Dry van trucking in California, from the harbor to the valleys

What California shippers put in a van

Much of it started on a ship. Containers unloaded at the San Pedro Bay ports are trucked a short way inland, opened at transload warehouses in Ontario, Fontana, Riverside and San Bernardino, and the cartons are restacked into 53 foot vans bound for stores and distribution centers across the West. Furniture, apparel, small appliances, toys, housewares and auto parts all travel this way, and that reloaded import freight fills a large share of the vans leaving Southern California.

The second stream is food that does not need a reefer. The San Joaquin Valley cans tomatoes and fruit, hulls and packs almonds and walnuts, dries raisins and bottles wine, and all of it rides in a dry van once it is sealed in a can, a case or a bag. Going the other way, vans carry empty cartons, labels, bottles and pallets of packaging to the packers around Stockton, Modesto, Fresno and Visalia before each harvest, and to the packing sheds of the Salinas Valley.

The California rules that touch a 53 foot van

California caps width at 102 inches, the width of a standard van, and allows 14 feet of height, although anything over 13 feet 6 inches may only use roads where the driver judges the clearance safe. Most vans are built to that 13 feet 6 inch line, so a standard trailer stays inside the rule.

The rule drivers talk about is the kingpin setting. On the national network and terminal access routes, a 53 foot trailer is legal when the kingpin sits no more than 40 feet ahead of the rear axle on a tandem, or 38 feet on a single axle, and a city or county can tighten that to 38 feet on its own streets.

That is why California drivers slide the tandems forward before they roll, and why we ask how the weight sits in the trailer: sliding the axles changes how much of the load each one carries.

Gross weight is 80,000 pounds without a permit, with single axles held to 20,000 and a tandem group to 34,000. The California Highway Patrol runs the scales, and a truck must pull in wherever the signs tell it to. Vans entering from Arizona, Nevada or Oregon also stop at a Department of Food and Agriculture border protection station, where inspectors look for invasive pests, so a bill of lading that names the commodity plainly saves time at the line.

Where our vans run in and out of California

Inside the state, the lanes we run regularly tie Stockton, Visalia and Salinas to Southern California: Stockton and Salinas vans head for Los Angeles, Visalia loads come down to the Inland Empire while vans go back up the valley on the Visalia lane. Short hauls across the basin, from the Inland Empire to docks in Commerce and City of Industry, are regular work for our own tractors too.

Across the state line, vans leave Southern California regularly for Las Vegas, for El Paso and up Interstate 15 to St. George, Utah, while Phoenix vans come home to the basin on Interstate 10. Bay Area loads down to Los Angeles, Inland Empire vans up to Fresno and the Salinas Valley, and runs out to the Coachella Valley reach our desk several times a year, and we quote vans to Eureka, Redding and every other corner of the state.

Grades, chain controls and the fall rush

Caltrans posts chain controls on the passes our vans climb: Interstate 5 over Tejon Pass, better known as the Grapevine; Interstate 15 over Cajon Pass; State Route 58 near Tehachapi; and, farther north, Interstate 80 over Donner Pass, US 50 over Echo Summit and Interstate 5 north of Redding.

When controls go up, a heavy truck has to mount chains on a drive axle and on one trailer axle if the trailer has brakes, and there is no snow tire exemption. A storm on the Grapevine can stop traffic for hours, so on winter loads we watch the forecast and move appointments before the road decides for us.

Summer and fall bring a different squeeze. From midsummer into October the Central Valley harvest and canning season pulls trucks toward the packing plants, and the same months are peak season for imports headed to store shelves before the holidays, which fills Inland Empire docks. Booking a few days ahead in those months keeps a van on your date.

What the dispatcher asks before booking a van

Give us the pallet count and pallet size, the total weight, and whether the freight is stackable or floor loaded. Tell us the dock hours, any appointment at either end, and whether the shipper live loads or can have a trailer waiting; for receivers with steady volume, drop trailer service lets a loaded van sit at the door until the crew is ready. Our pallet calculator helps if you are unsure whether a load fills the floor.

At pickup the shipper seals the doors and writes the seal number on the bill of lading, and the receiver checks that number before breaking it. From the first call until the signed delivery receipt comes back to you, the same dispatcher tracks the truck, answers your calls and handles any change at the dock.