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New gull-wing trailer ;oars above the rest
Page 19
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takes a lot to persuade a hard-nosed haulier that a radical nv trailer system has any real advantage over a conventional irtainsider—but Andrew Simpson has done the sums and
• ckons that his gull-wing trailer pays for itself in added !curity. Better still, he's charging a premium for customers ho want it. bby Clark reports.
6hen Andrew Simpson went he CV Show at the NEC this r he was looking for a doucleck trailer, but on the Don
• stand, he caught sight of a -wing body buift under nce from Austrian firm gliner. It attracted his atten, he says, because his cur tainsiders were being slashed by opportunist thieves while they were parked up. With ten vehicles making regular daily runs from the South of England into Scotland, he was getting bills for an average of 1850 a month in curtain repairs alone—without allowing for inconvenience, theft and damage to loads. He had tried box vans but found it difficult to get backloads. So he wondered: "Why can't somebody build a box van that opens like a curtainsider?"
The Wingliner at the CV Show was a brewery prototype on a rigid chassis, built for Whitbread, but John Massey of Don-Bur assured Simpson that it was possible to have a fulllength trailer with gull-wing doors—two on each side—and with no loss of loadspace. This design is called a Duo Wing: it weighs around 1.5-2 tonnes more than an equivalent curtainsider, but loading and unloading is much quicker—each door takes around ten seconds to open fully. Simpson reckons that on one regular run, the Wingliner manages six drops a day rather than the five he would get from a curtain side r.
The bottom line
So what about the bottom line? A Don-Bur Wingliner Duo in this spec would cost around £3538,000—a premium of £1618000 over an equivalent curtainsider.
This looks pricey, but Simpson is convinced that it makes financial sense in terms of productivity (despite the lower payload), backload potential, lower repair costs and improved security; in fact, he is able to charge his customers 10% more than for a curtainsider.
The Wingliner design is straightforward: each side panel has an upper and lower half, hinged together along their length. A hydraulic motor mounted at the top corner of the body side is attached to an aluminium torque tube, which drives the upper panel round until both panels are lying practically flat on the roof of the trailer. When closing up, lugs along the bottom drop into a channel section along the side rave. This helps to locate the panels, but even if the channel section is broken it is difficult to open the sides, as the motor is hydraulically locked.
The selling point
The power pack would usually operate off the tractor's electrical line, but the Don-Bur trailer has batteries which can be trickle-charged from the truck. They are mounted on the outside of the front bulkhead with the power pack, which can also operate from a 240V mains supply. The obvious selling point of the Wingliner is in speed of operation, but Simpson has found other advantages.
First of all, the rigid box construction handles well on the road, and that helps protect the load: "Because the trailer doesn't flex, the load doesn't go anywhere," he says.
And because the roof is a rigid sandwich construction, Simpson can use extendable load-restraint posts called Goldbars made in the US, they lock into place anywhere in the trailer.
Livery lasts better, too: slashed curtains are not an issue, and the aluminium-panelled sides present a flat surface. It's also easier to unload on a windy day. The shrouded top hinge of the Wingliner means that there is little chance of water damaging a load, and reduces maintenance—the hinge only needs a regular spray of lubricant.
Finally—and most surprisingly—the Wingliner seems less prone to damage during loading: "Fork-lift drivers treat it with so much respect," says Simpson. So is there any drawback? Only one, according to Simpson: "It's the enthusiasm of other drivers."