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Stas plans to feed into UK
Page 20
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Belgian trailer maker Stas sees the strong British pound as a green light and is aiming to sell its high-grade aluminium tippers here.
by Bryan Jarvis • Stas builds all types of semitrailers at its Waregem factory in Flanders, from tippers to curtainsiders, but is convinced that its cereals, animal feed and waste carriers will interest British hauliers the most.
For extra UK appeal it will offer R-OR running gear and Edbro rams but like most manufacturers will build trailers to whatever specification a customer requires.
Stas will initially tempt cereal hauliers with mainly smoothsided tippers, some with moving-floor discharge systems, and believes that the 58-tonne tare weight of its pallet-width 35m3 triaxled trailers will appeal. With optional aluminium air tanks and Alcoa rims it will be lighter still.
Stas thinks the 9.2m-long, 30m3 version of its curved allaluminium tipper will also interest UK operators which shift sand and gravel. Its unladen weight won't be too much more than that of a slightly shorter 27m3 version shown at last month's Kortrijk trailer show. With aluminium chassis, Edbro ram, triple R-OR axles and air suspension it weighed just 4.8 tonnes.
Several other exhibits had the Tridec steer-axle system while others were fitted with disc. braked axles: Stas thinks these will become standard within a couple of years, especially in Germany and the Netherlands. However, it will avoid using the more expensive Mercedes axle and concentrate on BPW, R-OR and SAF.
Warranty
Its trailers carry a 12-month warranty but Stas can also offer threeand four-year cover on the chassis provided it's used for normal road work.
The sales director at Stas refuses to be pinned down on prices but says: "We regard our trailers as premium products and will come into the UK market at prices akin to those of, say, Crane Fruehauf'.
To give clients the right support it plans to establish a network of five or six service agents in England and one in Scotland; either truck dealers or repair workshops, all established in their own right.
"We'll be satisfied if they sell 50-plus units next year," he says, but adds: "We think in time they could achieve annual sales of between 15 and 20 apiece".
Stas makes its own roll-over
body sheeting systems but to keep the cost down it will probably have them fitted locally in Britain.
Stas will exhibit at next year's Tipcon, the show that first attracted it to Britain in 1995. Since then it has sold more than 20 aluminium trailers here, one belonging to an unnamed Scottish haulier moving bone meal who is satisfied and now wants one fitted with Stas' watertight tailgate.
This is a recent design originating from a German operator who needed to seal off a moving-floor-type trailer carrying a highly liquid contaminant. Stas claims the tailgate has held back as much as 40,000 litres but it's best suited to trailers carrying sawdust, wet waste, oil filters and the like. Most clients also fit a Hyflex body clamp to stop it rattling when empty.
Stas usually stocks about 50 ready-built trailers so that in most cases they're ready for collection within two weeks: time enough for UK customers to collect them liveried direct from the factory.
Production
To overcome production delays Stas has a sister rentals company which always has 15 to 20 trailers available to plug any gap.
A family-owned firm, Stas took its name from a nearby village and has more than 20 years' experience in aluminium fabrication. Last year it turned over BFribn (£18m) and built more than 800 trailers, 20% of which were exported outside the EU.
Lately though, delivery times have begun to grow: it has four months of orders for trailers with moving floors alone and to handle the increasing demand Stas is extending its manufacturing and finishing facilities by around 25%.
The 45,000m2 plant currently
produces three or four trailers a day via three production lines but another build line will be added next year, plus a large new paint shop. According to Stas it will rank alongside Benalurs factory as one of the most modern in Europe.
Chassis are jig-built down the centre with ribbed and smoothsiders taking shape down either side, all pre-stressed in hydraulic frames before being welded. Next year the welding operation will be CNCcontrolled.
Stas uses a special aluminium alloy with a high magnesium content and hardly any zinc, which it claims minimises deterioration over at least 12 to 15 years.
Aluminium extrusions made to Stas' own design arrive prepackaged from AluSuisse, but prices are high and deliveries slow at present.