Key Questions to Ask When Ordering Custom Semi Trailers

1

How many dry vans will do the job?

Check now

One or two units should do the trick for a specific application or new contract. Or it could be 5, 10, 20, 50 or more as part of a fleet acquisition program for a large contract or replacement program. Dealers will stock some quantities of common dry vans but if the quantity gets over 10 or 20 units you will likely not find these quantities in stock. Lead times for new factory orders can range from a low of 3 months to a high of 9 months with 4 to 5 months being fairly typical. The lead time is driven by how much of a backlog the factory has along with lead times for components needed to build the trailer, such as suspensions. 2

What applications can a dry van be used for?

Long haul freight, local P&D work, concentrated loads (ie. liquids) or other special applications that might require a specific type of trailer build or options such as lift gates, side doors, etc. 3

What is the length of a dry van?

Dry vans can be built from 28&#; to 57&#; long and overall heights from 12&#; 6&#; to 14&#; are normal. Typical North American Highway dimensions limit the overall length to 53&#; and the overall height to 13&#; 6&#;. There are also drop floor vans which allow for significant increase in interior space. Drop vans are not normally used for typical dry freight applications. 4

How are dry vans manufactured?

There are several methods by which dry vans can be built but there are basically two main types which are commonplace today. These two styles are called sheet and post construction and composite plate construction. Each style has advantages and disadvantages. The sheet and post style has been around for a very long time and consists of fastening vertical specially formed posts to a horizontal bottom rail then adding a sheet of metal over the posts to finish the construction of the walls. It is the most common and least expensive to repair. The composite plate style dry van first entered the market in with its walls constructed of galvanized steel sheets with plastic sandwiched in between. While the composite plate trailer is tougher to damage it is more expensive to repair. Composite plate trailer designs also offer the greatest interior width within a dry van but are also slightly heavier than sheet and post construction. 5

Does it matter what kind of doors I have?

The rear doors can be either two side hinged doors that swing to the sides and are tied back against the side walls, generally called barn doors. Barn doors are by far the most typical style of rear door system on a dry van. The other style is a rollup door which is much like a typical garage door which opens upwards. The rollup doors are more commonly used with local P&D trailers and are necessary when a rail style lift gate is installed.

It&#;s important to get the right type of rear opening for the type of deliveries you&#;re doing. If you&#;re using loading docks, there will be enough room for swing doors. But if you don&#;t have as much space, you&#;ll probably need a roll-up door. It&#;s all about knowing your business. 6

What about the roof?

The roof is commonly made of a single sheet of aluminum which is installed under tension. The other option is a fiberglass roof sheet which is commonly called a translucent roof since it allows abundant ambient light into the trailer. While the translucent roof is great for forklift operators and drivers to see within the trailer, the fiberglass roof skin is easier to damage and more expensive to repair. A translucent roof may also be rejected by some shippers who have photosensitive loads. 7

And the floor?

The floor of a dry van is commonly made of laminated hardwood although aluminum floors are available too. The laminated hardwood needs to be of excellent quality as it must keep moisture from intruding into the trailer while it is in transit. There are options for coating the top and bottom of the wood floor with coatings which will greatly enhance the longevity and strength of the floor. 8

Do suspensions vary between dry vans?

Suspensions can range from single axle spring ride to tridem air rides or some other more elaborate setups to take advantage of regional permits or regulations to carry more weight. There are many options on how to specify the running gear of the trailer however tandem air ride is the majority. 9

What brakes do most dry vans have?

The basic brakes are 16.5&#; by 7&#; cast steel drums with options for higher quality and lighter weight brake packages are available on special order along with air disc brake systems. Along with brakes the wheel hubs are also cast steel as standard with options for lightweight hubs of steel or aluminum are available along with the opportunity to special order parallel spindles instead of tapered spindles. While the parallel spindle system adds some weight to the trailer it is offset by being more robust and providing longer life for the bearings and seals with possibly some additional benefits to tire life. 10

What's the size of the rims and tires?

