Dominant Logistics
Better Cannibalization With Trailers
One can't help but marvel at the many uses to which trailers can be employed in the military but I think one of the trailer's greatest potential roles is one that has been left out of the equation entirely. Everyday, members of the military strip parts from vehicles that are currently inoperative in order to install those parts on another vehicle that needs repair. This process is called cannibalization and it is an unfortunate fact of military maintenance.
Unlike in the civilian world, the Army can't just run on down to Hertz every time it can't get a part for a HMMWV. We limit this problem by allowing units to maintain stocks of repair parts but there is a limit to how many parts can be kept on a practical level. After all, under normal conditions, most parts rarely fail on military vehicles. But we also need to consider the fact that military units often operate under conditions that are anything but normal.
Of particular concern is the damage that can be wrought on a vehicle by mines. Even small anti-personnel mines can inflict massive damage on a military truck but this isn't the type of situation that stocks of repair parts are capable of dealing with. And this is where trailers can play a vital role if we are willing to design them properly.
We want trailers to have performance similar to that of the truck by which it is being towed. For example, we want it to have the same amount of ground clearance so that we know if the truck clears an obstacle, the trailer will clear as well. The easiest way to accomplish this is to simply use components that are compatible but an alternative exists that could be very beneficial to a deployed unit. What if we used the exact same components on the trailer as we do on the trucks?
By this I mean using virtually everything - suspension, steering, axles, wheels, hubs, the works - on the trailer that is also used on the truck. With this approach, if a critical component is needed immediately, it can be taken from a trailer as opposed to taking it from a truck. Ideally, we want to use the components of the front axle of the truck; this way, if a truck hits a mine, the bulk of the necessary parts to repair it can be taken from the least needed trailer. By using the same components on both the trailer and the truck, similar performance levels will be an added advantage.
Obviously, this is not the cheapest, nor is it necessarily the most practical, way of dealing with the issue of cannibalization. This will make trailers more expensive, more difficult to maintain, and also heavier. But it also provides a method for having these critical parts on hand without overburdening the parts inventory of the unit. It simply isn't practical for every unit to keep on-hand the full spectrum of parts that could conceivably be damaged in a mine blast that may never occur. But this isn't the only time when these parts could be used either.
Crash damage is common to the front end of vehicles when driving off-road, a normal practice of military life. This plan would provide a source of nearly all the critical components needed to repair the damage of a frontal crash. These are also the parts most likely to be damaged by the terrain when operating off roads. And these are also the only parts outside of the body and engine areas that actually wear out on many military vehicles. We typically don't drive these vehicles far enough to wear out brakes, transmissions, and drivelines but the front suspension and steering take an awful pounding from constant use off-road.
Ideally, we need to do everything we can to limit the practice of cannibalization. It is very wasteful of limited labor resources as every repair involving cannibalization is performed twice - once on the vehicle to be repaired and once on the vehicle providing the part. But we also need to recognize that in military life, it is a necessity at times. Nothing short of carrying a completely disassembled version of every military system will ensure that every possible needed part will be on-hand when needed. This will never be practical but since we tow trailers along for the ride, only to park them until we redeploy, it only makes sense to build them as a source of parts that can potentially meet our critical needs.