What You Need to Know About the A-Train Configuration |Truck Trains (As a Truck Driver)
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2024
- What You Need to Know About the A-Train Configuration (As a Truck Driver) The A-train configuration is not well known by many truck drivers. In this video, Dave explains the A-train configuration, and what makes it so tricky to maneuver and back up!
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Hey there Big Strappers. So glad you took the time to drop by to watch today's video. How about you? Love to hear your thoughts on A-Train config. Even pulled an A-Train. Love to hear your experiences.
Back in the 80's I worked for a U.S. Mail contractor. You'd get a ticket when you picked up the sealed trailers and if it said 50%, that's what was loaded, the front 50% of the trailer. My winter run (low seniority) was Federal Way, WA to Portland, OR to Baker, OR over Cabbage on I 84. Fun stuff. I used to practice backing the lead trailer and converter dolly while I waited in Portland on the way back. Good practice for the night a bus broke down in Portland. I had to back the set around a corner. Wasn't quick, took a few pull ups, but I managed to do it without bending anything and I wasn't late to the post office.
I'm an Australian truck driver. We have road trains over here. Pulling 4 trailers or two in the city's.
Dave, excellent video! I have been pulling these sets for over ten years and I had no idea that the converters of yesteryear had no brakes. That boggles my mind, I couldn't imagine having to deal with that. Another point I would like to mention are snow drifts and A trains. Plowing through drifts can cause the set to fold temporarily mind you, but is still a less than desirable experience for a driver. As far as my experience watching other drivers and A trains here in Eastern Washington state, UPS has drivers that are incredibly skilled. I worked seasonally for UPS and have watched and learned many things during that time.
In South Dakota, we have no gross weight limit on non interstate roads and no axle limit. The set of side dumps I drive has 20 axles total and the gross weight is around 196,000 lbs. it’s about 80,000 lbs empty.
Hauling A trains for a FedEx Ground contractor and I love it! I don't think I'll never go back to 53' to be honest. I do want to get into B-trains or even Turnpike Doubles here in Miami Florida. Do a video on overlength/Turnpike Double trailers or even a C-train? I never seen a C-train.
Ps
Love your videos. Been watching your videos way before I got my license. Super informative. Thank you for all the helpful advice, God bless, and stay safe!
I hauled these back in the 90s with medical waste. The problem I had was the pintles were always so worn. They always swayed going down the highway. Good thing is the DOT don't like looking under those trailers to much. You could back them up a little if perfectly straight to start with. That was the best money I ever made in trucking.
In the States we have a- trains that are referred to as rtacs. I’m assuming they meet some sort of Canadian standards. Also, I pull a- trains hauling fuel. They can be a major pain some days.
Dave, excellent video as usual!!!! The last 5 years that I bed bugged (1994 - 1999), I owned a set of 28 1/2 ft Kentucky pups. using the "C" dolly with two drawbars. Loved that set up. Lots of cubic feet. Could be easily backed up. Very little sway. Ashley Furniture out of Wisconsin uses this style of dolly to this day. Thanks again, Brian (Chicago)
Real truckers have the best stories. And you are a real trucker my friend!! Thanks for all the content.
I pull sets every week. I just make sure the heavy box is in the lead and it pretty much eliminates the wiggle.
Very informative, thank you.
Happy new year everybody!
I love hearing about different combinations, we have quite a lot here in Australia these days, one in recent years is the A-double, which is the truck, bogie axle trailer, and a 4 axle dog trailer off the back of that, resembles an A-train. I think we load them to about 68 or 70 ton.
I've never had experience with them, but I much prefer B-doubles, or B-triples since they're much more stable and easy to back up.
Then of course our road trains, where it's trailer, dolly, trailer etc... now they're a lot of fun !
Great video, Dave! When I first started out, I went ahead and got all the endorsements along with my CDL because I wanted to be “qualified “ (yeah right, a fully endorsed rookie!) so I could apply to all sorts of different carriers. I ended up pulling a set of doubles only once when I took a road test and that was it. I hated it and decided that just one long box was quite enough for me. I still have my HazMat, but I dropped the doubles and tankers endorsements.
