I remember watching that show on Discovery (or maybe it was History) called Americas Port. They had little trucks like these in the picture below for shuttling the containers around on trailers. They all had stripes painted on the tires, I've noticed some vehicles at airports have this as well.

Is there a reason behind it, like being able to tell if the vehicle is moving or not from a distance?

Searching Google didn't bring anything up and I figured someone here might know. Just curious.

 

What I was told when I visited an airport for work, its so they don't take these vehicles/trailers on the public roads. They are not certified for road service or even registered. No safety checks performed per DOT regs..

I may have been fed a line, but it seemed like a reasonable answer.

 

You see it a lot in testing. Its an idicator to tell if the tire is locked up or not or if its spinning. Here is a video of testing on a system I got to actually check out and try myself. It works great. Check out 2:20 and you can see the white stipes doing what they are supposed to do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DoeKbpBkWQ

 

I don't beleive they have to have DOT insp's or Annual's...I've never done one, and we regularly service quite a few switchers. They all have SMV triangles, and only travel on side streets. One factory, however, has a few of them and they all have license plates, so I assume they must meet DOT cert's. I have never seen one with painted tires, however. It may be a visibility thing, makes sense.

 

A vehicle isn't subject to Federal FMCSA regulations if it doesn't cross state lines .

 

So I was fed a line then.. Hmph...

 

Negative, crossing state lines has no bearing on it. They only need to be on the highway and they need to comply.

 

I heard it was so drivers taking trailers out would not swap the new tires to their own trailers and bring it back with old tires.

 

It is an easy indicator for the driver to tell if his wheel has the brakes locked. This is a real concern on the North Slope in the winter. The brakes melt snow that allows water to drip in and around the brakes, real low minus temps will freeze that water as soon as the wheel stops making heat. Since they are on more or less ice roads it does not cause any smoke fromn dragging a tire.

 

We run into that all the time. I dunno how many times I drive an hour away to smack a guy's drum with a hammer to get him rolling

 

Nobody ever thought of painting old tires ?

 

I disagree . They may be subject to state regulations compatible to federal regulations but are not subject to Federal regulation . http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...ord=intrastate .
The same is true with labor laws . Federal EEO and wage laws do not apply to any company doing business strictly within the state .

 

Not true. I haul fuel in my state & am regulated by the FMCSA for haulin hazardous materials. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-secu...t/hm-theme.htm

 

That brings up another point . It's likely the fuel you deliver is brought in from another state . Even if a vehicle never leaves the state but handles shipments that come in from another state , that is interstate commerce under Federal Regulation . But Hazmat requirements are Federal for national security as are TWIC cards .

 

those shunt trucks I see on the road all the time. usually going from yard to yard though. some come into our shop for allison work occasionally. I'm sure they're plated and licensed though. I'll look at the next one that comes in.