Analysis of the Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey for Trucks ... - About

7.2 Observations on Specific Truck Configurations and Body Types
In order to verbally summarize each of the 1997 configuration/body types shown in Appendix E,
the following rating scales were used in the review that follows in Section 7.3. The scales
defined below were used to make generalizations about the operational characteristics of the
various configuration/body type groups and to provide a means of comparison between
configuration/body types.
# Key words and their percentage indication
- most (mostly) means more than 80%
- many (mainly) means 61 to 80%
- half means 41 to 60%
- some means 20 to 40%
- few (infrequently) means less than 20%
# Sample size
- very small— less than 100
- small—100 to 250
- good—251 to 500
- large—501 to 1000
- very large—greater than 1000
# Weigh-out means operation at a gross weight of 80,000 lbs. or more as shown on the
cumulative percentage chart for average weight.
# Base of Operation - uses the percentage definitions above and applies them to the percent
of the vehicles that have the following travel characteristics:
- mostly intra-state travel; means less than or equal to 20% of annual VMT out-ofstate
- mainly out-of-state travel; means 61%- 80% of annual VMT out of state
- mostly out-of-state travel; means 81% or more of annual VMT out of state.
# Range of Operation - Percent of VMT used in different lengths of haul
- short haul lengths mean less than 100 miles
- very long haul lengths mean greater than 500 miles
# Width of Trailer
- narrow means 96 inches
- wide means 102 inches
# Overall Length of Vehicle
- short means less than 65 feet (bumper to tailgate)
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