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earls,n . courtu review

25th September 1970
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Page 115, 25th September 1970 — earls,n . courtu review
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

by Paul Brockington, MIMechE

WILL TIR tilts and frameless vans make a xmeback for roll-on /roll-off deliveries to the Continent? Is the big artic tipper as viable as it is cracked up to be by some makers? And will the monocoque or runnerless tipper body take over from the :onventional type with a lifting frame? Has :he demountable body the very big future that all manufacturers of demountable)ody-systems predict for it? And has the )ulk-powder and granulated-materials .rehicle reached its peak of usefulness?

Visitors to the Show may not find xinclusive answers to all or any of these iuestions but a number of the bodywork exhibits provoke relevant controversies. If the enthusiasms of the bodywork exhibitors clash there is no doubt about their enthusiasm, and it is certain that they are knowledgeably ready to cater for most eventualities.

Where have all the containers gone? Gone to deep sea, every one! When will they ever learn?

This comment (or something like it) by a bodybuilder at the Show who didn't go into containers is obviously an exaggerated appraisal of a trend. But there is undoubtedly a move back to roll-on/roll-off for Continental deliveries. TIR vehicles can carry a bigger payload than containers of equivalent capacity, their use often facilitates backloading, damage is reduced and—possibly of greatest importance—the driver of the vehicle is typically a keen and experienced agent of the company who is going to avoid delay (and trouble) if he possibly can. Moreover, TIR vehicles are less "susceptible to delay" in the event of dock labour troubles.

Bodybuilders and trailer makers who consider that roll-on/roll-off has a big future include Peak Trailers, and executives of this company are thankful that they "got out of the container business some time ago and went in for tilts". According to a spokesman of the company I met at the Show early on, the incidence of damage to containers is "terrific" and while operators would continue to use leased containers for deep-sea traffic (out of necessity) the advantages of roll-on/roll-off for Continen tal traffic would win back a lot of custom. It is perhaps significant that the company was encouraged to go ahead with its tilt programme by the interest shown in a Peak exhibit at the last Frankfurt Show.

A spokesman for Taskers was also optimistic about the future of roll-on/roll-off traffic when we were discussing the Taskers/Cravens-Homalloy Strickvan 70 series frameless 40ft articulated van. He pointed out that a lightweight alloy van of this type could carry 3 tons more than a platform semi-trailer loaded with a container or containers of equal capacity and nearly 2 tons more than containers mounted on a skeletal chassis. He claimed that building up to a specification paid-off better than building down to a price and that the interest shown in the Strickvan 70 was proof of this. According to the York Trailer company many bodybuilders and operators came to the conclusion some years ago that the growing popularity of the container would be the death knell of TIR vehicles but they were obviously wrong. And this was the view of a top executive of Booth Trailers, too.

Destined for Sweden, the Peak tilt vehicle is designed for easy manipulation of the tilt and to provide a virtually complete side-loading space. Robust drop-sides of Alusuisse light alloy extrusion are easily removable and extend well over the raves, while the tilt can readily be tensioned by spring-loaded longitudinal roof sticks. The unladen weight of the thriller is 5tons.

An exterior-post body has the decisive merit, in Taskers' view, that it is more easily repaired than an externally panelled van.

Other features of the Strickvan 70 include prepainted alloy side panels, a prestressed one-piece roof and a laminated hardwood floor. The structure is built entirely of aluminium apart from the roof bows, cross-bearers, fabricated I beams and rear posts, which are of steel.

Plywood drop-sides are employed by York on a demountable TIR tilt vehicle that is based on a trailer, equipped with twist locks, which can also be used to carry containers. Lighter than hardwood, plywood is more resistant to damage and is easier to repair.

York Freightmaster refrigerated and dry-freight frameless vans (examples of which are displayed) are now equipped with a jig-built steel underframe which affords a more robust and lighter structure than the original type. York report, like Taskers, that operators are increasingly appreciative of the economies offered by a high-quality body and that the frameless van is gaining in popularity. A van body mounted on a semi-trailer chassis is, York says, subject to racking stresses that eventually loosen the structure. In a comment on leasing trailer vans the Taskea-s spokesman said that it was obviously uneconomic if the operator had a big contract but that it was the obvious choice for an operator who was trying to find profitable work for his tractive units.

Possibly the biggest tipper news at the Show is the appearance of an Edbro light-alloy runnerless body (of 29 cu ft capacity on a Foden eight-wheeled chassis) because Edbro has always been critical of stressed body structures. The body does not, however, represent a change of mind and is only being offered to operators in response to demand. Reiterating what has been repeatedly said by Edbro technicians in the past, an executive pointed out that a suitably stiff lifting frame braced by a torsion tube in front of the hinge pins provided a torsional rigidity that was impossible to obtain with a runnerless body. The future of the tipper, in his view, lies with maximum-load four-, six-, and eight-wheeled rigids rather than articulated vehicles. While the big artic tipper (with or without a monocoque body) might be satisfactory for carrying free-flowing material for discharge on hard ground under the control of an experienced and trustworthy driver, to use an artic for a sticky load needing discharge on soft ground was asking for trouble. Typically the tractive unit was not, or could not be, lined up to discharge the load and the outfit was unstable.

