Citation

Hartgen DT. Transp. Res. Rec. 1984; 966: 23-29.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1984, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The characteristics of double-trailer truck operations are described for a selected location on the New York State Thruway in upstate New York. Vehicles were observed during a typical weekday for an 8-hour period and their characteristics were recorded. Of 13,999 vehicles passing the observation point, 1,322 (9.4 percent) were semitrailers and 90 (0.65 percent) were double trailers. Even though the New York State Thruway permits flexible operation of such vehicles, they were found to be quite uniform in overall characteristics. In 90 percent of the observed vehicles, one of two axle configurations were observed: eight or nine axles. For 51 percent of the observed vehicles, an out-of-state registered trailer was pulled by a New york State registered tractor; and 30 percent of the vehicles had New York registrations on both tractor and second trailer. Almost 90 percent of the vehicles observed were hauling two long trailers; that is, trailers 40 feet or more in length (double-bottoms). No combinations were observed in which the first trailer was shorter than the second trailer. Of all vehicles, 90 percent were owned by commercial transportation companies, but these represented only a handful of large transportation companies. United Parcel Service, Consolidated Freight, and Oneida Express accounted for 44 percent of the observed vehicles. Only nine vehicles were privately owned. The paper concludes that despite the flexibility permitted in operations, the double-trailer market operating on the New York State Thruway is represented by a narrow spectrum of vehicle types and companies.

Language: en

Keywords

MOTOR TRANSPORTATION - Freight; MOTOR TRUCKS; TRAILERS - Motor Truck