I am preparing a business plan for a 55ton RGB heavy haul business. I want to nail down the essential specs for a heavy haul truck to pull the 55ton RGB. My practical experience is limited to 53 foot reefer trailers where even a 400hp 10 speed truck will do for 80000 pound gross combination weight. But heavy haul is a different ball game and my only source of education has been searching the internet and reading various blogs, forums etc. By extensive reading, I have prepared a list of specs for a 55ton RGB heavy haul truck. I am listing them here and I request that you please comment on these: 150000 pounds Gross Combination Weight (assuming 20000 truck weight, 30000 trailer weight and 100000 load) 500 Horsepower 18 speed transmission 4.10 rear axle ratio Full locking rears 20k front axle rating 20k pusher axle rating 52k tandem axle rating Double Frame Double Locking air slide fifth wheel If I can get this business plan off the ground, I don't see myself stepping up beyond 55 ton hauling for quite a while so I don't want to get any extra heavy spec truck. I just want to stick to 150k gross weight for now. I would like to keep away from two speed rears, auxilliary transmissions etc. Do the above specs sound reasonable to you? Are there any enhancements or trade-offs you would recommend? Please do reply with whatever comments, suggestions, observations that you have no matter how small or big. The more of you reply, the better confidence I will have in my planning. I appreciate your input very much. Regards, Singh
Are you thinking new or used? I'd be afraid to go with new equipment on a new business venture, especially something specialized that would be hard to recoup if you had to sell.
Let us assume new truck purchase. Assuming that I am starting with a clean sheet, what specs should go into the truck to lug around the 55 ton RGB running all 48 states around the year? Your point is well taken about losing big with new truck if venture fails. So new vs used decision will certainly be on my mind when I get closer to purchase.
I really like the way you are going about this research. I hope to watch how you develop this as you go.
if your planning on running the truck out of CA that pusher axle on the truck isn't going to get you anything extra except less usable payload, and a waste of wheelbase. And the three axle trailer is going to be more pain in the rear than its worth in CA. theres a reason that most every construction and heavy haul company in CA has 16 tire expandable trailers from the big two players. Murray and Cozad.
You can get weight with a pusher in CA now. We have a 4 axle truck and can get about 59k on the back, but you can't get a blanket for it.
We have a tag axle that attaches to the rear of the tractor when needed. It does the job alright if you have a float with a long enough goose neck. If the goose neck is a shorter one you cant get the weight onto your steers and have a hard time turning. I prefer a jeep to the tag axle. It rides better and has better braking, but is tricky to manoeuvre in tight areas. The tag axle might be worth looking into if you can use the truck for regular work when there is no heavy floating to do.
Get a 550HP ISX Cummins that way you can have the 1,850Ft/lbs of torque. They make a 500HP engine with 1850 torque but, will not spec it for an over the road operation. 18 Speed Fuller If you are going to run allot of highway I would run a 3.91 rear end. 18,000lb or 20,000lb Front axle. 20,000lb steerable lift. 52,000lb rear axle is a bit extreme I would go with 46,000lb axles. Here is one that we are looking at to do pretty much the same thing you are talking about. http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=3797079
GPC, Thank you very much for the input! It helps validate my research. The listing link is also immensely helpful. Is there any particular reason you are going with the Pete 389 over the Kenworth 800 or the Coronado SD? Singh
Well there are three main reasons for going with the Pete over some of the others. First is the Pete 389 is lighter than a a 367 (Pete's version a KW T800) by almost 3,000lbs with comparable specs. Second is price. The Pete is about $5,000 cheaper than what KW priced us. The third I reckon is just looks and driver comfort. I personally like the Peterbilt cab better than anyone elses and I like the looks of it better than a KW or Freightliner. We ended up not buying that truck and are going to order a 388 Peterbilt to get the wheelbase a little shorter and we are going to add the extended cab to it and it will still be lighter than the one I posted. Just thought I'd add this the truck I posted is $153,00 with FET included it will need about another $8,000 dollars worth of stuff to get it ready. Fenders, headache rack, wet line kit, and a Whelen lightbar. The truck we are ordering will be $151,000 with FET included and will need the same $8,000 worth of stuff. This is just give you some idea of price on one of these.
