Aero modding an 18 wheeler!! with video!!

[wanna bECO]

Instarx... that is a great Idea, and it wold make being a dispatcher a really technical job.. figuring it out and scheduling it all.

Some companies are doing something similar already. My friend just moved across country. The moving company came to his house with normal size u=haul type vehicle. They loaded all their stuff into it very tight and neatly. If you have ever seen professional mover pack you know that there is no wasted space at all. Then they take it to there warehouse and offload this perfectly packed u haul onto an 18 wheeler, that has other families possessions on it also. They can fit quite a few families possessions on these larger big rigs. The Semi is then used to transport these loads across country where it will be delivered to the owners homes. It may even be packed onto smaller trucks again in the various states and delivered from there.

Diesle has so much energy in it, and it's wasted every day. My buddy just bought a 2001 ford f-350. This monster has a huge diesle engine it. (is it a 4.7 I think?) Anyway, he gets about 12 mpg. So a gallon of diesel takes him 12 miles. He doesn't haul much but occasionally pulls a care behind it. Now that same gallon of diesel fuel can take a 18 wheeler about 8 miles. with 25-30 tons of stuff on it. To me, him owning that diesel is really wasted energy, as far as the potential energy from a gallon of fuel is concerned.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by instarx

Load tractor-trailers onto special rail cars and carry them cross-country by rail.

It's being done in Switzerland and Austria to get trucks over - or rather under - the Alps and on the Channel tunnel between Britain and France.

[Rickd]

It is being done everyday in America, Google "intermodal" and you can see all the companies that use multiple modes of transportation to get your freight goods across the country.
There is a huge savings benefit to being able to ship by train, unfortunately you have to add about 10 days for a trailer to get across the country by train

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Rickd

It is being done everyday in America, Google "intermodal" and you can see all the companies that use multiple modes of transportation to get your freight goods across the country.

Found this innovative piece of equipment :
Terminal Anywhere Solution

The trailer doesn't go onto the railcar, it becomes the railcar.

I wondered about chassis strength, but it seems they can cope with 6000' train lengths as well. Trains don't get that long here in Europe.

[Rickd]

I saw a train of those once in Albuquerque NM. I haven't seen them since

[slowmover]

UP ran a 3.5-mile long train from Dallas to Long Beach a while back. 6000-sea-cans double stacked (and nine power units).

I drove a pair of 40' and 20' containers out of the Port of Houston the other day on a 60' stretch trailer. It's impressive up close how fast those can be moved around by specialized handling machinery; on & off special trailers for local and middle distance delivery.

The trailer aero tricks are common enough now that they're the norm for big fleets that I see in Texas.

[user removed]

With the congestion here they are using barges to carry the containers to Richmond before they are loaded on trucks or container capable trains. I think it was Norfold Southern that just increased the ceiling height on every tunnel on their routes so they could carry containers stacked two high on rail cars. Probably half of the trucks on I64 here are containers from the ports where they come in by ship. Not sure how mnay the largest ship can carry but they are in the thousands. The coal trains here from WVA are 168 cars. They run one more frequently than one every hour.

regards
Mech

[ICEBOX]

wow people really dont know trucking

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by ICEBOX

wow people really dont know trucking

Au' contraire'

Some here are truckers themselves !

Others are train engineers (right term for operator/driver?)
We have heavy diesel mechanics, owner operators, fleet drivers, class B drivers and I think a logistics manager.

[ICEBOX]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

With the congestion here they are using barges to carry the containers to Richmond before they are loaded on trucks or container capable trains. I think it was Norfold Southern that just increased the ceiling height on every tunnel on their routes so they could carry containers stacked two high on rail cars. Probably half of the trucks on I64 here are containers from the ports where they come in by ship. Not sure how mnay the largest ship can carry but they are in the thousands. The coal trains here from WVA are 168 cars. They run one more frequently than one every hour.

regards
Mech

what I was talking about