Rims are standard as steel 8.25&#; by 22.5&#; duals and tires are low profile 22.5&#;. Regionally we see that different tire and even rim sizes are considered more common, such as 11R22.5&#;, low profile 24.5&#; or even 11R24.5&#; may be stocked on new equipment. There is also the option of going to a super single rim and tire package but these are not normally stocked. Aluminum rims are another item which is popular on custom orders as they save weight, reduce heat at the wheel ends and look great for long periods of time regardless of the conditions they are subjected to. 11

How can I protect my trailer from corrosion?

Corrosion protection is built into standard dry van construction however there are options which can help provide greater corrosion protection. Such options include using stainless steel, galvanizing, elastopolymer coatings and other types of finishes.

SIDEBAR: FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED - For a person buying a semi and trailer it&#;s important to know what you need and invest accordingly. &#;We try to represent our trucks with the best history we can. The main thing we tell people is to not overbuy or under-buy; just get what you need. There are some good, solid trucks that are cheaper than what a person might be trying to do with a pickup. Some inexperienced guys seem to overbuy and get themselves in trouble. Then we get the truck back and resell it. It&#;s important to match the truck to their needs,&#; says Miller.

Carpenter suggests looking around before buying a truck. &#;Nearly every town has somebody that does custom hauling and you can see what they are using, and talk to them, and see if they would help you get some experience for whatever application you are wanting to use the truck for,&#; he says.

Many farmers and ranchers today are buying their own semi-trucks and trailers, to haul hay, grain and livestock. Before making the big purchase, they will want to consider some key points.

Bruce Carpenter, a trucker based in Gooding, Idaho, has driven many kinds of trucks, hauling all kinds of loads (in all lower 48 states) for the past 30 years, including several years hauling water, drill steel and other supplies for the oil industry in North Dakota. Regarding weight and capacity for a farm truck, he said it all depends on what state you are in, the weight limits, and criteria that qualify it as a farm truck (without the driver needing to have a commercial driver&#;s license or CDL).

&#;All the states are different; find out what is required in your state. It depends on whether you are hauling to and from your farm within a short distance. If you haul across state lines you must have a log book, and weight limits are different,&#; Carpenter said.

There are weight limits in each state for what constitutes a farm truck, according to Jerry Miller, sales manager at 18-Wheeler Truck and Trailer in Rapid City, S.D. &#;We recommend buying an annual overweight permit and most farmers do. That&#;s a one-time fee of $60, so if they happen to have a load sometime that&#;s over the weight limit they would be OK,&#; Miller said.

If hauling within the state, a CDL isn&#;t needed. &#;They can haul within a 150-mile radius but need to be familiar with the regulations of the state they live in. Many farmers and ranchers have found that they can use their own trucks as a tool to save money and make money; if you hire it done it costs $4 to $6 a mile to haul hay. It doesn&#;t take very many loads to make it cheaper to own your own truck and trailer,&#; Miller said.

With competitive price and timely delivery, Haiheyuan sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.

&#;In many states, if you are hauling something for your own farm, your truck can be licensed for farm use,&#; said Carpenter. &#;In Idaho, for instance, I am hauling milk and we don&#;t need a log book because we are not going over the distance limit. If a person starts doing commercial hauling, they must have a CDL, medical certificate, etc.&#; For a truck that is only hauling your own hay, grain, livestock, etc. there are farm exemptions.

Different trucks vary in mileage they get, depending on the speed, load, and gear for doing the job. &#;Mileage you get will also depend on whether you are pulling one long trailer, two trailers or three trailers. Today you&#;d probably be looking at something with at least 500 horsepower, and then you can haul just about anything (hay, grain, cattle, farm machinery, etc.),&#; Carpenter said.

Many people choose used trucks, to save money. &#;This is often your best bet &#; finding a good used truck rather than spending $130,000 for a new one. When you buy a new truck you also have to pay excise tax to the federal government, which is around $20,000. You don&#;t have to pay that on a used truck,&#; Carpenter said.

