Flatbed Fun

53 ft trailer with closeable rear axle. Axles are currently spread. I still have to close the axles to get through CT and NY.

Just under qtr tank of fuel presently.

Going from NH to FL.

I see a few extra fuel stops in my near future, but I'll get her there legally.

When did New York start requiring closed axles?

Ever since I've been with Prime we've been required to close the axles in NY, CT, WY, CA, and FL. That's with our 53 footers. 48s are fixed position spreads

What are you hauling? And in flatbed, do you keep the same trailer or do you swap between 48' and 53' depending on the load?

What are you hauling? And in flatbed, do you keep the same trailer or do you swap between 48' and 53' depending on the load?

This is pallets of rolled roofing.

Generally we keep the same trailers, and only swap when we do a drop and hook every couple weeks or so. Most of the time the size of the trailer doesn't matter for a particular load. But there are occasions where the extra length of a 53 will allow us to haul more product. Likewise there are occasions where a 48 will allow us to haul more weight, since the 48 is lighter than a 53.

A 48 would have been much better suited for this particular load I'm on now, giving me more flexibility on total weight and weight placement. But I was in the area with a 53, so it is what it is.

Rob, it's a company thing not necessarily a flatbed thing. Over at prime they have different sized trailers and step decks I believe. When I was with maverick we used primarily 48ft with some 53ft on dedicated accounts. You typically keep your trailer for a few days or in some cases weeks until you do a swap or get a preloaded trailer. That's how we did it anyway.

NY is not a closed axle state.

But it looks like you will have fun playing the fuel game.

Turtle,

As always great information and much appreciated. As my profile says I am considering a career, but your posts have steered me toward Prime and Flatbed.

At risk of inflating your ego, you're kinda becoming my idol here on Trucking Truth (sorry Brett).

Ever since I've been with Prime we've been required to close the axles in NY, CT, WY, CA, and FL. That's with our 53 footers. 48s are fixed position spreads

So it's a company policy then. CT, CA and FL are the only states requiring it. CT allows 36k on the trailer when closed and Florida allows 44k on the trailer. Or for around $65 if I remember correctly, you can purchase a yearly permit for Florida allowing you to run open.

Comment by the ignorant below:

Is Turtle's problem on his steer axle and drive axle weight (plus total 80,000 overall weight)?

Would 100 gallons of fuel would put him over the typical 12,000lb steer axle and 34,000lb drive axles limit, because that weight would be added between those two axles? So in this situation, do you drive 300 miles, add 50 gallons, rinse and repeat?

Also even if he could shift 5,000lbs from the drive axles to the trailer, wouldn't he still be over the 80,000lb maximum if he adds 100 gallons of fuel?

Also, how does spreading the axles on the trailer change weight per axle? Does moving the forward trail axle toward the drive axle reduce the weight of the drive axle?