Vast variety in Verona
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Every two years, ancient Verona in northern Italy plays host to the Transpotec & Logitec extravaganza—a huge and varied show that fills the city's 120,000m2 purpose-built exhibition centre. This year's event was about four times the size of our own IRTE exhibition and was crammed with every conceivable type of commercial vehicle, equipment and support system from more than 500 manufacturers.
A major programme of haulage and logistics symposiums runs alongside the show, including an intermodal element and an extensive rideand-drive that manages to bring all of Europe's transport industry together—well, almost all.
Naturally the UK truck industry was focused on the SMMT's recent CV show, but Mentor (RO-R), Ratcliff Tail-lifts and Joloda were on hand to fly the flag. Every major truck and van builder attended, notably Mercedes which gave the Atego a good Italian airing, but they didn't eclipse the trailer and bodywork exhibits, which were highly innovative and stimulating.
Verona confirmed that there's a definite shift towards the use of trailer disc brakes; they featured on almost every trailer at the show.
Report by Bryan Jarvis, photography by Peter Cramer.
• Silver Car of Avezanno is a small family firm but it makes some very large vehicles, like this Renault Premium 340-based car transporter which is built to carry 14 of Mercedes' new A-class cars. The Premium's low height means the cab doesn't need a complete lobotomy to accept the forward section of Silver's latest car-carrying superstructure, which now features galvanised linkages and hydraulic pipes. This is the first of Five for MB's official Italian distributor SADA; it's rated at 35 tonnes GCW. • Formerly a member of the now-defunct York
group, Piacenza Rimorchi has been investing heavily in tilt, tipper and tanker designs that use the latest lightweight steels, like Ardox 400 and Domex. In some cases they're lighter than the aluminium originals. Piacenza's latest Zoom 20-45 skeletal extends along a central box-section spine to carry standard ISO containers
from 20-45ft. The sideguards telescope out to the required length and the frame locks into place using air-operated bolts ahead of the first axle.
* Set up by seven Zonta brothers, Seven Zee builds anything from boxvans to curtoinsiders and campers— hence this tidy accommodation-cumsleeper pod on a Mitsubishi Canter parcels van. Instead of long-distance van drivers having to sleep sprawled across the seats, this conversion offers access from a module behind the cab. Facilities inside include washing, a closet and bunk. The passenger seat even rotates to provide a small lounge area.
Fudickar has taken out world-wide patents on its latest Wingliner body—now it wants to develop a joint venture with a UK bodybuilder. The demo model, with its fullclosure 1.5-tonne toil-lift on a Mercedes-Benz Actros 1831, has its hydraulic system built into the bulkhead with twin controls behind the cab. Each side can open flat to the roof in just 10 seconds. Body sides can be made from metal, GRP or curtain material.
• This smart 4,000-litre 201t tanktainer on a Miele triaxle trailer is one of 15 made by Medcontainers of Anagni for the Italian Canil group for hauling food-grade products or chemicals. It's equipped with Fort Vale valves and outlets and weighs 4.2 tonnes for use at 34 tonnes gross. • Best known for its mobile homes, Mobilvetta of Barbarino Vol D'Elsa has turned its skills to making CVs like this Work Car prototype. Its new range has Fiat Ducato 116kW TD18 running gear and on AL-KO chassis topped off with Mobilvetta's own glass-fibre cab. Insulated, dropside and car-transporter versions are planned, as well as a neat box von with sides that stow in the roof. Mobilvetta has a UK outlet for camper vans but needs one for its new CV range.
IRMA Carrozzeria builds mainly livestock carriers and exports them around Europe. This handsome aluminium triple-decker with watering and ventilation systems is built on a Volvo 6x2 chassis with a lifting rear-steer axle for local operator ltaltir. Several semitrailer versions have also been sold to the Hennessy Calf Farm in Urlingford, County Kilkenny in Ireland. The Rossano Veneto bodybuilder makes no more than 200 a year but with more than 200 hours work in each body this is a high-value product. • Operators plagued by tipovers on rough sites will be interested in Emilcamion's Roll-Stop system which comprises an extra cross-member at the rear, balanced by two hydraulic rams. Positioned for tipping with the handbrake on, the system is activated as soon as the body begins to lift. If the tip angle exceeds 5, visible and audio alarms warn the driver that it's unsafe, and at 10° the body lowers automatically. Roll-Stop weighs 230kg and costs around £3,300. Meiller is handling German sales but Bentivoglio-based Emilcamion is seeking agents in other countries.
