Athearns New 53' Wabash Duraplate Trailers

[Trucklover]

Hi guys, I FINALLY got Athearns 53' Wabash Duraplate Trailers after being on pre-order for since May 2008, i got 5 of the 6 sets i ordered, 1 of them has still not been released and is due to ship to me when it becomes in stock where i pre-ordered them. This is the WERNER Enterprises 53' trailer 2 pack, hopefully it will be shipping to me soon lol

So, as promised, here are the pictures of the trailers i got. I have to say, these trailers are BEAUTIFUL and ALMOST worth the wait LOL The small lettering is fair, being legible for the most part (in the pics below, if you cant read the lettering, its mostly due to the fact that i didnt get it focused right lol)

ALL the trailers come with 2 different trailer numbers. For each trailer there are 2 sets available, each set containing 2 trailers with 2 different trailer numbers, making a total of 4 different trailer numbers for each company in the current run by Athearn.

(Yes i used the same cab for all the trailers, i was too lazy to switch to a new cab for each of them hehehe, and also, i realize the landing gear for all the trailers are in the UP positions lol, i have not decided which trailers i will keep lowered for docks and which to raise for on the road)


KNIGHT Transportation










Schneider National










SWIFT Transportation










The DART Advantage










US Express Enterprises

[COMBAT]

Those look good. Are they expensive?

[Trucklover]

Those look good. Are they expensive?

They are very nice

I got them for $13.98 each, retail for $19.98 each i believe

[Russ Bellinis]

Josh,
Just a little info on the companies those trailers belong to. This is from memory from when I worked in the trucking industry, so I may not be totally accurate, but I think I am remembering correctly.

Dart is a common carrier, that is they haul ltl (less than trailer load) from one warehouse to another where the freight is off loaded from over the road trailers and loaded into 27 foot "pup" trailers for local delivery. I think a Dart trailer will always be pulled by a Dart tractor.

I'm not sure about Knight, I think they run all company equipment; but not ltl. I don't think I've ever seen anything but a Knight tractor pulling a Knight trailer.

Schneider is another story. They have a lot of company tractors in the orange livery, but they also ship a lot of trailers intermodal which are then picked up by owner-operators for delivery. You will usually see a Schneider tractor pulling a Schneider trailer, but you might also see an owner-operator's tractor pulling them.

Swift is a leasing company. Some of their leasers will also lease tractors from Swift which may be in Swift colors or may not be. The owners of Swift also own a Freightliner dealership, so all Swift owned tractors will be Freightliners. By the way Carl's Jr owns their own trailers, but all of their tractors are leased from Swift. They are painted in Carl's Jr graphics, but occasionally you might see a Swift tractor pulling a Carl's Jr trailer if one of the Carl's tractors is in the shop and they need to get a replacement.

US Express, I've seen, but I don't remember it too well. I think they may only have trailers, and hire owner-operators to haul them. I think they do a lot of mail contracting to haul mail and packages for the USPS, but I don't remember for sure.

[Trucklover]

The last of the trailer packs finally arrived today, the Werner Enterprises 53' trailers

here are a couple pics

[Trucklover]

Josh,
Just a little info on the companies those trailers belong to. This is from memory from when I worked in the trucking industry, so I may not be totally accurate, but I think I am remembering correctly.

Dart is a common carrier, that is they haul ltl (less than trailer load) from one warehouse to another where the freight is off loaded from over the road trailers and loaded into 27 foot "pup" trailers for local delivery. I think a Dart trailer will always be pulled by a Dart tractor.

I'm not sure about Knight, I think they run all company equipment; but not ltl. I don't think I've ever seen anything but a Knight tractor pulling a Knight trailer.

Schneider is another story. They have a lot of company tractors in the orange livery, but they also ship a lot of trailers intermodal which are then picked up by owner-operators for delivery. You will usually see a Schneider tractor pulling a Schneider trailer, but you might also see an owner-operator's tractor pulling them.

Swift is a leasing company. Some of their leasers will also lease tractors from Swift which may be in Swift colors or may not be. The owners of Swift also own a Freightliner dealership, so all Swift owned tractors will be Freightliners. By the way Carl's Jr owns their own trailers, but all of their tractors are leased from Swift. They are painted in Carl's Jr graphics, but occasionally you might see a Swift tractor pulling a Carl's Jr trailer if one of the Carl's tractors is in the shop and they need to get a replacement.

US Express, I've seen, but I don't remember it too well. I think they may only have trailers, and hire owner-operators to haul them. I think they do a lot of mail contracting to haul mail and packages for the USPS, but I don't remember for sure.

Thanks for all the info Russ

I think i have cabs for all of them, its just a matter of painting and decaling them lol

[tetters]

Some one better tell those drivers to lift up the drop legs on those suckers before they have an accident. hock:



You are amassing quite the collection of scale vehicles Josh.

[Trucklover]

Some one better tell those drivers to lift up the drop legs on those suckers before they have an accident. hock:



You are amassing quite the collection of scale vehicles Josh.

LOL thanks Tetters i know i know, but they are going to have to remain all down until i get a more permanent modules setup with some buildings as i dont know which will sit at the docks and which will on the roads with cabs hooked up to them lol. Therefore i dont want to modify there landing gears yet cuz if i need them to sit at the docks and there landing gear is in the "raised" position, they wont be able to lol

[tomustang]

Josh if you like those you should check out the bowser kits, usually less than $15 a pc

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bowser-trains.com/hocars/hwtrail/hwtrail.htm">http://www.bowser-trains.com/hocars/hwtrail/hwtrail.htm</a><!-- m -->

[Trucklover]

Josh if you like those you should check out the bowser kits, usually less than $15 a pc

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bowser-trains.com/hocars/hwtrail/hwtrail.htm">http://www.bowser-trains.com/hocars/hwtrail/hwtrail.htm</a><!-- m -->

thanks for the link Tom, i do have a few Bowser trailers too, they are nice, but they require new A-LINE tires and wheels LOL

[tomustang]

Josh if you like those you should check out the bowser kits, usually less than $15 a pc

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bowser-trains.com/hocars/hwtrail/hwtrail.htm">http://www.bowser-trains.com/hocars/hwtrail/hwtrail.htm</a><!-- m -->

thanks for the link Tom, i do have a few Bowser trailers too, they are nice, but they require new A-LINE tires and wheels LOL

I was going to buy some bowswers at the LHS, they come with wheels/tires, and some of them came with one train truck. But I picked up the werner athearn 2 pack instead

[Trucklover]

I was going to buy some bowswers at the LHS, they come with wheels/tires, and some of them came with one train truck. But I picked up the werner athearn 2 pack instead

LOL sweet Tom!!

Those ones that came with a train truck are Road Railers

[tomustang]

I was going to buy some bowswers at the LHS, they come with wheels/tires, and some of them came with one train truck. But I picked up the werner athearn 2 pack instead

LOL sweet Tom!!

Those ones that came with a train truck are Road Railers

heh, I ended up buying 2 bowser 53' Swift trailers. I actually like them just as much as the athearns since they are adjustable too

[Trucklover]

heh, I ended up buying 2 bowser 53' Swift trailers. I actually like them just as much as the athearns since they are adjustable too

I think that the Bowser Road Railers can actually be used as regular highway trailers too right?