45' Pines Trailer

Prototype Information

Pines Trailer Corporation built the 45-foot dry van to dominate the intermodal market in the 1980s. Before this, 40-foot trailers were the industry standard. New federal laws in the early 1980s allowed for longer equipment. Pines responded by designing a rugged trailer specifically for “piggyback” rail service. These trailers featured reinforced frames to survive the stress of crane lifts and long trips on railroad flatcars.

These trailers defined the “Twin-45” era of railroading. Railroads updated their 89-foot flatcars to carry two of these 45-foot units at once. Major leasing companies like XTRA and TIP bought thousands of them for national use. In 1997, Pines merged with Great Dane to create a manufacturing giant. While longer 53-foot trailers eventually took over, the 45′ Pines remains a classic icon of modern shipping history.