Tanker Trucks haul freight on return trip ?

[Widdekind]

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.

 

[Truthseeker420]

Wha?t they would haul two trailers?

 

[Widdekind]

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.

 

[Mr. H.]

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

 

[editec]

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

 

[bripat9643]

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.

Maybe they could haul milk in the opposite direction.

 

[Mr. H.]

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.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

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.

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

 

[percysunshine]

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.

 

[Mr. H.]

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.

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

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

 

[bigrebnc1775]

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.

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

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

No drop the empty off at the rail road depot to be loaded on trains.

 

[Widdekind]

hypothetically, trucking could be conducted like the internet, with large trailer depots at the intersections of major highways. Truckers would haul loads wherever they were going. Then, once unloaded, they could drive to the nearest "hub", and pick up a trailer, tow it in some direction. If they needed to, they could drop off the trailer half way to its destination, pick up another, and head off some other direction. Meanwhile, another trucker would eventually pick up the abandoned trailer, and keep towing it towards its destination. Eventually, every trailer would reach its destination, via this "trailer switching protocol" vaguely reminiscent of data switching on the internet.

i called around, 'tho, and most trucking customers said that their trucks already run full in every direction -- they plan carefully