“The bottom line,” says Sean Davis, president of Tri State Transportation, “is that we want to be able to haul the biggest net payload in the market. When you’re hauling hot asphalt, the lighter your equipment, the more product you can legally load—and the more product you can carry, the more money you can make.”
Based in Phoenix, Tri State operates 25 tractor-trailers hauling liquid asphalt from refineries and terminals to highway paving jobs in Arizona, Nevada and California. The bulk of the company’s tractor fleet consists of Freightliner Columbia day cab and mid-roof sleeper models. For trailers, the carrier specs 7,500-gal. models from Polar Tank.
“Freightliner Columbia tractors are lightweight,” Davis relates, “and by spec’ing 22.5-in. low profile tires, aluminum wheels and lighter weight air suspensions, our power units weigh as much as 3,000 lbs. less than other models we’ve had in the fleet. Still, with engine emissions systems adding weight to tractors, trailers are the key to reducing tare weight and boosting payloads.”
For Tri State, the solution to saving weight is the Polar Tank aluminum hot-product model. The tandem-axle, 42.5-ft. trailer, which weighs just over 9,000 lbs. empty and can scale 28.5 tons of liquid asphalt, is also 4,000 lbs. lighter than older Polar models used by the company.
Huge edge
“That’s a huge edge over a competitor who legally has to max out at 25 or 26 tons,” Davis states. “A job
Tri State Transportation Trailer Specifications Model: Polar Tank hot product; aluminum, round, jacketed, one compartment Length: 42.5 ft. Capacity: 7,500 gal. Hose Carrier: aluminum; 4-in. by 8-in., 22 ft. long Valves: Sealco Emergency Valve: Betts; 4-in. aluminum asphalt Landing Gear: Jost A400, two-speed Axles & Suspension: Hendrickson Intraax AANT23K; tandem axle Oil Seals: Stemco Guardian Hubs & Drums: Walther EMC, hub-piloted; Dura-light hub, cast drum Brakes: S-cam; 16.5×7-in., Extended Service. ABS: Meritor 2S/2M Brake Chambers: TSE 3030 Automatic Slack Adjusters: Meritor Tires: 255/70R22.5 Goodyear G104 Wheels: Accuride aluminum disc Gladhands: Tramec Lighting & Electrical: Truck-Lite LED Conspicuity Tape: 3M Paint: black acrylic enamel on carbon steel parts
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that takes another carrier nine trips we can handle in eight. That either saves the time and cost associated with the extra shipment, or we can deliver another load to the customer so they can pave more that day.”
Tri State’s Polar Tank specs call for a straight, round barrel with 0.249-in. aluminum on the bottom and 0.219-in. aluminum on the top and sides. The trailer has fiberglass insulation, a belly-wrapped 0.032-in. aluminum jacket with lapped seams, and 0.063-in. aluminum heads lock-seamed to the jacket. Trailer weight savings come from components that include an aluminum undercarriage, Hendrickson AANT23K Intraax suspension with integrated axles, Accuride aluminum disc wheels, and 255/70R22.5 Goodyear tires.
Tri State’s equipment runs hard 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the highway and on water-truck-maintained roads. One of its Polar trailers logged 400,000 miles during the first 18 months it was in service with the fleet.
“That type of operation also means we pay close attention to maintenance, which is handled almost entirely in our own shop by five company technicians,” Davis says. “At the same time, we help ensure driver safety by spec’ing new vehicles with roll stability support systems. Those solutions are cheap insurance when you consider their cost and the potential they have to help avoid accidents.”
Finely-tuned
“Polar helped us fine-tune our specs to come up with the right balance,” Davis continues. “We evaluated how each component contributes to the trailer’s payload capacity, durability and driver convenience and safety. Cutting weight can make sense, but you don’t want to take it too far.”
Tri State Transportation Tractor Specifications Model: Freightliner Columbia CL112; 70-in. Mid Roof XT sleeper Wheelbase: 230 in. Engine: MBE4000, 12.8-liter; 450 HP, 1,550 lb./ft. Clutch: Eaton Easy Pedal Transmission: Eaton Fuller FRO-15210B Driveshafts: Meritor Front Axle: MFS-12-143A Power Steering: TRW THP-60 Rear Axle: RT-40-145, 3.42 ratio Rear Suspension: Freightliner Airliner Hubs: Con Met Pre Set, aluminum Wheel Seals: Scotseal Plus XL Drums: Con Met Brakes: Meritor Q+ ABS: Meritor WABCO 4S/4M Automatic Slack Adjusters: Meritor Parking Brakes: Haldex Long Stroke Wheels: Accuride Accu-Lite steel disc Tires: 295/75R22.5 Goodyear; G395 steer, G372A drive 5th Wheel: Fontaine No-Slack II 6000 Series Fuel Filter/Water Separator: Alliance Air Compressor: Meritor WABCO 15.5 CFM Air Dryer: Bendix Ad-9, heated Fan Clutch: Kysor on/off Batteries: (4) Alliance, 2920 CCA Starter: Delco Remy 39MT Alternator: Delco Remy 160 amp Block Heater: Phillips-Temro 1500 watt Lighting: Truck-Lite Horn: Hadley, electric Seats: EZYRider Fuel Tanks: dual aluminum, 100-gal. |
In addition to helping Tri State spec trailers for low tare weight and durability, Davis reports, Polar was flexible with vehicle design. For example, the company repositioned the fenders on the fleet’s newest trailers to be more in proportion with low-profile tires. “Cosmetically, they tied everything together. It’s a small detail, but we want the trailer to look good and represent our company well to our customers.”
Other features of the Polar Tank trailers at Tri State are designed to save time and mess, Davis notes, such as the insulated, aluminum breathing vent that eliminates the surge and overspill of product that can occur with a free-breathing cover.
“Everything works better when you put in the time and effort to spec things correctly,” Davis says. “In the end, the combination of uptime and extra payload is winning bids for our company.”
One to spare
“For example,” Davis continues, “I got a call at 4 a.m. from a customer asking if I could bring him 225 tons of hot asphalt. I said, ‘Sure, when does the job start?’ and he said, ‘Now. The company I normally call can’t do nine loads and isn’t showing up.’ It turned out we had only eight trucks available, but after the eighth load, the customer had his 225 tons plus one to spare.”
Davis says that Tri State routinely has customers who have never seen so much payload shipped at one time. “They even regularly ask drivers to make sure they pull the whole vehicle onto the scale because they can’t believe how much product we can haul,” he adds.
Davis, who grew up working at his family’s West Coast construction business, knows a thing or two about how to save equipment weight without sacrificing reliability. “Our equipment,” he says, “may cost a bit more up front, but compounded over a day, a week, a month, a year, it is going to far exceed the productivity, profitability and return on investment that our competitors will get from their tractors and trailers.