This is a continuation of my thoughts revolving around the 45’ trailer if you have not been following along here are the links to the first two as this is the third in the series.

Part 1

I have been thinking about 45’s

Part 2

2 X 45 =

 

On the last blog I left off as I was talking about the airline industry in regards to the progression in a pilot’s career from a single engine aircraft to a jumbo jet.  I happened to have the opportunity to talk to a good friend of mine who was a commander in the United States Coast Guard.  I asked him how size and qualifications of a ship captain would compare to the discussion in regards to qualifications to drive larger combination vehicles.

The information he began to bestow upon me was incredible. I found out that not only is there qualifications regarding ship size but also in regards to what harbors they were allowed to pilot their own ship. You have to be qualified to pilot a ship in each individual harbor and waterway. There were also qualifications of how far you could operate a ship off of the coast.  If we were to use the same qualifications as the ship captain we would need to be qualified for different regions or cities.  This sounds preposterous at first however when you think about it, it takes a different set of skills in dense urban areas such as the northeast compared to dealing with the wide-open spaces and winds of Wyoming or the sudden dust storms that may be encountered in the desert southwest.  All of this conversation takes it a little off topic of twin 45’ trailers yet it shows that there could be a career path as a driver becomes more and more qualified to operate larger combination vehicles in different regions of our country.

Let’s take a deeper dive into this and look at the possibilities from many angles

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Henry Albert

Henry Albert is the owner of Albert Transport, Inc., based in Statesville, NC. Before participating in the "Slice of Life" program, Albert drove a 2001 Freightliner Century Class S/Tâ„¢, and will use his Cascadia for general freight and a dry van trailer. Albert, who has been a trucker since 1983, was recognized by Overdrive as its 2007 Trucker of the Year.

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