Long Combination Vehicle

40 foot container turnpike doubles - 148,000 lbs GVWR

Rocky Mountain 40' 20' - 120,000 lbs GVWR

20 foot container double - 100,000 lbs GVWR

20 ft container straight truck w/ 20ft container trailer - 100,000 lbs GVWR

20 foot container straight truck with 28.5' foot pup trailer

Long combination vehicles^[1] are combinations of multiple Trailers on tractor trucks as compared to standard 5 axle semi trailer-trucks with one trailer. Combinations of LCVs are:

Turnpike double - two 40 ft trailers or longer up to 53 footers

53 foot turnpike double

Rocky Mountain doubles - one 40 ft trailer or longer and another shorter trailer usually a 28-foot (pup)

Rocky Mountain Double

Triple trailer - three 28.5 ft pups

Triple trailer three 28.5 foot pups

B-Train - 33 foot max twin trailer that shares a tridem wheel set between the front and back trailer.

B-train 33 foot trailers

STAA doubles pups - two 28.5 ft trailers

STAA double pup 28.5 foot trailers

LCVs are useful because they usually carry extra freight in terms of square and cubic feet capacity as well as weight capacity; because of the extra axles it spreads out the weight across a longer area. They're also more efficient based on Ton-mileage.

In the United States some states allow certain combinations on certain routes. In the western United States LCVs are allowed on many Interstate highways. The only LCVs allowed nationwide are STAA doubles.^[2]

States that allow long combination vehicles

MAP-21 transportation bill

Future combinations are under study and consideration to be allowed on the National Network. These new standards were scheduled to be released in November 2014.

Federal Bridge Weight Formula

Distance in feet between any group of two or more axles ¹	Gross weight in pounds ²
Distance in feet between any group of two or more axles ¹	2 axles	3 axles	4 axles	5 axles	6 axles	7 axles
Less than 8 ³	34,000	34,000
More than 8 ⁴	38,000	42,000
9	39,000	42,500
10	40,000⁵	43,500
11	40,000	44,000
12	40,000	45,000	50,000
13	40,000	45,000	50,500
14	40,000	46,500	51,500
15	40,000	47,000	52,000
16	40,000	48,000	52,500	58,000
17	40,000	48,500	53,500	58,500
18	40,000	49,500	54,000	59,000
19	40,000	50,500	54,500	60,000
20	40,000	51,000	55,500	60,500	66,000
21	40,000	51,500	56,000	61,000	66,500
22	40,000	52,500	56,500	61,500	67,000
23	40,000	53,000	57,500	62,500	68,000
24	40,000	54,000	58,000	63,000	68,500	74,000
25	40,000	54,500	58,500	63,500	69,000	74,500
26	40,000	55,500	59,500	64,000	69,500	75,000
27	40,000	56,000	60,000	65,000	70,000	75,500
28	40,000	57,000	60,500	65,500	71,000	76,500
29	40,000	57,500	61,500	66,000	71,500	77,000
30	40,000	58,500	62,000	66,500	72,000	77,500
31	40,000	59,000	62,500	67,500	72,500	78,000
32	40,000	60,000⁵	63,500	68,000	73,000	78,500
33	40,000	60,000	64,000	68,500	74,000	79,000
34	40,000	60,000	64,500	69,000	74,500	80,000⁵
35	40,000	60,000	65,500	70,000	75,000	80,000
36	40,000	60,000	66,000⁶	70,500	75,500	80,000
37	40,000	60,000	66,500⁶	71,000	76,000	80,000
38	40,000	60,000	67,500⁶	71,500	77,000	80,000
39	40,000	60,000	68,000	72,500	77,500	80,000
40	40,000	60,000	68,500	73,000	78,000	80,000
41	40,000	60,000	69,500	73,500	78,500	80,000
42	40,000	60,000	70,000	74,000	79,000	80,000
43	40,000	60,000	70,500	75,000	80,000⁵	80,000
44	40,000	60,000	71,500	75,500	80,000	80,000
45	40,000	60,000	72,000	76,000	80,000	80,000
46	40,000	60,000	72,500	76,500	80,000	80,000
47	40,000	60,000	73,500	77,500	80,000	80,000
48	40,000	60,000	74,000	78,000	80,000	80,000
49	40,000	60,000	74,500	78,500	80,000	80,000
50	40,000	60,000	75,500	79,000	80,000	80,000
51	40,000	60,000	76,000	80,000⁵	80,000	80,000
52	40,000	60,000	76,500	80,000	80,000	80,000
53	40,000	60,000	77,500	80,000	80,000	80,000
54	40,000	60,000	78,000	80,000	80,000	80,000
55	40,000	60,000	78,500	80,000	80,000	80,000
56	40,000	60,000	79,500	80,000	80,000	80,000
57	40,000	60,000	80,000⁵	80,000	80,000	80,000

¹ Calculated values reflect FHWA policy of rounding down when distances fall exactly between 6-inch (15 cm) increments.^[3]
² Calculated values reflect FHWA policy of rounding down when weights fall exactly between 500 pound increments.^[4]
³ Tandem axle by definition.^[5]
⁴ Distances between 8 feet (2.4 m) to 8 feet 11 inches (2.72 m) may not be rounded down.^[3]
⁵ __ Maximum legal weight limit based on number of axles. Increased axle lengths beyond these do not increase maximum legal weight.^[5]
⁶ __ Exception to the formula: when the four axles under consideration are two tandem axles spaced at least 36 feet (11 m) apart, a gross weight of 68,000 pounds (31,000 kg) is allowed.^[5]
__ Upper blank areas represent unrealistic configurations.^[4]

Container transport

Load bearing of container stacking is at the 40 foot couplings.

53' 48' 45' 40' and 20' containers stacked

ISO containers come in 5 standard sizes 20's, 40's, 45's, 48's, and 53 footers. They can be stacked, provided that the anchor points line up - for example a 40 ft container on top of two 20 ft containers placed in line. 2 x 20 ft containers can NOT be stacked on a 40 foot as the centers would not be supported.

Container Ships

Container ships only take 20's, 40's and also 45's above deck. 90% of the containers on container ships are 40 footers.

Forty-five-foot containers stacked above deck

Trains

Intermodal container trains in America come in 2 varieties foreign and domestic container trains.

Domestic

Domestic intermodal trains Carry 53 footers plus Trailer-on-flatcar and they travel throughout North America

Foreign

Foreign intermodal trains carry 20's, 40's, and 45's to and from Container ports to import or export intercontinentally.

Container Carriers

Americas largest container carriers JB Hunt, Schneider National, and Swift don't own a single 40', 45', or 20' foot container making intercontinental shipping through them impossible. All the 40' shipping container companies are foreign like Maersk, MSC, or CMA CGM or they are container leasing companies in America like Textainer or Triton and none of these carriers network out American exports well. Intercontinental container shipping is Full container load shipping and that's in contrast to less than trailer load shipping.

References

↑ https://www.testquestionsandanswers.com/cdl/combination-vehicles-test.html
↑ https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/tswstudy/Vol3-Chapter3.pdf
1 2 "Questions and Answers about Vehicle Size and Weight". Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
1 2 "Bridge Formula Weights Calculator". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
1 2 3

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