&#;There are many used trucks available with automatic transmissions but these are not as good for farm hauling. I saw a couple guys in North Dakota hauling water and in the wintertime those trucks were a nightmare. They couldn&#;t go anywhere on the icy roads; they couldn&#;t get up the hills,&#; he said. On a farm or ranch you may be hauling on bad roads and rugged terrain and you want a truck that can handle those conditions, and an automatic transmission won&#;t handle it, he said.

His favorite all-purpose truck is a Kenworth T800. &#;Those are the best; when we were hauling water in North Dakota in bad conditions, those trucks held up better than anything. Some of the other trucks work well, too, like Peterbilts. The Kenworth T800 holds its value better than any other truck, as far as used trucks go,&#; Carpenter said.

Miller said most ranchers in his area are buying either Day Cab Trucks (with an engine forward of the cab, with a conventional hood configuration &#; without a sleeper berth) or cheaper tandem-axle trucks. &#;Some of the larger farmers want pusher-axle trucks so they can haul as much weight as possible,&#; he said.

The big trucks vary in what kind of mileage they get because most farm trucks are pulling heavy loads. &#;It varies between 4.5 and 6 miles per gallon, depending on the load, and whether they have very many hills to climb,&#; he said.

&#;A lot of farmers and ranchers only put 10,000 to 20,000 miles on a truck each year. These may be rugged miles, but it&#;s not a lot of miles.&#; The farm equipment isn&#;t going thousands of miles and will hold up a long time if you take care of it.

MAINTENANCE

&#;A semi will take more maintenance than a pickup; you don&#;t want to neglect anything,&#; Carpenter said. &#;It has to be running properly, because periodically you will be checked on the highway, no matter what kind of plates (farm tags) you have, and if things aren&#;t up to par and there are any safety issues, you will get a ticket and that truck will get parked. It can&#;t move again until it is repaired,&#; he said.

Miller said maintenance is very important for any of the big trucks. &#;They will usually go 10,000 to 12,000 miles between oil changes, and it&#;s important to keep up on maintenance whether they are new or used. In winter most people use blended fuel so they will start in cold weather and won&#;t freeze up. They need to be plugged in or put in the shop,&#; he said.

TRAILERS

There are many options in trailers, and your choice may depend on what you haul &#; whether cattle, grain, hay, etc. &#; and the state&#;s weight limits. &#;Always check on those limits first. You can talk to your state government; find a DOT officer who will talk to you and answer your questions,&#; Carpenter said.

&#;Most ranchers in our area are buying ground-load trailer because these are very efficient and can be used in pasture situations,&#; Miller said. &#;These trailers can haul 28 to 30 cows, and with the ground load cattle can be loaded or unloaded anywhere. A lot of ranchers have permanent corrals in various places, or portable corrals. With the ground load they can load from any corral and unload in a pasture with no corral,&#; he said.

&#;For hauling grain they&#;d need a tandem or a triple-axle grain hopper. These usually have the same weight capacity; you can usually put 45,000 to 50,000 pounds of grain on these, and a hay trailer would be similar weight,&#; Miller said. There are several options in hay trailers.

&#;We are a Neville dealer and order a lot of those with a beaver tail and 3 ramps, and we also do the ground-load livestock trailer. We use Travalong and Neville for ground-load livestock trailers and Neville step decks. They have a 5-foot beavertail and the advantage is that when you have 3 ramps you can put another tier of bales on the end of the trailer. When you put the 3 ramps down, you can also load a swather or a tractor and baler, a bobcat or any other machinery. We sell a lot of those trailers.&#;

&#;For the thrifty buyer, we can put a brand new beavertail on most used trailers. It only costs $5,000 to add that extra 5 feet. We buy some 48-foot step decks and have a welding shop that can put the beavertail on those. We have customers who want us to do that. This is a big selling point and this makes the trailer very handy,&#; Miller said. F

The company is the world’s best Custom Semi Trailers supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.