• Citroen displayed this tidy prototype pickup based on a Berlingo chassis-cab. It might offer something similar through its dealer network if there's sufficient interest. The Cassone Fisso aluminium dropside body can carry about 650kg; Citroen is also developing a tipping version.
• Cuneo-based Cornett° had something for heavy hauliers in the shape of a new extendible on six 13-tonne steered axles. The new trailer uses twin 245/70R 17.5in tyre equipment to bring the height down; it's good for 105 tonnes GCW, with all axles hydraulically suspended and steered from the kingpin. Centre locks enable the trailer to be lengthened in increments to 28.5m.
• In Italy small construction vehicles ore seen as being just as important as their big bothers: hence this 12-tonne cement silo carrier built by local bodybuilder Bruno Perlini. It's based on a Nissan Eco-T.160 6x2 with mid-lift axle. The structure enables the operator to off-load the 5.0ma silo from three sides, supported by four stabilisers. The extra framework brings the tare weight up to 6.0 tonnes, leaving 6.0 tonnes for payload. Mercedes builds more than half-a-million axles a year and more than 65% of them have disc brakes, so its move into trailer axles was a natural progression. Hendrickson-suspended Discos axle sets are assembled at Northampton and the numbers are increasing on lost year's 8,000 units. It originally estimated 15,000 for 1998 but already 1,400 have been built. There's no place like Italy for steering axles, which is why Mercedes-Hendrickson brought along a Discos trailer axle complete with an Italian-made linkage.
• Miele's 5.25m-long step-deck pantechnicon with an Iveco 35.12 TurboDaily artic showed the value of using 7.5-tonne outfits on bulk delivery work. Using air suspension and 195/50 10in tyres gives it a low loading height and with twin rear and single side doors the swaged and riveted Aluvan body is a neat fleet addition. Miele also introduced its latest 13.62m lperleggero (hyperlight) trailer, shown hooked to an Iveco B0E21, which has a 58m3 loadspace.
• Gabel of Soragna is the Italian agent for a puncture protection device from the US. The Tire X-Tend comprises a hand or powered applicator that injects around 1.5 litres of sealant into each tyre. According to the sales video treated tyres can be driven over nails, rivets and other hazards without any appreciable air loss. • This tipper trailer with its curved bodywork and stars-and-stripes paint job attracted a lot of attention. Coupled to an MAN 33.463 6x4 tractor, the trailer runs on twin Mentor axles with a beefy inverted steel spring pack that pivots on a centre trunnion arrangement; similar to the old York Dreadnought design but rather smaller, Built by Andreoli of Buttapietra, it tips via an enclosed Binotto ram set directly over the fifth wheel. Sliding side-frame members on the trailer running gear control the trailer's rearward movement. Other features included a windover sheet, hydraulically raising tailgate and air-operated hook locks. • Mitsubishi's Canter crew-cab should surface in the UK (via Volvo Trucks OBI next month, but all was revealed at Verona. The 6.3-tonne demo model came complete with a drop-side tipper body. UK operators will be offered the extended seven-man crewcab as standard on the 6.3-tonne Canter; it will no doubt interest recovery men and municipal operators. Sold via the Volvo network, it will retail at £22,688. Like the Canter 75, the 6.3-tonner is powered by a four-pot charge-cooled DI engine rated at 134hp (100kWI with a five-speed gearbox.
• Paganinicar specialises in bulkers, especially ones that use linkages to open their bodies. This huge bulk tipper is based on a Scania 144L 460 6x2 with a drawbar trailer for hauling grain, animal feeds or other granular products. Air-operated linkages at each end of the body operate the up-andover roof cover, while underfloor tipping gear enables each body to discharge its contents to left or right. The rig weighs in at more than 15 tonnes but the side extensions ensure a healthy load volume.
• Zonta products look high quality and imaginative, ranging from racing car trailers (left) to expanding bodies with telescopic doors and gull-wing bodies for the drinks trade. It also builds reefer bodies with sideways moving shutter-like doors. Zonta's latest development, the Leader Lift swap body Onset), uses four hydraulic legs to raise itself and let the truck out. The body then lowers itself to ground level and each ram rotates through 90' before retracting into recesses built into the side-members. The Rosa, Vicenza firm is looking for a UK partner.