FERROPLAST PANELS FOR TRAILERS 11 In your recent excellent article
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on Phil Biddlecombe of National Carriers Contract Services, you commented on the use of Ferroplast panels for the construction of Dry Freight Trailers.
We at Tidd Strongbox pioneered the use of Ferroplast in this way. Over the last two years we have built over 30 double-deck trailers using the Ferroplast panels. These have been both for insulated and dry freight use. To date, I would have to endorse Phil Biddlecombe's comments that the serviceability of the trailers built with these panels has been excellent.
One point that was not brought out in the article was the considerable weight saving that can be achieved using the Ferroplast panels. In 1986 we built a lightweight 40-foot (12.2m) trailer for the Parcel Fleet of Federal Express. By using Ferroplast panels and carefully selecting other components, a unit weight of 4.5 tonnes was achieved, an approximate 20% saving over the weight of a conventional trailer.
As with all types of construction it is a case of "horses for courses". Ferroplast is good for certain applications but I am afraid that I cannot agree with Phil Biddlecombe that it is a universal product. I feel that we will see large numbers of GRP laminate and aluminium trailers built for the foreseeable future.
Neil Dick Managing director, ,Tidd Strong Box