Educational. Thank you
Good job on your videos..
Dave, I have been up to Salt Lake City twice in the last two weeks, and, as you may remember, both Nevada and Utah allow triples. There is plenty of snow this last trip along I 15 from north of Saint George all the way to Salt Lake City. I can’t see that I see very many of these doubles In the ditch either in Highwind or slick conditions. I believe that the addition of breaks to the converter dollies has mitigated the issue of
Happy New Year, Dave.
I pull A trains a good 95 percent of the time, two sets every night. The only nice thing I've found about pulling them is that they bend in the middle for hard turns.
In my opinion, every air or electrical connection is another place for something to malfunction, and I feel they are treacherous. One day I saw one of our guys into the hillside on the Pennsylvania turnpike with his rear pup rolled over. Turns out he was going a little too fast in a curve and blew a tire. That lack of redundancy is a big drawback for me, plus the company I drive for has their pups set up for a tandem axle tractor so the landing gear is further back than usual, increasing the chance of a nose-heavy trailer doing a nosedive when pulling out from under it. The guys all make fun of me for it, but I am paranoid about making sure it's going to sit solid when I cut away from one.
The other thing I do is to carry a supply of grease so I can make sure my fifth wheels are well lubricated, especially when the roads get slippery, so I'm not fighting any bind in the hitch.
Hey Dave, I pull doubles for OD. I absolutely love it but yeah I’ve been stuck in situations a couple times where I couldn’t back out and ended up having to break the whole set get them turned around and connect them again. I love it tho and love your videos
Happy New Year.
What i drive out here in Nevada Utah area. Tankers
There horrible in this snow empty.
I did it with fedex for a year..I experienced 1 bad winter and called it quits after a close call. Went back to my 53ft trailer and am living happily ever after lol
I haul doubles in this configuration for XPO Logistics in northern Michigan, it definitely can be a butt puckering experience in any kind of snow, especially when hauling empties. I tend to give myself a very generous amount of stopping distance and am constantly checking to make sure that kite trailer is not sliding around when I am on the brakes.
Funny story there Dave! I am guessing that you couldn’t break the set into two? I have quite a bit of experience with A-trains over the years (mostly with flats). When I first started hauling doubles, I was sent to a residential neighborhood on a Cal-de-sac. I was assured that the receiver would be there and that there was plenty of room to turn in the cal-de-sac. Nope! And double nope!!! I sat for eight hours for the receiver to show up and unload me to where I could get turned around. Today, I would have been able to get out on my own, but back then, no. Since then I have gotten out of some pretty tight situations when maps and gps have lied.
Happy Newyear!
Running 164,000 lbs Double 4 axle A-Trains of pulpwood on county roads in a Michigan winter will make you pucker.
Thank you for your informative videos. I pull a 40/20 flat set for a living. It's pretty intimidating the very first time you do it, but you get used to it real quick. The two main issues are that you better know damn well where your going, cause you can only go straight. And parking. Parking is terrible these days with one trailer let alone two. Very few truck stops accommodate doubles. Two trailers equals twice the problem. Fortunately for me I'm able to park at my customers. But that hasn't always been the case. Other than that, running down the freeway with them is no big deal.
B trains are the beast trailer configuration. Prove me wrong.
They can be better depending on what they are used for. They are more stable and easier to back, but they do not offer the modularity of the a train. In a btrain configuration, there are limits to how the weight is distributed and they must be loaded in a certain order. with a trains, the trailers can be swapped to allow different loading orders.
b trains are not dock friendly without special design or dock configurations to account for the 5th wheel on the lead trailer. b trains are normally set up to work in a specific configuration where most a trains with the right trailer lengths can be interchangable between many different configurations.
