Backbone of distribution

Courtesy Photo | Staff Sgt. James Speegle, a sergeant of the 89th Trans. Co., 260th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, and native of Fayetteville, W. Va., gives direction to a driver in order to connect a Container Handling Unit of a Palletized Load System to a container. This process is a very detailed one and takes a lot of practice to master the steps. Once the CHU is in place, the Material Handling Equipment's suspension will pick the container up and place it on the truck with just a flip of a toggle.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

06.15.2009

Courtesy Story

3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - Children are naturally inquisitive and observant, asking questions ceaselessly and sometimes calling attention to the obvious, oftentimes to the chagrin of their parents. "Why is that man's nose so big?" While they are not always embarrassing, questions help satisfy a child's innate curiosity, such as when one child was shown a picture of a Palletized Load System. He first said "that's a big truck," but then he added, "It looks weird, why does it look like that?" A good question, as the PLS is indeed odd looking, but it is also touted as the backbone of the Army's distribution and resupply system. The PLS is a very mission capable truck and fairly recently, the 89th Transportation Company inherited sixty of them.

For two and a half of the company's four deployments, the M915 tractor trailer has been the truck used by the 89th. Traditionally an M915 company, the 89th had to take extra measures in learning to operate the PLS. Like the M915, the PLS can carry containers and all classes of supplies on long and short haul missions, however, that is where the similarities stop. Unlike the M915, the "tractor" part of the PLS is integrated with the "trailer" part. The cab of the tractor is situated in front of the motor and the first two axels in a design that dates back to the 1950's.

In the mid-1950's, the Army started looking for a better cargo truck; one that could traverse all types of terrain, carry more equipment and keep up with its highly mobile combat forces. To do that, the Army turned to commercially owned companies that designed earth moving equipment. Beating out two other companies, Caterpillar won the contract with their design of the M520 "Goer". The Goer was an 8-ton cargo truck that had articulating steering and amphibious capabilities. It was first used in service during the Vietnam War, but its lack of suspension and slow top speed made it inadequate for traveling on hardened surfaces.

In the 1980's, the Army replaced the Goer with Oshkosh's Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. The PLS is a variant of the HEMTT and entered the service in 1993, first being used in Bosnia by the 1st Infantry Division. The PLS can carry its loads on a demountable flat rack and uses a hydraulically powered hook arm to lift or lower the flat rack. This greatly reduces the need for any type of material handling equipment such as a crane or a forklift. It also comes with a trailer that is also equipped with a flat rack that is interchangeable with the one on the truck.

Spc. Michael Moore, a native of Deer Park, Texas, and operator of a PLS states, "it's easy to pick up loads with the PLS. You don't have to wait for a fork lift; you just pick up the load and go." Oshkosh advertises that "without leaving the cab, the driver can load or unload the truck in less than one minute, and do the same for both truck and trailer in less than five minutes." "The CTIS is nice too" Moore said. The CTIS, or Central Tire Inflation System, allows the operator to change the amount of air in the tires with just the touch of a button.

The design of the PLS also has some added benefits unseen before Operation Iraqi Freedom. With Improvised Explosive Devices causing so much damage to the flat underside of the HMMWV's, the Army began utilizing V-shaped hulls for the new Mine Resisted Ambush Protected vehicles. The cab for the PLS is already V-shaped, and would help deflect any blast that happened underneath it. With the cab in front of the tires, any pressure plate activated IED's would explode after the cab has passed it, minimizing the exposure of the drivers to the blast. The same would go for IED's active by heat signatures. The heat signature from the motor is also behind the cab. Spc. Donald Blandini, a Saugus, Mass., native, said "I feel safer in a PLS compared to a 915. It's a better concept."

While it does have advantages, the PLS comes with its share of disadvantages. The most glaring is its turning radius. The PLS has a turning radius of over 60 feet. That's more than double the average automobile, and 10 feet longer than a semi truck with a 50 foot trailer. This makes it very difficult to maneuver in tight areas, especially in supply yards. While considerably better than the Goer, the suspension system of the PLS leaves little to be desired. The cost of maintaining a 10-wheel drive vehicle with many moving parts can also be very expensive and time consuming.

The 89th Transportation Company is moving forward to take advantage of the many logistical advantages the PLS offers. An additional advantage is the Container Handling Unit. The CHU is like a big hand that can pick up a container without a flat rack. Some trucks also come with a Material Handling Crane to allow loading of other various pieces of cargo.

Soon, the 89th Transportation Company will be going back to Ft. Eustis, Virginia and back to its fleet of M915's. Until then, the unit will make full use of these multipurpose trucks and the versatile drivers assigned to drive them. Though it has been described as "weird looking", the PLS lives up to its claim as the backbone of the Army's distribution and resupply system.

• Date Taken: 06.15.2009
• Date Posted: 07.07.2009 08:20
• Story ID: 36065
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