Tanker Trucks haul freight on return trip ?

Could gas Tanker Trucks, after unloading tons of fuel, carry freight on their return trips (e.g. with special second trailers) ? it seems wasteful to ever have empty trucks rolling on roads.

 

Wha?t they would haul two trailers?

 

yes -- is that not possible ? Naively, attaching a pre-loaded, prepared, second trailer, behind the now-empty tanker trailer, would be quickest & easiest. But, would that be an unsafe load-out, with all the weight way back in the second trailer ? Some states may have rules & regulations forbidding double-trailered trucks. But, every time a truck moves w/o hauling, the driver is losing money.

 

I've never seen tandem fuel trucks. I don't think they're allowed on the roads for safety reasons.

 

So these truck carrying flammable materials would always be dragging at least one full and one empty trailer behind?

 

Maybe they could haul milk in the opposite direction.

 

Those fuel trucks seldom travel long enough distance to make any sense of this idea.
Again- it's a safety issue. Jacknife one of those things and it's burn baby burn.

 

Why pull two trailers? You can always pick up a load at the warehouse. where most trailers are kept.

 

I am fairly certain that trucking carriers would rather get paid hauling a customers load in the backhaul if they could find it instead of running it empty.

If it were a government job, then it would be empty in both directions.

 

And leave the empty fuel trailer behind? bripat said that's the one they're supposed to put milk in.