Just When You Thought There Wasn't Another Ounce Of Fun To Be Had Or Another Drop Of Information To Be Remembered, It Doubles And Triples

Today I took a test to add the Doubles and Triples endorsement to my CDL. This means I will be qualified to drive the vehicles seen in the photos below. Well....qualified might be a little too strong of a word; let's just say licensed.



One website reported, "triple-trailer trucks can operate in 16 U.S. states (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana Toll Road, Kansas Turnpike, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio Turnpike, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Utah) and in Manitoba, Canada. In all these locations, triples share a common denominator: they have the best safety record of any vehicle on the highways. This is not the exception, but the rule, according to official state records. For example, after a thorough review of their experience with triples, the Oregon Public Utility Commission announced that triple-trailer trucks were three times safer than other vehicles on the road."

And more importantly, according the Big Dogs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in their 2004 Large Truck Crash Overview report, "...doubles (truck tractors pulling a semi-trailer and a full trailer) were only 3% of trucks involved in both fatal and nonfatal crashes and triples (tractors pulling three trailers) accounted for less than 0.5% of all trucks involved."

Well. My mother will certainly be happy to hear that.