Canadian Tire is planning to roll out some new 60 ft. containers in the New Year… they say they’ve already completed the feasibility studies. Maybe this will be the next major development in containerization.
53 ft is the current legal length limit for trailers in the U.S. How they gonna haul them?
I’m guessing mostly in Canada using short wheelbase daycab tractors… don’t know many of the details myself yet, but this could be a major development if it goes through.
And just like that, every spine car, and most of the stack cars in the country, would be rendered incapable of doing what they should be doing–keeping monstrosities like that off the road!
I have a hard enough time getting a 53 footer to fit in some places, better have some really long slider rails on those chassis…
There are a lot of surface streets where 53 footer can’t make a turn without infringng on opposing traffic.
It appears that the 60 foot container would be not be an ISO box, Canadian use only. It would use the standard 40 foot mounting pockets, so when moved by train, it would only be on the top level of double stack. It is being designed for four specific routes in Canada.
3.0 TEBU sea-can boondoggle coming to an intermodal yard near you? I can just see what happens when one of those gets loose in the lower 48 after a clerical error and hits that first scale house/inspection station.(insert Chad’s popcorn icon here)
Posted by rvos1979 on Monday, December 01, 2014 8:46 PM
I have a hard enough time getting a 53 footer to fit in some places, better have some really long slider rails on those chassis…
Randy Vos
To those statement is one by Posted by Norm48327 on Monday, December 01, 2014 6:38 PM
“…53 ft is the current legal length limit for trailers in the U.S. How they gonna haul them?”
Norm
As to the introduction of 60ft Containers in Canada ( and possibly their introduction into the U.S. (?) It is almost a case of “…When the elephant gets his trunk under the tent,can the rest of it be far behind?”
From the late 1950’s until I retired in 2001, I was in the OTR trucking business, both military and civilian, over that same period of time the legal semi- trailer lengths went from 40 ft to 53 ft; as generally accepted for regular road transport throughout the country.
Canadian Tire will most likely restrict these to certain routes and only some of their stores. I don’t think they’ll ever see their way into old Montreal or Quebec City where 53 ft. currently have a hard time.
Seeing the news about 60 foot containers coming to Canada reminded me of seeing semi-trailers with three axles being carried on the Prince Rupert-Port Hardy ferry this past September. They were loaded and unloaded by a BC Ferries employee, and the tractor made the trip also.
I only wish that user-pay would apply. In other words, if they want to use a 60’ trailer, require them to FIRST pay for the upgrades necessary to permit SAFE turning at all intersections on each route that may be used. And I mean the proponent should pay, not the general taxpayer. I suspect any positive cost-benefit ratio might suddenly evaporate. Also, those upgrades should be in place before operation is permitted.
John
The 60 ft. container sounds like someone’s pet project at Canadian Tire. It may work on a very restricted basis, but I don’t think they’ll become mainstream anytime soon as the infrastructure would need to be upgraded. At some point cutting cost becomes harder than raising prices… until then the race to the bottom continues.
Ice Road Truckers?
I’ve never been in the transportation business, but I find it hard to believe it would be worthwhile to design and build something for restricted use. Maybe they’re counting on samfp’s elephant getting into the tent–never underestimate the power of lobbying.
Mudchicken: We have 57 foot trailers that roam in Texas, one of our not-so-smart drivers managed to take one of them all the way to Ohio and not get caught. Then management found out how much the oversize permits cost to get that trailer back to Texas…
I don’t know how they manage it in Texas, but here in the United States, 57-foot trailers were tried on an experimental basis some years ago. It was found out that they were too long for most intersections, making it difficult for them to get anywhere.
What’s the advantage of using one 60’ container, verses two 30’ containers? (Or four 15’? [:o)])
The cost of pickup and delivery. Two 30 ft. would require two pickups and deliveries whereas one 60 ft. could be done with one pickup using a very careful driver who doesn’t clip signs or traffic signals or other vehicles. That’s the theory anyway. There’s probably a cost savings to shipping one container verses two or more via rail. Canadian Tire is one of Canada’s biggest shippers, and I’m sure they have some clout with the railways in terms of bargaining power.
Paul:
If my memory is correct those long trailers (57’) were at one point some years ago legal in not only Texas, but Louisiana as well, and I am not 100% certain about Mississipi( possibly on a’ permitted’ basis only there(?). The first one I saw, we loaded at the company I was working for in the Memphis area, we were used to 48’ and some 53’ but that 57/58?( the Carrier was a company out of Ruston,La.) was a whole new deal…Weight was not a problem as we shipped empty plastic containers back to Louisiana. The problem was ‘cornering’ where in urban settings, clearences were very tight for the large trailers.