Abbey Logistics runs revolutionary trailer
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By Roger Brown
ABBEY LOGISTICS Group has started running a combined road tank and curtainsider trailer designed to slash empty running.
The twin cargo trailer, developed by Clayton Commercials, has a tanker at the bottom with two separate compartments that can take a total of 21,000 litres of bulk liquid foodstuffs, while on top is a pallet deck that can carry 26 standard pallets.
Abbey will initially run two of the trailers on its liquid ingredients contract with Cargill, based at Trafford Park, Manchester.
Up until now, drivers have delivered consignments of glucose syrup to the South West in conventional tankers and then returned empty to Trafford Park.
However, with the new trailers, drivers will collect pallets for the return journey and transport them to a site in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
So instead of running 147 miles empty, Abbey will only run 15 empty miles from Middleton to Trafford Park, a 90% reduction in empty road miles, and a saving of 185,000 miles per year.
Steve Granite, MD at Abbey, based in Bootle, Merseyside, says the haulier has signed an exclusivity agreement with Clayton for the new trailer.
“They are the irst in the liquid food ingredients industry and will revolutionise the way in which deliveries are made to areas that do not have any compatible back load opportunities for liquids such as the South West and Scotland,” he explains.
“The trailer will not only help reduce carbon emissions and costs, it will also give Abbey a competitive advantage in a very competitive industry.
“We believe the environmental beneits for customers are immense.” Clayton designed a twin cargo trailer for a lubricant transporter 15 years ago, but the concept has been overlooked by major hauliers and customers until now.
Abbey’s design, which took 18 months to inalise, incorporates major modiications to meet strict hygiene standards.
Because the tank is loaded from the ground, it also avoids the need for people to climb on top of the tanks, lowering the risk of falls.
Peter Norris, director of Burscough, Lancashire-based Clayton, adds: “While the trailer is more expensive than a standard tanker, it is cheaper than a tanker and a curtainsider combined.”