While b trains are great when used in specific applications. They are not the best for every aaplication, just as a trains, c trains or straight trailers are not the best for everything.
great video. i thoght the only difference between an a train and a set of b double would be that i could back up the b double set but not an a train. never knew itd have the weight distribution issue on the pup
Happy New Year ! I know it's off the topic, but does a 6x4 setup have more torque than a singles (4x2)? I figure it all comes down to engine displacement and gearing ( rear Ratio), and not related to axle setup. Some say differently. Thanks
The real fun is when they load the kite heavy. Definitely a tail wagging the dog scenario.
Years ago, I remember a Consolidated Freightways truck pulling triples and the middle pup was 96". The lead wagon and the kite were 102". Don't know if he had a heavy pup at the back or if the difference in trailer width was causing a problem, but it sure didn't look like he was having a good time.
I pulled one old 96' trailer in a set a few times. i noticed the wheels were set in about 6 inches from the 102' trailers. since most trucks have the wider set wheels they wear the roads down at that width. the 96' trailer would constantly be bouncing back and forth hunting for the low spots, but because of the narrow base, one side would always be on a high side. I had a simmilar issue with the cascadia i drove, the steer tires were the same width as the outer drive tires, it would constantly be hitting the ousides of the ruts and bounce back and forth. I have noticed that most of them now have slightle inset steer tires. wonder if too many trucks wrcked from the wider set steers?
I pull doubles all the time here in Idaho. I have a couple belly dump A-trains, a hopper bottom A-train, and a couple flatbed A-trains and never had any problems pulling any of them, a couple have turntable dollys and a couple have 5th wheel & kingpin hitches. One of my flatbed pups is a 1955 Pierce with a turntable and it has brakes all the way around but it doesn't have any parking brakes I don't know if that's what you were talking about the brakes. All of these trailers follow really well but I'd never wanna pull a set of triples, those things are truly a wiggle wagon. I think the key is to have your pup no shorter than half the length of your lead trailer.
Ahaha 1st trip I ever got paid for was a set of trains from Greensboro NC to Salt lake UT, in January no less 😂 was making .38 cpm
Just a question totally unrelated to your A-train vid, are there discount fuel cards for single independent truckers? Thanks for your good work.
I would like to try the A-train setup.
It varies from state to state but Utah allows overweight permits and the doubles I pull are up to 130,000 gross weight so we get plenty of traction
I loved pulling rocky sets, that pup couldn't do anything but follow along behind. Never had issues with it wiggling or anything. Only downside is not being able to pull a u turn anywhere you want along with the lcv parking lanes at truck stops being taken up by otr drivers who will never move when you ask them to.
It's the wag drift six inch on the steer and correct, two feet on the back end, can even flip you over. You need plenty of concentration and a steady hand. 😉
Happy New Year, super troopers! 😃🍾🥂🍻
i pulled them when i started my trucking career. never again. i prefer 53 footers
As an OwnerOp pulling fedex i can assure you when the weather goes tiny little bit bad we can refuse 2 trailers and no consequences. Some guys driving from far dont pay attention the weather will get bad and take them.
The dollies have brakes since maybe 20 years or more which helps in dry weather stop so much that it stops better than 53. And turns you take almost like you were bobtail. They articulate behind truck within 5-10 inches offtrack on normal turn. Another disadvantage is wasting time in hooking up. So much slower. Also harder to pull. If your total GVW is 70k with 2 trailers you feel like you were doing 100k with just a single trailer
Doubles add tires on the road, more tires means more friction, so even a set of doubles with gvw of 35000lbs will be harder pulling than a standard 53' trailer at 35000gvw. what i hated the most when pulling sets was when they loaded the trailers the same weights in winter. 15k and 15k is legal, but the back box is like an anchor while the front box does not put enough weight on the drives to get any traction. Other than pulling light sets in winter, i actually prefer them over 53s because of the mobility you get over the long boxes. It is easy to swing into a gas station with a set to grab a snack or whatever but trying to get a 53 in there is nearly impossible. with enough practice, hooking sets only takes a few more minutes than only hooking a single. and they can be backed up when you know what you are doing.
