Trailer Types

Spend any amount of time on the road, and there is one sight that cannot be missed: trucks.

The most common trailer you will find driving around the United States is the  53’ dry van or reefer van, carrying our nation’s dry bulk and refrigerated products back and forth, up and down the country. These trailers are connected to the tractor via a fifth wheel, giving the vehicle a singe point in which the trailer can easily pivot with the tractor as it makes its turns.

Another common trailer configuration you will spot in the United States
is B-Doubles, also referred to as a B-Train. This is a fairly general term
for a cab that has two trailers (not necessarily of equal length); one
connected to the cab, and the other connected via a dolly behind the lead,
or ‘A’ trailer. There are specific terms for the various B-Train configurations
that exist. A few notable ones would include “double pups” (two 28’ foot trailers),“Rocky Mountain doubles” (two trailers where the A-trailer is larger than the B-trailer), and “Turnpike doubles” (two trailers, typically each 48’ feet in length).

These LCVs or “Longer Combination Vehicles,” are fairly uncommon in the US due primarily to safety amongst mixed traffic and they increased potential for infrastructure damage that they could cause. The American Trucking Association allows these configurations in designated states on specific routes only. This would also include the triple trailers: tractors that pull three 28’ trailers.

Those who work in the industry, or even your everyday scale model collector have no problem identifying the countless tractor and trailer configurations on the road. We at Tonkin Replicas are no different, and as truck experts, it definitely counts to know what kinds of configurations are out there in order to provide accurate replicas and new and exciting products.

For more information on Tonkin Replicas visit :

www.tonkinprecision.com