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Show May 12, 1994 3 Hilltop Times M issile transport a complex process the trailer are steerable to ease the turning process. by Jay Joersz staff Hilltop Times with a ballistic Driving a semi-truc- k missile (minus the warhead, of course) loaded in the trailer might bother some people, but 24 truck drivers at Hill AFB do it anyway. d One of the drivers from the ICBM System Program Office, Jeff Gresham, said he feels it is no big deal and that he doesn't even give it a second thought. However, no matter how you look at it, things are still a lit- . Silo-base- tle different than simply driving an down the highway. average Just looking at a Peacekeeper missile trailer will tell you it is not an oryou may see while dinary It has 50 tires driving down rather than 18 and weighs 100,000 when it stands empty. A norpounds mal semi-trucweighs 32,000 to 36,000 when it is empty and can only legally weigh a maximum of 80,000 pounds when it is full. The Marmon Peacekeeper missile trailer is also 80 feet long, IOV2 feet wide and 14.8 feet high. When the trailer is loaded with one of the three stages of the Peacekeeper, the truck weighs anywhere from 118,000 to 205,500 pounds, depending on what stage is loaded. The Peacekeeper trailers can only handle one stage at a time, while the trailers used for Minuteman missiles can transport either one stage or all three stages at one time. The Peacekeeper truck is also equipped with a hydraulic steering system in which three of the axles on er semi-truc- k 5. k "The trailer follows extremely easily," said Gresham, who drove an 1 for eight years. "You don't have to turn as wide as you do.when you're driving a normal Gresham said driving missiles is also much different in many other k ways than driving the average r." Heavy-dut- y semi-truc- cargo. Peacekeeper missile transporter rig under the gantry crane used to load missiles onto Marmon the "There is a lot more obligation here pulling this kind of cargo," he said. "We just can't pull in anywhere when we get tired and go to sleep." Drivers transporting missiles or other explosives have many restrictions, some of which include: Must stop every two hours to do " a inspection of the vefor hicle, checking possible problems with tires, brakes, hoses, etc. Can only drive a maximum of 50 mph. D Can only drive while the sun is up. Drivers should try to stop at an Air Force base when stopping for the night, so they are in a protected environment. However, if they stay at a crew rotates four-homotel, the three-mashifts to watch the truck. Drivers are usually on the road once or twice a month on trips that take four days to two weeks or more. Normally only three of the 24 drivers are on the road at any one time. The other drivers work basically in the Missile Assembly Maintenance and Storage area, transporting missile motors wherever they need to be taken for maintenance or storage. Gresham is also the trainer for the 80-fo- ot trailer. "walk-around- n carrier JT Tl V fl ' jfi7f Hi',""" "' JT' " "l""v""' J"";" " ' ' 1 IHX. ur Photo by Chris Bojanower it is "This is an interesting job drivers, who are the only ones in the drivmore than much interesting Air Force to transport Peacekeeper just said missiles. He said it normally takes 6-- 8 ing your normal months to get a driver trained to drive Gresham, who has been driving the trucks at Hill for nine years. "I've the trucks on the highway. "No matter what their experience is been doing it for a while now and I love coming in, we train from the ground know a lot of people who would it not to I'm it. ready give up up," he said. "They all get the same to have treatment. yet." 00N8 MM tiliilltd'ih B& O v.w mm Iff you need instant cash, come see us at. . gdi" iiaM aztttDD insv m ji m m m&m 1 J tt , ,1.. uew iW..M. - oa&saas . 1 |