3-axle Trailer
Topic 1243 | Page 1
I've driven 3-axle dump trucks but never pulled a 3-axle trailer. There won't be much of a difference. Usually one of the axles can be lifted or lowered to prevent the tires from dragging so much when going around a turn but I don't know if your tractor will have a switch available to activate it.
With only 25,000 pounds you certainly won't have an issue there.
I don't think you're going to find much of a difference. It will pivot a little differently if you're backing on a tight angle but you'll figure it out in 20 seconds.
I don't think you have anything to be concerned about.
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So I just got assigned a load that picks up tomorrow morning, immediately followed by a message from my DM that it's being loaded on a 3-axle trailer. Only problem is, I've never pulled a 3-axle trailer.
So my question for those of you who have is, what are the major differences in turning, backing, steering, etc.? I'm guessing the pivot point will be different than a regular set of tandems , but what do I need/want to do to compensate? Also, how much extra weight can I have on the trailer? The load's not supposed to be heavy at all, only 25k or so, so I'm not necessarily worried about being over (unless the nitwits who load it double up on the retard pills before they do), just kind of curious.
Thanks!
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.