Big Wheel Trucking
Ever thought about being a big wheel trucker? One of those who drive the big rigs from coast to coast. Life can be very exciting sitting behind the wheel of one of those "big rigs". Lots of horsepower, 18 big shiny wheels and polished chrome exhaust and a life on the road. For some it's more than just a job. It's a way of life. Whether you are hauling produce from California, steel in the midwest, pipe and pallets in the oil patch, if you got it chances are it came by truck and somebody was driving that truck. That is where you, the driver comes in.
With a downturn in the economy, many people are finding themselves displaced in the work force. By learning to become a professional driver you allow yourself one more option at gaining active employment. And beside some types of trucking pays quite well. Other drivers have gone on to owning their own "rigs" and contracting with larger carriers of freight. These people are know in the industry as "owner operators" or "lease operators". Some of these truckers even run their own companies and get loads from freight brokers.
Even though there are jobs and opportunities in the trucking industry, it does not come without faults and draw backs. Due to it's competitive nature, this industry sees a lot of failures. A combination of under cut rates, high fuel costs, insurance and repairs, you can find that profit margins can be very slim. But for those who wish to pursue a career in the trucking industry, opportunities abound.
In this website we will look at all the various types of trucking and the different types of trucks and equipment that are used. Whether it be dump trucks for construction, reefer trucks for produce or van and flat decks for general freight, we will try to touch a bit on all of them. We'll even touch a bit on the subject of what it takes to become a professional truck driver and what is all involved. We even have a whole page dedicated to "Ice Road Trucking". Ice road trucking was one of those unknown specialties that the world never knew about or even heard about until the History Channel produced a series on the subject. This production is about the trucks and truckers who drive monster heavy loads over frozen lakes in the minus 40 degree celsius temperatures in Canada's far north arctic region taking super heavy loads to the diamond mines.
You will notice that the name of this site is "TRI DRIVES". We wanted to add to the whole trucking series a section on heavy haul and tri drive trucks. These are trucks that have "3" drive axles. Most highway trucks have "2" drive axles and are called "tandems". Those with "1" axle are called "single" axles.
Tri Drive trucks are used in mostly off road applications such as logging, mining and oil field transport. These are the trucks that haul heavier than normal loads. These load would be special loads like drilling rigs, oil processing equipment and such that can't be broke down to small sections such as seen in the photo below.
Tri Drives are also used a lot with truck mounted equipment such as vacuum tanks, water tanks, pumping equipment, dump boxes and other heavier than normal equipment. Having a Tri Drive allows one to haul more on a truck without having to have a trailer. More wheels on the ground allows for more weight. More drive axles allows for more push and pulling power along with added traction. This is advantageous in off road conditions where drivers of these units are not only hauling heavy loads but are having the added pressures of steep terrain, mud, ice and gravel roads.
