Yeah, that's right. Tried to sell my yellow monster but noone was biting at least at the price I wanted. So I decided to follow Allan's advice about staying motivated ("switch to platforms!") ... Talked to our fleet manager about flat freight volumes. To my surprise he said a stepdeck might not be such a bad idea. We talked in the morning, and he then discussed this with other managers and the verdict delivered to me by satellite was "We decided a stepdeck would be better for you than a flat!" Hurray!

So, I'm looking for a good stepdeck. Will try to get something with 8' upper deck and minimum 40' lower deck. The front axle slider is the company's requirement. New combo ones go here for about $36k. Because so many guys got out of flatbed, there's a ton of good deals on used and new trailers.

I"ll be pulling freight mostly between US and Ontario, Canada with occasional runs to Alberta and B.C. Hence, the front axle slider requirement.

Any tips on choosing a stepdeck would be greatly appreciated.

 

Yeah, that's right. Tried to sell my yellow monster...
I missed that. Were you getting out of trucking?

Will try to get something with 8' upper deck and minimum 40' lower deck.
Good luck with that. 99 out of 100 are 10' or 11' up top.

Because so many guys got out of flatbed, there's a ton of good deals on used and new trailers.
Shoot I haven't seen any. Been looking for a 53' combo with a 17.5 rims and a 27' drop for 2 years.

Any tips on choosing a stepdeck would be greatly appreciated.
For me it's a 53 combo with a maximum 36" deck height or nothing.

 

Had an idea of investing the truck sale proceeds into a small 4-plex; living in one unit and renting out the other 3.

I'm thinking of getting a brand new one. This way the plant will make exactly what you want. But the salesperson I talked to today said 8' might be too close - the trailer can hit the rear of the truck. He promised to play with numbers and then get back to me (my truck's wheelbase is only 230" and my 5th wheel slides, naturally).

I'm confused by all these 'drops' and deck heights numbers. How do you measure a drop? From the upper deck to the lower deck?

I like 53' too ... with 53 ft length do you think it'd be better to have a tridem or tandem?

 

Hmmm 53ft yeah thats a good idea if you don't plan on hauling heavy or going to states with a bridge law CA comes to mind.Everybody I know that had 53' steps hated them you can't legal them in ca for instance unless you have a light load because you have to run closed tandem and then it puts to much weight on the tandems(remember anything over 48ft has to have a 40' king pin setting....king pin to center of rear most axle)if you spread it out you can make weight but then your over bridge.And have you ever watched how bad the back of the 53' trailers twist and turns while loading or going down the road for instance.Thats not good on them.Have you tried to slide the axle on one yet with a load on the trailer yet thats always fun(helped a guy with a 1 year old trailer do this once).And don't forget the best yet the cust. will see the extra deck space and add more to the load and not pay anymore on the rate.It's great they get to move more freight volume per year and less trucks used over a year.Wow what a great concept all this does is hurt us and make for less avl. freight for us to pull.
This how I feel your views may differ I didn't intend to start a fight just stating some facts.
But really what do I care im selling my step deck and tractor and going to find something else to do I have young kids I need to be with and I been doing this for 13yrs it is time for a break.

 

I'm not positive on this but I think it's Western trailers that custom builds Drop decks. I'm sure a "custom" built trailer is going to be a pretty penny...or two, but if you want something specific such as deck height and upper deck length and are willing to pay for it, it might be the way to go. Keanne and Thummels (sp?) website talks about them, you might want to check that out. They are a trucking company out of Iowa that pulls reefers and step decks. You can google them to get to their web site. I also saw a TMC pulling one that was parked at the local Wal-mart here and it was pretty schnazzy. Lots of little things that looked handy. I pull a drop deck where I work, a Load King with folding beaver tail, and it weighs a ton, actually a few tons. Hopefully somebody can come along and give you a little more help than I can. Good luck, hope it's a start.

 

Yeah Tracer. Drop is measured from the top of top deck to top of bottom deck. Most steps with 22.5 rims are ~21'. 17.5" rims will be ~27" drop. We have a 53' tandem. Also have two 48's. Would like to get rid of one to free up cash for another 53.

Don't they all have bridge laws?

screw them. their laws are funny. I dont go there.

Know of any combo spreads for sale?

Doesn;t worry me in the least.

Nope. Don't bother with sliders.

Not without paying any more he won't. Lotsa times I've got more money cuz they get an extra tractor on or whatever.

It helps me. Makes MORE freight for me to pull and more money.

There is no such thing as facts. Only generally accepted consensus and widely held perceptions.


Let me guess. It's a 48? So your post was a for sale ad? LOL. If it was a 53 I may have bought it.

 

Anything 48' and under do not fall under the bridge law.
Other states have bridge laws like ca one being la.
Yeah try to tell the shipper he will pay you more when he tries to add to your trailer...that doesn't work they will tell you to have a nice day so you will not make more.
Yes the twisting and bending of the trailer when the axles are closed on a 53' is very hard on them.
And no that was not a sales add.If it was a sales add I would have posted it else where and gave some details.

And as far as the statement about not being very many 8' top deck trailers around I haven't figured this out yet there are alot of those out there.But I do have a oppinion on those as well just my oppinon remember I think it is way to shallow I have and like the 24" kp it keeps the 5th wheel completely covered for one and you can spread the weight around better.I like to load heavy towards the front and work back.I also like having an 11' upper deck as well.
But like I said this is just me and everyone is different

 

What tire size would you use and what drop would you prefer to see on your new 53' tandem, if you were buying one today? The Transcraft guy I talked to today said "we always recommend 22.5 tires because 17.5' will spin 10 times faster and lasts 1/2 of the regular 22.5. Plus they cost more initially.." I told him I got low profile 295 on my truck, shouldn't I have the same tires (at least) on the trailer to make everything horizontal

I think like you, rank. I want to buy a trailer that will make me most money by hauling long and tall loads. Would love to haul a grader/scraper. Wonder how long are those? Is 42' deck long enough for them?

 

Can a scraper go on a step? I thought they had to go on a RGN, and not only that, but one that has some extra axles. The specs that I've seen for them have them weighing about 82,000.

 

I'm spec'ing a stepdeck trailer and the salesperson offered to use 4 steel rims for the inside and 4 alloy wheels for the outside. When I asked him why not use all alloy wheels, he said the weight gain would be "50 pounds only" but each rim costs US$250. I said, "Forget it then, it's not worth it". The weight of this 53 ft Transcraft combo trailer was 11,948 lbs with 22.5 tires (1/2 steel, 1/2 alloy). We then changed tires to 17.5 all steel, and when he sent me the new spec sheet, the weight shown was ... 12,279 lbs! Which means of course than 4 steel tires added 331 lbs. Can it be this high? I thought 17.5 tires were supposed to be lighter than 22.5s in the first place. So, when I"m spec'ing all 8 wheels as steel, the weight effect is 662 lbs! At least according to this salesperson's speck sheet. Actually, the first spec sheet had the same 53 ft trailer designed with 11' upper deck and 42' lower deck. The most recent spec sheet (with all steel 17.5" tires) used 10 ft upper deck and 43" lower deck (at my request). Could that have caused the increase in the weight of the trailer?