In the Telehoist view the artic will increasingly be employed for tipper work and this opinion is shared by technicians of the newly formed Anthony Carrimore company, formerly the Steel Barrel Scammells (SBS) company. A Telehoist Tel-by light-alloy tipper body (that has integral lightweight longitudinals) is exhibited by Scammell Lorries on a 28ft semi-trailer chassis that is 27ft long and can carry a payload of 21 tons. And Carrimore displays a 32ft 6in runnerless body of aluminium construction on a semi-trailer chassis that could carry a payload of 24 tons as part of a 36-ton-gross outfit. Of all-steel welded construction, a new Anthony Carrimore 9 cu.yd tipper body features wide-spread U-section runners, and the body provides an interesting study of stress distribution between the runners and the box-section top rails. Telehoist has built

bodies for artics with a length of 38ft and a capacity up to 75 cu.yd for bulk loads of light refuse.

In a completely different category an Anthony Autolifts three-way tipper is equipped with a two-pin "fail-safe" hinge system that prevents destruction of the body by operation of the ram with the body pinned to the chassis. According to Anthony this is a frequent (and very costly) occurrence that has led some operators to abandon the use of three-way tippers.

While front-of-body tipping gears of the single-ram type are generally favoured by the makers of tipping gears and bodies because the use of a single ram obviates differential action and twisting of the chassis during the tipping operation, the new Telehoist Tel-link lever-type under-body gear qualifies for special mention because weight saving measures have enabled it to be lightened by around 2+ cwt and because the gear is much in demand by operators overseas. Telehoist has been making this type of gear for a long time, mainly for special applications, and a weight saving of this order could well enhance its appeal to operators engaged on normal tipper work.

Quoting a recent survey, Pengco says that the application of demountable bodies will double every year for some years. And the company's technicians are confident that the prototype of a new semi-trailer Load-O-Matic side-loading system will extend the usefulness of demountable bodies by providing for the easy transfer of two bodies from a trunking artic to rigid delivery vehicles. Models are displayed at the Show that demonstrate operation of the system at a transport depot.

The Ronway demountable system that can be seen demonstrated on the Reynolds Boughton stand is shown in more sophisticated form in the demonstration park applied to a drop-frame artic carrying two 20ft bodies. In this case a body is loaded onto the lower section of the artic by the type of system displayed on the indoor stand and is elevated to the higher level by an auxiliary ram mechanism, the final operation being winching forward to the front of the vehicle. The loading system is based on two rear-mounted chassis rams, inboard swing-down legs and front rollers, detail features including locks operated by the rains and a pin-and-V-guide centralizing device.

A demountable system on the Arlington stand is dual-purpose in that provision is made for lifting off with the aid of mechanically operated side jacks as well as built-in hydraulic rams. There are two rams at the front and one at the rear.

The Dobson demountable system, shown outdoors, is designed to lift 35 tons and is seen applied to a 40ft container. It costs around £3500 but is claimed to be a worthwhile proposition as a handling aid compared with other suitable forms of high-capacity equipment. It comprises four hydraulically-operated mobile lifting legs with a 6ft lift. They are operated by a power pack and, of special note, each unit is fitted with two horizontal rams that can be used to centre the body when it is being loaded on to the trailer.

To be seen on the Carmichael stand, a Dobson chassis-mounted system is used to lift a 20ft insulated container, the hydraulic rams being outrigged from the chassis.

A lift-off insulated body on the Sparshatt stand has attachment plates, the withdrawal of which gives access to body-mounted tubes that can be used for the application of jacks of the manually operated or hydraulic type. This body has foamed in-situ expanded polyurethane insulation and Sparshatts say that the latest foaming method obviates air pockets, the same claim being made by all of the many exhibitors displaying bodies with foamed in-situ insulation. A semi-frameless form of folded-panel construction is employed by Sparshatt which is based on a framework of mild-steel tube and aluminium extrusions.

While mechanically operated refrigeration systems predominate at the Show, Road Transport Services are displaying a 10-ton-payload insulated body on a semi-trailer that is equipped with an Air Products liquid-nitrogen system. The vehicle will be employed for multi-drop local distribution of frozen foods, and liquid-nitrogen refrigeration was stipulated by the operator because it provides virtually instant control of temperature down to 32°F, which is a big advantage when doors are frequently open for relatively long periods.

It is notable that RTS bodies of this type are constructed separately from the chassis (which facilitates production) and are easily removable so that they can readily be replaced by a spare body in the event of accidental damage. Polyurethane slabs are used for insulation, and exterior panels are of glas-reinforced plastics whiteimpregnated material which are said to improve insulation and save weight. While the RTS one-piece moulded plastics body is of special interest operationally because it has a vestibule at the front that affords driver access to the load from both sides, the considerations that determine the economics of using this form of construction are of greater long-term interest. According to RTS a high production rate would favour a moulded body more than a conventional type because it would minimize the "mould charge" on each body, and this would enable the overall cost to be considerably reduced. And production-wise the moulded body has the outstanding merit that it is built by men who all belong to the same trade.

