Wide open and roomy
Page 86
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It's business as usual in Europe despite the UK recession and bodybuilders at the Brussels Show exhibited innovations in both access and load volume.
• Exhibitors at Brussels rolled out an interesting array of commercial transport, aimed at providing huge load volumes as well as unprecedented access to the load bed.
Van Hool showed its 13.6m Megatrailer offering 101m3 with a 3.0m inner height and built to couple to a tractor with a 945-1, 350mm-high fifth wheel arrangement.
The customer, CargoCare of Venlo, has a specially adapted Scania but MAN and Volvo also offer low couplers and others will follow. On 19.5in tyres the outfit stays below the 4.0m limit and with its volume competes with a drawbar outfit and costs less on ferries.
Other trailer builders such as LAG and Bart°letti also had high-cube trailers on show and many of these were also equipped with sliding roofs. The latter's Belgian agent Willy Verplancke of Torhout had its own design which it aims to market in the UK.
In addition, it has begun selling the Laloyeau insulated curtainsider into Belgium. These have 30mm polyurethane foam curtains with a silver foil-like inner lining. They have a
0.67W/m2 K rating and are said to be able to pull down to —2°C.
While Edscha has lightened its sliding roof an interesting variation came from Sesam NV of Zonhoven, Belgium. Its electro-hydraulic top slider which uses just 20rrim of roof height pulls the cover down over the front bulkhead to give a total roof opening.
Lateral and vertical loading/ unloading is also catered for by Nicodeme's first D'Bachomatic roll-up curtainsider with opening/ raising roof, on a 13.5m semitrailer.
The curtains roll up to the top rail, combining with the laterally-folding roof which can park in the centre or move to either side to give total access from the sides or above. In addition, the roof also elevates via ram and cable by
up to 600mm (in 100mm stages) and provides a maximum load volume of around 100m3.
Complete with sliding stanchions the D'Bachomatic semi is around 500kg heavier than a standard curtainsider but its access and ease of operation is superior.
The Binche, Belgium firm which formerly traded with Papworth is again looking for a UK agent.
While NEI Thompson's new low-height tanker has found favour with BP UK (see tanker news, page 5), LAG of Bree has made headway into BP's Belgium fleet with its SELT (Super European Low Taker).
The 40,000 litre sixcompartment bottom-loadable tanker is all aluminium, including the BPW running gear frame. It is of a triplecone monocoque design with integral strengtheners, similar to LAG's aircraft refueller.
Using 19.5in tyres, LAG has reduced the centre of gravity of its conventional design by 400mm to 1.70m (unladen) keeping the overall height below 3.0m.
Although LAG has cooperated with BP over the new design it aims to sell it to other oil companies.
On the reefer front, Lamberel has neatly integrated Ancra pneumatic roller tracking into the floor of a 13.4m fridge trailer for Sabena air cargo pallets. A 2.53m interior height is maintained by having a slightly shallower roof section but without any affect on its K value.
Another Belgian specialist looking for a UK agent Solid BVBA of Oud Turnhout has developed its animal lift for removals, racing car or hospitality use.
The column lift's floor separates via opposed hydraulic rams to vehicle body roof height to allow high-level loading. Electronic weighing is an option.
Among its specials is a lift that travels down one side of a trailer and around to the rear on a rail system.
Brussels saw the launch of DTM's truck-mounted 160 tonne/metre fully-slewing crane, the first of a new generation from the St PietersLeeuw firm. Weighing just under 12 tonnes and supported on four outriggers the main beam extends via twin hydraulic side rams and can raise 10.5 tonnes at 12m. With jib adapter it extends to 23.5m where it will lift 2.45 tonnes.
Remote hand or radio controls are available. Built on a Daf 95-400 8 x4 for P Van Egdom of Heist OD Berg the crane costs nearly £125,000.
Tail lift manufacturer Dhollandia also featured integral weighing on a standard 1.5 or 2.0 tonne DHE lift. A large central panel in its 1,900mm platform combines with a Ravas measuring system including 4.0 tonne-rated load cells under the floor plate.
In Belgium the lift costs in excess of £2,600.
Mobile shop manufacturer Rondelaere of Kooigem is also one of a small band of Renault-approved chassis converters. It will transform a standard G230 4x2 into a front-wheel-drive 12-tonne six-wheeler using readily available Renault driveline components. It adds a lowheight frame and twin airsuspended axles before mounting the aluminium panelled shop bodywork.
Marketing company RhivaHartomex had news of lightweight foldaway steps that can be retrofitted to high street distribution vehicles. These tuck away under a side opening doorway and can be lowered pneumatically on a scissor type frame.
For easy entry to higher curtainsided vehicles, the Zaventem-based firm offers a 2.49m-long, aluminium ladder with centre-hinged folding steps that when opened carry the weight of the driver. When not needed the ladder jackknifes closed and stows in a small square tube bolted under the bodywork.