Now more than ever; the importance of efficient transportation can make or break an organization. North American government agencies have cracked down on what trucking companies can haul concerning weight. For our businesses and economy to operate smoothly, truck hauling must be at the forefront of the respective companies’ minds.
In 1975, the US Federal government implemented the Federal Bridge Law and Formula. The law designated how much weight a truck or tractor-trailer combination can legally haul. The formula is based on the length and the amount of axles. The longer the truck or trailer combination is, the more spread out the weight is spread when driving across a bridge. If a company would like to use a shorter truck setup, the next option is the addition of axles to the truck or trailer. Both length and axles distribute the weight while the truck is driving down the road.
In the roll-off container space, three items contribute to the weight of your combination.
The truck, roll-off trailer (if applicable), and the roll-off container.
Truck manufacturers are limited to how light they can make the truck as it containers the engine, transmission, cab, and more items. With roll-off containers, there is a fine line between the weight and life expectancy of the container. The lighter the container is constructed, the less life expectancy, and vice versa for heavier containers. If a company wants to increase the legal payload of the combination, it leaves the responsibility to the roll-off trailers.
Since 1988, Ace has strived to offer the lightest-weight roll-off trailers available. While using a frameless design for our Ace Roll-off trailer, we can lighten the weight up to 8,000 lbs. An increase of three to four tonnes per haul will pay dividends to your company when you’re moving hundreds and thousands of tonnes a year.
Ace’s Roll-off Trailer Design
With an Ace Roll-off Trailer, we can position the axles at the rear-most point of the trailer. This allows for more distance between the truck/tractor axles and the trailer axles. Frame-style roll-off trailers must have additional axles or use an extendable tail to reach the federal bridge formula for 80,000 lbs. GVW. The additional axles increase the weight of the trailer, thus decreasing the maximum weight of the contents in the container. The other option is adding an extendable tail (Stinger). This allows frame-style roll-off trailers to have the same bridge formula distance between axles. However, it adds even more moving components and the extendable tail is nowhere near as durable as a fixed frame tail. Extendable tails, if not used properly, are easily damaged and can render the trailer inoperable until the extendable tail is repaired.
Items to Examine When Operating tractor/trailer commercially.
Time
Time is money, a concept that every successful business operates with. With an Ace Roll-off Trailer, container transfer efficiency is paramount. With the additional payload gained on an Ace, container pick-ups can be staggered with greater time between pickups. This will allow maximum legal hauls on every pick-up versus sporadic container weights and scheduling.
Drivers Wage
An important item to manage is whether the driver’s pay structure is by the hour, mile, or trip. An Ace Roll-off Trailer can ultimately increase your productivity and justify the wage being paid.
Fuel
Another constant in the trucking space is fuel and fuel costs. With an Ace Roll-off trailer, it’s possible to cut off four to five loads to move the same material. This can cut down the fuel costs and increase the time available to move ahead.
Opportunity cost
With hauling more weight every time over frame-style roll-off trailers, Ace lowers the cost per ton hauled. While using an old frame-style design, the return is marginalized in comparison to an Ace Frameless Roll-off trailer. Depending on the situation and accounts being serviced, we have seen an increase of $2,500-3,000 in revenue/week while using an Ace Roll-off Trailer.
For more information, please feel free to reach out to us at 216-458-0180 or send us an email to sales@theaceadvantage.com
