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GHT I TRA
The Raven brothers' newest skeletal slider looks certain to interest every large Continental and British rental fleet. Bryan Jarvis explains why.
If fleets are wondering what they're going to replace their ageing sliding skeletal trailers with, they should take a close look at the Ravens' newest design.
It keeps to the European 4.0m limit, is extremely versatile and will meet all current and planned legislation for container traffic, here and abroad.What more can you want ?
Eurogo offers all the benefits of the 'modem' UK/ European container carrier, meets and exceeds the EU directive 96/53 and provides many added advantages, such as extra versatility. low maintenance, user friendliness and durability.
Ravens Trailers' highly original chassis design combines new Eco 'nested' twist-lock beam systems along with its proven Lock & Go slider. It's a feature which earned the brothers Innovation and Fleet awards in recent Commercial Motor Trailer of the Year competitions.
But the Raven brothers always believed that the international container market needed a truly Europeanised slider which would exceed EU directive 96/53 requirements with regard to axle and trailer king pin loading — and would suit all EC markets.
The UK wasn't a problem on overall height, but the 4.0m European benchmark certainly was. So instead of positioning ISO twist-lo above the chassis frame, they decided to u twist-lock beams that could be nested inte grally — inside the chassis frame.
With this in mind, they acquired the rig), to some early Contar designs and set abou integrating them into their wholly new Eu sliding skeletal. Last year. the result was granted worldwide patents and by the Nel Year. they are confident it will also have fu European Type Approval, too.
Having visited the recent RAI show. the brothers believe that.in the light of EC95/ and the existing 4.0m limit, their Eurogo sl will be only one of a few multi-purpose Eu pean container chassis able to carry a heav (20-tonne-plus) 20ft box legally."The rest will struggle to meet the 20% minimum loading over the fifth wheel," says managing director Kevin Raven. "But our design offers a huge 30% loading tolerance — a third more than that required to give normal braking performance and correct axle loadings."
The three-piece section is of a simple ladder construction with two 1-beams, twist-locks in the usual positions and a centre cross-tube which accepts the main gooseneck section. The rear comprises a single central boxsection that extends pneumatically.
It runs on standard wide singles and, being just mudwing height, will accept high-cube containers and keep to the 4.0m limit."But, like every original Raven slider, it uses our patented twin air-actuated fifth wheel locking system," says sales director Paul Raven.-So whatever size of container it carries, it will never separate accidentally, and is totally safe."
Key features
Fundamental to the design is the pair of multipositional arms with rotating twist-locks at the front These former Contar devices are familiar in Europe and well proven. The Eco nested twist-locks have flat, recessed locking handles that twist and lift prior to pulling the beam into the required position. They're much easier to use than the old loose-ended designs. and a driver won't have to rummage inside a dark cabinet for them, nor fumble with them on a cold, dark night.
Eurogo offers maximum utilisation. It can haul one or two 20ft boxes;a 30ft;40ft ISO tanks or box containers; or a 13.6m swap body. It will also take 45ft standard or high-cube boxes but, by positioning the twin 20s or a 40ft container further forward, the cab-to-box gap is cut by some 58% for lower wind resistance.
When carrying very heavy 20ft containers, the bogie extends to give correct weight distribution, and this movement can also help when discharging 20ft or 30ft tankboxes.
"Our gooseneck Eurogo will be able to operate legally anywhere between Scotland. Italy and Russia." say the Ravens,"and hauling heavy 20ft tankers isn't a problem, either. Not many others will be able to do the same."
Extra benefits
Ravens' unique chassis offers many additional advantages. It can accept underslung sparewheel frames,so operators running on regular 385/65R 225 wide singles, and not expensive ultra-wide 40 or 45-aspect megas, can offset some of the cost of having a blow-out sorted by a dealership or national tyre rescue firm.
It will take a generator to power a reefer box's fridge unit, which means there's no need to send the skellies to a nearby gen-set lifting station and lose time queuing to have a set mounted and connected, then having the unit removed later.
"Our Eurogo will take also take two tanktainers at a time, empty or full," says Kevin Raven,"which promises more reloads per working day than ever before. Five reloads a week,charged at £150 apiece, will save nearly £40,000 a year,just using it as a tank carrier," he points out. Most UK sliding skeletals couple at 1,250mm and have a 25Ornm deep neck, but Ravens' new Eurogo is around 6% lower, so a lower frontal area should save on fuel.With twin 20fts or a single 401t,the smaller gap behind the cab should improve mpg even more."Compared with a standard UK-built slider, the Eurogo will be more expensive," says Paul.`sbut its potentially lower running costs will help to offset the initial purchase price or any long-term leasing charges."
There's also the attraction of being able to haul containers anywhere in Europe without having to worry about axle weights or height limits.
Despite their product's massive UK and indeed worldwide potential. the brothers don't intend getting into the cut-throat volume market manufacturing again.
"The 500 Lock'n'Go models have worked non-stop in the UK container transport market for large and small hauliers alike," Kevin points out. "They're all out of their five-year warranty,but there haven't been any real problems.They've held their value, too, so it must have been a good product."
So where and when will the new trailers be built? "Well, we're not going into mass production, that's for sure." he adds."But we have set up a small production unit in Eye. Suffolk. and it has already taken orders for around 10." If the initial Continental interest increases, the Ravens may license the design to another similar specialist manufacturer elsewhere in Europe.
There is no unladen weight for the Eurogo, but they may turn to one particular Continental trailer specialist to slim down some areas of the frame, in return for which they'll grant a licence for production.
Fleet operators and major rental groups are sure to focus on this new design from RavensTrailers,particularly those that purchased large numbers of standard sliders and tank-carrying skeletals some years ago. basing them in the UK and other European countries.
With its key features of nested twist-lock beams and frame locking mechanism,this important new slider design has huge earning potential in this vital niche area of international haulage. benefiting the Raven brothers and their customer& •