Long in the field of moulded plastics bodies, Mickleover is displaying a 17ft reinforced plastics boxvan, designed for meat carrying, that has foamed polyurethane insulation. Following Mickleover practice, the mould employed for the body is "adjustable", and modules can be added to increase the length. Details of the body include Hubbard refrigeration equipment and Miner power-brace locking fasteners. An ISO 20ft container on the Mickleover stand has a floor of sand-impregnated epoxy resin which is overlaid with a one-piece covering of plywood.

Locomotors point out that the use of small refrigerated vans is on the increase and claim that refrigeration equipment having a compressor driven by the engine has advantages for bodies up to 2011 because it is lighter, reduces the front-axle loading and is cheaper. An alloy-framed refrigerated body is displayed on a Ford D Series chassis/cab that is fitted with a Weathertrol Model DIOE unit, which is of this type and is imported from America. The evaporator is mounted in the bulkhead and the equipment weighs only 2231b. It provides temperature control over a range of F to —50F.

Bulk-powder and animal-feed vehicles have made steady rather than revolutionary progress over the years, but this year Charrold is demonstrating its novel suck-blow vehicle outdoors (it was first displayed at the Royal Show) and the Murfitt non-tipping pressure-discharge articulated tanker is also news as well as new. The suck-blow system is designed to overcome delays at farms with inadequate loading facilities. The Mtn-fin 400 series tanker gives a payload of 21 tons with a 32-tons-gross rating, despite a rather elaborate-looking discharge system and the use of a power pack.

The restrictions on drivers' hours and the increasing cost of distributing animal feeds are also given by Charrold as factors that enhance the value of a system that can be used for loading as well as unloading without complication of the basic pneumatic system.

An important feature of the Murfitt tanker is the use of the company's poppet valve in the base of each of the four discharge hoppers (the tank is of the single-compartment type) which provide for initial pressurizing of the tank and fluidization during discharge. Air is supplied through butterfly valves to the poppet valves and the fluidized material is fed into a discharge pipe supplied separately with air.

Asked whether the demountable refuse-container type of vehicle was being usefully employed for work other than refuse collection, a member of the Sheppard Fabrications company cited a number of applications, including the carriage of cable drums, machine tools, tree stumps, recovered cars, concrete skips and liquid-carrying tanks. If a Sheppard-Meiller container handling unit is to be used for such applications it is equipped with a centre-lift beam and in effect the vehicle can then be used as a 10-ton crane. The largest Sheppard-Meiller unit at the Show comprises a 14000 Mark III model based on a Foden eight-wheel chassis having a gross rating of 24 tons. Although the legal gross payload is 13 tons 7÷ewt, the lifting capacity of the hydraulic system is considerably greater than this, which ensures that containers can be handled safely in adverse conditions.

In line with the weight-reducing measures applied to the Tel-lever tipping gear, Telehoist has reduced the weight of Load Lugger models by around a ton by using new welding techniques and high-tensile steel. The model shown is the CH401, which is an open-top container with a capacity of 8 cu yd.

Included in a number of new bodies that provide an unladen vehicle weight of under 30cwt when mated to a suitable chassis, the Penman demountable type on a Ford Transit 35cvvt chassis provides a payload of 27cwt, the rated gross weight of the vehicle being 3.2 tons. The aluminium body has a capacity of 525 Cu. ft while the weight penalty of equipping the vehicle for demounting with the aid of side jacks is 2 /3cwt. Each jack weighs about 20Ib and the jacks are readily storable on the vehicle if they are required to demount the body at the destination of a run. The body is Ford approved.

A new parcels van produced by Caravans International is based on a Commer 2500 chassis, the rear suspension of which is augmented by Aeon rubber springs. Constructed of aluminium alloy the van has a one-piece grp roof with a central translucent panel and it provides a walk-through facility from cab to load space. Interior length is 911 54 in while the height and width are oftlin. (maximum) and 6ft 6+ in. (between pillars) respectively. The unladen weight of the vehicle is appreciably under 30cwt.

While full details of the Bonallack prototype light-alloy boxvan and Luton bodies are not as yet available, both provide an unladen vehicle weight of under 30ewt, or will, do so in production form. They are panelled in Alcan ribbed alum ium sheet.

On a more personal note, Bonallack staff considers that the Saturdays of the Show are the mosi important because they are drivers' days and Bonallack recognize that driver opinion is all-important. And this relates in particular to the drivers of big vehicles, such as the Bonallack Coldsaver 4011 insulated semi-trailer which is suitable for operation up to 44 tons gtw and the Pneumajector Mark VII pressure-discharge bulk cement tanker. Such vehicles are normally driven by men of long experience of a type who take a keen interest in the latest developments at Earls Court.

Also in the under-30cwt-unladen class and a newcomer to Earls Court, a Dormobile 513 Cu. ft Luton body is suitable for mounting on Bedford CF and Ford Transit long-wheelbase chassis/cabs. Of aluminium construction, the body has a resin-bonded plywood floor and glass-fibre wheel arches. while the roof is of translucent glass fibre. The roller shutter is also of alloy.


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