AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

No-floor demounts speed turn round

20th May 1977, Page 26
20th May 1977
Page 26
Page 26, 20th May 1977 — No-floor demounts speed turn round
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A UNIQUE application of "bottomless" swop bodies in use at a Hamburg brewery has enabled turn round of distribution vehicles to be cut from 135 minutes to 15 minutes.

The St Pauli-Astra brewery has devised a method of palletising consignments and preloading swap bodies which results in greater flexibility in vehicle operation, and requires fewer vehicles.

Swop bodies for the brewery operation outwardly resemble normal 6.1m (20ft) units. The demount bodies, however, have no floor; load-carrying pallets — (12 to each unit) — are supported solely on the two side frame members and a central spine.

There is also a single cross member to tie the sides of the body. The four. floor apertures thus formed locate over four corresponding raised sections on the specially adapted Ackermann-Fruehauf semitrailers.

The working surfaces provided in this way allow fork lift trucks to be used for loading and unloading in the conventional way at out-of-town depots.

At the brewery an overhead crane is used to transfer the demount bodies between vehicles and charging/discharging station.

The floorless design enables mechanical conveyors to engage on the underside of the pallets.

Doors at each end of the container slide sideways completely clear of the body to give a full handling width of 2.44m and, while pallets carrying empties emerge from one end on to a conveyor, a fresh consignment enters the unit at the opposite end.

On completion of this cycle the end doors are returned automatically to the closed position and locked.

The crane then lifts the laden container back on to the semi-trailer where it is secured by normal twistlocks,

Tags


comments powered by Disqus