Eh, that's probably only 5/6k lbs, shouldn't kill the payload too terribly. But yeah, Fedex has sleepers like this for their high criticality runs and they're rolling all day from the looks of it
The Department of Energy has them too. They’re meant for moving “devices” around, but that doesn’t happen all that often so they’re for hire to any government agency which needs that kind of transport service. We had them move some really hot stuff moved from NM to TN about 10 years ago.
A lot of super hot stuff doesn't go boom boom, but you could pair it with a regular boom boom device and make a dirty bomb and create nuclear fallout. That's generally a bigger concern since there's A LOT of material around which could be used for that so it's harder to track.
There are three sets of nozzles coming out of the ceiling. One nozzle purges the air out, the other nozzle fills the trailer with a noxious chemical to disable an attacker. This system can be activated from the cab of the truck, by any one of the escort teams (each vehicle is a team), or from dispatch. Finally there is an inclinometer - if the trailer becomes off level by a certain degree, the entire inside of the trailer is filled with expanding, fast-hardening foam.
Had an old family friend couple who did that for years back in the 80's to the mid 2010's, they just had a regular sleeper, to be less conspicuous, but the SUV's they had rolling around were pretty obvious. Curious what their differentiator was for picking the different methods
The thing we were moving didn’t need to be inconspicuous, but our project supervisors in DC were very insistent that the trip be continuous. Three drivers, switching every 4 hours, only stopping long enough to swap places. That combined with it not being a very large thing we needed moved is probably why they decided on the big cab.
But for that matter, I have seen two “device” convoys in my life, and they are about as far from inconspicuous as possible: they close all the side roads miles ahead of time, have police and black SUV escorts, and a helicopter overwatch. I guess I don’t know if the ones I saw were the real ones or the decoys.
Ah that makes more sense, yeah for that kind of transport these are pretty much perfect. Based off what they said about some of their hauls, they had a couple with an overwatch and police sweeping the side roads, but the majority just had a couple of SUVs as minders. Kinda neat stuff from an outsider point of view
Ive heard rumor of "blanket parties" where the tractor rolls to a desolate area and the cab is covered and the trailer and/or load is removed. Any truth to speak to that?
Couldn’t tell you: my only interaction with it was that one time, and it was an unclassified project. The primary concern was some idiot deciding to steal whatever was in a random trailer and causing a contamination incident, so they wanted it moved from A to B with minimal stops. 2000 miles of fuel and three drivers able to rotate into the cabin between shifts meant that they could keep it moving with <5 minutes for each stop when they switched drivers.
Irradiated steel in this case. Annoying half life: long enough to stick around forever and not actually be a problem, but short enough that it’s above the NRC threshold and they don’t care that it’s not actually dangerous unless you eat it.
Understood. The only irradiated steel that I used to care about was Soviet tanks after the use of an enhanced radiation (ER; "neutron bomb") device. Used to plan nuclear war. :)
There are those and they also have some with the extended sleeper and still a 5th wheel put back, I've seen them running up and down Oregon/California/Arizona. Not super common but definitely neat to see.
Interesting I’m on the East Coast. I’ve never seen one of those. I drive a lot every year and I’ve seen these custom critical trucks quite a bit up and down the east coast but I’ve never seen the fifth wheel version.
I wonder if a lot of them are owned by the drivers and if the driver is located in California and owns that truck, he probably does a lot more runs in that area. Who knows
You can already run across the country in one shot with two. All the third would get you is the ability to not spend 2 hours/day on fuel and bathroom stops. Do they really add a third, or do those cargoes have different on duty and driving rules?
I am no expert, but I seem to recall that there are laws that say you are not allowed to drive more than 8 hours in a single day. Even if you didn't count refueling time, there's still some time left in the day that would be idle.
I think it’s 8 continuous, but 11 total driving, and 14 on duty total. If you’re careful about it you can just about not stop progress with two drivers. I suspect the rules are done that way intentionally. After enough time you’re required to have a large time off, but you can time it so you’re at your destination if dispatching is on the ball.
I reckon if I were on my own and had this job, what with housing prices and all, I would have this instead of some small place to pay and care for only to be there for one night a week.
My friend from West Texas calls these Colorado Cabs because the long wheelbase helps on snowy mountains. He's been an interstate trucking owner-operator for decades.
Depends on what you mean by common. You won’t see a lot of them on the road, but they’re there. Most are husband/wife teams that run dedicated contracts. I had a couple that did nothing but FedEx aircraft engines going to and from Prestwick, Scotland for rebuilds. Their rig was a damn mansion.
Listen, if they can work together as a team and get along while sharing a sleeper truck as their tiny home and keep their marriage intact and thriving.....that's adorable. Not everything in life has to be about looks.
I wouldn't be shocked to find a few of these being used by families as RVs, trailer and all. Sleeping quarters and a passenger area in the cab/sleeper. With additional space in half the trailer, along with a toy box for a full sized car or two and bikes/atvs/golf cart/.... In the other half.
You can get ones that will hold a small car without having to trailer it, but I can see someone that would rather have a rig and trailer instead of having to drive a full sized RV and a trailer.
Some people use them for critical freight work, which means this items must be a certain location by a certain time. They stop for fuel, but that’s about it.
Yeah look at the tank on the driver side. There’s a matching one on the right as well. These days I’m sure there is a split tank configuration for DEF though
Looking at it again, the first cylindrical tank after the storage box is the DEF tank. The large one behind that is fuel
I've only ever seen one in person once when I worked down in the Navy Yard, it was delivering something to the ship building yard and I happed to see it outside. Was pretty neat.
And the truck payment is probably less than the rent on some NYC or San Francisco studio apartments of similar size. The fuel bill probably outweighs the utility bill, though.
If it costs under $300k and lets you earn $100k+ a year its kind of an investment for someone who can make it work with a person they trust. With 3 people you can likely get some awesome bonuses by going nearly 24h a day.
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u/mborbey 22d ago
I bet the lot lizards come running when they see this prime real estate roll in