Dry Van ...OR Conestoga? Your Thoughts?

Hey Drivers, I am considering a new dry van ,.. but....the recent popularity and ubiquitousness of the conestoga trailers is giving me pause. Hold up Nellie! Maybe a conestoga would be a good way to get a good mix of flatbed and van loads...Am I wrong here?? I have exp in both, vans and flatbed trailers. Flatbed, for the most part, gets loaded and unloaded much quicker...most of the time. Van loads, as we all know, can take many hours. So Im hoping for a nice mix of loads. Also, do brokers get it yet? do they know what a conestoga is or can offer?

Let me know the pluses and minuses. BUT PLEASE DO NOT START ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER. NO PERSONAL ATTACKS ON EACH OTHER. JUST TRUCKS PLEASE.

I don't know anybody hauling dry van loads in a Conestoga. You show up with that thing and they aren't going to load you. Conestogas are for flat-bed loads. Their walls will provide no support like a dry-van trailer does.

I've pulled dry vans for more than five years OTR and have never encountered an exclusive "van-type load" on a conestoga trailer anywhere. I've hauled lots of products that are typically found on a flatbed, but not the reverse as you describe.

Exactly. I pull Conestogas. I've never had a dry-van load put on me. I've seen plenty of dry-vans pulling some of the same materials as me, but I never haul the products they haul.

Thanks guys for the comments. Out west here we haul lots of commodities in big sacks or palletized stacked bags. Like rice, and seeds. Also tomato paste...ships in 4x4x4 plywood boxes. (they have an antiseptic mylar bag inside full of delicisous tomato paste! Ships world wide) But we load vans, shipping containers and flatbed with these boxes. So a conestoga would be an easy yes.

Also, I ran into a couple of guys at the fuel pumps with conestogas and they have hauled all kinds of "dry van" loads,(dog food, bottled water etc).. They just have to load differently ie flatbed style, from the sides.....I guess nobody wants a forklift driving on a flatbed trailer from a loading dock..Yikes!

So OLD SCHOOL, you stated that, ""I've seen plenty of dry-vans pulling some of the same materials as me, but I never haul the products they haul."" so you've seen dry vans with steel coils and re-bar? LOL...but serioulsy...I guess I can't haul papertowels on a conestoga because they wont load it outside?

Sometimes I haul paletized metal parts or pre-cut lengths of materials for manufacturing plants. Those work well in a dry-van.

I seldom hit the Western 11 states. Perhaps your market is a little different than mine. Most of the materials I haul are so long they have to be side load/unloaded.

Thanks guys for the comments. Out west here we haul lots of commodities in big sacks or palletized stacked bags. Like rice, and seeds. Also tomato paste...ships in 4x4x4 plywood boxes. (they have an antiseptic mylar bag inside full of delicisous tomato paste! Ships world wide) But we load vans, shipping containers and flatbed with these boxes. So a conestoga would be an easy yes.

Also, I ran into a couple of guys at the fuel pumps with conestogas and they have hauled all kinds of "dry van" loads,(dog food, bottled water etc).. They just have to load differently ie flatbed style, from the sides.....I guess nobody wants a forklift driving on a flatbed trailer from a loading dock..Yikes!

So OLD SCHOOL, you stated that, ""I've seen plenty of dry-vans pulling some of the same materials as me, but I never haul the products they haul."" so you've seen dry vans with steel coils and re-bar? LOL...but serioulsy...I guess I can't haul papertowels on a conestoga because they wont load it outside?

We have a few dry vans hauling coils on a REGULAR here in Ohio...sadly. Not my man's company, but .. an Ohio company. Loaded 'suicide' style, I guess you'd call it.

Sometimes I haul paletized metal parts or pre-cut lengths of materials for manufacturing plants. Those work well in a dry-van.

I seldom hit the Western 11 states. Perhaps your market is a little different than mine. Most of the materials I haul are so long they have to be side load/unloaded.

Onions come to mind. Why are onions on flats/connies, O/S? Pretty sure you hauled 1 or 2 of those. Just trying to learn, also!

~ Anne ~

Why are onions on flats/connies, O/S?

Anne, I know you are a good cook. So, I know you have experienced how onions make you cry when you cut them. Onions put off a gas that will cause them to spoil in the back of a sealed up trailer. That is why they haul them on flats. There are some special trailers that look similar to a dry-van, but they are ventilated so that onions can be hauled in them.

I've always wondered about the onions! Guess that would make a real stinky reefer. When I started running reefer I thought it would be only food products but I've run some odd stuff in a reefer. I've carried Michelin tires, bicycles, wagons, exercise equipment, cooking oil, insulation, even potting soil. I've carried several loads of apparel for Bloomingdales. Children wear for Carter's, and a load of Hanes underwear. I've learned if it will fit they will ship.

I guess nobody wants a forklift driving on a flatbed trailer from a loading dock..Yikes!

I haul palletized aluminum coil with a Conestoga and I back into a standard loading dock to get loaded and unloaded. Forklifts have no problems driving on and off the trailer. I just roll back the curtain. Normally my back haul s can range from Drywall, Pallets of Joint Compound, or Pallets of Bricks - which I'm currently waiting to get loaded with here in Pen Argyle P.A.