Question about Line Trucks

[thrasher]

First some background, our Cooperative is a distribution only Coop no transmission. We like everyone else are building taller and heavier distribution lines, for a variety of reasons. This in turn means heavier and longer reach booms on the digger/derrick trucks. However with DOT limiting us to a maximum of 20,000 lbs per axle, we are hitting a limit on moving poles. Traditionially we have used a single rear axle with dual tires on the back of the line truck and due to desire to be able to put out a "max" effort during storms the truck has been equipped with full bins and all tools plus some materials. Now that means we are at 19,000 lbs on the rear axle before we hook on a trailer. Consequently we can only haul 3 40 foot poles at a time without exceeding the rear axle DOT limit on our newsest and biggest Line truck.
What are other companies doing? Do you buy your digger/derricks with no bins? Do you buy digger/derricks with dual rear axles? What are others doing and what are the pros and cons?
Just trying to get some ideas before we start looking at our next truck.

[Nyblast]

Can you add an air tag axle? To the truck. Might be a good option. Check out the link.http://www.stengelbros.com/RidewellLiftAxles.htm just a thought.

[Pootnaigle]

If you are gonna haul multiple poles on a headache rack on the truck itself they require dual axles on the rear. for A trailer I aint sure as that has been all but eliminated.Most jobs only require a few poles and they are hauled on the headache rack rather than a pole trailer.A single axle truck can only carry one pole at a time here.Using the headache rack one doesnt really need a guard vehicle following behind, The excess can be loaded in front of the cab.Plus a dual axle truck usually can go where a single just wont make it... I am of course speaking about distribution stuff here.Transmission poles are a whole nuther ballgame.

[heelwinch]

If your moving 50's or better all the time, a tandem axle truck is what you need.

That's all I ever dealt with for the most part ( transmission) and that's all we ever had for trucks over my last few years.

And like Poot said those 4 extra ballons will get you in places where you couldn't before.

[rcdallas]

Any new line trucks we get have tandem axles due to the weight issues.

[hotwiretamer]

All but one of our line trucks have tandems and all wheel drive except one.

[thrasher]

The only digger we have with a headache rack is our off-road tracked digger. We have just always used trailers. Part of this is probably because we are rural enough still, that probably half our jobs have 3 or more poles on the one job. We have built 27 poles to a single service within last three years. For those type jobs a headache rack doesn't cut it.
Thanks for the comments sounds like most are going to dual rear axles.

[lewy]

We are also a distribution only utility & most of our digger trucks & all of our double buckets are tandems with a full assortment of bins, our average pole is a 60' so we need the bigger boom. What is a headache rack?

[heelwinch]

We are also a distribution only utility & most of our digger trucks & all of our double buckets are tandems with a full assortment of bins, our average pole is a 60' so we need the bigger boom. What is a headache rack?

A rack right on the truck to carry a pole or two.

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmmmm a headache rack is device that kinda is over the cab( made of stout metal) and directly behind (it over the rear axle ) where you can load a pole with the top hanging over the cab and the butt extending behind the rear bumper of the truck.Usually the one over the cab is built a foot or so higher that the one over the rear axle. Ummmmm Yall just get a chain n drag them poles This here splainin stuff iz too hard.