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10th June 1999, Page 38
10th June 1999
Page 38
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Page 38, 10th June 1999 — safe
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

MI! hen a truck operated by a leading supermarket is involved in a major accident, its guaranteed to hit the headlines too.

It will probably make the regional TV news broadcasts, and could make national TV if the incident is serious enough. And supermarket chief executives really don't want to see shots of their trucks surrounded by emergency services vehicles sandwiched between the latest report from Kosovo and an update on the dirty doings of this week's disgraced sportsman.

Emphasis

So it's scarcely surprising that Safeway places such an emphasis on operational safety, or that it's been working so closely on accident risk reduction measures with Fruehauf; now known as General Trailers.

One happy consequence is that General Trailers' Safeway-liveried

g City Iceliner tandem-axle refriger • ated trailer won both the Safety 1., and Innovation trophies in last c c5 year's Commercial Motor Trailer of g the Year Awards.

One key feature it boasts is the .'' rail-mounted suzie system, which 1 allows the driver to couple up the g trailer and tractor without having 2

.E, to court injury by standing I. between them. Another is secur

ing pins in the rocking feet of the landing legs.

"Not every driver gets the coupling procedure exactly right, and it's always possible that the round cotter pin that goes through the landing leg will shear," says Safeway fleet engineer Roy Attree. That means a foot may be lost. "It's amazing how many landing leg feet are found lying in the road with potentially disastrous consequences for other road users," he adds. "One of those coming through your windscreen would be a catastrophe—and the securing pin that will keep the foot in place and prevent this from happening costs only 95p."

Losing a wheel in the middle of a busy motorway is at least as bad as losing a landing leg foot, so it's not surprising that City Iceliner wheels are secured with Disclocks, which are used on all Safeway trailers.

"We were the first fleet in the UK to install them, and we haven't lost a wheel since," says Attree.

He has little time for sophisticated theories about why trucks lose wheels: They lose them because the nuts aren't tight enough; that's the answer. They've got to be kept tight, and they've got to be kept clean. In other words, the operator has to be good at the basics."

Motorists—all potential supermarket trolley pushers—wouldn't thank Safeway vehicles for blinding them with spray in wet weather. Fortunately City Iceliners are equipped with aluminium sideguards with perforated infills for extra spray suppression. "They're just as effective at low speeds as they are at the motorway legal limit," says Attree. "When you're going slowly the mesh still creates a vortex that pulls the spray back between the axles. It's as effective as sideguarcls, and a tenth of the price."

The sideguards are combined with Spatz high-density mudwings: together they should give following motorists a far easier time of it. The City Iceliner also has conspicuity tape down the sides, with additional marker lights to alert other road users to its presence after dark.

Initiative

Safeway was the first supermarket to fit trailer disc brakes and E BS electronic braking in combination, says Attree, and he admits to being disappointed that this initiative didn't receive more publicity at the time. It's something that has been repeated on City Iceliner. "The drivers love the system, and report that they're noticing a definite difference in performance," he says.

As well as making a contribution to road safety, the use of disc brakes means that trailers are spending much less time in the workshop. "We have examples of trailers on B PW axles running for four or five years on the same set of linings," he reports.

How many drivers and warehousemen have parted company with the tips of their fingers because they've tried to pull down a rear roller shutter door by using the slats, and got their fingers trapped? Safeway specifies finger guards to stop this happening; but it should never happen on the City Iceliner anyway because its rear roller shutter door is electrically operated using a system supplied by JR Industries.

The idea is to prevent strained backs and pulled muscles as people stoop down on a loading dock to push a heavy door upwards, or strain every sinew to tug it shut. Unfortunately, but inevitably, you can't please everybody. "One driver has already remarked that 'those electric doors aren't very quick'," says Attree.

Once the drivers and ware housemen step inside the trailer they're unlikely to tumble over, thanks to the grit resin non-slip floor. The quality of the interior lighting has also received praise.

Operating at 32 tonnes, and tipping the scales at an unladen 9.2 tonnes, the City Iceliner is 12.9m long. It's equipped with a nosemounted Carrier Optima refrigeration unit; its twin compartments are divided by a flexible bulkhead, also from JR Industries.

Base

The City Iceliner operates out of Safeway's site at Aylesford, Kent, where Attree is also based. "I like it to be here so I can keep an eye on it," he remarks. "It was the second 12.9m trailer with positive year steering that we put into service. We now have six in operation, nine more in build, and we're extending the idea onto the ro.4m trailers we require to make deliveries to those shops being run as a joint venture with BP."

Positive rear steering improves manoeuvrability, and means that 12.9m trailers can make deliveries to Safeway stores with restricted access that would normally be able to take only a tom trailer.

"That means we can carry four extra pallets every time, which reduces the number of extra trips we would otherwise have to make," says Attree.

The award-winning trailers run on Bandvulc PTECH tyres. Positive rear steering gives different wear characteristics, and Attree expects "phenomenal" life out of the tyres on the lead axle. "They shouldn't scrub unless you're very cruel to them," he says. "We reckon we'll get ioo,000lcm from them; and the tyres on the rearmost axle could do even better."

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