Very similar to my transfer rigg
On my 4th month working for a Independent Fedex contractor here in South Ontario, Canada. So far I’m happy most of my days but when it’s snowing and you need to hook the dolly for the second trailer that’s not always a clean job and winter driving is totally different on a trains than a 53 trailer they don’t hold brakes evenly on the road , rather just swing. But i do get fairly paid a flat rate for my trip. So if somedays i get only a trailer 26ft that is a lucky day . Because I’m getting 32$ per hour just driving a 26 footer trailer.
I pull them in Oklahoma for OD
In Europe it is used with a rigid truck with an A-trailer at the back
That is called a truck/trailer combination here.
They run these or something like this still in Australia!! Truck trains they call them.
So what do you have to say about those crazy Australians
pulling road trains? It seems the common # of trailers is 4
but on an occasion they will pull more.
!
They are big in the north west lot of flat beds tankers hoper bottom trailers. Every one is going to3 and 4 axle 53 but can not bridge in some states full gross weight. I have pull both hauling hay i like the b train the best. I can back both up but the b train i can back around corners. I go in to a lot of tight places to so i can drop the back trailer to get in to feilds. I use the pup a lot for small jobs. Were im at they seam chep to.
I wish I could pull the turnpike doubles combination
Are you guys ok? Have not seen or heard anything from you other than this video since the live steam before Christmas .. Hope all are well including the Lettuce King
Hey Paul. Yes, the whole team has been down sick, but we're on the mend. Lettuce King is fine. Hoping to be back on track for next week.
Gravel a trains are still used in Alberta
What you guys need are Australian B-Bouble and Road Train set ups
The closest thing we have to the road trains, is either turnpike doubles or triple trailers. The problem with the austrailian set up is the space we have on the roads and the hills we have to pull with them. As it is now. turnpike doubles are only allowed on the straigtest sections of roads, and triples are a pain when fully loaded going up 6%grades in the west. If they were to design roads specifically for the longer trucks and keep all the cars off of them, they would be a great thing over here.
Hey could someone explain the new mandate from the gov coming February 07 2022?
First time I drove in snow in a truck was with a set of empty pups made me regret some choices for awhile haha
Question for anyone out there…
Can anyone tell me the highway channel truckers use in Alberta? In BC a lot of them use Ladd 1, but I have never heard any chatter on that channel in AB…
I pull a set of end dumps loaded with peat moss, dumping 2 trailers is sketchy at times….
Money trumps safety. Trucking 101.
take a set of b-trains any day,what do you think of that new sentence for that driver in colorado
Anyone know any train carriers
Stay safe. And out of cornfields...
Road train in Australia
We call that a Dolly
to me b doubles seem much more safer than a trains luckily GP Transco my future company I want to work for when I graduate highschool doesn't haul doubles at all.
I drive FedEx atrain everyday
Thats not true now. All dollys have brakes.
B Trains > A Trains always. I can't for the life of me understand why FedEx and UPS don't switch to B Trains.
because of the trailer design. With a trains all the trailers can be pretty much identical and use the same docks, the trailers can easily be swapped out and moved around. they can be used as singles doubles or triples. B trains need special docks or trailers to use the docks. they are pretty much set up to be pulled in one configuration because of the fixed 5th wheel and can not easily be swapped around. It would take too much extra planning to get the trailers loaded in a specific order all the time. You can not swap sets and grab different trailers for a meet or swap. with an a train in a swap, one set may have a heavy and a light trailer swapping with a heavy trailer. if one of the trailers is heavier they can change the position of the current trailer to be in the back. That is not possible with b trains unless every trailer has the 5th wheel. but if every trailer had a 5th wheel, they would have issues and added costs making the docks work... plus it would add expenses to the trailers. And if you have an issue with the 5th wheel, that whole trailer is out of comission but with a dolly, you would just swap the dolly anod move on.
A trains are actually less likely to flip the whole rig if onr trailer flips too... the pintle hook will often break before it takes the other trailer over.