GPC, I am very grateful for the new truck prices you have posted. My experience is only with used trucks. From the postings I have been making recently, you will know that I am a newbie to trucking. I started earlier this year by buying used 2007 Kenworth T2000s with 650K miles for $40K (and new reefer trailers for $60k). So one of my next questions would have been around asking the price of new havy haul trucks but you already answered. Thanks! Singh
One other thing on my extra price list is that we run very basic headache racks that are about $1,200 but, the more fancy you get the more the price goes up. We have a guy that hauls for us sometimes and has one that cost almost $10,000. Be very careful in the used market with heavy haul trucks. There are quite a few late model ones out there that cost almost as much as a new one.
GPC, I will certainly keep your advice in mind at purchase time with a leaning towards new truck purchase. If money was not an issue, what is your opinion about putting in a Ultrshift PLUS 18 speed instead of the manual 18 speed into the type of heavy haul truck you bought? I talked to Eaton and Kenworth and both assured me that Ultrshift PLUS behaves just like a good driver shifting the manual transmission. So purely from a driver comfort perspective, I would be willing to spend the money for a Ultrashift PLUS. In your opinion, is that a good option or bad? I know one drawback is that if I bought new truck with Ultrashift and then the heavy haul venture failed for some reason, I would have a tough time reselling the truck for decent money, if at all. But just from a technical and comfort perspective, does it make any sense? Regards, Singh
I for one would not touch any of the autoshifts for heavy haul work. YOU, the driver, need to be in control of what is going on when you are running oversized loads. When you NEED to make that shift, you don't want the computer to decide it is out of the parameters it is allowed to shift at. In my opinion, if shifting is too much work, stick with vans and legal loads. Heavy haul involves work and brainpower to not get into serious trouble. I run the same truck many of the heavy haulers do, and there is a reason for everything that is spec'ed on it.
I agree with this. Plus the Ultrashifts are prone to problems. There is one company here that runs about 120 trucks that went to the ultrashifts and have had quite a bit a trouble with them. They have gone back to specing manuals and Allison autos.
When looking for your truck, have you tried looking at a volvo? We have a 2005 volvo with a 565 ISX and heavy spec'ed and it is the best truck in the yard. it rides better than the other trucks and has way better steering. The air/hydraulic clutch makes pulling away with a heavy load easy. We also have a 2009 KW T800 and a 2012 Coronado, but the drivers still want the volvo. :my2c
What Volvo model is it please? I didn't know one could get a heavy speced Volvo that would be the equivalent of a T800 or a Coronado SD or a Pete 389. Once you give me the model number, I will go over to Volvo and take a look. Thanks!
Here is a Volvo. http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=3899271 Just not my personel preference for a truck. If you do go with a Volvo make sure and get a Cummins ISX engine the Volvo engines are having allot of problems right now.
The better one we have is a VNL 300 I think. I'm not 100% on the models there is also a VN 730 which is also spec'd heavy with a sleeper.
Nice post.
We demoed a new Cat tractor with a auto trans, my right arm didn't know what to do, flopping around looking for the shifter.
Well this can be a long thread. Seeing you are wanting to scale 100,000# payload it takes 8 axles to do it...I call it a "spread 8" which is a 3+1 trailer with a 4 axle truck. With you showing you area in LA, you need a west coast. I honestly have never seen a west coast 3+1 trailer and I have seen a lot of trailers in my time. First things first, where are you going to haul...only CA or all over the lower 48, or what? If you are going 4 axle tractor you may can get by without a heavy steer axle. Since you are in CA you need an '08 or newer truck to meet CA certification next year. Cummins is only engine to go with. Being 150K gross I'd say 40K rear would do unless you area in the mountains a lot which then 46K rears would be better. 52K rears are no necessary but they do have bigger bearings and axles I believe. I heard ring & pinion gear is same size. Gear size depends on tire size. Honestly I'd like for you to go back to the trailer and give me detail what you area thinking will work to scale 100K payload. You have me curious there. Figuring out the truck is the easy part, its the trailer that is to be worried about. Justin
I just saw in another thread you plan on hauling in lower 48. With that said if you want to be able to scale 100,000# payload in ALL states you really need to have a 2+2+2 (9 axle) trailer with a tandem rear axle (3 axle total) tractor. Why you ask? Its because of CA. mainly, but AZ will screw you over a tridem group. CA law require the rear stinger to "mechanically" equalize. It is really a long long story. You might can get by with a west coast 2+2 trailer and a 4 axle tractor, but the center of gravity with that combination will not be perfect, but again tridem groups will kill ya in AZ. My question to you, do you really have to scale 100,000#?