/platooning-is-on-the-way.aspx  (Details what Platooning is)