Rental truck to tow pintle equipment trailer with air brakes?

[LCA078]

There a number of decently priced equipment trailers that go at the Ritchie Bros auction in Dallas and Houston and I'm wondering if if I can get a one-way rental truck that has air brake connections I can use to pull it to San Antonio. I do a lot of travel for work and can easily jump off the plane at DFW or Houston and pick up the trailer...if I could a rental truck with airbrake connections.

I put a request on Uship to pull it down for me but the only takers were hotshot guys who would load the equipment trailer on their own gooseneck which requires additional loadout and unload expenses. Doesn't seem like anyone was willing to grab it and pull it directly because I assume they're worried about blow outs and mechanical reliability on a used trailer that's a dozen or more years old.

And yes, I know I 'can' use my M923 but it still has the rock-hard 11.00r20's duals and I don't have the time right now to make this into a weekend adventure (Feel free to bash me on why I bought a 5-ton then...)

Long story short, my question is does anyone know of a one-way truck rental I can use to pull an air brake pintle trailer?

 

[Lukes_deuce]

Its a hard combo your after. I know local to me, I use Herc rentals for heavy equipment. They have a huge inventory and you can return at different sites if prearranged. Never did a one way rental like your doing. Maybe try a bigger national leasing company like Ryder, Penske, etc and look for a tractor with a pintle hook.

 

[LCA078]

Its a hard combo your after.

Yeah, I'm not having much luck. Was hoping someone had a good answer but not holding my breath.

 

[charlesmann]

Yeah, I'm not having much luck. Was hoping someone had a good answer but not holding my breath.

have you tried enterprise rental? i was turning our pilot truck a few yrs ago and the drop off lot had airbrake equipped box and stake bed trucks for rent. un sure of cost, but I'm sure going from big city to big city, I'm sure it can be arranged for a 1 way drop, especially if the drop city has the same type of equipment.

 

[fasttruck]

Naturally it would help if you are getting a civilian trailer and what kind of 12v light plug it has, SAE 7 pin being the most common. If you get a military trailer like some of the USMC M332s that went up in Calia recently for $3500-4000, you will need a military 24 v plug which reduces your options.

 

[charlesmann]

Wireless, or wired tow lights would be a legal work around to the 12 to 24 v issue.

 

[Ram1911]

It would depend on how heavy the trailer is, but if it was not too big, you could tow it with caged brakes behind a large enough truck, where the truck becomes a ballast tractor.

 

[LCA078]

Caging the brakes and using a regular truck is not a bad idea. I thought about using my 1-ton truck to pull a trailer but the trailers I was looking at are fairly stout and heavy, even unloaded.

 

[fasttruck]

Reference posts 7 and 8: The applicable FMVSS, which most states have adopted by reference to keep the highway trust $ coming in, requires any trailer RATED for over 3000 pounds to have an operational service brake whether air, air over hydraulic, electric or what have you. This is why all the larger U Haul trailers have a surge brake. Your post suggests that this is a pintle rather than a 5th wheel trailer ? I had a 5th wheel trailer brought 660 miles by a "power only" brokered hauler so if you can find one with a pintle hook that might work. If you have a M105 or such trailer that will fit in the U Haul then rent a truck and trailer and haul it home. Otherwise fire up your M 923 and go get it.

 

[LCA078]

Thanks for all the info and yes, I was looking at tag-along pintle equipment trailers to use behind the M923 for local equipment moves. But I decided to hold off on getting one as there are other 'priorities' for my toys. What I didn't mention in my original post is that I fly (or used to fly) a lot through Dallas and Houston for business. I was thinking I could get off there on my way home, get the rental truck, pickup the trailer, and make the trip to Austin without much need to do the 500-600 mile round trip in my 5 ton. (by the way, I keep my 5-ton in San Antonio at my Dad's shop for now so not a simple get-in-and-go mission). Just way simpler to jump off the flight home but without the easy ability to rent a truck set up for trailer air brakes, it's more a hassle in the end. And like I mentioned before, I 'can' cage the brakes and use my regular 1-ton truck but that does not at all say I 'should' do it.

 

[Lukes_deuce]

Thanks for all the info and yes, I was looking at tag-along pintle equipment trailers to use behind the M923 for local equipment moves. But I decided to hold off on getting one as there are other 'priorities' for my toys. What I didn't mention in my original post is that I fly (or used to fly) a lot through Dallas and Houston for business. I was thinking I could get off there on my way home, get the rental truck, pickup the trailer, and make the trip to Austin without much need to do the 500-600 mile round trip in my 5 ton. (by the way, I keep my 5-ton in San Antonio at my Dad's shop for now so not a simple get-in-and-go mission). Just way simpler to jump off the flight home but without the easy ability to rent a truck set up for trailer air brakes, it's more a hassle in the end. And like I mentioned before, I 'can' cage the brakes and use my regular 1-ton truck but that does not at all say I 'should' do it.

Ive towed a 12 ton tag trailer weighing 5000 pounds with my 2016 ram 2500 with very crappy electric brakes and it was ok to nerve racking. I didnt have the braking capability i needed, even empty.

I did keep an eye open for ideas. Ive seen a lot of rental equipment places have the Ford F750s dump trucks with air to the rear for tag trailers. I rented one recently. I asked for a 33k GVW F750 so it has air brakes and I ended up with a F750 rated at 26k. But it had air brakes and air to the rear! Go figure. The thought crossed my mind about using it to tow my 923 on a tow bar if it ever broke down, but I might go with the bigger tandem dump for that.