Dump Trucks in DFW Area

[Jim B]

I recently returned from a trip to Dallas, TX, with the High School Robotics Team where they were participating in the VEX World Robotics Championships.  In our daily commute from where we were staying in Garland to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas we traveled on the construction site that is also know as I-635.  Being a truck modeler I was particularly interested in the equipment being used, and one thing I noticed was that most (if not all) of the dump trucks being used on the site had sleeper cabs.  My first thought was that they might have been tractors converted to dump trucks, but I don't think that's the case as it appeared to be across manufactures & companies.  I wish I had gotten some decent shots.  Perhaps someone from Texas could explain why they do this.

Thanks.

[keyser]

Oil fields and sites in bfe take a long time to get to and back. TX is a big place. 

[Jim B]

Good point.  Probably see some of these in Montana & Alaska.  Not so much Rhode Island. ?

[Fabrux]

Were they actual sleeper cabs, though? PACCAR and DTNA offer small sleeper looking extensions that are extra storage. Very common for logging, scrap metal haulers, etc around these parts.

[Fat Brian]

Another could be that they were converted to run on compressed natural gas. Depending on the type and design of the tank rack it can look very sleeper-like at a distance. 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Fat Brian

[Jim B]

I don't think they were CNG tanks as they were integrated with the cabs.  At least on the ones I saw.  They weren't the big 60" bunks, though.  Probably more like 36" or 48".  It was hard to tell.

[Fat Brian]

Some Googling said it might be hazardous materials like contaminated soil that is getting transported a long distance. Either way a very odd combination with some very specific application. 

[niteowl7710]

A lot of that Oil & Natural Gas wellsite work is subject to random stupid delays (they love to break stuff in ways that shut the site down) so having a sleeper on the truck comes in handy if you have some guys get stuck on a wellpad for extended hours. They can just take their break and you don't have to send a van full of relief drivers out to "rescue" the equipment. One place I worked at doing the fresh/waste water hauling put sleepers on some of the tank trucks that were usually sent on the odd jobs like pad set up and tear down, and well cement jobs where something that should have taken 2hrs takes 15. They also came in handy when they were running the frac and would lose the tip down the hole and you'd spend your entire 12 hr shift sitting in a gravel parking lot waiting to deliver a single load of water (often times not successfully)...there's a lot of money wasted. ? 

[Jack L]

If they  are like here in Houston , they buy the cheapest used truck they can find and have a dump bed put on it !

[stavanzer]

There is a category on Driver Logs, called "Off Duty @ Wellsite", used for oilfield Class 8 Trucks. It allows a truck driver to essentially pause his "On-Duty"  70 Hour Weekly Clock, so that he can preserve his driving hours. If those dump truck work for oilfield contractors, that may explain the sleepers.

[Jim B]

That's entirely possible.  These guys these were working on a highway project, so the might work in the oilfield industry as well.

[keyser]

In TX there aren’t any places to stay in many shale areas. Costs weight, but logistics prob worth it. Tox sites all over here in TX too. Google used sleeper dumps and there’s quite a few in CN CA and TX. 

[Texas_3D_Customs]

I live in DFW and I thought this was normal, and yes LBJ (635) is always under construction and busy. I avoid it at all costs.

[Carmak]

My son was involved in FIRST robotics and our small town school went to the worlds competition for the first time when he was on the team. I know VEX is not FIRST but they are both good programs!

Carmak

 

[Jim B]

5 hours ago, Carmak said:

My son was involved in FIRST robotics and our small town school went to the worlds competition for the first time when he was on the team. I know VEX is not FIRST but they are both good programs!

Carmak

 

That's really cool!