What Is Tri-Axle Chassis and Why Is It Important for Heavy Shipping?
What is a tri-axle chassis and why is it important for shippers to choose a carrier that utilize three axles for heavy-weight cargo? This question is one shippers throughout the United States may ask themselves when deciding who can safely and legally carry heavy loads.
Let’s explore the reasons a tri-axle chassis is crucial for legal compliance, safety, efficiency, and overall cost-effectiveness in your logistics operations
What Is A Tri-Axle Chassis?
A tri-axle chassis is a type of trailer or undercarriage used in the transportation of heavy cargo containers. Equipped with three axles, each typically fitted with dual wheels, a tri-axle chassis allows it to carry heavier loads in comparison to standard two-axle chassis.
The tri-axle chassis design is particularly beneficial for overweight containers or when the cargo exceeds certain weight thresholds, such as a 20-foot container above 36,000 pounds or a 40-foot container above 44,000 pounds.
An important mode for sealed container shipping, the tri-axle chassis is essential for keeping your containers safe and ensuring smooth and efficient transport between ports, terminals, and warehouses.
Key tri-axle chassis features include:
- Enhanced weight distribution for improved stability and safety
- Compliance with legal weight limits across various states
- Versatility to accommodate different container sizes
- Air-lifted third axle option for adjustable configurations
- Improved performance on diverse terrains
- Reduced wear and tear on both vehicle and road infrastructure
The tri-axle design is key for seamless intermodal transport, ensuring efficient movement of heavy products through the supply chain while maintaining regulatory compliance.
Tri-Axle Chassis Fact:
The 3-axle design enables heavier load transportation while enhancing stability and reducing the risk of accidents, ensuring safer transportation of goods.
Why Your Carrier Should Have Tri-Axle Chassis
If you ship sealed containers for heavy-weight cargo, there are several important reasons the tri-axle chassis wheeled metal frames are crucial for transporting shipping containers and other cargo.
Increased Weight Capacity
Tri-axle chassis can support significantly heavier loads compared to standard two-axle chassis. They can typically handle weights ranging from 55,000-65,000 pounds, which is essential for transporting heavy products.
Legal Compliance
Many states have regulations limiting the maximum weight that can be carried by different trailer setups. U.S. Federal Law limits single axles to 20,000 pounds and tandem axles (spaced 40-96 inches apart) to 34,000 pounds.
The additional axle on a tri-axle chassis helps distribute the weight more evenly, reducing the load on each individual axle and ensuring compliance with these limits.
Improved Stability and Safety
The additional axle a tri-axle chassis provides ensures greater stability during transport, making it safer to move heavy loads. In addition, the increased stability reduces the risk of accidents and damage to your products.
Cost-effectiveness & Versatility
While carriers who use tri-axle chassis charge more due to them being more expensive to purchase, they can be more cost-effective for shipping heavy products over time. Their versatility allows for larger shipments, potentially reducing the number of trips required and associated transportation costs.
Adaptability and Versatility for Different Container Sizes
Tri-axle chassis can accommodate various container sizes, including 20-foot and 40-foot containers, providing flexibility in shipping options.
Due to compatibility with various container types, tri-axle chassis can accommodate standard, high-cube, and refrigerated containers, making them versatile for different shipping needs. Many shippers rely on tri-axle chassis because of their ability to handle both 20-foot and 40-foot containers, which are the most commonly used sizes in shipping.
Enhanced Performance on Diverse Terrains
The additional axle allows the tri-axle chassis to distribute the weight more evenly, improving the vehicle’s performance on different road conditions and terrains.
Reduced Wear and Tear
By distributing the weight across three axles instead of two, tri-axle chassis can help reduce wear and tear on both the vehicle and the road infrastructure.
Seamless Intermodal Transport
Tri-axle chassis facilitates smooth transitions between different modes of transport, such as from ships to trucks or rail, ensuring efficient movement of your heavy products through the supply chain.
Customer Satisfaction
Using tri-axle chassis ensures timely and safe delivery of your heavy products. The result? Increased customer satisfaction, potentially repeat business and company growth.
Why Choose Heavy Weight Transport for Container Shipping?
Heavy Weight Transport is the asset-based carrier you can rely on when it’s time to haul your overweight load. With over 40 years of experience and a specialized fleet of custom-made equipment to maximize payload, thousands of customers in various industries across the U.S. have trusted us to haul their freight daily.
From load securement features to the trailer’s weight, our fleet works for you. With customized 4-axle trucks and 20-foot, 40-foot, and 45-foot tri-axle chassis, the Heavy Weight Transport fleet is green-friendly and readily available to deliver your cargo.
We are your trusted resource for safely trucking and warehousing heavy and standard-weight shipping containers.
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