LTL Mainstay: High-Capacity, Low-Cost Triples
The range of triple-trailer trucks may be limited by political boundaries and selected highways but the productivity payoff makes them hard to ignore, according to those who operate the most articulated of all combination vehicles.
Barely more than a dozen states allow tractors pulling a string of three pups on their highways, which creates logistical problems for the carriers — Wyoming, for example, is an island barrier to triple operations that otherwise cover most of the West. At the same time, greater capacity — up to 50% more for a single power unit than a standard twin-trailer combination — and lower per-unit costs are an upside that the operators and their customers cannot resist.
One of the pioneers of the three-trailer combination is Consolidated Freightways, which has been operating triples for four decades, building deep experience and a strong safety record in the process.
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The popularity of triples with less-than-truckload carriers has grown over the years despite restrictions of route, geography, weather and time of day — and despite public concern over the sheer size of the vehicle as viewed from the family car.
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For the full story, see the Nov. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
