THE 80'S, PT2

A look back at Hillsdale in the 80's...

Looking more like the 70's, the shop parking lot is full of work trucks.

Another old work truck sits outside the shop, this one with a crane for installing signals and other small structures.

Several company tractors sit in the lot, along with trailers.

Another semi tractor and trailer sit off to the side. Like the other two van trailers, it is 45' in length.

A close-up of one of the trailers shows the 5' extension added on to the end, where the stacked "45" logos advertise the new length. After the federal government began allowing 45' trailers on interstate highways in 1983, many 40' intermodal trailers received this treatment until the late 80's, when the length limit was stretched to 48'. Even then, many railroads continued to invest in 45' trailers into the early 90's, as many customers didn't need bigger trailers. Plus overall length limits on semis kept initial acceptance of 48' trailers low. Today, of course, most box trailers are 53' long -and so are domestic containers.
 Availco was one of many trailer leasing companies from the 80's; they gave railroads the ability to offer trailer service without having to actually purchase (and maintain) the trailers themselves.