Friday, October 12, 2007

Using Dry Truck Shipping To Move Your Products

By Carl Stinson Platinum Quality Author



If you are in a business producing products, you have to get them to the market. Dry shipping is the most common method of doing this today.


Dry trucking refers to the type of trailer that is used to haul the trucks cargo. There are several different types of trailers in use on the highways and each serves a different basic purpose. Tanker and flat bed trailers are two examples of alternate trailer types. The most common trailer, by far is the dry van trailer. An estimated 41% of all trailers in use are of this type.


The dry trailer is essentially a large box on wheels and can be used to haul just about any type of non-liquid freight. The only limitation on dry and non-perishable freight is that it not be too big to fit inside the trailer. The normal dry van trailer is around fifty three feet long, and attaches to the tractor by use of a fifth wheel. The trailer does not have a front axle and the fifth wheel coupling is a round ball and socket type attachment that supports the weight of the trailer on the back axle of the tractor. The ball and socket connection allows it to pivot for turning. The trailer has front support legs that are lowered to support the uncoupled trailer.


The major advantage of the fifth wheel coupling of the dry van trailer is that it may easily be transferred from one tractor to another. It may also be uncoupled, and parked until needed. It is estimated that there are almost three trailers to every tractor in use.


A modern dry van trailer is likely to have a translucent roof to allow outside light. This feature makes loading and unloading safer. Most have tracks along the inside that are used to secure the loads to prevent shifting during transit. Air ride suspension systems are becoming more common on dry van trailers as more and more delicate electronic items are being shipped in large quantities by dry van trailers. New trailers are also equipped with locking devices to prevent “walking” or shifting when being loaded or unloaded after being detached from the tractor. Many trucking companies offer only dry van services while others have dry vans as an integral part of their trailer fleet. They are the most common and easily recognizable of the trailer types, and they carry the widest variety of products. There is no doubt that the dry van trailer is the workhorse of the trucking industry.








Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - providing a list of trucking companies in each state.


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